". . . a brush with nature"

As summer draws to an end, my husband and I are thinking about all the small “wonders” we had the privilege to witness over the past several months as we stayed sheltered here at home. There was more time to slow down and really appreciate the small things, including tiny visitors to our woods. Some of the most beautiful were the dragonflies and damselflies we spotted on occasion, especially near our birdbaths and water troughs. We both so enjoyed catching glimpses of their shimmering iridescence . . . colors changing constantly as the angle of light shifted ever so slightly or our own point of view was altered. What breathtaking beauty on a creature so small.

The dragonfly is honored and respected in so many cultures around the world, symbolizing many things to many people. One can certainly understand why. The dragonfly has such a very short adult life to live, but seems to live it without regret. It certainly serves as an inspiration to us to live each moment of our own life to the fullest.

With that inspiration in mind, I started this scratchboard piece of a single dragonfly.

In the photo above left you can see that I have transferred my design to my prepared scratchboard panel. The white areas will eventually be removed in varying degrees achieved by different amounts of pressure or the use of different tools.

But first I want to protect my panel from the oils in my skin. This is accomplished by masking off most of the area with paper leaving only my design exposed.