Same place, different skies

It's April weather in full swing here in Germany. Here are some photos from a new trail I discovered last week (well, the trail isn't new, but for me it is.) This is the same place, just some days apart, and with different weather:

A nice curved walk along fields and old trees, and at the start / end, a straight part. There were dandelions in bloom all along the way, and as my theme for these days is Mandalas in all kind of different materials, I turned into a 5-year old for some minutes, and picked some dandelions, and created a "sign" with them.  (more about my mandala focus, here: Joining #the100dayproject with 100 Days of Mandalas and Gratitude

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Fast forward to today: same walk, but different weather, and many of the dandelions have moved from yellow flower to fluffy white sphere. Here are some photos: 

And a nice final photo, a plant I noticed - it felt like a mandala-shaped-wink from the trail.

Tomorrow the weather will turn cloudy and rainy again, and then will keep swinging.

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More skies from around the world: Skywatch Friday 

Joining #the100dayproject with 100 Days of Mandalas and Gratitude

Last week, the 100 Day Project started - a free, global art project that anyone can participate in.

The challenge is simple: choose an action you'll do for 100 days, and then keep going, and share your piece daily on instagram with the hashtag #the100dayproject.

First I wasn't sure if to join, and which theme to pick - I played with ideas, thinking about photography, digital art, or collages? And while pondering, I sketched a mandala - and then things fell into place for me:

The theme for me is "Mandalas", click here to see the mandalas / days so far. The plan is to experiment with the process: combine painting and mixed media, and also collage elements and digital processes. Plus, as mandalas are symbols of positivity and gratitude, and as I felt a bit low in the last weeks moodwise, I am combining the theme with gratitude.

The first mandala I created was a digital art piece, here's the note for it:

"Today I am grateful... for the internet, and the inspiration and shared creativity that comes from it with projects like the 100daysproject"

And the second mandala - still one of my favs so far - is a symbol for the upcoming days and processes:

"My piece for the 100dayproject on day #2 is a play with possibilities. The mandala I created is kind of a “meta” mandala, it’s only temporary, and includes colored pencils, feathers, pieces of paper, bits of bark… and a copy of a mandala I once painted, and one that was in a magazine."

Yesterday I reached day 10, and put together a slideshow with the first 10 pieces. I already look forward to the next 10 days.

I won't be blogging much these days, but you can find me and my daily pieces at Instagram at: lifeasjourney: 100 Days of Mandalas and Gratitude. Right now, it's a combination of mandalas, and photographs of places I visted.

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Links:

• For more about the 100 day project, visit the The 100 Days project website (you still can join)
• An article with the story of the 100 day project, in the magazin Designobserver: Five Years of 100 Days. 
• Simple online tool to create slideshows: gifmaker.me

april skies unplugged

Some skies from this week....

...logging into the blog, even though I knew I havn't blogged since a while, it was a surprise to see that the last entry is from a month ago. 

Interesting to see that without really planning to, I actually did a "digital fast" and unplugged from facebook, twitter and the blog, and only posted photos at Instagram every now and then.

Today I am enjoying the skies, and remembered sky friday... more skies from everywhere, over at: Skywatch Friday.