White Koi

Sometime simple is better. I've gone to a couple garden tours this summer, and always love the ones with ponds. There were several big koi in this pond, I liked the patterns created by the plant shadows acorss the surface and the single white koi. It almost could be a black and white picture, but I do like the touch of green.

signs of fall

The aspen meadow in front of the cabin is starting to show signs of fall, with some plants starting to brown and die. It's always sad for me to know that we won't be going up there much longer. We shut the cabin down the end of September. When I was out walking the dog early on Saturday, I looked up and saw a coyote sitting in the meadow, we were eye-balling each other and Mollie, the dog, did not see or smell the coyote, thank goodness. I snapped a couple pictures, of course. I believe we had coyote scat on the cabin porch, too. It reminds you that we are in the wild up there.

remains of a robin's egg

Getting out of the car one day in the spring, there was a broken robin's egg on the driveway. So inside I went for my camera. The egg was among a twig and some leaves, even the gradations of gray concrete created neat patterns in the middle. We had at least one robin raising young in the area. They liked the berries on the oragan grape plant in my backyard. I had to fish one baby out of the pond, he had ended up on one of the plants, when he got scared by the dog. He let me cup him between my two hands, and I placed him on the fence, where he flew off.

birds of a feather

You might have to double click on the picture to see the birds - the wires near this one intersection were full of birds on either side of the telephone pole. These birds were like the commercial where the composer is stuck, looks out the window and sees the birds sitting in a musical pattern that allows him to finish his musical composition. I'm not sure what notes these birds would represent, instead we just have a circular composition!

rainbow

We have been getting afternoon rains pretty regularly, and once in a while we get a rainbow! With wonderful arching color, here with a touch of tree parts in the middle and on the edge.

leaf patterns

Patterns, Patterns, Patterns, I just like them.

Have any of you ever seen the web site for the Toymaker? www.thetoymaker.com She has free paper toys for you to print out and put together. I like the quotation from the most recent newsletter.

"I urge you to please notice when you are happy,

and exclalim or murmur or think at some point,

'If this isn't nice, I don't know what is' "

by Kurt Vonnegut

layered clouds

It has been so hot here lately, hopefully all of you have found ways to stay cool. I'm greatful for any clouds that block the intensity of the sun and if they hold rain, it is a second blessing. If you got a postcard and this is your first visit, please have fun looking at the earlier mandalas. I try to keep them colorful and the descriptions informative. Any of the images can be glazed on an 8" tile or put into a 3" paper weight. Let me know what you think in the comments or at tstlinfo@aol.com (tstl - is the frist letters of 'to see the light')

Chimingbells

Chiming bells are a wildflower, with flowers that hang down. In the mandala shape they look like a daisy flower, but the individual flowers are really hanging down from the edge of the circle. I like the crispness of this image and am greatful for the opportunity to find these flowers in the wild.

zebra head sculpture

This past weekend I went on a garden tour - with sculptures in the gardens we visited. This was a garden for kids in a coutyard at the Denver Puppet Theate, with secret passages and a water fountain you could float boats in. My granddaughter likes zebra's so I took a picture. The strong black and white design make it hard to see the zebra head.

Hummingbirds

We cousins try to gather once a year at the cabin. New cameras and old we were trying to capture the hummingbirds at the feeder. It is hard to get them to sit still for long, so you have to snap the picture quickly. It was made more difficult by warring factions of the hummingbird world, we have a pair of brown rufus hummers that think the feeders belong to them and they try to chase everyone else off. In trying to capture the iridescent colors of their feathers, the light has to be just right. This picture is taken from the deck above the feeder getting a top shot of the birds. The result is a Christmas wreath with the red feeder and green birds!

shell plant with saying

Coming across beautiful sayings, or quotes, I like to incorporate them in my art. Being a flower person this was an easy picture to use, a different way of sharing my flowers with you. This vine has just started to bloom, I have not grown it before and was pleasantly surprised to find the bud looks like a snail shell.