today was a quiet time of reflection.....

The skies were overcast with gray fluff of clouds and deep violet blue hues.  The spitting snow was brief and intermittent but the winds whipped up a real cold bone chilling thrust against my body when I arrived at the studio.  I went to work...and tried to be present in the creation of a silly monkey collage with beautiful green, tropical leaves framing the three baby animals.  Tomorrow I plan to frame in the gallery canvas with a zebra stripe to complete the jungle theme.  I enjoyed listening to instrumental music as I arranged...cut...glued... and sealed the animals with the Liquitex gel medium.  I am looking forward to adding personalities and small details to each main character.  I want the baby to have a multitude of stimulation places in this large canvas.

I went after work in search of my embellishments for my Whispers of Desert Flowers exhibit coming up in May in Phoenix.  If you are in the area...feel free to come on down and visit me.  I studied some interesting processes of creating the desert flowers. I am thinking of making bead embellishments as well as a variety of threads and fibers to create the illusion of blooming textures.  As many of you already know and understand...what you think might work often does not please the artist eye.  But with each approach I am learning to make small vignettes that could be beautiful in shadow boxes or in a combination collection of images.  I also found a "fun" metal suitcase....to organize and store my works as they come alive.  I will share when I begin to feel more comfortable with my visions.

 my work table is completely full...Tohono Chul desert flowers are in the research book....

 three wonderful wild women who work to help families solve different complications... I love these brave women!

 a monkey is appearing...

 the baby monkey is ready to swing into action...the Doyle baby is going to have a wonderful baby room...

 my monkeys are ready to swing into St. Patrick's Day....Shine!

 of how exciting....my 2013 Dharma Trading Company catalog arrived today...so many new items and techniques....

 look at those luscious fiber reactive dye colors.............

 barb stopped by to get a special card for her friend Ann...she loves to drop by and check out all my Art stuff in action...

 she warmed up a bit before heading over to Little Bear Grocery ...the wind was whipping up fiercely and she needed to get home before the snows returned....we had 70 degrees on Sunday with clear sunshine!!

 I am working on a couple hummingbird watercolor paintings for a special birthday card for Vicki's mother...her mother is recovering from surgery and has a long road of recovery.... these tiny birds are magical....

 If you really want to excite a little one in your life...I highly recommend this fun and interactive approach to color theory....






the collage of jungle babies is coming together....I need to get some darker greens for the jungle....

Tomorrow I am working with Katie, she is a high school student and she is making a video of me working and an interview for her media classes at Newark High School.  I am going to share my latest large work with her and share some small pieces ...I am not sure what she needs until she arrives.  I am sure we will collaborate well together and make a unique presentation ...to work with young artists is a great joy that I never get tired of.



I hope you are all warm and safe tonight.  I appreciate your loving support and guidance  as I continue to work and live with Lupus.  Imagine and Live in Peace,  Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart