Grape Hyacinth

Grape Hyacinth Mandala- now that we have had one of the coolest Springs and snow last week, maybe we can get on with summer. It is after Memorial Day now, pools have opened, I just expect it to warm up (I Hope). Grape Hyacinths are one of my harbingers of Spring often being buried in the snow themselves. No more snow PLEASE!

white forsythia

The opening of my white forsythia was delayed by the latest snow. They will open next week with the warming temperatures.

Spring has sprung!

Crocus are up! 3 cheers! The red-winged black birds are singing up a storm. I'm sure there is still a snowstorm or two out there but things are starting to grow!

more spring flowers

Loved the pastel colors in this cross shaped mandala.

daffodil

Daffodils always remind me of Spring! liked the way this mandala formed a square with the elements of the flower. We are having a windy April here in Colorado, it's blowing outside my window right now.

Flower Fairies

As a departure from my Mandalas, I have been making fairy gardens.  This is a May pole in a teacup, with two tiny fairies and a pansy, appropriate for the beginning days of May!  I put a thimble on top.  More fairy gardens will follow in the next couple of posts, then I will return to my flower mandalas.  Enjoy! I have been having fun trying to find just the right accents for these tiny gardens.

Spring Flowers

The purple tulips caught my attention and the white hanging flower completed the scene, waveing like a banner.  I love spring flowers after a winter with nothing, the plants are busting out in flower now. 

Violet violet

The color purple, I like it. My fragrant violets are up and perfuming the air, you have to bend over to smell and to look at them, they are just tiny flowers.  The deeper color is from the shadowed throat of the flower. Even our latest snow and cold snap didn't affect these little flowers.

Snow Drop

The snowdrop is the harbinger of spring!  I had one up before our big snow and found 3 others after the snow started melting.  The dark lines above are from a shadow cast by some stray dried grass in the area, I liked the effect they had on the final outcome.  There are other green things starting to appear in the garden, so Spring is on it's way! 

more of the emerging plants

From the picture in the last post. I liked the tightly formed leaves as the plant emerges from the ground. The repetition adds to the overall pattern. The color and shapes from the earlier Mandala are different - from different parts of the same photo

back to the new amongst the old post

This is the original picture of succulents emerging
The earlier post was mostly of the dead and dried foliage to the left , the next post will be of a Mandala that has more of the green in it - they are totally different yet from the same picture!

new amongst the old

Succulents coming up in the debris from last year's growing season. I liked the light and dark patterns created by this picture. I'll upload a different version of the same photo in a couple days, that has much more green.

spring

When the apple and pear trees bloom Spring has to be near! we actually had some rain here this morning! Above are pear blossoms. Grass is greening up and the dandelions are blooming, too.

Iris

Playing around with a new camera I got part of the flower in focus and part not. But I liked the results and the wonderful wrinkled texture in the violet color.

Glowing Tulip

Another flower from my Salt Lake Trip. The tulips were gorgeous and the sun was falling just right on the layers of this tulip.

Easter Lily

I love the smell of Easter Lilies in the morning after being in a closed in space all night.

iceland poppies

The iceland poppies were just starting to bloom in the court yard of the Central City Opera House. I took 2 juried pieces of my mandalas to the art gallery across from the Central City Opera house yesterday. The gallery gets the intermission crowd from the Opera House.