Mt Evans

Here on the front range of Colorado we get a good view of Mount Evans - it is especially pretty when it is covered with fresh snow like the picture today. Besides being a 5 pointed image - thus the star in the middle - I tried a water color effect in Photoshop. The golden star is made up of the cottonwood trees on the ground and above each arm of the star is a 'watercolor' rendition of Mt Evans. Hope you can see it! Here's hoping for a better year in 2017!

Merry Christmas

Everyone have a wonderful holiday! Am headed down to see the Blossoms of Light at the Denver Botanic Gardens tonight and I've got my first Christmas Card in the mail. Enjoy the season!

Alcohol Ink Star

Am posting several images in succession so I can order my annual 'blog book'. It gives me a sense of having accomplished something to hold a book in my hand - to say this is a record of my year long art work. Hope every one else enjoys my circles as much as I do! Alcohol Inks are fun to work with - I like the way colors interact with each other before they have dried. Just for fun!

Almost Christmas

Was looking for my Christmas Mandala when I found this bromeliad cross - I liked the subtle colors and the way they blended together. We survived a -2 last night. Brrrr

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - always colorful. I found these gourds at a local nursery and liked the colors. Enjoy the day with your family!

coleus

A very colorful coleus from the Denver Botanic Gardens. Our long Indian summer allowing things to continue blooming late into the year!

Engleman Ivy

Eagleman ivy turns a wonderful red in the Fall. It grows all over my fences

Happy Halloween!

Orange color and spidery shadows. Just for fun!

celtic pine needles

Was pleasantly surprised by the Celtic looking pattern that formed in the middle of this mandala. Flowers are fading - what is left in my garden are marigolds and pansies. We are still having mild weather so it will be interesting to see what is blooming at the Botanic Gardens next week.

reflections of DIA

This is just for fun. I liked the spotted shuttle bus against the blue reflection of the DIA tents in the windows of the new hotel building. I was passenger in a car delivering someone to DIA.

leaf color

Sometimes the pure color of things is so beautiful: these were three leaves, one orange with green veins, one red and one yellow. A nice fall mixture of color.

Morning Glory Vine

Depending on how cold it gets tonight the summer flowers could a thing of the past. The furnace came on for the first time tonight. Glad there are some more Indian Summer days coming. The morning glories have been good this year, blue, red and purple.

waterlily cross

Waterlilies are coming to the end of their summer bloom, as is this series of Celtic crosses. They were fun to do. This Celtic cross has the reflection of a waterlily, the darker lily is the reflection and the brownish colored lily pads make up the rest of the design.

succulent cross

This succulent had nice pastel colors and a bloom.

Red Cross

In this Mandala the red flower center formed part of the design element of the cross.

succulent cross

I liked the twig of another plant that made an edge in the Celtic cross shape of this succulent.

light thru the lotus leaf

Went down to the Botanic Gardens again - today, found many flowers as usual. However no Lotus Flowers, liked the pattern of light shining through the lotus leaves with all the varied shades of green.

praying mantis

You really have to look closely to see the mantis as he became part of the design element of the Celtic cross. You have to look closely when they are in your garden as well - they are so still, they blend in with the foliage. He was a fun summer discovery!

Hummingbird Mint

Once in a while, I use the Celtic cross feature in my kaleidoscope program. So here starts a series of crosses - this one is a flower of agastache or as one garden store called it "hummingbird mint", wonderful subtle colors.

one more grasshopper design

OK, one more variation on the grasshopper. I liked the distinctive black and yellow on his mid body, more of his wings are in this picture - they are translucent so don't show up much. I liked the two overlapping squares in the middle and the patterns on the legs.

another grasshopper mandala

If you look at the grasshopper he has green on his backside. The number of patterns on this one grasshopper are just amazing!

grasshopper

Had a grasshopper pose for me in the garden this morning. He has so many colors and patterns on his one inch body. Amazing!

stargazer lily

After watching the Olympics last night I should have saved the hibiscus mandala for the opening explosion of color. But the Stargazer Lily is strong in the color department too. My lilies have come and gone. I always wish the flowers would have lasted longer!

