Proof Positive

I just finished reading a book by Dana White titled, "How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind." It's a hilarious take on real-world cleaning strategies. (Spoiler alert: Do the dishes).
I'm sure you're thinking why would anyone as organized as I need to read about home management?
HA!
In reality I'm just a crazy old cat lady hoarder-in-training. I mean, I don't even have one cat yet! I'm not so old! But if there were need of any proof that I have the hoarder thing going on, here is my entry to the Every Inchie Monday this week:

This is a clipping of a child's sweater from the Fall 1999 issue of Family Circle Easy Knitting magazine. I'm not sure why I still have the periodical, my knitting skills are not very, well, skillful. One of these days I'll actually knit a sweater. Maybe. It won't be that one.

For the Diva challenge this week:

The objective, to use Hamadox in a sentence (Ah ha!). Here, I put a few tried and true tangles to work. I'm really enjoying drawing with Prismacolor colored pencils and I'm trying to keep notes of which colors I'm using for future reference. (Yeah, like keeping a knitting magazine that is soooo last century. But, you have to admit, it came in handy this week!).

My last entry is for the TwobyTwo, where the word is "news." I like reading and am grateful that I can access whatever it is I need to know on the Internet. Otherwise, the papers might pile up ad infinitum. It could get out of hand.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a brilliant day.
I have to go do the dishes now.

Out of Practice

It's not really that I haven't been creating, just not as actively as I'd like. Feeling guilty about that isn't going to help or change the world, but it did lead to not chatting about it. I have a stack of little artworks laying around, mostly tossed into a corner or three when guests came to visit through the holidays.
Then the calendar flipped and things really got out of hand. Let's just say that there is a little order that has come of the chaos. Life can be....interesting, and it helps to embrace that instead of trying to fight it, right?
I was going to start a botanical drawing class, but the instructor wanted a list of art supplies of which I have NONE. Hard to believe that's even possible! But I have the book and am digesting the ideas before I commit to a totally new set of (Faber-Castell) colored pencils. I'm already invested in Prismacolor and Spectrum Noir, isn't that good enough??
I say all that as an introduction to Diva 299 with the latest official Zentangle tangle, Drawings (think: draw wings). Working on light direction, foliage coloration and subtle shading.

Then there's the EIM that I'm working on. Here we go with the first four of 2017. Okay, I'm getting ahead of myself, but I didn't want to lose that fabric swatch, as I'm bound to do.

The first one is rabbit (and you never have just one!), the hampster dance, a cat who looks as happy about the weather as I do (the cold, the rain! just stay inside!) and the dog (which, for whatever reason, one repeat along the selvage had all green shading. weird).

The objective at last week's TwobyTwo was happy. Too many ideas were trying to work their way through to the cerebral surface. One of my other goals this year is to tackle Illustrator. Again.
While this was created in Photoshop, some of the methods to make it were borrowed from what I know about Illustrator (slim-to-none). This simple thing took me an hour! UGH.

With many an apology to all of the artists who have gone before me in this, along with a special nod to Robert Herrick, who may have been the first to use the smiley in text as :) in 1648!
And we think we're so clever!

If the hamster dance music is driving you as crazy as I: Don't worry, be happy!
I bid you a happy and brilliant day! Thanks for dropping by!

Of Petunias and Mice and Things

I have a funny story about a boatload of purple petunias and ex-in-laws. I just never really found it funny.

When they were planning a visit, my ex informed me his mother really loved purple petunias. As we were spiffing up the place, I potted up tons of them to decorate the porch and the patios. She had no idea what they were, was not much impressed by the flowers or the effort and barely spent any time outside enjoying the gardens.

You may really like purple or petunias, but I fall squarely into the camp that finds purple overwhelming and petunias a lot of trouble.

And all that applies to certain people, too.

All of which came to mind when "petunia" popped up for the word at EIM:

This week, it's "Mice."

The word for the week at the 2 x 2 is "jewel." The toughest part of this black-on-black drawing  of a scarab beetle was making it all show up.

I kept the black paper out for the Diva this week, a focus on "Centre Square."

That's fluorescent gel pen with free-form squares.

And finally posting last week's:

That's coffee splotched on there.

I did last week's IAST, too:

The combination of "Fengle" and "Shattuck" naturally lent itself to a starfish and sealife. I was transported to Dunedin, Florida; a glorious trip to the Gulf Coast a few years ago and watching the sunset from the seashell strewn beach.

For this week, it was a hurricane for inspiration. While my relatives were battling what was left of Hermine, we had Newton. And aftershocks from an earthquake. And a fire. Nothing major,  mind you, but it was getting a little too exciting there for a bit.

