Painting, Petaling and Pairing Up

Where's the  Green?

Maybe it was the ten inches of snow that fell last night that kept the leprechauns away.

I looked out in the snow this morning expecting to see their little green tracks but there was nothing.  Nothing but white.

Jack had yet another snow day which makes it a record for his senior year.  Even Jim has to work from home today.  And the only sign that it's St. Patrick's day around here is the smell of corned beef and cabbage in the crock pot.

I wasn't even working with green paints.  Today it was all about petal pink and playing around with silk paint.

I'm painting dye-able silk ribbon for my petals.  I bought both the dyes and the roll of undyed ribbon from Dharma trading.

I was playing around with a bit of gray in the ribbons...hoping that when I make up the roses, it will appear as if the pink colors grow out of the gray walls...as if by magic. 

I'm not sure I'll know my answer until I make the roses themselves.

Whenever I make separate components that I add to a piece, I usually make lots  more than I'll use.  That way I have choices when it comes to creating the final composition.

The left overs are stored in a clear divided container...shells, twigs, rocks, etc...It's a nice little go-to box for embellishments.  Little bits from all my prior pieces.

While I was painting, I was paying close attention to the drama playing out at the backyard bird feeders.      Lately, hundreds of grackles have descended on the bird feeders as they pass through on their spring migration.  They make quite a racket and are a spectacle all to themselves.  I usually let them feed for a good while before I slam the door to chase them away.  This signals the little birds to all come back to the feeder...which they do.  They get about 10-15 mins of feeding in before the mob scene returns.

I can tell that Spring is almost around the corner because the birdsong is everywhere and birds are starting to pair up.

Enter this couple that showed up this morning...

Guess what grackles??  The really big boys are in town...the Red-Shouldered Hawk versions of Bonnie and Clyde.

Needless to say, there's been a bit of carnage in the backyard today as they sit sentinel...

Perhaps it's a bit more apropos for Halloween than for St. Patrick's Day but I thought all the black feathers against the white snow looked kind of pretty...

And this pic actually looks like feathers have been tossed in the air versus scattered on the snow.

It's kind of pretty if you don't think of its morbid origins.

For the next few days I'll be working on some Japanese embroidery.

Have a great St. Pat's day everyone and send some green my way, will you??