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As I look outside, my heart sings with the beautiful sky. My first Zentangle-inspired art is aptly named Soar.
I used Pigma Micron pens, sizes 01, 05, and 08. I shaded with a no. 2 pencil. I can't wait to try adding color to my tangles!
I hope your weekend is restful and rewarding. God bless all of you.
Until next time,
Okay, I'll admit it. I resisted for awhile but all of those little lines and intricate patterns have been calling to me. I tried to ignore them, but they kept turning up everywhere. "Don't do it", my practical self said. "You have enough on your plate." But alas, it's like an itch that I just have to scratch. It's Zentangle. Zentangle is the brainchild of Maria Thomas and Rick Roberts. Zentangle is a registered trademark of Zentangle Inc. You can check out their website and their blog. They are full of great tutorials and fabulous ideas.
Essentially, Zentangle is a wonderfully relaxing process of creating patterns, one stroke at a time and combining them to create one-of-a-kind pieces of art. There are at least 130 official patterns, or tangles. Of course, you can create countless variations of these, or create a few of your own! It looks incredibly complicated, but in fact it is very simple and methodical. I've been learning as much as I can from Rick and Maria's website and blog. Here are a few samples from my art journal.
These are just practice sketches, but as I master them, I'll start combining them into original art works. I have a collection of some of my favorite images from various artists on Pinterest. Just click on the link and you can see them. There are also some wonderful books out there on the subject. A search on Amazon revealed lots of them. If you'll click on the Amazon link, you can check them out.
Have any of you tried Zentangle? Let me know what you think!
Until next time,
For the past nineteen years I've been Mom. I've loved living that role, and as any Mom will tell you, when you have kids, life becomes all about them. I've never regretted a day of it (well, almost...). Lately, as my son has begun spreading his wings, I've been working on defining who I am and what I want my life to be about. Too often, women do not appreciate the depth of their souls and their lives. I spent some time thinking about the life I've been given, and rediscovering my heart and soul. Now, before anyone gets nervous, this was actually an extraordinarily enjoyable experience that I've been able to translate to my latest collage.
I primarily used my own art and photography. Some of the words, I did in Photoshop, some were borrowed from free downloads, and the rest were gleaned from my rather sizable magazine collection.
A collage artist's best friend:
I adhered everything to a 16 x 20 canvas board.
So tell me, what is it that makes your heart beat a little faster? What is it that calls your name or inspires you? Let me hear from you! There is a unique and special heart that beats in all of us.
Until next time,
Hello everyone! It's good to be back. This is the first time I've been able to use my computer since last week. I fell victim to yet another hideous virus that toasted my computer. It shut down my anti-virus software and wouldn't allow it to be reinstalled! It then proceeded to hijack my search engine. Fortunately, I listened to my hubby, and I'd been backing up everything onto an external drive. He had to wipe out everything on my hard drive and reload Windows. Aargh! The up-side is my computer hasn't run this well in months! My hubby is a techno-god!! I guess there's a silver lining in almost anything :)
I've been taking a little break from painting in order to finish my Christmas quilt. I'm very happy to say that I put in the last stitch on Wednesday. I can't wait to show it to you, but I think I'm going to wait until I decorate for Christmas. In the meantime, I've started a new quilt. I've always wanted to work with batik fabrics. On my last visit to the Old Country Store in Intercourse, I purchased some beautiful fabrics.
I've been cutting and piecing away!
I like this particular quilt because it will show off the fabrics. I've been gettting a lot of mileage out of this book. It is Bloom Creek Quilts by Vicki Bellino.
I'm using the fabric on the left for the largest blocks and the one on the right for the backing.
I'm in quilter's heaven!
Until next time,
I was inspired by a cute photo of a cottage to create this page for my Art Journal. When my son was small, we lived in Portugal for about six months while my husband was there on assignment. Although it was a once in a lifetime experience, there was a place in my heart that never left home.
Home Is Where We Love
9 x 13
Watercolor and Pen and Ink on Canson mixed media paper
What is it that makes your house a home? I'd love to hear from you!
Until next time,
I've been working on processing more of my photos from Maine. I have some to share with you from Stonington. I spent an entire day exploring this lovely harbor town. I couldn't take pictures fast enough! There were so many interesting things to see.
The Stonington Opera House is on the National Register of Historic Places.
On the hill is the opera house in Stonington. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The center of town was bustling with activity.
There is an irresistible charm about the place.
I wandered along the waterfront, soaking up the character of this productive fishing port.
As the skies were clearing, fishermen returned with the morning's catch.
There were many cheerful cottages with gardens and window boxes bursting with color.
There were so many lovely touches that seemed to say welcome.
I featured this photo in a Pink Saturday post a few weeks ago, but I just loved the look of this inn in Stonington. I had to include it again.
Back down on the waterfront, I wandered about the docks, soaking in the character of this busy, productive harbor.
I was fortunate to capture this beautiful ship just as it was coming about in the harbor.
This is a sobering tribute to those who have lost their lives at sea.
There's no doubt about what is the major industry in Stonington!
I hope you enjoyed my tour of Stonington. This little town holds a special place in my heart.
Until next time,
