Nature Mandala within an Urban Landscape - Buenos Aires

Monday, September 29, 2014

BUSY BEE IN A GUST OF OCTOBER WIND

Autumn is here and this year's dry weather is resulting in the leaves falling from the trees more quickly than usual.  The colored foliage will soon disappear and so will I, but just from the area.  I will fly like a snowbird from New England to South America this year.

In the coming weeks I have many original drawings and photographic prints to crop and frame. Some will come along with me for art patrons in Buenos Aires and Lima and others stay in the USA for spring shows.  I will have a full list of artwork available later in October.  OMGoodness, October is two days away!  Time will now feel like a big gust of wind whisked it away.  WOOOOOOOSH.

Onward >>>>

Posted here are a few drawings that should be framed by the middle of next week.  All renderings are 6.5 inches and perfect for an 8" x 8" frame or 8" x 10" mat.  The first mandala is aptly named Busy Bee.  If you quiet down enough you can actually hear it buzz. :)

BUSY BEE


WATER COLOR WITH COLORED AND METALLIC PERMANENT INK

**********************

The below mandala is a spin off of the FLOWER OF LIFE traditional pattern.  I lay in many geometric guidelines then remove several to uncover the energy of each mandala.

SIX POINT STARFLOWER

COLORED AND METALLIC PERMANENT INK

***********************

ESTRELLA DE LA SUERTE
(LUCKY STAR)

COLORED AND METALLIC PERMANENT INK

This is just a sampling.  I have a number of nature mandala photographic prints awaiting framing in the next few weeks as well.  I will be posting to the blog when they are ready.  Stay tuned...

Hasta Pronto
Paty
gilmore444   @    gmail.com


Sunday, September 28, 2014

FINAL CHANCES

Last Saturday night was the opening reception of the 12th Annual Blanch Ames National Art Exhibition at the Ames Mansion on the property of Borderland State Park in Easton MA.  Oh what a splendid evening.  The artwork displayed was simply awe inspiring.  The paintings, sculpture, photography, monoprints and more demonstrated a very high caliber of talent and professionalism. The curators did an astounding job pulling it all together and I was truly impressed by how the show was hung in the library.  The music, noshes and champagne flowed and I was blessed to have some lovely friends attend.  I really do consider myself quite honored to have one of my photographs chosen to be among the 53 juried-in pieces from 432 entries spanning the nation.  My only regret is that I do not have many clear photos of the evening to share.  I was happily busy that night.


THE AMES MANSION MANDALA
SPRUCED UP WITH TEA LIGHTS AND GOLDENROD


The show ends this coming Saturday, October 4th.  The artwork will be picked up, temporary walls taken down and the Ames Mansion Mandala will be disassembled and its elements put back into nature.


I want to thank everyone for helping me gather and forage and for contributing every which way to the positive energy in Letting Nature and Art Re-Create You.


If you have not seen the show yet you have limited time (FINAL CHANCES) so don't delay.  You only have today from 11-3pm and from Tuesday to Saturday to view it (closed Monday).  Much of the artwork is for sale.  Inquire within.



 

I am very blessed indeed.  What's next?  I am packing for Buenos Aires, Argentina.  The city awaits.  But don't worry.  My mandala creation will not cease.  I am on it!


Thursday, September 18, 2014

READY TO CELEBRATE - ALMOST

Monday and Tuesday I placed item after item, circle by circle together to create the very first Ames Mansion Mandala.  It is a round 7' nature mandala.  With the exception of some battery operated tea lights and flowers that will be added for the evening Opening Reception this Saturday night it is complete.

Here it is - a grand collage of moss, Queen Anne's lace, hemlock leaves/ferns and pine cones, hickory nut husks, pokeweed, feathers, pine needles and various barks and sticks.  I am happy.


TUESDAY - FINISHED


MONDAY -  IN PROCESS




Come join us for the Opening Reception of the 12th Annual Blanche Ames National Art Exhibition.  Fiftyone artists are being represented inside this historic mansion's famous library.  Come toast all of them and the organizers.  Saluti!

Saturday Sept 20th
7pm - 10 pm

Ames Mansion
Borderland State Park

257 Massapoag Ave.
North Easton, MA



Sunday, September 14, 2014

NOT QUITE DUST

Tomorrow is INSTALLATION DAY.  I will be at Borderland State Park in Easton, MA creating a large nature mandala at the mansion entrance.  Stop by and say hello.

On another note, last week while hiking the Granite Hills Trail Loop Lower with Sr. Benjito I stopped to see what was left of OAK FLAME created on July 2nd.  As the grove is quite sheltered there still were pieces in tact.

ASHES TO ASHES...


DUST TO DUST.  Well not quite yet.



As the big mandala at the Ames Mansion needs to last 3 weeks (the duration of the art exhibit inside) I will need to wire some things down.  Wish me luck.

Adelante >>>>>


Monday, September 8, 2014

AN ENCHANTING CHALLENGE

In my last post I alluded to some exciting news and this is it.  A couple of months ago I submitted three of my photos of my earth art mandalas to a national juried art show.  Artists were invited from across the USA to submit their work.  In the final selection 51 artists from 14 states were chosen and I have the honor of being one of them.




My art indeed is different.  It is transient. The wind or waves take it away.  I capture the compositions with digital images.  My art is made in two mediums; 3D earth art and photography. On the left is the 8 x 10 photograph selected for the show.

If being chosen to display wasn't honor enough I was also asked to create an installation outside the mansion entrance.  The mansion is located within one of my favorite state parks here in Massachusetts.  It is a park that I frequent several times a week during spring and summer.


I have been busy foraging.  There is an opportunity here to go big and I am taking it.  I have designed a 7' mandala to be constructed using foraged materials from all around the park.  I have made a template so as to get a better grip on types of materials and quantities needed.  Friends have helped me forage and I am out with Sr. Benjito several times a week gathering things during our trail walks. He loves it and of course I do.  This truly is a project made of love.
There are some challenges on this one though.  I have been asked to create a piece that will stay in tact for the duration of the show (three weeks).  Mother Nature can you really hold off the rain and wind for three weeks?  It has been so dry here that as an artist I would make that request but as a nature lover I simply can't.  We need the rain. So yes, I have been challenged in this design.  No stones can be used near the mansion and nothing edible.  The deer, squirrels, raccoons and birds could do a lot of damage to a 7' nature mandala.  Things will need to be wired and weighted down and any template used will need drainage holes.  Construction will be done atop the cobblestone entrance and not on the forest floor.  And at the end of the show on October 4th all trace of the installation will be removed with the foraged items returned to the woods.


I am challenged but it is an enchanting challenge.  All will work out divinely.  Do I know what the piece will look like in the end?  Absolutely not.  I have a good plan but...  I will spread out my foraged paint box of colors and textures and let the nature muse use my hands and whisper directions in my ears - again.

Materials Photos:  Queen Anne's Lace, Goldenrod, Birch Bark