Gratitude Journal and Mandalas

Tags

100 Mandalas, art journal, Art Journal Every Day, dictionary page, dictionary page art, flowers, Gratitiude journal, gratitude, leaves, Mandala

Last week I didn’t make a gratitude journal post so this week you get 3 pages and some mandalas that I’m selling on Etsy! There is a lot of good in this scary world, even now.

I got some Caran d’Ache Neocolor II artist crayons and played with mixing them and adding water for these flowers on a black gesso background. I didn’t paint the flowers on the gesso, I left white flower shaped spaces on the page. Then I played with different white tools for drawing lines on the black. The little mandala/lotus flower was practice for a mandala that is now for sale on Etsy.

The torus mandala on the right hand page is a mock up for a community mandala I hope to do at my church. I’m really excited about it. The left hand page is an experiment that didn’t go very well. I’m still sorting through lots of boxes of stuff from the move and I came across a really old silk scarf and I thought it would be cool/interesting to put it in my art journal. It made it really difficult to write on the page and it disintegrated more when I put it on with acrylic matte medium. So I added some more acrylic paint and used paint to write on it – still a little messy. I have noticed that I’m using more black in my journal. I do like the contrast it provides, but it also reflects the darkness I’m feeling these days.

I posted this mandala on Etsy for $60.

I’m going to post this mandala on Esty for $20.

Dream Wheel and Diva Challenge

Tags

100 Mandalas, art journal, cats, collage, Diva Challenge, Dream Wheel, flowers, Gratitiude journal, gratitude, Tummy Rub Tuesday, zentangle

Here we have the journal pages that are leftovers from my dream wheel collage and a Zentangle tile all on top of my latest morning pages. It has taken me a few days to complete my Dream Wheel. It is for the online retreat I am doing with Kathryn Costa from 100 Mandalas. It is my vision board for what I consciously and unconsciously want in 2016. The 3 goals that I went into the project thinking about were to look at moving as an opportunity no matter where we end up. My husband is currently looking for work all over the country and as part of saying No to fear and worries in 2016 I’m looking at this as an opportunity for an adventure with my sweetie. The second goal is to transform the mess that is our storage room

into my own sanctuary for creating art. The third goal is to continue to challenge myself in making art that is meditative and beautiful for me and explore some more commercially viable avenue of art, such as Etsy. My second set of coloring pages is almost done!

In the upper right hand corner of my journal page I have a Zentangle tile. I participated in the Diva Challenge for the first time in 2016, and really for the first time in a while. I stopped doing it when my vision challenges got to be too much and it was fun to just tangle on a tile with no other purpose except to make art as part of a community of artists! Check out other fabulous tangleations at

Here is a closeup of my Molygon tile:

Here are some process photos for the creation of my Dream Wheel.

I’m going to need a bigger circle!

This is why I always have cats in my collages, because they insert themselves!

Hey I could submit that one for Tummy Rub Tuesday!

One of our nicknames for this big guy is the supervisor.

Here is my finished Dream Wheel! Surrounded by the beauty of flowers, here I am working, and meditating, practicing art and yoga, in a tidy studio with excellent storage options. This year I will go through a door with my cats, husband, and camera, full of creativity and friendship, all as part of the adventure. Opportunity is the word that kept coming to mind as I was finally putting this collage together. I have been gathering the pictures for quite a few days and I’m glad I didn’t stop the gathering too early! What a rewarding process and I hope that it continues to inspire me all year long!

What are your dreams for 2016?

This old thing?

Tags

art journal, collage, Create Challenge, dress, Gratitiude journal

How do you like my new dress? This is one in a series for a collage I’m not quite done with. It has been a LOT of fun to do and I think I may be able to finish it tomorrow. (who needs the dishes washed anyway – right?)
Day #4 of the 30 day challenge from http://whimsyandzen.blogspot.com/