Life at the Shed

This is my mezzuzah-like construction that hangs by the door to the shed...it reminds me I'm entering a very special place, a place to work, dream, write, paint, meditate...

Each piece means something special to me.  The top rock is from one of my heart homes in the Ozarks, Bennett Spring--it's rugged and sharp. Then, there's a crinoid I found in my creek to remind me of ancient life and prehistory and time. The silver spiral my mother in law gave me--I love spirals, and it peeps from a knothole in the wood. Then a big, rough ammonite...I have a thing about fossils...then, a crystal, a tiny sterling silver sunface, and a wee bottle with quotes that are meaningful to me. Oh, and the wood itself weathered off the edging for my old garden...wabi-sabi and nature and the sacred, all in one construction.

And recent wintry sketches...I love my bear pendant and the stone face that appears and disappears depending on the light...

Cardinals in FLOCKS!

Busy times at the shed!

There were nine males when I did the sketch, but ELEVEN by the time everyone had showed up for dinner...plus 5 or 6 females.

I don't remember EVER seeing this many cardinals all in one place before...the males are quite territorial, but it's winter and we offer them lots of feeding options and different stations around the yard.  I'm entranced by the bright colors and the interaction between them, and find myself sketching them again and again.

These are all graphite-free, no preliminary sketching, just hurrying to get it down.

How many cardinals can you see here?  And there were MORE.

 There's been almost no snow this year...imagine how these would look against white!