Every Year

Grateful for this rainbow quote that came across my screen today. 

And I'm so grateful for all that I have....it's more than enough.

Every year I marvel at the Enkianthus blossoms along side of my condo. They're subtle and oh so sweet.

It's a important political year for Maine....and the country.

Slow doodle drawing on patio this afternoon. 

She's Not Wrong!

Because I knew more blooms were coming...I picked the stem with my single Bowman's root bloom yesterday and made a few sun prints. Today I added watercolor. 

I think this may be one of my favorites.  I love the shades of layered blues....the light and airy plant with its single whimsical bloom...and the touch of watercolor. 

I think it captures the magic of this very handsome plant.

More of these to come! 

I texted these two photos to Alison this morning as part of our daily photo exchange and my caption read: Playing with my Bowman's root. Her response made me laugh out loud and had me chuckling all day:Sounds like the name of a botany inspired porno flick! 

She's not wrong!

I actually pressed a stem a few weeks ago when the buds were just forming and used it for my cyanotype session yesterday. The leaves were large....so the the white spaces were big and blocky. 

I paused on the patio this afternoon and did a little experiment using watercolor pencils this time to create today's rainbow. 

I use fairly inexpensive watercolor paper for my cyanotypes so it couldn't really take all the shading from the pencil's.  

The minute I started adding water to blend the colors I could tell I couldn't do too much or I would gum up the paper. The gold speckles seemed to help soften it a bit. 

So from now on....I'll stick with regular watercolor. I can't afford to use good paper. 

It's always a good day when there's time to pause and play a little on the patio.

This Happened Today!

Way back in 2011 Ellen, Lynn and I did a year long ABC trading card exchange....it's one of my very favorite art trades! We went through several rounds where we sent a letter to one person...the next letter to the other person and we kept the 3rd. 

We continued this cycle until we made it through the whole alphabet. This was my R card...for Rainbow. It features Ribbon and Ric Rac all in Rainbow Row! 

You can see all the cards here in this post:

https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-abc-project.html

I've been watching my Bowman's root plant closely that I got from my sister Nancy.

The airy foliage has had these marvelous slender buds for a couple weeks and I've been waiting for the first one to open. It happened today!  

The blooms are tiny wispy stars that absolutely melt my heart. 

And this happened today too! Once I got started...there was no stopping. Time to shop my stash for another rainbow puzzle! 

Calming and Meditative

I picked this dandelion on my walk yesterday and held it up to the sun. 

I couldn't look at it directly while I clicked several photos but I was tickled I got this one just right.

Sometimes there is magic in something this simple. 

With a nudge from Dotty's recent post....I paused on the patio for some slow drawing. 

I started with a watercolor from my stash and did some simple outlining as I watched and listened to the birds. It was calming and meditative.

The body heals with play. The mind heals with laughter, and the spirit heals with joy.  Proverb

This was where I landed yesterday. 

And this is where I landed today.  More doodling...and a little colored pencil shading. It was calming and meditative.

My rainbow of the day....as seen on our way to the downtown rally.

Found Rainbows

Because of the Consciously Creative class I took from Philippa Stanton back in 2017 I started collecting found objects. 

These were some of my very first finds....and I happen to have a whole rainbow. I was hooked. There are interesting things out there in the world...and everything has a story and connection to someone you don't know. 

Paul has been helping me for years....this photo was taken in 2020. We're a little more particular these days...but we're still picking up interesting and unusual found objects.

This morning I was working on my rainbow puzzle and got through the pink pretty quickly.

I pulled the Pink Panther and the pink rubber ducky up for a closer look.....and that gave me an idea.

I had to search for a few extra found objects to fill in the full spectrum...but why now have a rainbow on my puzzle table for the month of June! Silly? Yes. But sometimes you just have to be silly and find rainbows.

Makes Me Happy!

I had a lot of rainbow puzzles to choose from in my stash...but this 500 piece button puzzle was the winner this time. I'm really enjoying reworking puzzles I already own. 

I think my favorite thing about this rainbow is that it STARTS with pink. I already have all the pieces laid out in my boxes....so I'm ready to go...and that makes me happy! 

My day kind of got away from me....all in a good way. And the boys are coming for dinner...so it's only going to get better. Having the four of us together makes me happy!

I thought it was time for this bird's eye view of my favorite part of my garden. There are a few plants that are still coming along...but most things are just reaching their prime. I love all the textures and variations of green. That tiny hosta on the left was just a root I found when I was digging.....I tucked it in and it's growing and should get bigger. I do have some teeny tiny ones that won't get bigger. I divided the purple coral bell in the front so it's a bit smaller than usual...but it will grow too! 

One of my very favorite plants is the maidenhair fern. I brought it with me from Lexington...and I've been splitting and spreading it around. The wispy leaves sit on a very slender but sturdy stem and I love the movement in the breeze.

This small condo garden makes me very happy! 

I hope there were things in your day that made you happy.

Restraint?

