Reflections of Art

Creating art is both a reflection of the subject and the artist.

Everything you perceive is interpreted by your heart and eventually reflected in the finished art creation. All art is very personal - each time you paint a picture, you paint something about yourself. The way you apply your brushstrokes, the colors you use, and especially the subjects you choose to paint all show your individuality.

What inspires you to create art? Most inspiration comes from what we experience and know. Your inspiration is your own personal muse.

To begin, you must make choices about your personal selection of colors, brushes, and paper or other materials, but the most important tool is your own mind's eye. How can you take your thoughts, feelings, and perceptions and translate them to paper?

The essence of art lies in the excitement of creation and the fulfillment you feel when you finish a work of art.


Lily
Watercolor Painting
by Joanne Osband

I love nature, reflections, and interesting shapes and forms.
What does that say about me?

New Bloom on the Trail

It is exciting to walk the Chehalis Western Trail on a daily basis and watch for the new blooms of spring.

My master gardener friend, Janet Mandell, has been assisting me in identifying the different native plants.

The newest bloom is the Coltsfoot which is also called Sweet Coltsfoot and Palmate Coltsfoot. It blooms from March through to July in wet or marshy ground in woods and in roadside ditches. You will find it mostly west of the Cascades from Alaska to California and found east to Michigan and Massachusetts.

This patch of Coltsfoot I found blooming happily in a boggy section of the Chehalis Western Trail in Olympia, Washington.

Pastural Setting

Large Flock of Canada Goose

For the past few mornings along the Chehalis Western Trail in Olympia, Washington, the honking of the Canada Goose disturbs the quiet of the early morning. An enormous gathering favors this area of pastures and ponds. They are fun to watch take off and land as they fly in formation.

My father-in-law insisted that they are called Canada Goose. I remember saying Canada Geese because it seemed to be the plural form, but he corrected me. What are your thoughts?

Pink Flower Blooming

As I was walking my dog down the Chehalis Western Trail in Olympia, Washington, I spotted a new splash of spring color.

The Indian Plum was the first bloomers and now the Salmonberry is blooming. This shrub is a native of the temperate rainforests of the Pacific Northwest where it provides cover and food for birds and delicious berries for birds and people.

The little pink/magenta flower with five petals hangs down from a rather barren branch. The Salmonberry flower blooms before the leaves form where as the Indian Plum has leaves before the blooms. The leaves of the Salmonberry bush are similar in shape to those of the blackberry as it is in the same family. The leaves and flowers of the Salmonberry emerge quite early in the springtime, providing a welcome splash of pink color in the early spring.


The berries of the Salmonberry bush turn bright orange and move to a deep red color. They are good to eat when bright orange and sometimes taste a little bitter when they are red. The red of the ripe to overripe berry is reminiscent of the red salmon eggs of the Pacific Northwest, and this may be where the Salmonberry got its name.

Salmonberry bushes have less fruit than a cultivated raspberry, but they do bear significant quantities of fruit. The berries are tart and somewhat watery, less sweet than a cultivated blackberry and less tart than a raspberry.

The Healing Power of Art

Rita Loyd is an artist and writer. The theme of her work is the healing power of unconditional self love.

She made a video called "In Search of Self Love" that has been accepted into the international on-line film festival called SPIRIT ENLIGHTENED on cultureunplugged.com. It is currently in fourth place out of over 300 films.

The video tells the story of how the creative process taught her to love herself after experiencing abuse and illness. As she tells her story she paints the image "embrace all that you are with love."

She feels that this video could help a lot of women find healing.

Here is a direct link to the video.

As an art therapist, I highly recommend watching this video. Rita and her husband did a fabulous job creating it.

Where Do You Start When Making Art Poll Results

The February Making A Mark Poll created by Katherine Tyrrell looked at Where do you start when making art?

The results show that:

57% are influenced by life and what they see around them

43% work from their own ideas and concepts

38% are stimulated by their own reference photos - rather than those taken by other people

nobody seems to want to take account of current trends or whatever seems to sell!!!

134 respondents had an average of 2.42 options which influenced where they started when making art.

To read Katherine's commentary on the poll results, visit her blog post Making a Mark, Saturday, February 27, 2010.

Indian Plum Blooms

The beginning of last month I was excited to see the little sprouts on the Indian Plum, also called the osoberry, which is a native plant of the Pacific Northwest. It was a first sign of spring in our low land habitats near forested areas.

In the Pacific Northwest, blooms of white bells begin appearing on the branches as early as February. The flowers turn into clusters of small, seeded fruits, that attract birds, including hummingbirds.

Now in bloom, they look like little dancing fairies, would you agree?



There is a history of Native American use of the shrub for food and medicinal purposes, however very little commercial harvesting of the fruit is undertaken today.

I have had several sightings of Indian Plum while walking my dog on the Chehalis Western Trail in Olympia, Washington.