Sacred Spiral Design

Yule

It is nearly Yule – so suddenly, winter has arrived. The weather has been dreary, cold & soggy. Foggy bottom land and cloud covered blue mountains. My garden is slowly going dormant, although the roses still manage a beautiful blossom.

I have been enormously creative lately. Lots of projects. Just finished wallpapering my closet, and have plans for stenciling a door, and painting cabinets. I do have a piece on my easel. Working with the air element and birds mostly in tones and tints of Paynes gray and Cerulean blue, silver & blue marbled paper, and a decorative paper depicting free-floating feathers. My vector drawing of Feather Woman is the main subject, surrounded by images from the book of Kells, and tribal tattoo flash.

©NPA Sacred Spiral Design ~
Feather Woman

Art & Architecture

My heart is broken watching the East Wing of the White House viciously ripped down. What happened to the artwork? What happened to the architectural decorative elements? I don’t know about you, but I sure haven’t seen any moving vans – that would have been reported. Who was hired to do this, why is this being done right before winter sets in and an opened up historical building is exposed to the elements. Where are the permits – that would have been reported.

My trip to DC about a month ago, left me in awe over our American historical narrative housed in various buildings on the national mall. As a lover of art and architecture, an American, I feel aggrieved over this deliberate act of vandalism.

I was unable to get a clear view or even close (perhaps a quarter mile away?) to the White House – lots of fences, barriers, and armed guards. Not long after this photo was taken, the long-standing anti-nuclear vigil which has been in place since 1981 was removed. You can see it on the left side of the photo. Actually, a very noisy activist on a loud speaker, who’s extreme left wing message echoed down the DC urban canyons was hugely annoying. I would have been glad to see that shut down, simply because it was so loud. But that is a first Amendment right – so whatever, go ahead, I may not like it but I am not going take away your right to free speech.

Do not be complacent while America is burning down.

Museo America

I’ve been thinking about my trip east and getting to visit such amazing historic and art filled sites. These Smithsonian buildings house such important American treasure. I would not mock the value of knowing who we are, and where we came from. There are some thought provoking exhibits, which is what you should expect from the museum director. They’re doing their job. I didn’t mind.

I keep contemplating the controversy over how woke culture is taking over America and we can’t have it in our nations capital! What kind of nonsense is that? What’s wrong with knowing how we got to this place in time, and you may ask:

“And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack
And you may find yourself in another part of the world
And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife
And you may ask yourself, “Well, how did I get here?” Talking Heads – Once In A Lifetime

I feel refreshed with new inspiration, and have been working on my collage. The color scheme is a little different for me. The inspiration is my vector drawing of fox woman, and bringing in the colors of fox, forest, and night sky.

There and Back Again

I have been there and back again on a long awaited vacation. Off to engage with a different coast, culture, wonderful art and an immense visitation with the history and people of America. I was glad to get home. I love to travel, it is just that, the intensity of many moments packed into a week takes its toll energetically.

I visited several of the Smithsonian’s museums, a huge battlefield in Gettysburg, paid my respects at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Walked the length of the U.S. Capital grounds – that was a long walk – 8 miles that day, but it was a good day. The Capital building is amazing and quite large. The Whitehouse was actually small; it always looks so huge in pictures. There was a visible presence of several types of security everywhere, but nothing felt threatening.

My favorite museum and my primary target was the National Gallery of Art. The art and artists were wonderful to visit. I got a lot of love hits, to view Singer Sergeant, Gainsborough, Hudson School, all of the Impressionists I believe, and a comparison between Basquiat and Banksy in the Modern wing. I had a really great day, super fine, stoked my creative fire with awe and wonder.

This artist was my favorite. With the help from a Docent I was able find her in the maze of rooms. Her Name is Iona Rozeal Brown, a living artist, who’s artwork just knocks me out. She is one of three artists in an exhibit examining portraiture in different ages; Cezanne, Rozeal, and Titian. Her work is such a wonderful blend of Ukiyo e prints and a contemporary narrative sensibility. Love her.

It is Friday nite, and I am planning for a quiet introverted weekend in the garden, kitchen and studio. I had started work on my next piece before I left, printed up the base motifs, fixed them and left it to pick up later; when I had returned and felt rested enough to work in my studio. I look forward to spending some soul time with my art. I would rather live in the seclusion of my own soul than to mix in with the madding crowd.

Mid Summer

“Flower Girl – Queen of Hearts” ©NPA 2025 18×24 Photoshop, paper, acrylic paint

I have been busy gardening, and working on this mixed media collage. The garden is a bit dry looking, sunburned under the blistering sun. Despite the heat, vegetable vines produce and flowers bloom. I have been harvesting produce, thrilling over a baby acorn squash dangling on the vine. It always blows my mind that we can grow a plant in dirt, a little water and sun. We are living in a daily miracle.

I call this piece, “Flower Girl – Queen of Hearts”. This artwork is created on an 18″ x 24″ board support. All images were created in Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop. The images were printed with a Canon Pixma on a lightly sized Yasutomo art paper. After the ink dried the images were sprayed front and back with a clear fixative, cut out and pasted on with Mod Podge, and sealed with Gloss Liquitex varnish. I painted a dark green acrylic paint as the background, and acrylic paint for the energy dot-points. (AI Gen prompts were not used in this artwork).

The original artwork of flower girl was created a while ago with Illustrator software. My initial thought was to make a greeting card. I offered it up in my Etsy shop but never got a bite. It recently occurred to me to use the artwork in one of my collages. There are two more that will be used in my next art pieces.

