The Sketchbook Project

I am so excited to be a part of this.I have until January 2012 to fill it and send it in where it will be part of a traveling library.

check it out..http://www.arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject

I Doodled all ............

over the page in Keri Smith's WRECK THIS JOURNAL.

...............and had a blast doing it.

Wishing...........

........... you hope, new beginnings, love and peace.

Planted

A collaborative venture with MY MAN. 35" x 15" on wood.
Happy Spring!

Simply Put

I am making my own stencils.

More to come.

Today

This is what it was like today.......

Hope it was like that for you, too.

ZENTANGLE®

Nearly a year ago I discovered the joy of Zentangle®. This art form created by Maria Thomas and Rick Roberts, is based on a series of patterns, which when repeated, produce beautiful images. I love patterns. I love seeing the results of patterns put together with other patterns. I like the feeling I get when I "tangle a pattern" or even part of a pattern throughout the day. It seems to focus on me as much as I focus on it.I can often work through things in my mind at the same time doing a pattern. It calms me. I sometimes Zentangle® in the car before going in to work. It wakes me, focuses me. Creating a Zentangle® pattern or tile will unwind me at the end of stressful work day. It calms me. These patterns are done on 3 1/2 square tiles and when groups of tiles are placed together they also produce a beautiful peice of artwork.
I find there are some patterns more challenging to me and some that I am more drawn to. Either way there is something very satisfying about seeing instant results. Equally intriguing to me is incorportating Zentangle® patterns into other art or art forms, thus the term ZIA or zentangle® inspired art.

YAY!!

I don't always know what to write. I used to think I had to write something serious, something profound, something eye catching. I'm not going to sweat this anymore. I'm just gonna write what comes up and out. So. Here it is. I'm glad it's the weekend and I get to play!!

Paint Blots

I am working out of Carla Sonheim's 52 Creative Exercises for Mixed Media Artists. The instructions for Lab 32 tells us to create a drawing by using paint blotches or spots. IN other words,"What do you see in these ink spots?"
A small blob of paint, a spatula and off I went. I swear these creatures began to develop personalities as I drew them. I finished them off with a marker. It was a lot of fun.

Early Morning

Early morning sights and sounds...........Woodpecker. Wait! Woodpecker on metal! Sounds like the clangy ring of an old time telephone. Does that make him a metal head?! Brown bunny "scurry hops" across the front lawn disappearing under the holly hedges....a cacophony of bird sounds, a symphony. The humidity is higher than my head likes this morning..... and here comes Metal Head. One, two, one, two. da da da da da da da dada

It's been awhile, six months too long. Daily life is full of interruptions. It's to be expected and so I am reminded. During my absence, here is some of what I have discovered: That my eyelids are drooping so my eyebrows have to be higher. That there are parts of my body that choose to bring me down instead of giving me a lift.That my body is more stiff in the mornings. That I can no longer just come home and rearrange the furniture. I used to do this quite often over the yrs. That my Wobble Chair (a large wide bicycle seat planted on a 5 gallon Home Depot plastic bucket) has become part of my den furniture so I can wobble the spinal fluid into my disks and stay more - well, stay more fluid.) It is not true that weebles wpbble and do not fall down as I have seen MY MAN who is a 6 feet plus tall weeble fall off this wobble chair. How he does this I do not know.

That I really like red as it shows up in a lot of my art. That Zentangles® and alcohol inks have inspired some great art work. More on that later. That it's really cool to hear ones own music on a CD even if no one else thinks so. That I really need to be better about posting. I have been incredibly creative for the last six months, but lousy at posting/sharing it.
That time is precious, that you cannot live your life for anyone but your self, that menopause sometimes means you have to tell others (except your boss) to leave you the heck alone. That hot flashes are sometimes the power surge needed to tell others to leave you the heck alone so you can create. That having that time and making that time for creativity makes one much happier in all aspects of one's life.

And so.... like the tree in my front yard, the one that I can watch the changing of the seasons, my seasons, I am branching out.