Tag: nature

Inspirations from Nature | Making ‘My Wish For You’

Often people are curious about where I draw my inspiration for my cards from.  There are so many sources of inspiration, but because nature has a very strong effect on me, probably that is the main inspiration in my work.

As an artist I experience the world visually, filing away things I notice for future use.  When creating a card with a specific sentiment in mind, I try to see what that could translate into.  In my newest e-card “My Wish For You” I tried to think of what I would wish for the many amazing mothers I know and love.  And what I would appreciate my children wishing for me.  And more than anything I realized it was about the little things in life that actually are the big things – the amazing mundane things that make life worth living.

So one morning while sipping my morning coffee and going through my art journal, I noticed I had jotted down a few things I felt grateful for a few weeks prior – bird song, the sunrise that morning, the hug my husband gave me and the company I had that day.  And from there the words to this card just came to me and from there the artistic vision started taking place.  Or rather it took flight as my little feathered friends take center stage in this card.

Here is an inspiration board I keep adding to all the time – where I file away things from nature that inspire my work or that just fascinate me.  

Observing the Longest Solar Eclipse of the Century


Yesterday, July 22nd, we were able to observe a near total solar eclipse from Taiwan (it was a total solar eclipse when observed from southern China, but Taiwan lies that much further south that it was only a partial solar eclipse here). This will be the longest solar eclipse of the century, so needless to say we prepared to make this a perfect homeschooling opportunity.

We couldn’t get our hands on the special shades needed to observe the eclipse, so instead we used the pinhole cameras the boys had made some time back. But the urge to glance upwards was almost irresistible, despite warnings this could lead to serious eye damage – so when a patch of dark clouds passed in front of the eclipse I snapped some shots.


In truth it is easy to think this is only the moon during the day. But the light was otherworldly and as we watched day turned to pitch darkness on the news in some places in southern China, you become aware of the awesome power and light that radiates from even a sliver of sun – because even during the partial eclipse here that left a sliver of sun, it was still bright enough to seem like ‘merely’ early morning. Follow this link to see some amazing photos of the event shot by other photographers in different parts of Asia where the eclipse could be seen. I especially like the tenth image – now why didn’t we think of that! 🙂