Flower Art Challenge

This month’s challenge theme from the Art Elements blog is Flowers. Nothing inspires me more than flowers do. I love their many colors, shapes and textures. I have always been deeply moved, healed and inspired by the beauty in nature. We once had a home that had over 1,000 daffodils in the back field – my husband planted them over the years because he saw how much joy they brought me! 🙂

I make greeting cards with pressed, dried flowers. I photograph flowers. I design flowered jewelry and ceramic items and I love to arrange flowers. I adore flowers!

I have a number of different entries for this month’s Challenge, but several things are still works in progress. I was sick for a couple of weeks in July and didn’t get everything finished up. However, early in July, I made this bowl, with a floral motif in it.  It has now had its first kiln firing, but I haven’t had time to glaze and re-fire it. I am still pondering which glazes to use.

I have set myself a goal of having a booth at a large Art To Wear show next April. Judging will take place in January 2020  My goal (besides being juried in) is to have all my own ceramic jewelry in the show. This is a lofty goal, because I have tons of jewelry with art beads from other makers, but I haven’t done a lot of designing with my own ceramic components. Mostly I have just offered them for sale to jewelry designers. So I have my work cut out for me and I used this Art Elements challenge to jump start my efforts.

I made these yellow earrings early this month. They include my ceramic roses which I accented with lampwork glass by Third Eye Gypsys.

After making these earrings, I decided to make a bunch more roses to use for simple post earrings and necklaces. I haven’t had time to glaze them yet, but I plan to make them happy and colorful! These are the earring pairs.

These are larger and will be used in necklaces.

Next I made some daisy post earring pairs.

These also have a larger version for necklaces.

Here’s another floral earring pair, in a more rustic style.

And a last minute necklace addition… I made this simple necklace this afternoon with a new pendant I made last week.

Last of all, I want to share a floral “event” that took me by surprise this month. I posted some flower photographs on Instagram and Facebook. Shelly Turner, the owner of the OOAK Artisan Showcase gallery, in Rome, NY saw my photos and asked me to submit two of them to an upcoming show. The show is titled “Summer Afternoon” and it runs through August 4th. She sent me a photo of one of my pictures in the gallery.

And here’s the other flower photo I submitted; a stunning purple poppy.

I would like to thank Art Elements for hosting this challenge, with special thanks to Marsha Neal Minutella who arranged it all. This is a blog hop so please take some time and look at the wonderful things people are creating for this theme. I invite you to visit the artists’ blogs and leave a friendly comment, (if you are having issues leaving comments, try using google chrome as your browser).
You can also see and participate yourself via social media by using the hashtags: #AEThemeChallenge and #AEFlowers

Here is a list of the Visiting Artists:
Alysen
Cat
Divya
Evie and Beth
Jill
Hope
Kathy
Linda
Louise
Martha
Melissa
Michelle
Rozantia
Sarah
Sarajo
Tammy

And the Art Elements Blog Contributors:
Caroline
Cathy
Claire
Jenny
Laney
Lesley
Marsha
Susan

Linda Landig Jewelry

 

 

Thirty Word Thursday: Garden Visitor

Garden visitor, timid and alert.

Nibbles the lawn. Jaws working side to side.

Glances up.  Ears rotate independently of one another.

Bite. Chew side to side. Check for danger.  Repeat.

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The premise of 30 Words Thursdays is simple…

Take an image.  Write 30 words about it.

No more. No less.  Post it each Thursday.

Condensing thoughts, feelings and experiences to just 30 words creates a poem-like reflection.  Head over to Erin Prais-Hintz’s blog, to find links to other 30 Word Thursday posts.

I am always delighted to read your comments!   Hope to hear from you.

Linda

Linda Landig Jewelry – ArtFire 

Linda Landig Jewelry – Etsy

Thirty Word Thursday: Radiant Orchid

Pantone decrees

Radiant Orchid

For the New Year.

And everyone obeys.

Wall paint.  Evening gowns.

Advertising.  And jewelry.

I laugh.

I’ve had Radiant Orchid

On my window sill

For years.

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The premise of 30 Words Thursday is simple…

Choose an image and write 30 words about it. No more. No less.  30 Word Thursday is the brainchild of Erin Prais-Hintz of Tesori Trovati.  To find links to other 30 Word Thursday posts,  head over to Erin’s blog.

Thirty Word Thursday: The Sea

A flaming sunset

Filled with wonder

Turns rolling waves pink and gold.

Salt spray, sand and wind

Fill my senses.

Cry of gulls calls me home and

renews my soul.

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The premise of 30 Words Thursdays is simple…

Take an image.

Write 30 Words about it. No more. No less.

Post it each Thursday.

30 Word Thursday is the brainchild of Erin Prais-Hintz of Tesori Trovati.  I’ve always enjoyed photography and writing.  At times I have even written poetry.  Condensing my thoughts, feelings and experiences to just 30 words creates a poem-like reflection.

I can’t commit to doing this weekly, but I will try to play along as often as possible.  If you head over to Erin’s blog, you’ll find links to other 30 Word Thursday posts.

I Heart Macro – Pods

Welcome to Macro Sunday.  I actually took these pictures a few weeks ago, but never got around to posting them.

