Artfest 2009, Here I Come!!!

I got my registration packet today and I am so thrilled at the thought of another Artfest! I was going to post a picture of the beautiful cover art but then I realized that not everyone has received their packets yet and I didn't want to spoil any part of the surprise! So I took a photo of one of Maya's little octopus toys (which, coincidentally, the same toy appears in the inside of the registration packet!) And here's this year's logo:

Maya asked if she could go to Artfest this year and I told her I'd take her when she was a teenager--to which she replied, "Awww! No fair!" ;) She is a little Artfester at heart and I can't wait for the day she is old enough and we can go together as mom and daughter! This event is something I hold so dear to me and with so little "rites of passages" these days, I am excited at the thought of being able to take Maya one day. I think if I would've known about Artfest as a teen or college freshman, I would've knocked away all the worries and "what-ifs" and just been an art major or gone off to some funky art school somewhere instead of majoring in something "practical" and struggling to make every job I had more "artsy". ;) Oh well, you live and learn! And that's just all part of the fun of life.

I've got flowers on my mind and striking color combos. I kept passing this fire-bright flower every day this summer on the way back and forth to Maya's swim lesson, and I always thought, "I should bring my camera next time." I remembered to bring my camera yesterday on a little walk and I snapped the above photo. I also like those two colors together: a bright crimson and a darkish tealish blue. Might just have to use that somewhere again...

And I've got Mandalas on the brain, too...I'm preparing for Anahata Katkin's Mixed Media Mandalas class which I will be attending next weekend in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California. I saw this cactus-like plant full of these Mandala blooms and had to snap a photo. It is also strangely reminiscent of a sea creature, too, with tentacle-looking tendrils flowing from behind. A coincidence that Sea Creatures is this year's Artfest theme? Hmmmm....I don't believe in coincidence. Everything seems to be connected in one lovely way or another.