MINDFULLY FOLDING GOOD INTENTIONS

Here you go....a post that has little to do with mandalas except for Mindfulness, Moving Meditation,  and Art. Well that's a lot actually. And where it goes... :) spirit stole my fingers again.

Origami: The Japanese art of paper folding.

Recycling old magazine pages for peace cranes.

For many years when it gets to be around the "holiday" I fold paper cranes. I give many away with the intent of spreading peace and good wishes. I don't usually have traditional Christmas trees. Often I simply decorate with garlands of cranes or put the cranes on a ficus tree along with little colorful globe ornaments and cocktail umbrellas. It's not so much about the religious holiday for me. It is about thankfulness, reflection and new year intentions to go forward brighter and better.

Peace and goodwill for all. The CRANE means that for me.

This year I am in my own BoHoMoHo Boo *Bohemian Mobile Home Base of Operations* in Central Florida. I have no family here and few friends outside of my work at the art center. There will be no gifts to put under the tree again. That's just stuff anyway. My MoHo is uncluttered in the no chaos zen way that I like it. I don't need nor want gifts. The sentiment is the important thing to me. If someone wants to gift me something make it their friendship (that is an honor) and an excellent experience. I opted for experiences over material stuff decades ago pre-nomad time.




I have been cutting 5- 6" paper squares from old magazines and aged colored copy paper on my paper cutter and making the first waterbomb fold. I have many "starts" stacked in a container to easily take along with me. I can fold the rest of the creases myself and teach others. Spread and share the love. There are a few stories about the crane and its meaning. 1000 is a personal quest. I am expanding that to be a community quest of good intentions this year. More on that in another post.....

For now I just want to introduce you to this amazing young woman and what folding cranes did for her, her heart, her creative expression and more. The cranes can do this for all of us. Pay attention. Our next generation of creatives are the ones to bring change to our world. Take a moment to watch, listen and be inspired.

I am going back to mindfully folding good intentions. >>>>>

SO I DO IT

NEW WATERCOLOR - DRY TIME BEFORE INKING

BEGINNING INKING

I was going to title this post "Sometimes You Just Need to Sit Still" but then I stopped sitting still. I can't do that for too long. I have my moving meditations such as biking, walking in the woods, making art pieces, gardening and drawing mandalas.

"At this moment" autumn is here in Central Florida. I awoke at dawn to 55F - NICE. I am wearing slippers. Insert smiley face. Mornings are lovely. How anyone sleeps in dumbfounds me. I have already been out in the garden chatting with my plants and picking up raintree pods and branches. I save both for earth art. I am often surprised how they work themselves into a piece.

BUTTERFLY LOVING THE LANTANA

This cooler weather inspires me to create my fiber art and my earth art again. On Sunday I found myself wrapping raintree sticks while getting "wrapped up" in fiber arts youtube playlists.

Is it me or is this a fall thing? All I know is it feels right so I do it. Look forward to future posts and pics of mixed earth art and fiber media coming up.

I don't have much computer time today so must be getting on with it. >>>>>> More coffee - more puttering - I have a guest coming for a week and need to sweep up my earth piddle. My enviro art construction can be a messy process sometimes and dust gets everywhere but it "feels right so I do it".

I have added a few happy pics...

NEW SIDE GARDEN BIRDBATH - SUNKEN VASE & PLATTER

BUTTERFLY BUSH - MAGNOLIA & CYPRESS MULCH"

 ENJOY!

NON-EARTH ART PIDDLE

JUST WALK AWAY

This morning when I awoke I practiced my usual routine. Actually I don't need to practice. I have it down. I woke up before the sun rose, stretched out from the fetus position and sighed a happy big sigh. Each day is a rebirth. I noticed the birds singing, the breeze coming through the windows and then I began to analyze my dreams. It's fun and often enlightening to take the time in bed before your mind gets diverted and you forget.

I then got up, started the coffee, pushed the ON button on my laptop and checked my mail, Facebook and the weather. Soon I got to puttering. When I got back to the laptop, my laptop that I use for all my design work, it gave me a 24 second warning to plug in. That's when the trouble began. I couldn't plug it in in time. Now I can't get it to boot up. Three hours searching and trying solutions and another hour looking for laptops online.

TECH FAIL.

Walk away Patt!

I have 2 old broken Acer netbooks. The screen is totally smashed on one. I have it VGA'd to an old monitor. It is connect to a sound system in my studio so that I can stream groovy music. I also have another netbook with a partially broken screen (it casts red fuzz) which is what I am typing on now. I wear readers over my bifocals to see what I am typing. 

