Appreciating The Small and Wonderful Things

Stop and smell the roses.  According to Wiktionary it means: To relax; to take time out of one's busy schedule to enjoy or appreciate the beauty of life.
Lets not forget the small beautiful objects that make up the whole. I have recently been photographing small things and small parts of the big things. Just looking at them are inspiring. It helps me remember the small wonderful things in my life and to be grateful for them.

A cactus growing in Celebration Park in the NW.
Not sure how it got there.
Totally and beautifully out of place, yet thriving.

We all live lives with a lot to think about, yet adding the smallest of details of warmth, love and beauty can relax us and remind us what it is all about. For me it is family and the yearning for peace. If we stop to smell the roses I believe that we can all start to relax and really care about each other.

Flowers in the Defiance Park NW

My art starts with one small idea and often just one color at a time. My hand dyed fabric for my Oseh Shalom piece was on my design wall for many years. I kept it there do to its colors and simplicity. It reminded me of the beauty within before I even work, just the beauty of colors. I also cut it to two pieces, one was a gift for my sister and O.Sh. will debut for sale in my next craft show coming in October.
I now need to dye another piece of fabric to go on my design wall. I want  to look and be inspired by the beauty of simplicity in one piece of dyed fabric before I get to work. None of my current pieces seem to fit the bill. I just might take one of the photos above and print it on fabric just to remember to smell the roses.

Oseh Shalom
Mixed Media Art Quilt