Five Leaf Akebia pod

We have a Five Leaf Akebia vine twining along the railing of our backyard deck.  My husband is the garden expert at our house, so I’d never paid much attention to this vine before.

Five Leaf Akebia pod

A couple of weeks ago, he called me outside to show me these giant-sized seed pods!

Opened pod of a Five Leaf Akebia vine.

I was astonished at the size of the pods.  Some were over 4 inches long!  Heavy with seeds, the pods caused the vine to droop down.

Five Leaf Akebia seed pod.

Surely this vine had never produced such extraordinary fruits before!  However, my husband said that, yes, these pods grow every year at this time.

This one makes me laugh! It looks like it is talking!

Well that humbled me!  We’ve lived here 7 years now and I’ve been totally oblivious to these long, fat seed pods!

Five Leaf Akebia seed pod.

This experience taught me the importance of really seeing things, of looking deeply and paying attention.  What’s the point of having a beautiful garden, if I’m not truly present in the moment. If I am too preoccupied with the cares of today or with concerns about the future, then I’m unable to accept the gifts our garden is offering me in the present moment.  Gifts of beauty, abundance, calm, color and the cycle of life.  I must make sure I am really living with my eyes open!

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Hey!  who let the gremlins in here????  I never said they could doodle on my picture!

“Hello there friendly reader!”

Oh well, I guess I couldn’t remain so seriously philosophical for too much longer…..

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Lori of Studio Waterstone  hosts a weekly blog hop of close-up photos.
Visit Lori to get links to more great macro shots.

I Heart Macro – Buds

“This bud’s for you!”  No, not that bud–flower buds! (sorry!)  Its that strange time of year when hints of spring are everywhere, but where we get snow, hail,  rain and even sunshine all in one day.

forsythia buds

buds

fir tree buds

cherry tree buds

cherry tree buds

Rhododendron buds

 

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Lori of Studio Waterstone  hosts a weekly blog hop of close-up photos.
Visit Lori to get links to more great macro shots.

I Heart Macro – Pussy Willows

Its time for another ♥ I Heart Macro Sunday! ♥

 

We had a huge storm here about a month ago.  Branches and trees blew down all over the city.  We live near a wetland area, where pussy willows grow large; happy to have their feet wet all the time.  Pussy willow branches broke off in the storm and littered the sides of our little country road.

Pussy willows at dawn

I discovered that even when pussy willows have been snapped off from the tree and even when they’ve laid on the ground for 2 or 3 weeks, the downed branches still have enough  life in them to put forth pussy willows and continue  the cycle of life.

Pussy willow catkins

There is a lesson here for me.  Although at times I may feel broken by life’s storms; although I feel that pieces of me lay scattered on the ground; there is still life within me. I can summon that life to grow anew.  I can go on.

Pussy willows with pollen

Pussy willows with pollen

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Lori of Studio Waterstone  hosts a weekly blog hop of close-up photos.
Visit Lori to get links to more great macro shots.

I heart macro – Primroses

Primrose Love

Its time for another ♥ I Heart Macro Sunday! ♥

My husband gave me a basket of primroses for Valentines Day.  He knows how much I love them.  They always give me hope that spring is around the corner and they help me get through the long, gray days of February.

 

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Lori of Studio Waterstone  hosts a weekly blog hop of close-up photos.
Visit Lori to get links to more great macro shots.

I heart macro – Snow

If you’re looking for the blog hop, it’s here: Copper Components Blog Hop

Snowmageddon 

Its time for another ♥ I Heart Macro Sunday! ♥

The big snow storm that hit us in late January has affectionately been dubbed Snowmageddon in the press!  First we had 11 inches of snow in 24 hours, then we had freezing rain, which coated everything with a heavy layer of ice.

The ice was followed by a windstorm with gusts up to 60 mph.  Whole trees snapped under the weight of the ice and the force of the wind.

The ornamental cherry trees that line our long driveway were severely damaged.  A tree toppled down at the end of our road and landed on the overhead electrical wires.

We were without electricity for 3 and a half days—brrr!  We live in a rural area and are on well water, which is pumped to the house via an electric pump, thus we were without, heat, light, telephone, running water or flushing toilets for those 3 and a half days.  We were entirely snowed in for the first two days, so we couldn’t even drive to a warm restaurant for food.

The stuff in our freezer was melting, so my husband gathered up the thawing chicken, and made barbecued chicken soup!  Not many people can claim to have eaten barbecued soup!  He also made barbecued hot tea for us.  I took these pictures when the snow had just started.  My husband took the picture of the downed tree (admittedly not a macro shot), that zapped our electricity.

Chochi has been here.

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Lori of Studio Waterstone  hosts a weekly blog hop of close-up photos.
Visit Lori to get links to more great macro shots.

I heart macro – Snow Melt

Snow Melt

Its time for another ♥ I Heart Macro Sunday! ♥

I think this is one of the best pictures I have ever taken and I’m very happy to be able to share it with you today.

Snow melt

 

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Lori of Studio Waterstone  hosts a weekly blog hop of close-up photos.
Visit Lori to get links to more great macro shots.