Speaking of excitement, this was drawn while waiting in the ER with my daughter for test results. It appears she is the epitome of good health except for some stress-related symptoms. We think she'll be better when she stops eating In-and-Out burgers at 2 AM. (Or, as we found ourselves at Denny's afterwards for Grand Slam breakfasts in the wee hours. It was good. But we are tired).

 Lastly, as I had threatened previously, the finished poem to water for that 2 x 2:

There's a joke in our household about arroyos or desert streams. New River is so new they forgot the water! Arroyos are dry river beds until it rains (And then, watch out!). So, I just HAD to add the "just add water" part. Along with glitter, fabric paint and an antique rhinestone. I can't say if it's an improvement or not; I sure used a bunch of different materials.

Thanks for visiting. I hope you enjoy what I share with you. Please take a moment to check out the other artists that tackle these challenges and perhaps? Try your hand at drawing, collage, zentangle or whatever intrigues you. Especially the TwobyTwobyTuesday! Next time it's "astronomy."

While you ponder the stars (or next year's total eclipse of the sun here in the States!), I wish you the "just right" amount of excitement and a brilliant day! c

Life and Liberty

It's that time of year here in the States that we celebrate our very existence. Two hundred and forty years ago we got really rambunctious and wrestled for our independence much like a three year-old at a candy store. I can't say that life has improved but we still have some inalienable rights--to say what we want, bear arms or arm bears and defend anyone else to pretty much do as they damn well please.
So, we have a giant party that has more to do with the pursuit of happiness than life and liberty. There are barbeques, parades and if the weather cooperates, FIREWORKS!
(Here in the desert, they can get called off for mostly wind and high fire risk. If we don't get rain this week, there may have to be cancellations. I hope not. I like watching them).
Thus you have my contribution for the EIM, "party."

I compiled a few flag images while I was working on next week's TwobyTwo. The word there is, "Victory." Please take a peek at the some of the prompts I put together; it was a lot of fun and if the mood suits, participate? Love to have you join the fun. Go ahead and look. I'll be here waiting for you.
Anywho, these are what came about as I tinkered with some ideas.

I selected flags that are appropriate for an era--the bottom one represents the original thirteen colonies with the Declaration of Independence; the middle has the Marines raising the forty-eight-star flag at Iwo Jima (Arizona was the 48th state, admitted Valentine's Day, 1912) and the top is our current flag, the Statue of Liberty, our Pledge of Allegiance with the sonnet, "The New Colossus." To me, these images represent the fight for those freedoms.
Indeed, the pen is mightier than the sword.
I like to think I have super powers wielding my trusty Sharpie. This is what we accomplished this week:

That's for the Diva 272, black and white and red all-over. Not the most original comp, but it kept me busy filling in all those squares.
Thanks for checking on what I've been up to. Be sure to see what all the other artists out there have been up to...Hope you have a brilliant day. c

Secretly Praying for Rain

I haven't been sitting still much this past week. My son has his one-week vacation and wants to do "stuff." The beauty of self-employment is that I can make time for "stuff." Our original plan kind of got way-layed, so we slipped into Plan "B."
I won't do that again!
When he was learning to drive, I had sonny boy drive up Schnebly Hill, a nice off-road experience, with some pretty views of Sedona as a reward. It was a lesson in caution, patience and attention for a brand new driver.
This time it was a lesson for this driver. That road is mess, the worst I've ever driven. My car performed admirably, but I won't punish it again.

The Red Badge of Courage

The Reward
Affectionately known as
The Cowpies

I'm not done with that story, but I need to move along. Sonny boy is hungry, wants to "do" lunch and that requires thought, perseverance and a big wallet. There's a lot of him to fill.

But before I go, I'm posting my responses that fit the TwobyTwo and the Diva Challenges. The first is "Rain," and the second is to "go Organic." Here's what I came up with:

The top two are just doodling. I was working on this umbrella idea for "Rain," which I was kind of successful with. The bottom left represents umbrellas, looking at them from above. I used Spectrum Noir markers, but could not find a nice yellow to finish the third one. Hmm. The bottom right represents my Diva response, gel pen over watercolor. I was thinking about how raindrops ripple on the water surface in our pool. I guess it worked out okay. 

I need to loosen up and experiment more, but I have to allow my adult self a chance to play more with my toys. It's a slow process, but I'm gaining on it.

For now, it's lunch time!

