leaves and snow

We've had a couple storms that have piled up snow on the leaves and branches. Above is a branch of scrub oak placed in a six pointed star. Conscious of the elements that drawn the eye in and pull it out of the composition, the points on the star are like arrows they head in the direction they are pointed, out. They are stopped by the rounded shield branches on the edge.

the flowers inside

A purple and white orchid has been gracing my counter in the sun room, the blooms have lasted at least a month. Ample opportunity to take pictures! At the Gateway Show in Aurora, one mandala won 1st place, I'm grateful for the space to show my work.

Hats

My other passion is genealogy, and it being almost Veteran's Day, my sister wanted to use my Dad's WWII hats for a veterans luncheon she was helping with, mandala with eagle from the hat above. This week, I uploaded pictures to Ancestry of four brothers (cousins) who all served during WWII. One of them did not come back and is memorialized in the Netherlands and posthumously received the Purple Heart. Thanks you for our freedom, Veterans.

birdseed thief

With all the snow that fell last week I started feeding the birds again, but apparently I'm also feeding the squirrels. The squirrels also love to irritate the dog who barks at them alot. The fur and the twigs make an interesting star pattern.

dandelion

It has been very frosty here today - a good day to go nowhere. We have lots of snow on the ground and more coming tomorrow. Above is another study of a frosted dandelion leaves, there are so many patterns that the leaves and stems create.

fall leaves

The color of the fall is in the leaves, even mutted colors have their own appeal. Get out and enjoy the color before it is snowed away!

orchid

We had a lot of flowers at our house a couple weeks ago because my mother-in-law passed away at 85. One of the boquets had a beautiful blue-purple orchid in it. Colors that don't show up together in nature very often. Thus the image above.