Be Still 52 - Week 36

Every time I think the Be Still 52 exercise is challenging, the next one challenges me even more. I have learned to let the challenge roll around in my head for a few days before I even begin to think of how to complete it. For this week's challenge we were shown a magazine spread to inspire us. Well, it took several days before anything on the page inspired me. I studied it every day, looking at the composition, the colors, and the textures; nothing happened. Not even a little spark. Then, this weekend my eyes kept going back to one picture on the spread. I decided what really appealed to me about this picture was the tone on tone with a little color added and the similarity of shapes.

My starting point was the similarity of shapes.

Then, I decided I wanted to do something with bits and pieces of nature using the colors shown in the spread.  This was my first attempt, but I wasn't too happy with it. I did like the heart-shaped piece of bark I found, but the outcome was not really impressive.

I've just recently discovered a nature blog that I thoroughly enjoy. Mary Jo Hoffman creates art with nature, beautiful art. I hope you'll take a moment to hop over to her blog and have a look. One of her recent images was a half wreath. I loved it and decided to try and create something similar using the colors in the magazine spread.

Okay, so this was fun.

This was more than fun!

This, I enjoyed!!

 The beauty of nature fills my heart with gratitude.

So, now you have the journey that my mind took all from looking at a magazine spread. It's an exercise that I will try again. Inspiration is personal. My eyes will see one thing and yours will see something entirely different. I am learning to celebrate my own uniqueness.