Mandala's

Mandalas are a timeless masterpiece, rich with traditions and symbolism. Each mandala is unique and conveys different meanings depending on who made it and what philosophies are believed by that individual. Mandalas are generally considered sacred objects with important teachings and a deity given to each one. Found in many different cultures and religions, from Buddhism, Hindu, Celtic, Native Americans, and many more the mandala has become a major symbol throughout history and even today. Yet many people don’t realize the significance or cultural meaning of this mighty symbol.

Mandala

I have so many old shovels and sometimes I feel I shouldn't cut in to them when I see the odd qualities and the writing on them.  I never truly know how old some are - hopefully I haven't cut one that could of sold on Sotherby's for $100,000!!

Horse Goddess and Irish symbol

Gifted to my Irish - horse loving BFF.

Iris

I hope you've all had a good weekend.  I feel Autumn in the air and it is cooling a bit and I start wanting to do new things, I feel pulled in many different directions these day, but with my show coming up I have to try and focus on new items for that so, while I was doing yard work (another distraction) I kept being in need of something tall to hold up some of my plants, so I came up with these tall Iris just for that purpose.  They're thick steel and sturdy and about 2.5-3.0 ft tall.  Their still rusting and getting some character, but hopefully folks will find them as helpful as I have.

After cleaning up a corner of the garden and digging up some old plants I was finally able to see those 50 gallon barrels I carved a few years ago.  They were so full of overgrown plants you couldn't really see through them well at night.  I love looking at these in the dark.  I may have to carve a few more and spread them around!  I'm feeling the need to do some more large things ~ so after this show I hope I can do more of that.

 Here's a bad picture of them in the dark - it's a little blurry but you get the idea.. :)

It's SHOVEL Time

Getting ready for my annual show at the Botanical Gardens is always a blessing and a battle.  It comes during the hottest time ~ or rather I need to be working thru the summer in the heat to prepare for it.  It's been difficult getting motivated to really get in gear with our high temps this year.  I dream up tons of ideas and fill my "little book" with them and then I just feel overwhelmed and do nothing.  Does your mind ever get so muddy that you are just stagnate??  I feel pulled in many different directions lately and none of them the direction I need to go.  

I've been putting off doing my shovels for way too long and now with my show only a couple weeks away, the realization of just how very few shovels I have finally registered - these were what started my journey down this ART road six years ago ~ they are kinda my signature show piece so I couldn't show up without any so, here's a few I've carved out.  Still gotta cut and weld leaves and vines and attach.

I had to laugh at this one and it will go in the junk pile of Mistakes.

This is what happens when your not in the mood and feeling very unmotivated!

Basically...... it's a hot mess!  :)

As an experiment I cut out a few little vegetable plant markers.  Don't know how they'll do and really didn't do a lot, but I thought for those that have a little veggie garden they'd be fun.  What do you think?  Are they worth doing?  They haven't rusted yet and would certainly be better rusty...plus these are kinda hard to see.  There's a Tomato, onion, bell pepper, carrot, green bean & radish.

Road Trip Over!!

Been limping/hobbling around at home since my Road Trip to Santa Fe to help with the Pena Blanca Sunflower Festival.  Sadly just a week before I left I got what I thought was a small sliver of glass in my foot from those D*@# Glass Flowers I make!!! After many attempts to actually find it I went to the Dr. today and find out I may need surgery to get it out!  Not a Happy Camper !  and I don't like hobbling around when I've got stuff to to do and a show coming up.  Oh well, enough whining it could of been worse..... the lady next to me in the Dr. office fell off a ladder and broke both of her heels.... and she's a Pilates teacher!!!!  I guess someone always has it worse off than we do sometimes.

I have hundreds of pictures and it's so hard not to show more and of the artists, so here is just a quick glimpse of the fields.  There were lots of people, lots of artists and lots of Sunflowers.  All in all the "1st Annual" was a big success.  The Sunflowers were so beautiful to see although I only had few minutes to capture these shots as I was so busy manning the t-shirt & sunflower booth the whole time I never really spent enough time in the fields ~ next year!

Here a little video that was posted of parts of the festival......    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thIrVU4oJJY

As my truest followers and friends know.... No Road Trip I take is every complete without paying homage to my Arroyo Junkers & Junky Junk addictions ~ so here are a few of the beauties that I found.