More colour on a rainy day!

'PRISM MANDALA' 2006

I originally finished this 'mandala', an acrylic painting on panel, late in 2006 but just recently I felt compelled to rework some of the layout and now it is refinished as below....

'PRISM MANDALA' 2009

.....there isn't that much difference but I think I have simplified the overall feel of the painting and I prefer the way it looks now. These 'mandala' (circular designs used for meditation) paintings really are meditation for me, they are fun to paint and remind me of Spirograph and Paint by Numbers, both of which I was obsessed with as a child. The watercolour illustration work I do, as in the previous post, is actually hard work that requires a lot of planning, thinking and lengthy execution so when I want to relax and have fun I draw up a complex design on panel and fill the shapes with my happy pastel pallette....a colour wheel I cannot, no matter how hard I try, get away from. The painting is relaxing and pretty mindless and I can make these panel paintings really quite large...up to 4 feet diameter and larger if James is willing to help me do some carpentry which I am useless doing on my own.

It has been raining non-stop here in Maine for what seems like an aeon so I thought I would brighten things up not only with my Prism Mandala but with a picture of some stunning paeonia's from our neighbours garden, they have a beautiful, evanescent scent which makes me smile on yet another dreary weather day!

I had two recipe posts lined up but have recently had some major computer problems and lost all the images I had for these posts...I am rebaking and photographing tomorrow so the next recipe should be up by the weekend...check back for chocolate caramel shortbread squares!!