It's the tail end...

...of fall in our area, and because we're so colourful here, I thought I'd share some of it with you.

Even if I don't spend time in the studio, I'm constantly on the lookout for the beauty around me, and this season we have it in abundance.  How does it look in your area - are you enjoying the beauty of the season?

Once is good...

so twice must be even better, right?

We had so much fun playing with melted crayons and pumpkins, that it was time to share the experience.

Eileen Gidman

and Laura Leeder arrived in the studio this week to join in the slippery fun.

Using heavier gel medium to secure the crayons this time meant there was less slippage and a faster adherence time.  

 We secured the crayons, had a cup of tea and then tore into it with the heat gun.

Colour is, of course, the best part of it all.

Laura's pumpkin looks as though a painter hit the top with a palette knife - so cool!  We're not sure how that happened.

 I'm loving the southwest colours on Eileen's piece!

 It was a fabulous morning,

and great fun to play with my two local artist friends.

My quirky little monochromatic orange and yellow one has joined the rest of them on the front porch now, like some alien without a face.

I hope you're enjoying the season with as much colour!  Post a link to your Halloween fun in the comments below...I'd love to check them out.

Shenanigans...

...in the studio happen often, and this week's been no exception.

A friend recently posted a melted crayon pumpkin link on my Facebook page and of course, with all that fabulous colour we had to have a go.

Two pale pumpkins (one each for Rochelle and I) and a traditional orange one for John started the fun.  We're not sure whether John was carving or tossing, but it was a riot to watch.

Rochelle went with purples, pinks and blues, white I used a quiet palette of red, blue, yellow, orange and green (subdued, right?).

We were so stoked to be able to stop picking the crayons off the table - they kept slipping in the too-thin glue - that we took a ton of photos. 

We let the glue dry overnight, and then tore after them with a heat gun.

Smashing colour right?  AND we managed to do it without damaging any pumpkins either.

I can't tell you how much fun it is to melt that wax and watch it drool all over the pumpkin.

 And the colour's drooly too.

We placed them on the newel posts outside the front door and they add a great deal to our Halloween decor - in fact, they're the ONLY decor right now.

John's pumpkin, carved completely around, will join them as soon as he finds an LED light for it.

 We think they look pretty splashy,

and we're considering having another go 'round.  

Of course, I blame it all on the girl - she started the whole thing with some pumpkin painting for her work, and now we're having trouble stopping!

ATCs...

...are so much fun.  I love having these little masterpieces from around the world so close at hand.

This last while, I received a fabulous package of them from an Auzzie friend and trading partner, Roz Willoughby, as a result of a recent trade request in a blog post.

These are so richly textured they're drool-worthy - take a look!

Not only did she send the half dozen gorgeous cards, but she also sent a piece of tin she'd embossed - you know it's going to show up somewhere in one of my journals.

There is nothing like an envelope of happy mail to get the creative juices flowing, so I'm back in the studio finding more ways to texture my own work.  Many thanks for the inspiration, Roz!

I've been searching...

...through my photo files recently in an effort to pare down the hundreds of photos.  It's truly astounding how many floral pieces I've done over the years.

I've collaged them,

drawn them in pencil,

coloured them in chalk pastel,

sculpted them with acrylic medium,

created them from wine and beer bottle caps,

 crafted them from hand-painted papers,

turned them into altered books,

photographed and printed them on dryer sheets before adding them to a painting,

and created entire mountain ranges from them.

I'm fascinated by the number of paintings I've done that incorporate flowers (and I've kept record of some three hundred of them apparently), especially given that I'm so averse to the actual concept of getting my hands dirty in real soil.  I leave that up to my husband, John, who is so fond of gardening he's starts to resemble the dark rich colour of his favourite tomatoes in the summer.  

I suspect that the floral form is an instant connection to my beloved mandalas, the sacred circle.  I hope you'll tell me what your recurring themes are in the comment area below.  What is it that you return to again and again? How does it connect the dots for you in your life?