Walk away Patt, walk away.

All weekend I was getting text messages from someone that should know by now I don't keep my phone near me and I dislike texting. Call me! She was offering me an old smart phone to use. I suppose I should reply. But...

Aren't I sucked in enough?

Close the cover Patt.

A web design client called Sunday frantic that several browsers showed his site with security issues. Not a problem, but for him a scare. I said most likely the web host service was doing updates. My suggestion was to wait a few hours. But I had to dig in only to find that indeed the host was making server updates. Less than two hours later all was fine.

Pull out the watercolor paper and pencils Patt.

Tech messages from the Universe do not need hardware and you are already pre-loaded with the software. Running too many programs all at once isn't such a good thing.

Today is my day off. I am finally taking my own advice and getting my art supplies out and...

Just walking away.

Read my blog first - then walk away ;) Chau 4 now.

CROCHETING FRIENDSHIP INTO A MANDALA

I have three special women friends in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We met several years ago at the Club Europeo. They were in my "So To Speak" English conversation group. Often I was asked by others, "Patt, you speak English well. Why are you here?" Well, besides the fact I was extremely welcomed and valued at the Monday meetings I had another reason for attending. I wanted to gain knowledge about the Argentine culture in a language that I could understand. I could ask questions and get understandable replies all while being helpful by correcting their English. And ther was another HUGE added benefit. I could make friends.

Those three women and I became Las Rebelas (The Rebels). When the club shut from late December to March for summer holidays we continued to meet at my apartment or hang out for dinner downtown. And even when we all stopped our club memberships our deeply rooted friendship continued through new babies to job changes, boyfriends and long trips away.

They call me Swami Patt for all the sharing of angel cards, dowsing rods, spiritual teachings and grounding techniques through difficulties. But most importantly, they call me their friend.

They gave me this crocheted mandala when I left Argentina. It now hangs in the kitchen of my BoHo MoHo Boo in Central Florida. I feel the warmth of their friendship each time it catches my eye. Many times I have attempted and failed to crochet something similar. I don't know why it is but I am a complete disaster at crochet. Youtubes do not help. I need someone to gently guide me and my hands, in person, with the buena onda (good vibe) of an old friend.

So how about it? Are you near Leesburg, FL? Are you patient and kind? Can you teach me how to crochet a mandala? We can do it in English :). or ....

Would you want to teach a group class at the Leesburg center for the Arts? :) <3 Please let me know.

Besitos y Abracitos
Swami Patt

BOHO FEST 2018 COMMUNITY MANDALA

AWESOME * BODACIOUS * COPACETIC and GREAT VIBES - the ABC's of Leesburg's first BoHo Festival. I had the great pleasure and honor of facilitating the huge mandala canvas painting in front of Sip on Main. I began painting the center of the mandala off site. The city's crew bolted it down to the pavement to keep it in place and then the kids filled in the outside rings. So much fun! I will be finishing off some details and we will have a huge backdrop to use AND be able to have the kids put their little hand prints all around it at the next community event. All good!

Rather than type more about this BRILLIANT event I am simply going to post a few photos. The whole day was exceptional. Smiles everywhere! And yes, we are making BoHo Fest an annual event.

#leesburgarts
#arthappenshere

   

OH AND ONE MORE THING...

REGISTER FOR OUR NEXT SIP & CRAFT PARTY AT THE LCFA ON OCTOBER 3RD. THE CANVASES ARE 12" X 12' AND PRE-LINED FOR YOU. NO ARTISTIC ABILITY REQUIRED.

MAKE IT A DATE NIGHT OR FUN GIRLS NIGHT OUT.

ADVANCE REGISTRATION REQUIRED.

THE LINK IS AT LEESBURGARTS.COM * SPACE IS LIMITED

https://www.leesburgarts.com/sip-craft-parties/

COME PAINT STREET ART

We are all geared up for BoHo Fest this coming Saturday the 22nd. And... it has been decided that we will be painting in tempera a huge street mandala at one of the cordoned off intersections. HOW FUN! It will be a community mandala. I am looking for volunteers to help me get all the chalk lines snapped and the inner core painted before 10 AM. Do you want to help? It takes a village to paint a community mandala. :)

I have decided to make a circle surrounded by a 6 pointed star and layers radiating outward. People can come by and add their personal touches. Tempera paint washes off but it would be advisable to not wear your best Sunday outfit.  We will have aprons available so you can play with us without getting too messy. FUN!