It was one of those absolutely perfect spring days! I spent all morning outdoors walking and puttering in the gardens and tending the birds and feeders. Then I puttered indoors and even checked a few pesky chores things off the list. I love days like this!

Can I go the whole month sharing some sort of rainbow spectrum I encounter or create each day? I think I can! Especially in June. 

There are times I should show some restraint with the gold splatters. But then again....maybe not! Sometimes they work out better than other times. This was a failed background  texture experiment....so I made up for it in splatters. 

And it looks better trimmed up and mounted. It was too big for one of my cards...so I mounted it on a 5 x 7 piece of cardstock. I wonder if it can be mailed as a post card?

Along with my puzzle gang.....I'm celebrating this fabulous explosion of rainbow color. This Asian Oil-paper Umbrella puzzle was engaging from start to finish. And now I get to start another one!

Prime Real Estate

I didn't have to look very far on my camera roll to find a rainbow. June is for rainbows. 

Until the Winslow Farm stand fills with vegetables...my cards get front and center prime real estate. They are currently selling plants...both flowers and vegetables outside and in their greenhouses. Sarah asked me if I would be interested in teaching a cyanotype class at their shot. Yes! I'm in. We are both going to think on it and

I wondered how a cyanotype print would look putting the sharpie words down FIRST...then the plant.  So I did a quick experiment with a maiden hair fern today....I like the texture it creates! 

I'm going to play around with a fine tip marker with smaller writing...and maybe even some India ink. 

This is one of those times I wish my handwriting was better. I may have better luck with asemic writing. 

Talking It Through

Right next to October....June is one of my very favorite months and I'm going to celebrate it all month long. But I guess that's mostly what I do the other 11 months....so I'll just carry on.

What I love about June...and some of what I'll be celebrating:

It's Pride month! So there will be plenty of rainbows. Image was found on Story People's Facebook Page.

The gardens are nearly in their full glory.

Purple shines in the June gardens.

There can be days that feel like summer...but chilly spring days are still possible. I actually like that! 

The new leaves on the trees still have that spring green glow.

The start of long stretches on the patio watching the birds and celebrating the season. 

Kelly came over yesterday to talk through some ideas for a cyanotype lesson for her students. They are talking about shadows and how our feelings and thoughts are sometimes suppressed...and in the shadows. She knew she wanted to incorporate cyanotype because of the need for light...but wanted a way to tie the process in even more. 

I suggested incorporating in some writing....actual  handwriting or asemic writing that stood for thoughts and feelings but not readable. So we gave it a try.

Kelly wrote down some her thoughts on a piece of acetate with a black sharpie. We placed a pressed meadow rue leaf down first...than after about 10 seconds of processing we placed the writing down and topped it off with a piece of plexiglass to hold it all down tightly. 

It worked well. Students could find their own plants or use some other shape as a focal point that has some meaning to them. 

.

Just to see if it would work....we tried it again with words layered on words. The thinking is that negative thoughts could be overshadowed by the positive thoughts.  We liked the way you can see through most of the letters...giving it a nice effect....and some interesting symbolism. 

I'm already thinking about how I can apply this to my own cyanotype art.

I gave Kelly a UV lamp for her birthday and she played around with it a bit more when she got home trying out different pens. It was so good to talk it through with each other...and will set us both in motion. 

Order of Operations

Maybe living your best life just means slowing down enough to see how good it already is. author unknown

It's been downright chilly the last day or two. Yesterday Paul and I walked to nearby sidewalk wildflower garden that we check out every year. It's wild and wonderful...and always worth a look. The feel-like temperature was in the 30's...so I wore my winter coat, gloves and ear protection.  

The garden is in the neighborhood where Fall and Autumn Lanes intersect. It looked like spring...but felt like fall and autumn.

When making layered cyanotypes...the item you put down first is the what doesn't get exposed and stays white and ends up being in the foreground of your print. Every layer added after becomes more and more in the background. I often do two layers and sometimes three giving the pieces depth. 

On this one...I placed the meadow rue leaf down first...then after about 20 seconds I placed a punched circle for the moon.....and it looks like more leaves at the very end.  And it looks like there's a few vinegar spots too.

The paper was already a little exposed before I put the first plant down...so it's a pleasing light blue. I painted the moon with metallic gold watercolor and added a few splatters. 

I quite like it.  

I had to chuckle when I got the order of operations wrong on the FIRST try....and put the moon down first putting it in the foreground.  Oops. But the print wasn't that great....

so it became the background for my sign for the garden store display. I'll be delivering my stack of cards on Tuesday. 

I like the softness of this one!

Why Wouldn't I?

I love lupin season in Maine. And if you're familiar with the children's book Miss Rumphius....you'll know why. 

I was excited to see the lupin blooming at the pond yesterday....every year there are a few more.

Then I was tickled pink to find this patch in a nearby garden on my walk.

So why wouldn't I get right in the car and head into Portland to check out the lupin hill overlooking Back Bay. It's not quite at peak...but it's close...and it was totally worth it. 

Why wouldn't I take every opportunity to enjoy the lupin in Maine!