Trees, Mandalas, and More!

 Lots to share today so let's get on with it shall we? First up- Happy Arbor Day!

                               Trees            By A. Joyce Kilmer

I think that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed

Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,

And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in Summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree.

I was surfing You Tube for watercolor techniques to paint a tree. What happened was I brought out a scrap of paper and my oil pastels to get a feel for the shades etc. and scribbled the above. I decided I liked it enough to share just as it is. I'll get to the watercolor version eventually:)

A few weeks ago I won a book in a giveaway by Andrea from her Falling Ladies blog
 

                   front and back covers along with the art card she sent me

 Thank you Andrea it is a wonderful book! There are projects that range from watercolor mandalas, doodle mandalas, paper cut mandalas, mandalas from nature, to mixed media mandalas - all with subtitles and materials used. Nicely detailed step outs too! And they are in sections by 5 different authors/artists including Andrea. So of course I went on to try one of Andrea's watercolor mandalas first and this is what I did:

 It took my brain a bit of time to wrap myself around using the protractor to measure the circles but eventually I got it:)

  Here it is colored in: ( I used Peerless watercolors)

 And what I decided to do at this point was to make two copies of it so I could experiment with using white gel pen to doodle one and black to doodle the other:

    what a difference in the outcome, huh? So which one do you like better??

 I'm excited to attempt more of these along with some of the other projects! You can find the book here. Great book, and congrats Andrea!

 And here is my last entry for Art Journal Journey's theme this month - "For The Record-be inspired by music."

  Of course I must share the music of this song with you too:

 another blast from the past! Thank you so much dear Susi and Valerie for inviting me to host this past month. It has been a fabulous experience to visit so many artists and their entries-thanks to all!! Can't wait to see what the next theme will be- coming on Sunday May 1- so stay tuned at Art Journal Journey!

 I am also linking to the one and only Paint Party Friday for it is there where I discovered so many brilliant artists along with some of the challenges I participate in.  PPF,  you ROCK!!

 Much thanks for stopping by and taking the time to leave a message. Always good to hear from a friend or two, old or new.

"Doing good holds the power to transform us on the inside, and then ripple out in ever-expanding circles that positively impact the world at large."  - Shari Arison