Speaking of fun, we had a great trail walk last Thursday in honor of National Wilderness Month.. Two more walks focusing on Environmental Art are scheduled for this month. After those we have to cease for awhile until after the holidays. The parks close at sunset. Here's a photo of our motley crew at Sabal Bluff Preserve.

And here is a blast from the past. Facebook reminds me of what I was doing from years past. Yesterday was the 4 year anniversary of when I created the Ames Mansion Mandala for the Blanche Ames National Juried Art Show. Crawling around on your knees helps you stay young. We began that way and for me it hasn't changed. I will need to bring my cushy little kneeling rugs for Saturday's pavement gig.

Well that's it for this week. There is much to do. Acoustic Art Lounge is happening Wednesday night at the Leesburg Center for the Arts, the trail walk is Thursday (meet at Flat Island Preserve at 5:30 in the parking area), Friday is Open Studio at 10 am, Coffee & Convos at noon and then the last big push getting the BoHo Fest all set up. Do stop by.There's gobs of unconventional fun to be had right in Downtown Leesburg. ART HAPPENS HERE!

BOHO EARTH FASHION - ORGANICALLY CHIC

Today rushed by and I almost forgot to post for Mandala Monday. Today's post is another Earth Art Dress. YEY!  BoHo Fest is almost here (Saturday September 22nd - Downtown Leesburg) and Sweet Magnolia is bringing her best friend Rosemary.

Rosemary is wearing a fuzzy sweater vest with shawl collar, a belt of sweet gum, bodice of rain tree pods and skirt of Spanish moss woven with dried rosemary - of course. BOHO EARTH CHIC!

I rushed to take some photos and videos before another storm hits. These dresses are not made to live out their lives outdoors but by the big mandala garden  behind my home studio they sure look fine. To think last year I had everything tied down and packed into closets as Hurricane Irma spun closer and closer. I am very thankful for today's calm in contrast. I am preparing to make some modifications to the garden this month. The MUMS are in stock but pavers are a bit harder to find. Stay tuned!

Make sure to stop by on the 22nd and check out the festivities. Here is a link to the BoHo Fest page. https://www.leesburgarts.com/bohofest2018/

MAGNOLIA YOU SWEET THING

It's Labor Day here in the USA and also MANDALA MONDAY! I just got in from cycling. I am making it my routine to pedal in the morning. On my route I ride over a bridge above an inlet. I usually stop and re-hydrate there and check out a huge magnolia tree. Last year I saw so many of its pods on the ground but wasn't quite ready to collect them. Well I am ready now!

A little voice said back track a bit and note the house number. I had never seen anyone outside. Sure enough the grandson was there. I gave him my card. "When those pods drop please call me. I will come and get them out of your way."

What do I do with them? LOTS OF STUFF. Here is an example. I call her "Sweet Magnolia".

"Magnolia you sweet thing. You're driving me mad."

There are a few more finishing touches to be applied then I need to set my studio lights up for a proper photo shoot. I have another piece that I am working on too. I used an oil stain on Spanish moss in the design. It needs to dry more before I continue. Maybe by next Monday...

Yes - Earth Art Dresses!  It has been too long since I made them for historical sites and state parks. It took a bit of time and trail walking/cycling to learn my area's botany. I AM SO EXCITED! These new ones are not 100% bio-degradable. I have made them to last with wire, paints and glue but most of the ingredients are organic. I need a new tagline for this enviro art work. I no longer can say...

"I don't make rotten art. I make art that rots." These are designed to last.

Oh and don't forget. September is National Wilderness Month. To help people get outside I have agreed to run four trail walks after work on Thursdays in Leesburg so that people can explore 3 different area preserves. We will meander the parks as I point out cool artistic things you can do with foraged organics. But please note - no picking. We cannot take anything from the park except inspiration. :) Check the Leesburg Center for the Arts website for details.

leesburgarts.com

ENVIRO ART TRAIL WALKS

Similar to many attempts at getting a new routine started, I began biking in the mornings before the sun got too high in the sky and heated up the pavement. This is Central Florida and it is August.That routine lasted 4 days but it did spark my "earth love" memories of being outside in nature. Consequently, after two busy mornings off I took to the woods on foot. YEYYYYYYY!

Nature feeds the soul. I am not full yet but man did I have some great appetizers over the weekend. Yesterday I was walking Sabal Bluff preserve. While by the lake I heard a rustle from above. There on a tree branch not more than 20 feet away was an adult bald eagle. It spread its wings, circled around me and flew off. What a beautiful thing.

