flowers – MARS ZEN Creations & ZEN Daily Words & MARS Mindful Moments

Is it possible that this month has almost come to an end? It was another whirlwind of adventures here in Colorado, in the life of MARS! It all seems like a blur! Thankfully I started a project at the beginning of 2023, each week on Sunday evening I create a special six photo collage of my fun outings and highlights for the week! I have done this project 34 times, since there have been 34 weeks out of 52 weeks so far in 2023. Some weeks picking only 6 photos takes a lot of discipline, there’s so much I would like to share! I am known to take an exorbitant amount of photos! I just can’t help myself….when I see beauty I must document it! I will share my four collages for this month below. I will quickly describe each weeks events beginning with week 31/52: Visited Boulder for an Ariel Dance Festival, checked out the historic Boulder Dushanbe Tea House, and found some great murals there. My beautiful pink Dahlia, and out for First Friday Art Walk in Denver. Week 32/52: Gorgeous outdoor venue, The Manor House, for another fun summer concert, a stop at the famous Wheatridge Carnation Festival, found a great sculpture called sweet grass, an evening in the neighborhood, Belmar plaza outdoor concert, and my flowers in a vase, saving my roses from being devoured by Japanese Beetles! Week 33/52: Golden, Colorado Fine Art Festival, amazing talented artists, it was a very hot day! Found more great murals in the area. Walked at my newest favorite Labyrinth, and went to Majestic View Park for Meditation in Nature class. Treated myself to purple gladiolas. Week 34/52: Went to Denver for the annual Art Students League of Denver Summer Art Market, enjoyed meeting many talented artists. Found more cool murals along my path. Enjoyed the Jefferson Symphony Orchestra Concert at Heritage Lake Park, Mother Nature was teasing us with rain, but we were prepared and then the gift of a double rainbow! Last but not least, I made my favorite summer dish, Capellini Pomodoro!

I also have a fun new project in the works, ZEN Daily Words by MARS. It will begin with a T-Shirt line featuring all my favorite spiritual words that I love, with artsy graphics!

My tag line: ZEN Daily Words by MARS – Where Art and Spirituality Unite. Explore the collection and take a step closer to inspiring positive change through art, words, and mindfulness.

It is a work in progress right now, but I have some designs available for purchase on Printify. Click the photos below and it will take you to my store! New designs and new products will be added weekly.

As Spring turned into summer this month of June, I’ve been saving some sweet blooming flowers from the wild and wacky hail storms we’ve been encountering almost daily! I have declared that Colorado should have a fifth season, let’s call it: HAIL-Hell! This is my second year in May and June, last year was not at all like what we’ve experienced this year. It rained 40 days straight, and we’ve had major hail storms and even a tornado last week in the suburbs of Denver! This is actually wonderful getting all this moisture, it looks so lush and green, and best of all, I think it’s the first year since 2019 that almost the entire state has not been in a drought.

So my job lately has been to move around my new rose bush, so it wouldn’t get pummeled with hail the size of golf balls! The peony bush in the neighborhood was leaning on the ground waterlogged and too heavy to stay upright! I picked several bouquets and brought them home to a lovely safe vase, and have enjoyed their delicate beauty and fragrance. My dahlia plant has been through holy hell, many blooms did get pummeled when I wasn’t home to save them! I did save a few just yesterday before another HAIL-Hell storm hit, and one dahlia bloom and a rose bud are now in a vase. Thankfully the iris fields were in bloom before the wacky storms became relentless. I did enjoy photographing many of them in the neighborhood, and got to bring a few bunches home to live out their remaining days in a vase, beautifying my home!

I have had some fun doing photoart with the digital pictures I’ve been taking of all these beautiful flora. I have created a series that I call: MARS Wild Colorado Florals, and have included some photos below. I am selling them as greeting cards, prints, etc. on Fine Art America, click the link on each photo if you fall in love with them.

I’ve been counting the days until Autumn arrives, ever since Summer Solstice began on June 21st! In 84 days I will be smiling and grateful to have survived another Colorado summer! I love Autumn and Spring, but I can do without Winter, Summer and now HAIL-Hell season!

Enjoy your summer, I know there are many of you that adore summertime. I will be enjoying the AC and a Caribbean mule while listening to a wonderful audio book or podcast!