Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Journal page


For the moment is seems that I can best handle a page that is divided into small spaces. In fact, I was talking to a friend about shopping and how I get overwhelmed in a large department store. She suggested a small specialty shop might be my type of place. Hummmm, she may have a point.

Here I timidly tried some colored pencils and my favorite Micron pens. The top right is a continuous line design that I just used, in thread, on a quilt. I'm really pleased and will post a picture when it is done. So, my zentangles help with machine quilting patterns. Oh my, one art form is related to another. What a concept!

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Visit to a gallery


I treated myself to a trip to Berkeley (about 1 hr 45 min) after meeting with a friend. Judi had seen an article about Nina Katz who challenged herself to draw, with pencil, in her moleskin each day. Sound familiar? Nina chose to do drawing of people found in the New York Times obituary pages. What a treat to see this exhibit! Each face was so unique. She made a note of the person's name, age and claim to fame. The collection was a year's worth of drawings.


Then, Nina chose to paint some of the faces. This was a tiny exhibit, but really powerful to me.
Again, someone has put aside the excuse-"I have nothing to draw".


Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Doodles in my journal


Without following a lesson plan, I spent some time just doodling.
Taking time to remember the moment is, I believe, what Danny Gregory has been talking about. 

Monday, April 12, 2010

April Mandala


This month I chose to use colored pencils. As usual, the circle is about a 7" diameter. 
It is a variation of the flower of life found in sacred geometry.
I needed to sit and calm myself, to just think about things. Biggest on my mind is that I just learned that my husband and I are going to be grandparents to twins. This happens to other people, not us. I'm giving myself 7 days to get over the shock. I may do a lot more drawing.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Kindess extended



Wonders never cease. Jennifer Edwards at  Drawn2Life gave me an Over the Top award. I'm really honored as I consider myself a newbie in the blog world. Many of you know my lack of knowledge as I keep asking questions, which you have been so patient to answer. Along with this award, is the rule that I must answer the following questions with ONE word (a real challenge) and pass the award to five other people. So here goes:

1. Where is your cell phone? purse
2.  Your hair? short
3.  Your mother? deceased
4.  Your father? deceased
5.  Your favorite food? sourdough
6.  Your dream last night? active
7.  Your favorite drink?  cranberry
8.  Your dream/goal? joy
9,  What room are you in? kitchen
10. Your hobby? art
11. Your fear? imperfection
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? here
13. Where were you last night? home
14. Something that you aren't? singer
15. Muffins? avoid
16. Wish list item?  chef
17. Where did you grow up? Mill Valley, CA
18. Last thing you did? vacuumed
19. What are you wearing? jeans
20. Your TV? old
21. Your Pets? Cody
22. Friends? blessings
23. Your life? full
24. Your mood? varies
25. Missing someone? grandchild
26. Vehicle? Taurus
27. Something you're not wearing? dress
28. Your favorite store? art
29. Your favorite color? purple
30. When was the last time you laughed? recently
31. Last time you cried? weekago
32. Your best friend?  Eric
33. One place that I go to over and over? golfcourse
34. Facebook? NO
35. Favorite place to eat? Thai Hut

Wow! that was quite a list. Now to those who are just five of the many people with whom I'd like to share the award (listed alphabetically by first name):


Thursday, April 1, 2010

Last of line study

These are the last two pages of study from the book I've been following. Some of the lines on the above piece were done with the edge of a mat board and some with thinner board. I've used acrylic ink, homemade ink and a stamp pad for the different colors.

The lettering page was designed to show different texture created from size, style and layout of letters. OK, this was pretty easy for me as I was a professional calligrapher for 29 years. Still, since I've barely done any lettering since I retired, it was fun to do.