Grateful Heart

This page popped out this morning.  The only art I have done all week.  My creative pursuits have been focused on other forms like weaving and gardening. Last night I attended a Native American Pipe Ceremony.  There is one held monthly at a spiritual center in town.  A woman named Bright Owl comes down from her ranch in Moore Idaho to hold the ceremony. It is such a gift to be able to take part.  I like  to go when I can.  Last night it was all about gratitude, one of my favorite things. It was a close intimate sharing with about twenty people.  I am still filled with all the good wishes.  I think that is why this page came out today.

I made the background with Inktense blocks awhile ago. So as I sat looking at the beautiful colors I decided to try something different.  She is drawn in charcoal and embellished with chalk pastels. I added several layers with stamping.  The flowers were drawn with charcoal and filled in with pastel. I used white gel pen for the eyes and a china marker for the circles. Then I finished it by spraying a fixative on the piece.  There is too much smearing if you don't do that.  I used hair spray, it works great. The words say "A thankful heart is a grateful heart."

Gardening
I am not the best gardener by anyone standard but I do love my garden anyways. I have more weeds than flowers. I went out to tackle some of it today and found these.

I had planted some this spring but I don't think they made it. Then I noticed some that were a transplant from a friend that I planted last summer and they came up. Oh Was I excited. Anytime a plant comes back I see it as such a gift. Life renewed is such a joy to see. I am especially happy about the Lily of the Valley's though. I have tried planting them before with no success. They are the one flower from my childhood that I had not been able to grow. Its a bit of my mom coming back to me. We had a big patch of lily of the valleys on the side of the house. Now I can see I will finally be seeing them at my own place. A simple thing that really brings back memories.