Catching up and finally back to art…

It’s been an interesting past few months… I’ve done some traveling to Tangle U in Florida plus additional time to explore and visit Norm’s mom, a family vacation at an amazing ranch in Arizona, and Southern Utah while my dad had surgery. We also moved our youngest daughter to a new place to live while at college, and dealt with a scary health situation that my husband had. Norm is still recovering, and hopefully he will be completely healed soon. 

Needless to say, besides the Tangle U portion (WHICH WAS AWESOME) of my traveling, I haven’t had a lot of time to create. The past couple of weeks I’ve been starting to steal bits of time here and there and it. feels. so. good! Here are some photos from some of these adventures… (I promise there is art in this post... just scroll quickly past these photos!)

Lovely location of this year's Tangle U

We enjoyed staying here!

A beautiful sunset to welcome us

Wonderful dinner out in Naples... Stone Crab!!!

Alligators near the road in the Everglades. HUGE!!

Lovely time together with relatives.

Celebrating Norm's birthday and enjoying dim sum.

Seeing a Perfect Circle at the Hollywood Bowl.

Family vacation in Arizona

We had such a wonderful time together!

Leila bravely holding the DEAD rattlesnake!

Cami and roommates

They're so much fun to be around!

Weekend in Santa Barbara. Celebrate Leila's birthday and see Boston at the Santa Barbara Bowl.

I love the scenery of my hometown. Southern Utah.

Lovely morning walk with my mom.

Another walk to see the petroglyphs...

They always leave me in awe...

More than a thousand years old. 

My furry son, Clark, turns 7.

Norm's poor leg... Blood infection/cellulitis. Definitely. not. fun. 

You made it! Now time for the art!

Last week I had the opportunity to perform my civic duty and wait ALL day at the courthouse to see if I would be called as a juror. I was prepared… I brought my sketchbook and pens/pencils. It was a lovely day! Uninterrupted art time is a pretty rare commodity! I played with Eni Oken’s technique for twisted ropes for the first time. I LOVED it! Twisty ropes are so organic. I enjoyed adding some mooka weaving in and out of it.

This week’s diva challenge #324 by guest blogger, Jessica Davies, is “Tangled Hearts.” I decided to explore the twisted ropes a bit more with a very loose heart shape and some additional mooka vines. I thought about my journey as I worked on this tile… about how your heart guides you in the direction you should take, yet many times you have distractions or pretty shiny things that mislead you towards a path that may direct you away from the truth of your heart. This is my “hearts journey," a reminder to focus on my path and stay true to my self/heart.

"Hearts Journey" Diva Challenge 324

My Inner Light girl has been patiently waiting for me to finish her for months. I was stuck for awhile as I considered how I could express/paint her inner glow and show her values/goals/mantras. I think I was a little afraid of finishing it and it not being what I had visualized in my mind. I finally forced myself past that barrier and started gluing the dimensional pieces down and added additional layers of color/shading/details… and then it happened… I had that moment when I looked at it and said… it’s done. Here she is preparing for her photo shoot in my lightbox. 

It’s wonderful to be back in this space, inspired by so many, and creating art.

Travel, Art, & a Diva Challenge

I just returned from an amazing trip to Portland, Maine! I feel so fortunate that I was able to attend a conference for Certified Zentangle Teachers called, Tangle University or Tangle U. I spent four VERY full days creating art, learning new techniques, spending time with artists that I admire, creating art, and creating art! It was a dream come true! I will post more art from Tangle U as I complete the projects in the next several weeks. 

The first piece of art I would like to share was created during Molly Hollibaugh's class. First off... I ADORE Molly! She is Maria's daughter, and she is AMAZING! I was really looking forward to her session. She. did. not. disappoint! It was wonderful to have a class that took us "back to the basics" of Zentangle. No Zentangle Inspired Art... just the pure method of Zentangle that satisfies and comforts my heart and soul. This is the piece I created, "My Journey."

"My Journey" created in Molly Hollibaugh's Class

One of the reasons this trip was SOOOO fantastic is that my husband joined me. We don't often have the opportunity for us to just go away together, so it's extremely special when we do have the chance. He worked in the hotel during the day and scouted out a restaurant for us to try at dinner each day. We had scrumptious food e.v.e.r.y. day! Lots of the dishes had something to do with lobster! While there I had Lobster Diablo (lobster, mussels, clams, squid, on pasta), lobster wontons, lobster roll, lobster bread pudding, lobster dim sum, lobster stew... I think you get the idea! Not one disappointing meal! We went to Street & Co., the Armory, Empire, Duckfat, Eventide, The Honey Paw... We had a great group of friends drive up from Boston and New Hampshire to join us for dinner one night. It was so nice of them to drive such a distance! We also met friends, Erin and John, at a wonderful restaurant in Kennebunk for lunch. Norm and I enjoyed exploring the area a bit and loved going to see the Portland Head Light. The coast is such a sight to see... I love it's rugged beauty. Here's some photos of our adventures in Portland and the surrounding area.

Now.... for the Diva's Weekly Challenge #266: "UMT - Crux by Henrike Bratz." I so enjoyed playing with the scale of this tangle! It reminded me of a lantern... so I had to add some light! It's called, "Illumination."

"Illumination" 

I have been working on converting my Zentangle® Audio Meditations from being hosted by Cincopa to Vimeo. This required reformatting and I have finally finished that!  I will be changing all the links during the next week. Once this is complete it will be time to create a new audio! YAY!!! 

I feel rejuvenated after the past week's adventures. I look forward to working on unfinished projects, planning classes, and practicing the mindfulness of Zentangle. 

Have a wonderful, art filled day!