As Good a Place as any Other

I have to get caught up on my posting. Here and now seems as good a place as any other. The weather has been too fine to sit inside--the best spring I have ever seen in Arizona. I've been creating, just not writing about it much. (though it's heating up--100+ for the foreseeable future).
My previous posts were for inchies and twinchies, now to get to the zinchies and ZIAs.
I'll start with last week's IAST. The prevailing theme was May flowers...I took some splattered watercolors and carried on:

IAST 94
With Matching Zinchies
Jasmin, Sooflower, Fleuri, Wist

The word of the week for EIM is pillow. I have a barely there pillowcase my mom embroidered many moons ago. The stitches are worn and barely visible, though stitched with love and patience. The fuschia French knots have held up through the years. I drew this ZIA on watercolor paper with Spectrum Noir markers (which, I'm still trying to get a handle on). You'll find my official inchie on my Flickr page.

Pillow Talk

And in no particular order, so I can post and move along:

Diva 218

Don't Move a Mussel
Diva 217

I really liked that one. The geometry speaks to the geek in me and the resulting Zebra mussels lend movement and a cautionary tale about conservation efforts out on our lakes, thus the name. This next one I chose a cursive "V" instead of the Roman numeral for five. Anything goes, right?

IAST91

IAST 92

Made by Joey
Mumsie on Black
Looks better in real life!

Weather Patterns
Diva Challenge 219
with some patterns of my own creation

These are bloody blurry, but my computers went to hell (yes, both of em) and now my scanner can't speak to the new models so that needs replacing. Here I am, photographer me, using her phone. with seriously mixed results. Good enough. Thank God for Zentangle--it's okay not to be perfect!
Now onto the latest and greatest. Yay!

Fire!

This is a subject I've played with before, based on a prompt at "Every Inchie Monday." You can see how far off-base I got the last time here.
This time, however, I got kind of political/outspoken--like THAT never happens!--and for the TwobyTwo challenge, "wildfire" was the word of the day, today. I may have scared some people off by my commentary, but I hope that's not the case.
I chose the particular prompt because it hits very close to home.

These are my official responses to the 2x2:

Forest Fire
Zentangle Inspired Art (ZIA) on Canson pastel paper
Sampson, Meringue and CO2

On Account of Fire
Collage of Ephemera
Accounting ledger, Magazines, Dictionary and Pastel paper

I've seen some of the work that has come in for this challenge and it thrills me to see the artwork in my inbox. Please take the time to check out the art created for the Two by Two by Tuesday challenge and perhaps? consider participating, too!
I'll be getting to all the other drawings and all that I've been working on....I have to scan a bunch of "stuff" first! Have a brilliant day!

Diva Challenge 202

I feel like I am soooo out of the loop! I'm rusty, I can't find my art supplies! I haven't drawn up anything beyond a grocery list in over a month!
This week's Diva Challenge seemed like a good place to get back into things. The objective was to make a duotangle of Margaret Brenmner's (the ENTHUSIASTIC artist) "Copada" and "Chabacto." All I was thinking about was ciabatta, so I fixed myself lunch, THEN I pulled out a bar coaster. Not having seen or nor tried either, I think it's okay! Certainly a respectable attempt.

(For the record I had the most sinful baked potato with butter, sour cream, broccoli, cheese and bacon. It's how you take a very healthy 100 calories and turn into a 500 pound cholesterol monster!)

Now back to my grocery list!

Embracing the...Gratitude

This week's Zentangle challenges could not have come from more polar opposites, but I've already begun to appreciate from whence they came and to wither they may goest.
The Diva lined up guest posts this month to concentrate on her family; much better time spent than managing the likes of all us tangly people. This week's really threw me for a loop and at first I was going to pass on it, but then I thought why should this one get the better of me? Elisa Murphy created the challenge to use our non-dominant hand to complete the task, or as she referred to it as, "Embrace the Yuck." While I'm not quite feeling the love yet, I did get a feel for why I really don't use my left hand and perhaps I should give it a better chance.

Diva Challenge 194

I used the random string generator at Tanglepatterns.com and it selected 098, which was a good start and Nipa had to naturally go in as it's already pretty jiggy. I won't get rich off the likes of this, but it was a good lesson in creativity. It's not terrible yucky. (segue to: that's what we call some Chinese food, instead of teriyaki...even though we really, really like it.).
OK!
The other challenge, IAST 67 used string 070 and just drawing that out was giving me fits (yes, I could just print the template, but where's the fun in that?). I had pondered the contents in my sleep so I was good to go this morning. And here enters unconditional love. I have surrounded myself--the "c"--with my significant other and my two children.

Thanks for Three People

It's not the prettiest exhibition of true love ever created, but what it represents to me goes beyond gratitude and so much joy, it brings me to tears. (and a segue to yesterday's post...)
With many thanks to you for taking the time to view my work and for the occasional comment. I appreciate you telling me what you like (or don't) so that I can add it to my body of knowledge.

