garden art

Here Comes the Sun (and Moon)

/ Tamara Brown / 2 Comments

One of my outdoor art projects last year involved a recycled table top, leftover house paint and new acrylic Posca pens. I’m forever grateful to my husband for doing the grunt work of washing, sanding, priming and painting the background. I then drew out a large sun radiating light beams that he expertly painted with the same color as our house. And there the object sat for the rest of the summer and most of the autumn while I procrastinated in the garden.

On one of the final warm days of fall knowing that I had limited time left to finish, I spent a very pleasant day outside on the patio listening to music and creating designs with my Posca pens. I have enjoyed creating mandalas in the past and this project was very therapeutic in its symmetry and simplicity just like a traditional mandala. At some point the addition of one color pulled the entire piece together into sacred geometry. The process was complete.

My Posca pens were so much fun to use that I felt compelled to find another project. This month I pulled out a $3 hanging wall kit from Target that had been languishing in a drawer for months and knew what I had to do. In the dark and dreary days of January a celestial theme seemed just the ticket to dispel my cold weather blues. So another sun was born using the gold metallic pen, and a shimmery moon with a metallic silver appeared on the other side. And of course they had to have faces!

Thus begins a new art year full of unfinished projects and potential materials both inside and out. In 2024 I hope to finish one art project per month and feature all twelve on this blog. Wish me luck and if my creative recycling and scavenging processes inspire you to take the leap, I highly encourage you to do so. There is nothing more energizing than making treasure out of trash and beauty out of blandness.

Back to the Garden

/ Tamara Brown / 4 Comments

It’s been two years since I completed the final art grant and posted Paints in the Parks’ last event. In that time eye surgeries, complications from those procedures, and the pandemic shut down my interactions with the public and my plein air painting. But not my creative spirit.

What follows is a brief overview of the small, fanciful and infinitely rewarding art projects that have enriched the creative spark that would not die despite days in bed, foggy vision, scarce resources and my daily anxiety caused by an uncertain future. My first attempts after adjusting to my new eye vision in 2020 used mixed media with tissue paper, iridescent watercolors, and watercolor pencils outlined in ink based on houseplants and photos.

Tradescantia zebrina

In the winter of 2021 I utilized items found in my yard and on neighborhood walks such as leaves, acorns and pinecones (even a pole bean) to create a wall hanging and nature mandalas.

Last summer I used a variety of supplies and found objects to create art for the yard, including iron spikes (mushroom stems) that may be from a circus that wintered over in our neighborhood in the early 1900s! My family helped paint the mushroom tops molded from air-dry clay. Unfortunately someone found them tasty because they were gradually nibbled away by the fall.

In 2022 I’m looking forward to new projects with garden art, including an old set of windows that I can’t wait to paint, outdoor mandalas, art journaling and some landscape design. I’ll take you along with me and hope that my adventures (or misadventures) give you a few ideas inspired by nature. Until next month, happy creating!