Inviting inspiration to come and play

 Where do you find inspiration? Maybe it's in nature, in biographical work, in science, in math, in language... There's so much to be found in the most unexpected places!

This morning my meditation included a phrase that resounded with me: Invite inspiration to play. Several things struck me. First, the idea of making time and space to welcome inspiration, just as you would a guest in your home. I clear a space--physical and mental!-- for inspiration, for gratitude, for creativity. Second, the idea of play, and how it opens our imagination to endless possibilities. I remember as a child, how the neighborhood kids would invite each other over to play. Once I had another kid around, there were twice as many ways of imagining what to do!

Often, I find inspiration in seeing other Zentangle artists' work on the Mosaic App or through a challenge, such as InkTober. 

Fluxecho, inspired by the Art Raffle app

Very often, I find it in nature, during a walk or working in the garden.

Fluxecho, with autumn colors

Nehphi tangle, inspired by a magnolia seed pod

Sometimes, I venture out to a museum, as I did yesterday to see the Alphonse Mucha exhibition at the North Carolina Museum of Art. I came home and started drawing some notes and sketches of things I wanted to play with.

Where will I find inspiration next? I will clear some space, and see what happens!

Flip It!

I've been wanting to draw with no text, just draw for the pleasure of drawing. Today, after my morning walk, when I admired some scrollwork on a neighbor's fence, I came home, picked up a tile, and tried to recreate the design I had seen. Then, I modified it a bit in each of the four corners. I thoroughly enjoyed this.

Then I remembered seeing a post on the Mosaic app about using Instagram Layout to create mosaics with your tiles. You can flip and mirror! And in just a few seconds, I have 4 times as much art :) (There are different layouts with many more possibilities, too!)

Here are some more examples. I used the letter "J" from a lesson in Project Pack 15.

My original

If you haven't already, give it a try! I think you'll be entertained!

Note(s) to self

Our Meals on Wheels clients will soon receive their Thanksgiving cards--gasp! Given my continued "micro-bursts" of creativity and joy, I designed these six models for the 60 cards I wanted to contribute. Ever since Project Pack 15 and its focus on letters, I've enjoyed using more text in my art. 

With InkTober behind us, I was thinking about a new project and remembered that I had another mini-journal to work in. I had made the background for the cover, and pulled out my Moonlight pens. (Uh-oh. She's pulling out colored pens again!) I had recently seen the newly published step-outs for Vipson, and had a fun 30 minutes of tangling. After a break, I came back and pulled out my colored pencils and maybe some other pens to finish up. When I opened the journal to inaugurate it, I saw I had already used about half of it for notes on Mindful Art Studio's Slow Drawing and Painting class! No mistakes, only surprises!!!

I took advantage of my "misstart" to review LunarFlux, from the first day of InkTober. I had misunderstood the step-out, and wanted to get this lovely tangle under my belt.

As I drew this soothing LunarFlux tile, a favorite quote from Kurt Vonnegut came to mind:

"When things are going sweetly and peacefully, please pause a moment, and then say out loud, 'If this isn't nice, what is?'"

This morning's meditation focused on gratitude for the mundane, and this phrase rang out:

Savor the preciousness of life.

InkTober!

Happy November! We are having a glorious fall here in North Carolina, and the gratitude for the beauty of the sky, the leaves, the birdsong, is palpable!

This unassuming seedling stops me in my tracks every morning, as I admire the light passing through its leaves.

I finished my InkTober pages in my journal. As I mentioned earlier, knowing how to choose colors and then shade appropriately, was a challenge in itself. Several days, I thought, "I totally understand why we use black ink on a white background." I had a full bag of pens, pencils, and markers on my table. The color palette kept growing, as the tools cried out, "Pick me! Pick me!" Whew! Such a challenge:)

Ta-da!

My overflowing tool bag, with its "cast of thousands"

I made a "note to self" relating to last week's post on gratitude. I enjoy making and then seeing these around me as I wake up in the morning, enjoy my coffee, and think about the day ahead.

My beloved Lar and I celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary on November 1. Our plans--seeing the Mucha exhibition at the NCMA and the documentary on Jacques Cousteau--had to change. In typical JL fashion, we adapted and simply enjoyed the time we had together. I believe, like our initials, we are a good fit.