Zentangle #8

Relaxing my head today with some mindful doodling using black micron pens and Sakura gelly roll pens for the colour.

You can find out more about Zentangle by clicking here.

Zentangle Saturday #7

Learn more about Zentangle from its originators website here.

Zentangle Saturday #6

To find out more about Zentangle visit here.

Zentangle Saturday #5

I should have spent more time on this Zentangle.  I am not too fond of the paperweights design on the bottom left but I like the soundbites and wishbones on the bottom right!  The Flurry at the top required a lot of concentration.  Other designs above include snake, queen's crown and algae.

To find out more about Zentangle click here.

Zentangle Saturday #3 and #4

 The Zentangle above includes accordion, ivy, portholes, nipa, printemps and ocean spray designs.

The designs around the initial are beelight, snood, eddy, pinball, wavy border and black eyed peas.  If you want to know more about Zentangle, which is a form of mindful meditation, then you can find information on the official site here.

Zentangle Saturday #2

For this Zentangle I added some shading with a 5B pencil.  Some of the tangles included here are Kings Crown, Cubine, Chillon, Hollibaugh and Swirls.

If you want more information about Zentangle a good place to start is zentangle.com.  

Zentangle Saturday

Each Saturday I will be posting up a picture of a Zentangle that I have been working on that day/week.  There. I have said it now so I am committed!  Truth be told, I wasn't going to post this picture as I am not very happy with how it turned out but I deduced that I will get better as the weeks progress.  I have been using designs from Suzanne McNeill's Zentangle workbooks and the patterns above have names such as Topos, Boodle, Floats and Lea!

I have ordered some 'proper' smooth paper tiles to draw onto and a set of Pigma MICRON Sakura pens.  Today I used an artists trading card to draw on and the pen I was using kept catching and dragging on the paper.  I am sure that with the correct tools for the job I will have a much more satisfying outcome.

Have you tried Zentangle yet?  I find it most satisfying and meditative and would really like to make it part of a daily practice.

Serenity - Hah!

I think that I was probably a bit too quick to come up with a word to live the year by.  As you may recall my word of choice was serenity and so far this year has been far from serene.  In that respect the word was a good choice because I am having to come up with outlets to help me achieve serenity and my newly rekindled love for Zentangle is helping me do just that.

I am still finding it hard to come to terms with what happened to Gizmo and am thankful that he is still with us.  I really must stop worrying about external factors that I cannot control and accept that these things are part of life and part of maturing and evolving as a person.

I took this photo of Gizmo yesterday.  It looks like a chunk of his right side is missing but it only looks so bad because his fur has been cut away.  Today he's been purring and trying to play a little bit.  He is eating and drinking well so they are both good signs.

Zenspired

I have been using my new watercolour paints to make background washes until I get used to them.  On the postcard above I have added a zentangle/doodle design incorporating my word (Serenity) for 2015.  I must say though that the bitty design I have created doesn't leave me feeling serene at all even if the process was calming!  Much more practise is needed until I am satisfied with the outcome.

To update on Gizmo: he is still very poorly and not left the house since last Thursday.  It pains me to see him so lethargic after being such an agile cat.  I am sure he will recover in time and I remain upbeat in knowing that I am doing the best as I can for him.

January has been an unkind month, with the shocking news and  sudden death of an energetic and likable vineyard volunteer. I remain resolute is squeezing as much goodness and joy out of life as I can.  I count my blessings often and will never take life for granted.

After a night of howling wind and heavy rain, the day has started quietly.  The clouds are lifting and the sun is pushing its way through.  Time for a brisk walk and some contemplation.

Zentangle Cat

As jewellery making has become my new 'obsession' I thought I would give it a rest today and do a bit of zentangling instead.  Zentangle is the 'official' word for doodling.  It is a kind of meditative form of art when you can go into a zen like state.  I really enjoyed doodling this cat and he seemed to come alive the more I embellished him!

If you or somebody you know are looking for a new, relatively inexpensive hobby I recommend giving Zentangle a go.  All you require to get started is a good quality smooth paper and a couple of fine liner pens.  It can be very addictive!

Flower, Zentangle, Gizmo

 

I have been buying a lot of the traditional 'cheap 'n' cheerful' spring flowers recently but had my head turned by this beautiful exotic looking orchid.  I have never grown an orchid before but am assured that they are easy to grow from the instructions that came with it.  I should immerse it in water, for an hour, once a week and feed whilst in flower.  When the flowers are finished I am to cut down the stem and it may start flowering again.  The plant wasn't cheap at £10.00 but the flowers are supposed to last for four weeks.  We shall see!

This is my second attempt at a zentangle, doodled whilst the dinner was cooking in the oven.  It looks like a couple dancing to me, and quite ethnic in style.  The interesting thing is, that when you start to doodle you have no idea what the end result will be.  I see many more zentangles coming on but I won't bombard you with them all!

Here is Gizmo sitting among my craft materials. Whenever I put a sheet of paper down he just has to come and sit on it and try it out for size!

New Discoveries

Just recently I have discovered two lovely new blogs through an established blogging friend Judy Hartman at Hartfelt Fabric Art.  They are Anne from My Giant Strawberry and Sharon from sallymomsprouts.  They are a mum and daughter team who have moved to rural Wisconsin to start up a farm.  I am so excited to follow their journey,  They are both intelligent and inspiring women and if you like similar things to me, I am sure you will enjoy their blogs, and of course Judy's too if you haven't already visited her.

It was while looking at Sharon's blog that I found Blog Zentangle listed in her side bar.  From what I understand, zentangle is a form of meditative doodling, creating images from repetitive patterns.  The image at the top of the post is my first attempt at having a go.  I am completely hooked and can't wait to do my next one!  If you want to find out more about it visit Zentangle.  It really is addictive!