Short and Sweet

I have been busy with PS digital painting, generating AI images, and printmaking in readiness for my next collage. I have a new mulberry paper to experiment with; unsure if it will work or not. It is an unsized paper, so it may bleed… Hmmm… I have four prints that should be dry by now, I need to go spray some fixative on them. I’m back – the prints are layed out to dry, my hardboard support will be fully gessoed, paint colors are set out. I can begin work early tomorrow morning.

PS: I changed my mind using that artwork, decided not to go with AI Gen images.

The World has become so LOUD

I am going to try and stick with art in this post. The noisy din, the cacophony of everything, everywhere all at once has become too loud. I am glad I have a cozy cottage, garden and art studio to hide in and shut out the madding world.

I have finished the – man, I haven’t named it yet – That Moon Fairy piece. I am pretty pleased with it. I was aiming at producing background type images in Firefly and make prints. Finding images within the image and painting in little divas. The Fairy is dreamily dancing under the full moon. The summer solstice has arisen between the column doors. It is time to dance and celebrate. The seeds that were sown are now ripening fruit on the vine. The world moves on.

Unamed – That Moon Fairy piece – ©NPA 2025 18″ x 24″; Mixed Media collage utilizing Photoshop, Firefly, Acrylics, Torinoko rice paper, colored pencil

I am working on a new piece in Photoshop. I haven’t pixel painted in awhile and I find it very enjoyable and so absorbing. The focus is Yggdrasil, which has become a central theme of mine. Eventually, this image will be printed and collaged into place. I am glad that I have art and gardening to keep grounded.

The Heart Knows Best

I have had a couple days off from work and was able to work in my studio for a several days without disruption. So nice, to make art for myself. The idea I wanted to draw from was fusing AI gen, digital images, and acrylics. Prior to this, I had been reading up on many differing opinions regarding AI – whether or not it could be considered “art.” I am still of a divided opinion but felt that it was time to use my knowledge and creativity to make some art.

So, I began with an AI gen background and layered it with another AI gen background. The background image was printed several times so I could cut out sections and paste onto my mixed media collage. I found an female image I had collected many years ago, took it into PS, applied some filters and adjustments to give it some texture and depth. Added some AI gen butterfly wings and then painted in some more texture in PS.

I have not been satisfied with the paper I was using and decided to try a Japanese art paper Yasutomo Torinoko – for sumi, watercolor, collage & printmaking. One side is smooth and the other side has some tooth. I experimented printing on both sides, and feel that the smooth side will produce a better print. I bought this paper from my local art store, but there is a web site https://shop.yasutomo.com/. I am vastly satisfied with this paper, It prints up great on my Canon Pixma, the color is good, images are sharp, glues onto the support easily. I have worked on the prints with colored pencil and acrylics successfully. So yes, this has been a good experience.

It is such a great feeling, to realize that I have been steadily working in my studio all day, and not realize that time disappeared. The monkey mind has quieted, and I understand that I have been living in my heart space all day. Making art is my happy place. It is the place where my heart and soul resides.

AI GEN

I worked on my AI prompts today in Adobe Firefly and came up with 3 interesting images. I took them into Photoshop and made a composite computer wallpaper. The prompts were very simple, and I used one concept – Otherworldly. I also read several articles today regarding AI Gen. The general consensus was AI images were not made by human hands and brain, without the injection of human spirit or soul, so therefore an image created by a computer algorithm cannot be art. I basically agree with that, but it can be so beautiful. All I can think about is how to use it. It is sort of like when Dali came up with Ready Made’s.

Firefly prompt: World Tree, Otherworldly. I forget how many iterations I went through to find the right one. Gorgeous colors, depth, fantasy imagery, spiritual mood.

Firefly prompt: Red fox shapeshifting into a human, Otherworldly. This one was my favorite. Again, several iterations before I got this one.

Firefly prompt: woman standing in primeval forest holding a small drum, Otherworldly. This one blew my mind, lots of iterations for this result.

This is a composite of the three images, stitched together in Photoshop. I used generative fill in PS to make the image edges flow seamlessly into each other. This has become my latest computer wallpaper. Really loving it.

The gibe of all this is, AI Gen is not copyrightable, not considered “real art”, you don’t have to be talented – just have enough computer knowledge to “create.” This could become a new genre or the beginnings of one. I guess we’ll see what happens.

Green Stuff

I have been hearing the siren song of this blog – Where for art thou? I have been away to a distant land, and sowing my crops. My garden has been keeping me very occupied. And so the land is fertile, lush with roses, clover, vegetables. I am blessed.

Artwise I have been taking on-line classes in AI, text to image prompts, via Linked In and Adobe Cloud. There have been some very interesting image outputs. Faces and hands can be a little Picasso-esque. I was working on some prompts today and discovered that a simple prompt is easier for the AI data base to come up with an image that kinda matches what you are looking for. It can also whack you upside the head with how extremely beautiful an image can be and becomes a wonderful inspiration for your artwork. Oh, you are probably wondering which platform I am working with – Adobe Firefly. The program works fairly good, sort clunky but I think some updates will help smooth out any issues or add new tools. I do have a niggling question in the back of my mind – is this really art of my own making? I have plans to use the images in my artwork, actually all ready have, and I am happy with the result.

I did travel a little bit. Nice to get away, but really enjoyed coming into the valley I live in with a majestic snow-capped dormant volcano in the distance and surrounded by blue misty mountains. I also got a wild bug and went antiquing, and found a wonderful copper cherup weathervane. It is a wonderful vintage piece for my secret zen garden out back.