flowering crystal mandala…

flowering crystal mandala

The latest mandala has been water coloured! The colours have been kept very cool in keeping with the feeling of snow and cold I wanted to evoke on this hot sunny summer day! The very centre is red to keep a connection with one of the original inspirations – Queen Anne’s Lace. A tiny red central flower which is common for this wildflower, is to attract insects but I like the whimsy of the folk tale origin – it represents a drop of Queen Anne’s blood pricked from her finger while making the lace.

flowering crystal mandala detail with spring azure butterfly

A detail showing the spring azure butterfly which is one of many insects attracted to Queen Anne’s Lace.

Tom’s new poem for the water-coloured mandala gets to the heart of the cold winter feeling …be refreshed on this summer day!

In the heart of hopeful winter
Crystal flowers spin and grow
Under pressure splinters sinter
Dusting down as drifting snow
Jeweled movement in the centre
Turns the world through double-hours
Ticking as the New Year enters
Through the door of Winter’s tower
Along the moonbeams sliding silver
Drift soft snowflakes to their rest
Keeping seasons in fine kilter
Unsung heroes on a quest
To keep all Nature’s endless round
Turning, never winding down

image (c) 2017 Hilary Farmer
poem (c) 2017 TJ Radcliffe

snowflower mandala…

snowflower mandala

What could be more refreshing during August than thinking about snowflakes?! Given the time of year, thinking about snowflake patterns led to wondering about similarities with the wildflower Queen Anne’s Lace. In the end, this mandala is inspired by both but is neither one nor the other – and just when you’ve decided that it is really mostly a snowflake, there’s a butterfly – spring azure – lurking around the perimeter to make it flower-like again. Here’s a photograph that started me thinking about the texture of the Queen Anne’s Lace. (Check out his blog – he’ll make you see wildflowers with new eyes!)

Tom wrote a delightful poem full of both summer and winter for this one!

Subtle turning of the seasons
Marching bands of heat and cold
Crystals ringing changes, reasons
Why all flowers fade and fold
As the season of the snows
Overtakes warm summer lands
Winds of winter skirl and blow
Pearls of ice turn on the strands
Of twisting currents through cold air
Lacing patterns, tracing flowers
Melting as the summer fair
Escapes from frozen empty towers
Life propelled by turning centre
Changes leave before they enter

image (c) 2017 Hilary Farmer
poem (c) 2017 TJ Radcliffe

Looking up through trees – 8 …oil painting

Looking up through trees – 8

The under-painting for this one is cad orange and some cad yellow medium. Unlike some of the others of the series, there is no single large tree, but a characteristic texture of foliage, branches and light. I played with a variety of colours for the sky peeking through – blues, mauves, turquoises… That and the bits of under-painting that remain, give a nice vibrancy.

This is the second last of the series! The next post will include the centre piece and all nine 6″x 6″ paintings put together. 🙂

Here is Tom’s haiku written just for this piece – I don’t see any squirrels but I sure can imagine them!

searching bursts of green
ruffled breezes passing by
shaking squirrels on high

image (c) 2017 Hilary Farmer
poem (c) 2017 TJ Radcliffe

Looking up through trees – 7 …oil painting

Looking up through trees – 7

This is one of my favourites of the series. I can really feel the height of this giant tree and the light filtering through! The under-painting was cad orange and while I found it a bit visually uncomfortable during the process for some reason, I think the end result is good. Curious.

Here is Tom’s mystical haiku written for this one.

bright starburst branches
tangled future, ancient past
rising to the sky

image (c) 2017 Hilary Farmer
poem (c) 2017 TJ Radcliffe

Looking up through trees – 6 …oil painting

Looking up through trees – 6

This series continues to be so enjoyable to paint! There’s an infinite variety of greens to play with and the contrast with the various back-painting shades has been an interesting exploration. With this one, the back-painting was a warm enough red to be verging on orange.

Here’s Tom’s haiku written just for this painting.

mysterious sky
lies behind the palisade
sunlight filters through

image (c) 2017 Hilary Farmer
poem (c) 2017 TJ Radcliffe

Looking up through trees – 5 …oil painting

Looking up through trees – 5

Next one in the series! The large tree in this painting is a hemlock. The under painting was transparent red medium with some cad orange.

Here is Tom’s haiku!

Sturdy standing trunk
Straight and tall unbending now
Sways in winter storms

image (c) 2017 Hilary Farmer
poem (c) 2017 TJ Radcliffe

Looking up through trees -4 …oil painting

Looking up through trees 4

The next in the series with a lovely haiku from Tom! (The under painting for this one was transparent red medium.)

Tousled heads held high
Reaching up into blue sky
Breathing ocean air

image (c) 2017 Hilary Farmer
poem (c) 2017 TJ Radcliffe