Breast Cancer Awareness Zentangle

The Diva Challenge this week was to honor the memory of the Diva's grandmother or others affected by breast cancer. The aura of Breast Cancer has hung around me since I was in college. I've had a couple scares and been through some surgeries that, thankfully, only found benign masses. One, the size of a golf ball, was particularly scary, painful and full of anxiety for way too long. My mom and my daughter have had similar situations.
But that compares none to having cancer of any sort. It doesn't run in my family (although, there are a host of other choices that afflict us: diabetes, heart conditions, MS...), but I've had to become vigilant because of my particular medical history. And I can't eat chocolate. But, I digress.
My siren call is: I avoid mammograms and I believe they are onerous. Every time, I have to also have ultrasounds and believe everyone should skip the mammos and go straight to this method. They are less painful and more reliable. And cheaper, about ten percent of the 'cost' of mammos here in the States. (And while I'm at it, a big kudos to the folks at John C Lincoln for fabulous care and talents!)
OK, that's my story. Now, here's my drawing (I just happened to be at Arizona Art Supply yesterday and I was able to pick up some pink Sakura pens. Woohoo! An excuse to buy more art stuff! I don't get there often, but I like to support the local, independent art community):

I was going with a floral theme initially as I believe I'd rather have flowers now than when I'm gone, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. It kind of got lost while I was doodling, but the thought is still there.
Everybody should be mindful of the potential for breast cancer, men as well as women. And everybody should have a boobie buddy. Isn't that more fun, anyway?

Yuma V2

I didn't want to be accused of cheesing out and using one response for two different challenges this week, thus I revisited Yuma and Uncorked again. Yuma was on my mind early this morning as I wanted to try my hand at a more straightforward approach to the tangle. (At 1AM MST I really could be doing other things!) Here's a much more traditional ZIA for the Diva Challenge:

Be sure to see what all the other tangly people did with Yuma, starting with the Diva herself! And thanks so much for all the wonderful comments on my first attempt. 

Rainbow Vertigo

In order to get to this week's posting for the Diva Challenge, I need to get up to date on some older work. I got bogged down trying to follow "One Zentangle a Day," when it came around to drawing a feather. That and doing a little traveling, I got off the Zentangle train for a few weeks.
Here are days 27 and 28:

Then it was time for Day 29 and this feather pattern, which I've been avoiding. Until now.

I decided to tackle it along with this week's Diva Challenge. I didn't want to play with rainbows and bright disparate colors (as my collection of color pens is paltry) or to have to explain my politics.

So I stuck with a fairly straight forward Zentangle drawing and drew little compartments full of B&W rainbows. It's a little dense overall, but I think the verdigogh pattern still stands out.

I hope I did that project proud.





Lastly, for the week, it is "The String Thing" challenge using a bunch of tangle patterns I've not tried before and one, called river, that is reminiscent of doodles I've done since high school. I think the result looks like a mummy in the center, an attempt at Halloween, perhaps?

Check that blog next week to see what others have done, always beautiful work and nicely curated by Adele Bruno.

String Thing 58

While I'm working on this weeks "It's a String Thing" challenge, I'm still gathering all the responses to the week before last. I never did get to post any of them on time, but it was, all the same, an interesting experience.

The first one was just a little too fussy, but I liked the gingham part (even if it's not quite right). The second one is what I really had in mind, to go "macro" on the patterns, but I caught a peek at Lori Byerly's response on her blog "All Things Tangled"--I love her elegant style--and felt I couldn't own it as far as originality is concerned. The third looks like a strip tease to me, complete with stripper poles! The last one is my favorite, even if I had to sneak the pattern "Girdy" in with pencil.  They're all pretty similar--"Gerlande" follows the string while the fabric patterns create the background, but they're all unique.

I can't quite figure out why I can only post one image at a time and I'm sure it has to do with my "ancient" operating system, so these are all batched together. They are on separate pages on my Flickr feed, along with most every Zentangly-related drawing and some of my other creative meanderings. (Warning: Unabashed self-promotion!) Thanks for looking!

More Leaves Falling

This morning I decided to finish tackling this week's Diva Challenge, to tangle "leaves." I was going to get very elaborate and collect leaves from about the yard--I have pine, olive, orange, lemon, grapefruit, mulberry, palm, palo verde, mesquite (and I know I've missed a few trees) plus the saguaro, prickly pear and agave--but I thought I'd better leave that for another day (get it? Leave? HA!) I haven't even considered the flowers and shrubs...SIGH.
.
I did a little twinchie thing yesterday and posted that on my Flickr page. Very simple and the holly leaves are a recurrent pattern in my drawings from, well, a while ago. There was a holly that grew up to my bedroom window of my childhood home, always colorful with the bright red berries and my father-in-law had one that was going to take over his porch and always poked whoever walked by. And it's not too early to think about the Holly-daze if Costco has had ribbons and bows in their warehouses for a month already!

