Weather

Like the air we breathe, weather is a constant in our life. "Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it," said Mark Twain. Weather is constantly in the news now, a major character in our world, as our climate changes. 

We here in the Triangle had a severe storm pass through this week. It didn't last long, but damaged homes, forests, power lines and traffic lights. I spent a good part of this week cleaning up our yard. Since my wrist and back are not as strong as they once were, I spent another good part trying to recover.

I know that I have to practice making art every day, so I opted for trying some different techniques. I watched and drew along with a "Botanicals by Whimsy by Kelly" video on FaceBook. I did the Mini-Mandala Monday lesson on YouTube. I also watched some beginning collage videos, and purchased some digital printables on etsy. All of these are fun and relaxing ways to do art and learn something new. We'll see where they take me.

Here are my results:

Inspired by my Botanicals class and one of my favorite flowers, 

the California Poppy, or Escholtzia

Just playing with a tile I had already painted

This week's Mini Mandala Monday. I really enjoyed the 

blossom and left off the traditional embellishments.

A little sprinkle of Lindy's Gang Magicals, 

a peacock from an old magazine,

and a frame of "Pee-Fee" tangle

My first go at collage after the video lesson

Another postcard collage, with stamping and a hint of Zentangle

What class might you take this week to develop your art?

Mistakes?

One of the tenets of the Zentangle philosophy is "No Mistakes". Whatever unintended mark appears on your paper remains, because there are no erasers in life. We have every right and power to alter our mark, and can even just cover it up or cut it out! But in some form or another, it remains for us to remember. I mention this because I was looking at my first art journal this week, done in 2016-17. I was looking for notes on drawing over acrylic paint, which always challenged me. Page after page I had tried different techniques with paint--acrylic, watercolor, gouache, watercolor pens-- and made notes on my process and what happened. It was fascinating to see all the things that hadn't really worked to my satisfaction. Two years of this! Lots of lessons on what not to do! And how rich it all felt! I never really showed it to anyone, since it felt like a secret treasure. 

When I post my work here, I include the warts and bumps, of which there are many. I do this to encourage you to accept and embrace whatever you make. Rob Bell says, "What every artist must learn is that even the failed pieces are essential." In my case, the failed acrylic pieces--much to my joy!--led me to use more watercolors, inks and pigments. (And reduce my mess. I hated cleaning up acrylic paint from my brushes!) I hope that whenever you come here, you take away some power to venture out and make your own "mistakes".

Here's the work from the past week:

Quote from Erikah Badu, seen yesterday

Have you looked in your secret treasure chest of mistakes lately?

Snapshot!

I get uncomfortable when more than a week goes by without blogging, so I thought I'd just quickly share my art from the past 7 days. I'm trying to use more tangles after doing a lot of technique exploration. Of course, I'm not back to black on white, but the first picture shows how close I came!!!

I hope you enjoy!

Have a lovely week!