So why not share? In person. YA - Why Not? It is time to get my walks started in Central Florida.

Introducing - for September (National Wilderness Month) Thursday after work EnviroArt Trail Walks sponsored by the Leesburg Center for the Arts. Parks close at sunset and September's setting times are past 7:00 PM. We will have time to discover. Find the addresses on your GPS and meet me there at 5:30. We will take a 45 minute walk around. Get to know your preserves. All three on the schedule are very close to downtown Leesburg.

No more feeling fearful of walking into the woods alone. You will have company.

Bring repellent, water and you may want to wear lightweight trousers and shoes (not flip flops) as Flat Island Preserve has some taller grasses on some of the trails. Will we make art? We'll talk about eco and environmental art and learn to see the woods in a new way, a place full of color and texture. If we have time perhaps we can make some simple mandalas along our way.

Check out the schedule and print the flyer for your friends. Let's GET INTO THE WOODS!

Sept 6th

Bourlay Historic Nature Park

851 N Canal St.

Sept 13th

Sabal Bluff Preserve

1201-1257 Leesburg Mobile Rd.

Sept 20th

Flat Island Preserve

2388 Owens Rd.

Sept 27th

Bourlay Historic Nature Park

851 N Canal St.

Download the park's trail maps here:

https://www.lcwa.org/open-preserves/

And now for me it is 8:30 AM and I am saddling up my bike and heading to the island.

Try to get outside today!

 - Chau 4 now.

BREAK SET

Friday I finally finished a big project. It felt so good to complete the Leesburg Center for the Arts FALL 2018 CATALOG - here's the link.  Also last Wednesday we premiered my baby - the first LCFA OPEN ACOUSTIC ART LOUNGE. Both were great successes. I still need to upload the edited performance videos to the LCFA youtube channel but I am notorious for doing web work on my days off and this weekend I stuck to my resolve to wait until I am in the office on Wednesday. Things can wait.

This past weekend to get my creativity out I messed about with several projects all of which were a BUST! A big fat failure. Well - only if you are so tied to the final product and not the process. I do admit I felt frustrated at spending so many hours "in process" without something to hold in my hand and tell myself  "well done" but... the process was very important. I experimented with new things and learned what didn't work. Go ahead and insert that Thomas Edison quote. :) I also reminded myself that although something may look cool on the internet, it isn't necessarily an art form that juices my inner artist.

This morning (my day off) rather than going to my studio to make somethin' I heeded a different call. "GET ON YOUR BIKE!"  I pumped up my tires, put on a bathing suit top (because I was going to be dripping wet in the matter of 5 minutes), and a pair of bike shorts. loaded my day pack with bottles of frozen water and headed out away from town. "Too long Patt. Too long - you love this. Do not deny the little pleasures of life you driven woman." 

When I got back to the BoHo MoHo BOO I hydrated, hit the pool, ate lunch, and then decided to clean out my laundry room. Did I write "driven"? Sitting still during daylight hours is an issue with me.

There on top of my shelving unit I found a new friend, a mischievous looking ceramic turtle that my neighbor had rescued from the dumpster many months ago. It is covered in MANDALAS. Monday's FAILED post has been saved! I guess I am going to mess with somethin" after all. :)  Enjoy the "process"...

Have a wonderful Mandala Monday!
Chau 4 now.

CHILL OUT WITH YARN MANDALAS

Good Mandala Monday to Yarn'all!

Keeping with the crafty theme while prepping for LCFA OPEN and BOHO FEST I present a blast from the past. At least from my past. We made these little mandalas as kids. People still make them for their children's spiritual protection. I also made them as hippie adult not that long ago camping with the Rainbow Family off grid in the mountains of Chile. (Don't knock it until you try it. The vistas were stupendous and the people - muy amable).


Stateside yarn mandalas were very popular in the 60's. It has been said if you remember the 60's you weren't there. Well I was. My long term memory kicked in once I picked up some sticks and yarn and Voila - or rather HAY! (spanish) MANDALA TEJIDO - OJO DE DIOS - HUICHOL (mexico) GOD'S EYE (english).

They are simple to make and you can expand them to be more complicated if you chose. I made a short video of a sampler of basic wraps that I did last week. Really - no art skills required!

Come to LCFA OPEN this Wednesday night. There will be sticks and yarn available, as well as beads and bottles and blot stains to doodle, People will be sharing art and fun on stage. Kick back and watch or join in. If I can steal myself away from facilitating I'll be happy to show you the basics.

