Ode To The Purple Coneflower

Come into the garden for a moment and enjoy the complex, yet simple beauty of a beloved heirloom flower. Lose yourself in the majestic, towering stems, the satin-soft petals and the geometrically fascinating seed heads. Appreciate for just a moment something beyond the scope of your normal day and when you leave, take with you a renewed desire to slow down and enjoy every little moment.

I am somewhat obsessed with this flower and have been both drawing it and painting it in different ways for many years. This is my first representation of it in a digital artform. I also grow the flower at home, in my garden and look forward to it's return every year, as it produces somewhat of an explosion of blossoms that last for months with little care required. I love the vibrant petal colors, which range from hot pink to pale lavender, the intricite ways they curve and curl around one another, and have always imagined the flowers coming alive as dancing ballerinas in the night. With this art piece, I hoped to catch a snapshot of midsummer favorite in a modern, yet timeles way.

Thinking Summery Thoughts

I am so excited to be able to offer this new line of Mini Dahlia Notebooks. They were created in response to a customer who requested my original regular-sized Dahlia notebook (the pink one) in different colors and smaller. I had not thought to experiment with the colors or the size until she contacted me, but I am so happy with the results. I love when someone tosses me an idea out of the blue and I am able to run with it. Sometimes we artists find ourselves in creative "ruts", which is where I must admit I was at the time my customer contacted me. Any "jumpstarts" are always appreciated, so don't be afraid to ask an artist to do something for you. They will probably be delighted!

In Preparation for Spring

I feel it - even though everything outide is still brown and the air is chilly and I'm wearing socks and sweaters constantly - an inner sense that the earth is changing. As someone who hates winter and cold with a passion (even though I live in the midwest and should be used to it by now), I always look for the earliest signs of spring, long before most other people would: tiny brownish-red buds forming on the naked brances of the trees in my yard, the sun that feels warm (not just bright) through my car's windows. And I am tempted to peek under the clumps of dead leaves in my empty flower beds for those first yellow-green spikes from early bloomers. It still feels like winter, but in only a few weeks, Spring will popping up everywhere and there will be no stopping it. Just knowing that the end of winter is in sight, puts light in my heart and a bounce in my step. I feel a new energy and my hands itch to start making lists for plans well into the summer months. Already I have some new flower bulbs lined up, ready to go into the ground as soon as it's safe. And I also am seeing my house - really seeing it - in a new and very dirty light and realizing that it's about time I gave it a thorough cleaning. One thing I always have to do to welcome a new season is buy a new silk floral arrangement - this time it was yellow dogwood blossoms on an irregular branch. It looks very lifelike and spruces up my kitchen just enough to inspire me to get going on the rest of my house.

Life goes on and on, and just when we think it's out of anything useful, it recycles it'self all over again and if we are lucky enough to be a part of that process, we should be very thankful.