But, I digress.

This is my Leaves v2:

If it bears any resemblance to the It's a String Thing Challenge #59, it's not coincidental, as I used the same patterns. But, I didn't cheat as I made a separate response as a zendala (see yesterdays post or here).
So, hopefully, the Leaves have fallen where they may and I can get back to summer around here. Have a brilliant, bright and sunny day!

Autumn Challenges

It appears that everyone on the planet has autumn on the calendar, and yes, elsewhere this time of year means "fall" (in the Northern latitudes). Here in the desert Southwest we're just getting out of "Inferno" and heading into just "Hot." Autumn is yet a couple months away.
Some recent travels to Northern AZ and Southern Utah reminded me, that yes, it is September and leaves turn pretty colors, while we're still almost entirely green (which is in itself an anomoly as the monsoon season has been, ahem, generous in its offerings this summer) in the heart of Arizona.
Thus far, I've only really completed one of those challenges, the It's a String Thing 59:

 

The patterns are Oke by Michele Beauch and Meringue by Kelley Kelly on a string by Adele Bruno, the mastermind behind the String Thing. Clever. I added some acorns (and the ubiquitous Tipple) on the bar coaster. The pencil shading has already rubbed off, but I like the medium, working in the round.

Thanks for taking a look see; hopefully I'll finish up those other autumny ideas before autumn actually arrives here! 

Drupe Flower

Adele Bruno of Tickled to Tangle put out her challenge of the week to use string 056 by Jill Dobis and some tangles that start with the letter "D." At first, I thought there was too much going on as there were a lot of loops in the string and some fancy patterns to chose from. I started to take some out of the picture then added some favorites for a high contrast image.
I like the official "Drupe," which forms a blossom. At the last minute I added some "dust bunnies," a pattern by Margaret Bremnan, in pencil to carry through the garden theme.

If I try this again I think I'd place the "drip drops," a tangle by Debbie Purdue, a lot closer together to create a definitive pattern. What do you think?
Make sure to check out how all the talented artists responded to the challenge! I always look forward to seeing what everyone else was up to.

I did it! I did the X-Did Challenge!

This past week's Diva Challenge was a real challenge for me. The objective was to incorporate Annette Carlo's pattern, "X-Did." For the better part of the week it was did-not, with a side order of didn't. We were traveling, so there were many miles and a few hotels in between, so I was scribbling on stationery and sketching on receipts. I wanted to do this thing well and good as Annette is a very talented artist and I was not going to not "do" X-Did.
So at home in my normal environs with some index cards and a very sleepless night, the geometry all came clear to me. And all the practice helped me to be able to draw fairly straight lines when I worked out my "real" artwork, no rulers in sight.  The practice rounds on cards looked like argyle knit, so I'll get back to that, but I like the organic feel to the final product.

Kudos to Annette for a very interesting challenge. Check out her blog for her take in a spiral pattern, quite a work and as always, check out the other talented tangly people at the Diva's blog.

Tangled to a T

This is my answer to this week's String Thing challenge. All the details from Adele Bruno are on her blog. I stuffed all the tangles in this one, even Tagh, which is not a happy pattern for me. No, really, it's there.
There was quite a fabric/quilting feel to some of the other patterns. I was delighted to be able to create a border out of Trivet in macro mode with Ticking, since my new journal/scrapbook is developing a bad case of tangled edges.

I can't wait to see what some of the other submissions look like--other artists really take on these challenges with flair and creativity.

Channeling Keith Haring

The word of the day at Every Inchie Monday is "quick." If only the rest of my to-do list was like this, I'd be done my chores in a flash. Riiiiight, that's going to happen. This is a ZIA using "Amaze."

 

He's a little rough around the edges, but that's okay by me. I can always try again another time, when I have a chance to slooooooow down!

After the Rain

It's been clean-up on our little farmette, tons of mud and yard refuse, so no surprise that all that found it's way into my doodling. The first attempt was just way too chaotic; the second string same as the first just seemed very visual--the pinecones, the single daisy blooming in all the yard and a penny from 1964.
Funny. My brother was born in '64 and will be shortly celebrating his 50th birthday. I have to clean the mud off of it, but I'll send it to him. It's also the fiftieth penny I've found in my yard since I bought the place. Life is funny that way.
That I can't draw my own thumb, not so much.