AUTUMN LEAF PRINTING WITH PAPER COLLAGE LEAVES – These postcards were such fun to create with quotes about the season of autumn. I used local leaves from the neighborhood & printed with rubber stamp ink, adding watercolor painting to a few of the leaves, too. Origami and gelli printed papers cut out into leaf shapes added the perfect touch to collage fallen autumn leaves.
Lily flowers in a pond float like pretty colored birthday cake flowers.
Magical blooms of nature from a water plant with its roots bound deep in mud.
The leaf green lily pads float becoming perches for frogs & toads who sing in the night.
In the sunlit water morning koi fish jewels flash deep & then surface for a look at the day.
Dragonflies zoom by, leaving iridescent color trails sparkling in my mind’s eye.
This is joy. Not flash in the pan happiness, but deep-seated, lasting joy.
Of being alive in this life, of knowing that I am part & parcel of it all.
The glittering magic, the deep swimming sea, the song of life.
The water flowers bloom with the magic of a thousand years of the continuation of life.
The earth is filled with joy.
Joy. Joy. Joy. Happy Birthday to me. I hear the singing of the earth.
Wavy Turban Shells – These shells can be very tiny all the way up to 4″ high, the interior of the shell is similar to mother of pearl. The exterior of the shell has strong brownish sort of furry layers, which give the shell strength as it grows. Sometimes Wavy Turban shells wash up onto the beach after large storms. Still alive, local residents and beach goers kindly put them back into the ocean and tide pools. If you look at the bottom of a living Wavy Turban shell, you will find a grooved piece called an operculum, which is attached to the end of the mollusk and is used to seal up the shell very tightly. It’s like a door! Operculum’s are in the same category as Tiger Eye’s, which were used to make jewelry with. On rare occasions I have found the operculum on the beach and thought they were like special worry stone shells because my fingers fit perfectly in the grooves! One of my favorite shells! I have written an illustrated book titled “A Guide to San Diego Sea Shells”, which can be purchased on Amazon.
