Mixed heART...

I've been busy working on a mixed media piece for the past week or so... I'm putting lots of thoughts and intention into it as I incorporate several ideas/prompts/goals for the coming year. Here are a few progress shots as I work on my Inner Light girl... 

I just cut out these suns and spirals that I drew and they were resting while I contemplate placing and how I will paint and add my words to them. I loved how she looked in the sun and shadows so I had to take a photo... it almost captures the glow that I'm trying to create and have emanate from her. I still have quite a bit to do: more layering in the hair, shading, highlights, etc.

I couldn't let the week go by without participating in the diva challenge 304. This week the tangle to use is the new tangle from Zentangle® "waybop." Well... it happens that I used this tangle for my valentangle last week! I wanted to try something a bit different so decided to test out starting with the seeds of the tangle, MI2, in graph format versus the circle start of waybop. I then started connecting the lines in a combination of Huggins/MI2 style. As a throwback to my tile last week it seemed right to add a lone heART. I loved the simple line art once again, so decided to just add rounding and shading. Rounding always brings such a calm, zen feeling. It was another very enjoyable challenge! This piece is titled, "heART link."

Diva Challenge 304 Waybop : "heART link"

Thanks so much for visiting... and especially to all those who kindly leave a comment. I will be sure to leave a comment back... I know how much I enjoy receiving them, and once I complete my tile for the week, I start viewing and commenting on submissions. I strive for 5 to 10 a day. 😊 Who doesn't love a kind word?! 

I hope you have a wonderful, art filled week!

heARTfully twined...

Valentine's Day is TOMORROW and today's Diva Challenge 303 is to create a "Valentangle" to give your loved one. This meant I better get to it TODAY! I kept it simple... I used two color pens (red and grey) to try out a new to me tangle, Way Bop. Recently, Lynn Mead wrote a love-ly piece and included a step out to Way Bop with hearts. When I read the challenge I knew it was the perfect opportunity to give this a try. I liked the simplicity of the tangle as is, so just added a touch of watercolor for shading. It was fun to take advantage of the 3Z tiles shape to accent the hearts. I'm looking forward to giving this tile to my sweetheart. 

Diva Challenge 303 : "heARTfully twined"

Thank you for visiting... and for kindly leaving a comment.  I will be sure to leave a comment back... I know how much I enjoy receiving them, and once I complete my tile for the week, I start viewing and commenting on submissions. I strive for 5 to 10 a day. :) Who doesn't love a kind word?!

I hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day with your loved ones! 

Shells and Paint

It's been a fun art week so far! 

I was thrilled to try a semi new tangle to me in the Diva Challenge this week. It's the 302nd challenge... the tangle to use is called, "Hamadox" by Diana Schruer, CZT. It's a mix between the tangles Paradox (which I've used) and Hamail (which I hadn't used previously). First off... I adore Paradox and then when I started playing with the "Hamail" way of finishing off a fragment of Paradox... well, it was LOVE! It has such a wonderful finished edge... brilliant, Diana! While experimenting with the tangle I decided to start with a block of Paradox and then finish with that Hamail element... Hamadox! Also in my experimenting I wanted to highlight the individual elements that are created within the group. I did this by drawing with three pens; black, grey, and brown. It was fun to see the outcome. This piece is titled, "Nestled Shells." (The border was created with a leaky pen a few weeks ago... I set aside the tile and came across it when starting this project. I like the contrast it provided.)

#dc302 "Nestled Shells"

A couple of days ago I completed some art in my inspiration art journal. I challenged myself to JUST START PAINTING... no pre sketch or pencil AT ALL! I also used a very limited palette of colors and worked with acrylics. I have to admit that I was a little sweaty taking that first paint stroke... but it all ended up okay. Nothing bad happened, AND I learned some things that will help me for my next project. 

Here are my bullet journal pages for this project. I enjoy taking a photo or a small copy of art projects I complete and adding the photo to my journal. I wanted to capture the inclusion quote so I created a mini book to add... I use clear photo corners to keep it flat to the page when not being looked at. 

Here's another example of how I attach photos/copies into my journal. The 3Z tile in this photo is just attached at the bottom... the top is held shut with a photo corner, so you can just slide it out to view the notes underneath. It's a lot of fun to see photos of projects within the pages. It also helps me to remember what I used/liked/would try differently. 

I had an exciting Flickr event happen after posting last week's Diva Challenge to my account. The next morning I was surprised that I was getting LOTS of notifications. It prompted me to look at the Flickr page... I found that my photo was featured in their Explore section. YAY! I was very excited! Here's the screen shot. 

Thank you so much for visiting. Comments are always welcome and SOOOOO appreciated! 

Dancing with Paradox...

I was soooo excited when I saw that the 301st diva challenge this week was a duo tangle : paradox and diva dance. Over the weekend I had viewed the new "Kitchen Tangles" video by Rick and Maria. Rick was using these same two tangles... It was mesmerizing! The challenge gave me another reason to give the intertwining between these two beautiful tangles a try. It. was. so. much. fun! I enjoyed using a 3Z tile and titled this piece, "Dance of Shells."

diva challenge 301 : "Dance of Shells"

Last week I showed part of the page I was working on while going through the Zentangle Primer. I decided to finish the page by adding individual "tiles" of the tangles used. My husband gave me the nicest compliment later when he noticed the sketchbook open at my desk and asked about it. He thought my page was part of the printed book! So. sweet! I guess I'll have to keep him around! :)

Zentangle Primer exercise in new Zentangle sketchbook.

I have so many projects lined up this week... my fingers are itching to get to them! Thank you so much for taking the time to visit... I'd love if you left me a comment! Each one is appreciated!