Linda's Magic Workshop - Linda Britt Design

There are so many amazing places to explore in the Southwest and so many surprises.  I had never been to Cedar Breaks National Monument (near Cedar City, Utah) and in fact, I was not even aware of it.   Peter had been there and wanted to show me the area and we both wanted to take photographs.  As we drove up the mountain to 10,000+ feet, the trees thinned to a few.    It was a surprise to step out of the car, walk through the bristlecone pines, juniper trees, wildflowers and grass to look out 3 miles and down into a half-mile deep natural amphitheater.  Breathtaking actually!    This monument is open June thru October (snow in the winter precludes travel) and I understand that the fall colors are incredible in September/October.  The rock colors come from iron and manganese in a varity of combinations to produce reds, oranges and yellows with some purple.  My colors!  The Indians used to call this area the ‘Circle of Painted Cliffs.’  Again the repetition of shapes capt

Bryce National Park is fascinating.  As I walked to one of the overlooks I saw such variety of rock colors and formation shapes. I was spellbound and if it had not been so hot, I could have stayed for hours. The repetition of shapes, shapes that reminded me of pictures of Angkor Wat Cambodia from my long ago art history course, had me imagining ancient cities with ancient gods guarding those cities. While man made the Angkor buildings, nature used wind, water and temperature (freezing) to create these shapes.     The ‘hoodoos’ are tall and slender spires that rise from the arid basins.  They range in height from the height of an average man to the height of a 10 story building and no place has as many as the northern part of Bryce Canyon.  30 to 40 million years ago this was a lake bed.  You might enjoy reading more about them at   http://www.nps.gov/brca/naturescience/hoodoos.htm   The vast array of hoodoos and combination of colors is almost overwhelming.  There are

Peter and I just returned from a road trip to Utah.   We drove to Coral Pink Sand Dunes that were once (170 million years ago) covered with ocean.   We climbed a steep wet sandy hill of beautiful coral colored sand and stood at the top looking across miles of coral colored sand dunes, high ridges swooping into flat beaches.   We carefully walked among the Welsh’s Milkweed plants taking pictures of the lovely thick-skinned leaves and the globe-shaped blooms.   The thick skins protect the plant from heat, wind and sand damage as the deep roots tap into water under the sand and send horizontal runners making new plants.   These plants are only found in Southern Utah and Northern Arizona and are on the federally threatened plant list. This is where I began to pay attention to the repetitions of shapes and lines throughout the road trip. I always try to be aware of design elements around me and I enjoyed focusing on this idea. I think I could have spent hours studying this inte

Sea Anemone Underwater creatures just fascinate me.   Their colors and shapes and habitats capture my imagination.   No I don’t scuba dive or snorkel because …well to be honest I’ve always been scared of the water.   It took me two summers to pass the beginning Red Cross Swimming class.   I’ve learned to enjoy the sea life in glass bottom boats and aquariums.   I’ve also learned I can take really good pictures in those places. My photo of a sea anemone inspired me to make a polymer clay necklace.   Actually, I’ve been thinking for months about how to construct the necklace.   When ‘My Clay Fantasy’ (a FB group) had their recent ‘Underwater Creatures’ competition, it was just the push I needed.   I started with Skinner blends ranging white to fuchsia and ye llow to green.   Then I stacked layers including translucent clay to make striped canes.   Graduating the colors from yellow to green to fuchsia gave a fun 3-D effect.      A circle of paper formed into a shallow c

 Getting ready to leave Yesterday was a red letter birding day!   Peter and I went to Willow Lake, Prescott AZ to see if indeed over 100 American White Pelicans were visiting.   We could see a large white mass at the edge of the lake as we parked, took out our cameras, tripods, binoculars and the scope!   We were armed and ready! It’s a short rocky walk to the water’s edge and we were not the only humans looking.   We walked as close as we dared without alarming them and set up the equipment.   As the sun warmed the pelicans, they started swimming toward the center of the lake and eventually took flight.   It was mesmerizing to see them ride the thermals as they flew to their next destination.   1st section of panarama 2nd section of panarama 3rd section of panarama Swimming to the center of the lake Riding the thermals

Vermillion Flycatcher There is a place just northwest of Phoenix near Wickenburg AZ that draws birders and nature lovers.   It is a desert oasis with cottonwood trees, palm trees and a pond where frogs and water fowl are found.   The Hassayampa River Preserve was purchased in 1986 by the Nature Conservancy and is being restored.   “ In the Sonoran Desert, riparian areas nourish cottonwood-willow forests, one of the rarest and most threatened forest types in North America. An estimated 90 percent of these critical wet landscapes have been lost, damaged or degraded in the last century. This loss threatens at least 80 percent of Arizona wildlife, which depend upon riparian habitats for survival.”   http://gosw.about.com/od/bestsightstosee/a/hassayampa.htm The Hassayampa River courses 100 miles through the Sonoran Desert and most of the water flows underground.   It looks like a dry riverbed until you dig down a little ways and feel the moist sand.    In the preserve, the wat

Sea Stars!  I think I like the romance of 'sea stars' rather than calling these fascinating creatures 'Starfish'.  They are not fish.  They do not have gills, scales or fins. They have tube feet to help them move.  They can have more than 5 arms and can regenrate arms.  They resemble the shape of a star and may appear smooth or with spines on their top side and are soft on the bottom.  I've been looking through some of my photos and found several of starfish.  I'm once again surprised and inspired by the diversity in nature.  The range of size, shape, color and texture intrique me and give me food for thought to use in my jewelry creations.  I thought you might enjoy seeing the variety also. Find out more at this site: http://marinelife.about.com/od/invertebrates/tp/seastarfacts.htm  

Sharing my work from Hadar’s class with you is making me remember and document what I learned.   It’s a really good thing!   Details can be so easily forgotten.   In between assigned projects, I made a pair of earrings from a slab of copper and a slab of brilliant bronze.   When you really look the top layer of one earring is plain copper and the back layer of the other is textured bronze.   The pieces on the top layer started out as a single shape and I cut them to look like cracked mud.   (At least that is what dried cracked mud looks like here in the Southwest).   Since the two materials have a slightly different shrinkage rate the cracks became a little wider.   After I sanded and fired them, I polished them and made them into earrings.   These were fun and I’ll make other earrings in a similar style.   I also tried my square pliers and love what I can do with them. This pair of earrings sold before I could get them in my etsy shop!