a new beginning

ciao, dear readers...

I have long been a lover of flowers...

in my past life as a florist, I found a tiny little book,

The Language of Flowers..

that I still reference...

it brings me comfort to know that there is more than the surface concerning anything

really...

my studio emblem...

there is a whole language of symbolism that makes life so interesting...

in my spare time, as you know...

I have been drawing little lilies...

gigli..

for my relatives and they have given me time to think about a family that is named

Lily...

the lily is an interesting flower

it has parts arranged in 3's which is associated with the trinity

or of having a triune nature...

they appear at funerals and in the spring..

they are offered by angels in paintings and they

adorn the caskets of the aged..

they were used in celebrations and sorrows, by both Pagans and Christians... 

the triune nature that represents

both death and life

my gigli on the work table seen through the stained glass...

several years ago, a friend of mine

who was a stained glass artist...

showed me a piece of his work...

 he normally created

abstract pieces, but for some reason he was compelled  to a

create a fleur de lis..

puzzled...

I have been working two 3 x 3's per page and have two finished and 4 in progress...

he put the piece aside and went on with his work...

of course, when I saw it, I knew it was for me...

and so it has traveled around with me

from each studio location...

a fleur de lis or fiori di giglio

is the stylized version of the lily..

I decided to concentrate my tiny sketches..

the writing is lily, lilium giglio, gigli...  mixed media on paper, Nu Pastel and colored pencil

on the white lilies

gigli in process...

and to stick to pursue more interesting varieties...

fragrant Sand Lily... with star shaped petals and grass like leaves...

and I am creating pastel sketches that you saw above 

for my relations that like

the traditional...

and mixed media below...

lily in progress mixed media on book page.

for my relatives who love
new beginnings...

have a great week
and may all your new beginnings be easy...


C4N!

last wips

ciao, dear readers...

it has been very windy here...

perfect studio days...

so here are the last of my work in progress posts...

I must say that keeping a camera nearby

disrupts the creative process quite a bit..

this will be a large show...

I will have several boards, a large canvas some framed works on paper and some unframed pieces on khadi papers..

below, I used black gessoed the on the boards and the canvas 

you can see the piece that was published in Pasticcio Panoply above,

which I am including in the show and it is part of my inspiration..

I placed two painted pages together and left a black border

I painted the paper and used pencil to define the edges and then painted a crackle paint over the black gesso

to create texture 

and I sanded the painted papers to create more texture and layers

below you can see the crackle paint is repainted and the Italian collage has been positioned to the center

of the piece where it will be adhered and the small fabric stitching will be placed on top...

this piece, The Daisy... titled after the Andersen fairy tale

is about death and the end of a relationship

you can see where I am going with it

and I will show it to you once it is finished..

I am going to take a little blog break...

taking some time to see family..

hope your weather inside and out is calm and peaceful 

wherever you are...

C4N!