Stop by the LCFA "OPEN" MIC & ART LOUNGE!

It's the chill place to be this Wednesday evening.

429 West Magnolia St. Leesburg, FL

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO EAT THEM!

Monday Monday – Mandala Monday.

I have been playing around with items from the art supply room at the center, those which we have a lot of and should be putting to good use at events. I took home a big mixed bag of beads for experimentation over the weekend. When I write mixed bag I mean mixed. The bag is quite a hodgepodge of styles and shapes. I put the beads through an old colander, shook them well and separated out the small seed beads, extracted the big odd beads and came up with a peanut canister full of the rest. I kicked back in my hammock in the shade yesterday and strung them onto wire.

We just had a big fundraising event at the center and have empty wine bottles to use up so I found an empty one of my own in my cottage studio and wrapped away.

Voila! A kitschy-crafty BOHO something bottle. It's not sophisticated fine art. It is simply fun.

To keep the the MANDALA theme going for this blog I wired a circle together and attached it to the front.

WARNING: These are not edible gourmet jelly beans. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO EAT THEM!. :) But that would be a cool idea for a clear bottle. Use less yarn, put jelly beans inside and wire beads onto the outside top. BTW - This bottle design took 10 feet of wire and beads to complete.

And that's it for this Mandala Monday. HAVE COLORFUL FUN!

ART CHANGES YOU

WOW- what a fantastic week of teaching art. My high school level students at summer art camp at the Leesburg Center for the Arts were/are phenomenal.

The theme for this year's camp for all grade levels was Once Upon a Time meaning up-cycling. We used items originally designed and used for something else. I chose two main things; paper and vinyl. The paper was the type of recycled unbleached, non-toxic "green" insulation that you can find by the bale at Lowe's or Home Depot. If you add Elmer's glue or plaster (bigger learning curve) you can substitute if for very pricey paper clay.

The other paper item used was record sleeves. The students used them as a "tile" base for mounting their paper pulp face creations and also for a 2D project, designing an album cover of their fantasy band. The illustrations turned out really great but even cooler was when we reduced them down to CD jewel case size.

For a fun day and a lesson on how to use a torch we did acrylic pours on the actual records. Don't fear nor cry. Most of the records were donated by a used record store here in town and were not in good enough condition for resale. Nothing wasted - everything gained.

The below video is a compilation of the student's album covers and their "pop" self portrait pieces that went into grids. They are now hanging in the gallery. The master artist I chose to teach about throughout the week was Andy Warthol. He designed several record album covers. You would definitely recognize them. I also chose Warhol because he was not "just" an artist. He was an entrepreneur and businessman. When I was at University I double majored, Art & Business. Later I worked at some very large ad agencies, was an interior designer, had my own decorative pillow and clothing design business and was a working fine artist. If you want to earn a living doing art you need to take action on the marketing and bookkeeping/budgeting sides too. It is well worth embracing all sides. It enables you to do what you love.

This video is not yet on youtube. You are getting a sneak peak. On Wednesday I will get it loaded onto the LCFA's channel, ,Enjoy! Turn up your speakers.

And I have a lot of "stuff" to take catch up on so....

Chau 4 now.

POUR COLOR ALL OVER MY UNIVERSE

What is circular but not a mandala.... LOTS OF STUFF.

I took a little break from mandalas last week but I did stick to the circular form. I love curved shapes and circular patterns.

In preparation for teaching high school level summer art camp I have been doing acrylic pours on vinyl records. I am challenging the kids with new mediums and the learning curve with the paper pulp and glue may become a but frustrating. Therefore, I wanted to be sure to change things up and facilitate projects that are totally fun and different.The second (or third) day I am orchestrating an afternoon of acrylic pouring on vinyl records

Records are ancient "things" much loved for the music held in their grooves. As for using them for acrylic pours they are a little harder to manipulate than canvases. There is nothing to grab onto such as a stretcher/frame. The artist needs patience, balance and concentration or OOPS!

Featured here are a few of the pours that I did over the last week. It is so interesting to see how they morph even after you stop tilting and torching them. Different colors and patterns keep emerging from underneath the top plasticizing layer.

These pours remind me of colorful plants. YES! we are creating new UNIVERSES at SUMMER ART CAMP! COLOR MY WORLD!

Well that's it for now. I need to get to the center early to set up the art stations and welcome my new young artists. This is going to be a fun and educational experience for all. I will share some photos next Monday. Until then...

chau 4 now.