art from nature – Water :: Earth :: Wind

04.12.201409.20.2022

April Calendar is a Peaceful Montana Sunset

Dear Readers: Here is a gift from me to you.

I really do appreciate you. For reading my words and for commenting. I can’t tell you how much it means to me when someone comments, or emails me to let me know they are reading and appreciating my posts. For telling me that I have touched their heart. Just alot. So thank you, and here is a desktop or wall calendar for April that I hope you will enjoy.

Sorry it’s a wee bit late. These calendars are a gift because I want you to have something to remind you of a different way of seeing the world around us. And … well, just ‘cuz…

I’d love to know if you find these useful.

The calendars are free for you to download. I will try to post the calendars the first day or two of each month. The only thing I ask is that you use them only for your personal use. Please don’t sell them yourself. And please do tell your friends these are available. Thank you!

If I don’t have the size or proportion of your computer monitor, or if you would like one for a cell phone, please tell me in the comments and I will make one for you and post it here. This month I am posting two versions: the calendar below may be downloaded and printed for your wall or fridge. The one at the top of this post is desktop wallpaper for your computer.

How do I do this? Just right-click to save the image. Let me know in comments if you have any trouble. You can download and print either calendar. Happy Springtime to you, wherever you are!

Here’s one for your iPhone:

and here is one that’s 1280 pixels wide, for your desktop:

And, finally, here is a calendar for your (analog/actual) wall (just print it out on an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper, using the “photo on matte paper” settings.)

09.25.201309.20.2022

My Hometown: Color Hunt in the Rain

Have you ever stayed indoors because it’s just too uncomfortable to go outside? Sometimes we all do that: hide from the elements — wind, rain, heat, snow, ice, sun. When I choose to stay inside and not head out into nature, I often regret it later. Yesterday was one of those days. I seriously thought about not going out in the rain, but Charlie needed his walk and I needed my nature-fix. So, I bundled up, put on a hat, grabbed the umbrella and my camera and took off with my favorite walking buddy.

Rain. Have you ever noticed when it’s raining, that in spite of overcast skies and gray air, the rain has an amazing effect on the colors all around you? I decided to turn our soggy outing into a hunt for awesome colors. This time of year in Montana, the colors of the land appear to fade but they don’t, really. Prairie grasses morph to tan, gray, brown. Wildflowers seed. Yes, aspens, larch and other trees will soon put on a color show, and the ground shrubs are still colorful, but mostly, when our eyes look out at the prairie, our brains see “gray/tan.”

But. When the rain comes, all you have to do is look a little closer and you’ll see a tapestry of brilliant colors. Here’s one, above — a community of lichens.

Click the photo to see it large — you’ll see the colors better. It’s like getting down on the ground up close to your subject. 🙂

07.03.201309.20.2022

Ocean Mandalas Use Found Natural Materials

At our family reunion on Vancouver Island this past weekend, some of us made mandalas of shore materials we found in the forest and on the beach. Natural object mandalas are– by their very nature — ephemeral, and will be destroyed by the tides, wind, wildlife and time. Yet the making of these circular designs gives so much pleasure it doesn’t really matter that they won’t last long.

Mandala of Natural Objects — Tom and Kat made this mandala using a barnacle-covered cinder block monolith, red seaweed, driftwood sticks, oyster shells on-edge, and some wild mustard.

Ocean Mandala of natural objects — Martina’s mandala has bilateral symmetry, and includes a border of seaweed, and in the center, she used driftwood, grasses and shells

As the evening cooled, we walked around admiring the mandalas … then later watched as Tom and Kat’s mandala was washed away by the incoming tide. I love thinking of beach-walkers stumbling across our mandalas and wondering about the makers. I hope these photos inspire you to make your own mandalas, no matter where you are.