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How the sausage was made for latest mandala, working from clips collected 12/29/2023:

The two magnolia seedheads (each scanned front and back, lower left above) caught my eye from the start — especially the one with the fruits sticking out. Looked pretty good with 15-degree rotation.

Then I added the reddish one (30-degree rotation) to fill in the center.

Real tempting to stop right there. But wanted to go out with a bang. Added the white berries. (No clue what they are, from bioswale outside my office.)

And then the dead evergreen branch I found lying on the ground.

And one of the evergreen sprigs to add a little color to outer ring.

Had intended to include the pods in one of the layers. But it’s already way too busy. So why not fill in the corners?

I suspect that I’ll get bored before it’s time to get back to the office routine and will try something different with the pods or find some other inspiration in that collection, like those purple beautyberries.

Thanks for all the support this year. Looking forward to more in 2024.