Looking for peace

This past week has flooded our screens with horrific images of violence. I have 5 friends who were impacted by the terrorist strikes in Israel, and feelings of helplessness have dominated my days. I am grateful for the helpers, who organize evacuations, food, medical care, shelter.

The week before the world changed I had the great joy of visits from cousins. What a respite family can be. The day before their visits, my in-laws moved to another state. The loss was somewhat softened by the cousins' visits, and by a FaceTime visit yesterday where we toured the new digs.

Here's a  group shot of my work from the past 2 weeks:

Difficulty focusing on creating led me to several video lessons: Botangle, on YouTube, featuring the acorn-like Annie Oakley; Printers' Marks lesson by Eni Oken; Into the Tangle, a CZT AE 2023* lesson by Susan Yeo; and my first "Junk Journal" lesson by Pink Monarch Prints. (I think I'm hooked.) I am grateful to all these skilled instructors for the respite and beautiful marks they offered me! Also, to Eni Oken, again for teaching me how to make the faux botanical print papers with leaves. 

I'll use this for my cards for Meals on Wheels clients.

Another faux botanical print paper

Into the Tangle class. I really wanted color, but stayed with the instructions for the tile...

Until ...

I went rogue!

My Junk Journal. It has a pumpkin/fall theme. I first thought I'd give it to a friend, but decided to use it myself and see what I think. (So many of my friends are serious journalers! This would be too small for them!) It has 20 pages and several pockets with tags that can also be used for writing and storing little souvenirs. I thought it would be a great travel journal. I also thought about giving it as a fidget purse for a friend with Alzheimers. Any suggestions?

May you find peace and joy in your art, in your family and friends.

If you know of anyone in Israel who is seeking to evacuate to the US, I highly recommend Save Our Allies. My neighbors work with them. They are highly responsive and effective. Their website: www.saveourallies.org.

*CZT AE 2023:  A master class for Certified Zentangle Teachers all over the world.

My "September Song"

September has passed. Read that again!

As I reflected on the past month and planned for the new one, I saw how fulfilling and nourishing it was. A visit to my South Carolina family highlighted it all. My 64th birthday delighted me. Oral surgery slowed me down. Car issues kept me on my toes. My in-laws' imminent move to Tennessee reminded me of the constant nature of change. Keeping up with my art practice took second place most days, although I managed to pursue my study of botanical drawing through a lovely book Lar gifted me. All in all, a splendid month.

As I failed to post anything from week to week, I started to question my purpose for blogging. A friend and fellow blogger and I lamented together about the future of blogs. Were they still useful? My "mission" for this blog was to share my journey in joy. (The blogging process inspires me to make more art.) In my last post, I shared a crazy quilt of pictures from my journey: botanical drawings, collage, Zentangle pieces. Do readers want to see Zentangle art alone? If you have any thoughts on this, I'd love to hear from you.

In the meantime, my journey in joy goes on. I'll continue to share my creative process, drawing, tangling, collaging and whatever else pops up, as long as I find joy and fulfillment here. (I can't imagine how you will find it if I'm not!)

Botanical Drawings, from "Botanicals by Whimsy by Kelly" group on Facebook:

Medley Classes. This is a course offered by Whimsy by Kelly. We learn botanical drawing and combine it with Zentangle.

CZT Artifex Eruditio 2023. A masterclass for Certified Zentangle Teachers offered by 7F5R Studio in Singapore with teachers and students from the world over.

My stuff.

Stamping with leaves

I hope you found something to bring an instant of joy/bliss/ happiness and wish you well!

Until next time!

What can I say?

No posts for two weeks does not mean I haven't been thinking about you. My zen journey in joy has taken me to different media and techniques yet again, and I didn't quite know how to put it into a post! I think you stop by mostly for the pictures, so I'll cut to the chase. These are in no particular order, to convey the crazy quilt feel of my work space. The botanical drawings are from the class I'm taking with Whimsy by Kelly. She also taught an ornamental letters class on Facebook that I highly recommend. I struggle with perspective, but I'm working on it. There are some new botanical tangles I learned from Annie Reiser's excellent YouTube videos: Daisy Chain, Mooka Lily Leaf and Ray. And a couple more collage postcards.

Hope you found something that tickled your fancy! Thanks for stopping by!

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!