Hibiscus

Took a beautiful picture of a hibiscus flower then decided I liked the stamen as a repetitive design, thus the above mandala. Enjoy! We are having a cooler day here today - much appreciated!

White Liatris

There is a flower called a white liatris, I have it growing in my backyard. It has a fuzzy white top which just bloomed, pictured in this Mandala. When I use 12 repeated pie pieces - it makes a 6-pointed star, which reminds me of a snowflake! We could use some snow or at least cooler weather - we've been in the mid-90s for a couple weeks.

fused glass

Took a class in fused glass, made a woven shallow bowl. I liked the colors and made a mandala out of them.

Belated 4th of July

Had a good picture of the flag so I made a mandala with words. Hope you enjoyed your 4th of July!

Bubble Reflections

My grand-kids were blowing bubbles on the deck in the mountains. One bubble that landed in the shade had nice colors and the upright deck slats reflected in it.

Moss Rose

Planted a moss rose at the base of a cactus outside. Plant was hanging over edge of the planter and made a nice filigree in the 5 pointed star that the mandala created. Cactus is in the middle, you can see the spines if you look closely.

original photo

Glass ball the previous mandala came from.

Glass Ball

On the way out of the Gardens, you have to pass thru the edge of the gift shop - there were glass ball ornaments on display with the light shining thru them, I liked the colors, thus the mandala above.

tulips

Another spring flower the tulip. The Denver Botanic Gardens was full of tulips with the sun shining through the colorful petals. I liked the shadows at the center of this mandala.

May Day

This bouquet of pansies and some grape hyacinth toward the middle are appropriate Spring flowers for May Day (a little late). Weather has warmed up a bit and the snow finally melted, but it feels like there is a chill in the air still.

Pansy

My overwintering pansy, it's so nice to see something blooming in the garden in March. Now I have tulips and daffodils. I liked the purple-ness of it, with a touch of yellow.

Jade Flowers

Jade flowers when it is put outside for the summer in Colorado. Always a pleasant surprise!

bus shelter

This is really a very simple picture of the shadows cast by the sun.

light circles

One sees circles in the most interesting places, this was a bus shelter in Santa Fe on a busy street. Fortunately we had a red light when I saw this and took a quick picture. The light and the shadow were about as good as you could ask for.

galaxy in an egg

We tried several different egg decorating techniques this year. Decided one looked like a galaxy - dark with (glitter) stars.

Dancing Orchids

There are the tiny orchids which make a nice overall pattern. They are so light and delicate. These are a yellow and red-brown.

Eli's mix

My Grandson likes to mix colors, he specifically listed the colors he wanted but then proceeded to mix them all together, above is the result.

star within a star

Lighted stars are decorations usually put up during the holidays, this mandala is a portion of one of those stars, a star made of a star.

another beautiful orchid

A study in purple and pink. Thought it looked like an apple slice in the middle.

A Study in Purple

The Denver Botanic Gardens has a beautiful orchid display this month. This purple orchid was one of them. I liked the pastel feeling and the way the patterns overlapped.

Fire Light

There is still snow on the ground and I'm feeling cold so I thought I'd post my fire mandala. When we were in Santa Fe in December there was and event at the Palace of the Governors, where they built little fires in the courtyard. So I took pictures of the flames. Had fun trying to get a mandala that looked interesting but still had the feeling of fire.

'Star" lights

Found another of the 'Blossom of Light' mandala that reminded me of Starlight!

More Lights

More lights from the Denver Botanic Gardens. I liked the purple trunks and the other lights in the distance.

Leaves on the snow

Happy New Year! It's been cold and snowy here, so I added a snow mandala with fallen leaves. Bright blue sky here now with a warming trend in the forecast. 3 cheers!