Art Journal

 Springcleaningdetoxwellnesssparetreat

You read that right. But here it is again, with s  p  a  c  i  n  g: Spring cleaning detox wellness spa retreat.That's what I'm calling this week of my time on earth, after feeling the need to prune, let go, shed, cleanse, rest. Think of it as pushing the reset button. So far, it's been working wonders with my soul and sense of freedom and receptivity. And when I feel free to receive, I feel free to create. Whether it's making special pancakes for breakfast, or taking a leisurely stroll to admire nature, or just looking up at the sky, I have a sense of abundance.

And here's what it looks like in my art journal:

Three days, three pieces for my journal

I decided to move to a different format of paper this week. My 1.5 x 2.5 daily strips felt so limiting. (Lar calls them "bookmarks".) This helped me to enjoy the process again. The top piece used a new pattern from Debbie New called eNNDearing. I added the faces. The second, Better Angel, started with some stenciling. I added collage and marks. I created the third with randomly selected patterns. The common thread among the three pieces is their palette. (The first and second came from the same distress ink dyed paper.)

I took two classes offered in the Certified Zentangle Teacher Artifex Eruditio Masterclass (CZT AE). The first, "FIFE: Fragments of Life, by Midori Furuhashi", used two 3Z (triangular) tiles. This was totally relaxing, and reminded me of what I enjoy most about Zentangle, ie the repetitive strokes, patterns and metapatterns. 

The second class, "Undersea Pearl Garden, by Theresa Marshall" taught me a new-to-me pattern, Infinity. There was lots of shading, and coloring with chalk pastels. When using a mid-tint surface, like tan or sage green or gray, the shading/highlighting process allows us to create layer upon layer of dimension and depth. (I forgot to take a before picture with only the line work. Oops! I think since shading is my favorite  part, I get excited and forget!)

Be back soon for more!