Old Becomes New

 There is a wave rolling through Facebook.

It is a wave that rolls through about twice a year.

It is called the 5 Day Art Challenge.

Basically someone 'nominates' you for the honor and,

in response, you post a piece of your art each

day for 5 days in a row.

In that post you designate someone else to

carry on the challenge.

Currently I am in day 3 of my 5 day run. These two pieces of watercolor art were my first  attempts at watercolor back in 2012.  I think the first one with the flowers is prettier, but the bottom one with the pigs and birds is my favorite. Both are in a 3" x 5" watercolor moleskine. For color I used a couple basic Michael's kids' section pan watercolor sets.  The little birds and pigs idea was copied almost directly from  a piece by Lori Vliegen, with her permission. I know they aren't great, fantastic quality, but they were such fun to create. I really need to get back to this again.

The One Less Traveled By

Week two of the art journaling process. Cherryl's prompt for this project was to use a quote that describes us, or describes our journey. I have always loved this poem by Robert Frost. It reminds me of the scripture found in Matthew 7:13-14,   Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few that find it. 
I believe the two go hand-in-hand. The journey I travel is the one through the narrow gate, the one less traveled, the one that makes all the difference - both now and eternally. Pretty heavy concept for week two. Cherryl is pulling no punches. Gotta love it!
My journal is a Strathmore Mixed Media journal, I used a black copic multiliner to draw the design, and colored it with Pitt Artists Pens.

Good Morning!

Good Morning ~ Mandisa ~ 
Wave away my yesterday Cause I'm leaving it behind me. Hello sunshine, come what may, I feel something new inside me.
I hear the birds singing, Now my alarm's ringing, Get up, get up, hey!
It's a good morning!  Wake up to a brand new day! This morning, I'm stepping, stepping on my way. Good morning, You give me strength, You give me just what I need  And I can feel the hope that's rising in me, It's a good morning.
Slow down, breathe in, Don't move ahead I'm just living in this moment. I've got my arms raised, unphased, Jump out of bed Gotta get this party going.
I went to bed dreaming, You woke me up singing, Get up, get up, hey!
It's a good morning!  Wake up to a brand new day! This morning, I'm stepping, stepping on my way. Good morning, You give me strength, You give me just what I need  And I can feel the hope that's rising in me, It's a good morning.
* * * * *
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning, great is Your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23, ESV
Many of you already know that Mandisa is probably my favorite Christian recording artist. For those of you who follow American Idol, Mandisa competed in season five. The three judges stated that they didn't "get" her Christian music and she was eliminated that night, finishing ninth. From there, Toby Mac stepped in and helped Mandisa get her foot in the door with the release of Lose My Soul, which included Toby Mac, Mandisa, and Kirk Franklin.  Before much longer, Mandisa recorded Good Morning, where she featured Toby Mac. You can watch the music video debut on Good Morning, America. (My favorite part comes at 1:25, where news anchor Robin Roberts is singing along.) Mandisa has so many great songs. I just love her music. She helps me remember that God's mercies ARE new every morning. Each day IS a brand new day and another chance. And in case you wondered - and even if you didn't :) - I shot the above photo a couple years ago at Epcot Center, Walt Disney World, Orlando. I was on a boat crossing the World Showcase Lagoon at sunset. God's mercies are good then, too! Hang on to that promise and have a great day!

Unfailing Love

The unfailing love of the Lord. A stronghold when things are tough. My life of late is just one stressor after another, to the point that sometimes just putting one foot in front of the other is a bit tough. I know I can't be the only person that feels that way. When my  heart feels heavy, when everything gets on my last nerve, I need to step back and feel that unfailing love of the Lord. And trust it.

Love the Beach!

I was looking back through books, getting my artwork ready to head to Rhode Island tomorrow morning, and I came across these two pages in my smash journal. I haven't posted these before. I drew these back at the very beginning - this was one of the first drawings I did using zentangle patterns.

Some of the patterns I used are florz, keeko, shattuck, a variation of diagonals, tidal, and cheesecloth.

The color came from Pitt Artists Pens. This was before I learned about Derwent intense pencils - haha! cause I would have totally used those if I had them then!
And speaking of Rhode Island, I am leaving in the morning. I will be back home next Thursday. I don't know if will be able to post while I'm gone, so if you don't see anything new here for a few days - that is why. I hope to see you here when I get back!

Blox - A New Pattern

Blox - there are other wall tangles out there, but I haven't seen one exactly like this. I've used it in steampunk, but also as background and filler. Here are some ideas:

Above is a variation of blox - simply leaving out the corners.

This is one of my favorites! It was also one of the very first pictures I drew in the zentangle manner.
Have fun with this pattern - I'd love to see what you come up with! And please feel free to pin Blox to your pinterest boards :).

Ink, Pens, Paper - APR #19

Lots of fun things happening in the Artist's Play Room this week where Jenn has challenged us to pick up the theme of ink, pens, and paper. I've thought and thought about what I could do. I could do some tangled tiles, but I do those every day. I was editing some wedding shots today and thought about the scripture photos I make. Prints definitely consist of paper and ink, and the editing uses a digital pen of sorts. So here you go - one of the endeavors I love the most in my photography - scripture photos. 

These are all photos I took at various locations across the United States. I love matching God's creation with God's Word.

We are told in the scripture that His word never returns void - that it always accomplishes His purpose.

I hope to one day publish a book including my scripture photos, as well as my series of cross and steeple shots I've taken as Kali and I traveled the country. Another speech and debate tournament meant another set of churches, steeples, and crosses to be photographed :).

God's creation - it's wondrous. It's majestic.

A bonus to our travels is that I have friends in many states - and I shoot a lot of senior photos. I always ask the student to tell me what their favorite verse is. Maybe a life scripture they try to live by. Then I match those verses up with one of our shots and make an awesome photo that their parents (or the student) can be proud of.

It's gotten to be a signature shot of mine, along with shoe shots, and pics of people in trees - haha!

The students (and parents, too) pretty much know that if I am doing their photos, I need a scripture, some awesome shoes, and someone is going to end up in a tree!

Same thing with weddings . . .

. . . garden shots, . . . 

. . . and family photos! I find that there is always a verse to go with any given circumstance. We just have to keep receptive hearts to hear it.


To check out all the other interpretations of ink, pen, and paper, please visit the Artist's Play Room here. You could even join in!

Crete - A New Tangle

This is the first time I've posted a pattern I created. 
I've searched and searched the internet and I don't see anyone else using a similar design.

Fairly simple steps, lots of variation possibilities. One immediate point to address is in step 3 - all the corners are drawn in brown - I have no idea why the internet makes some brown and some black. This is an easy pattern to draw. I like to use it for backgrounds and filler.

I drew this last week at Cedar Key. I think I drew it for a challege, but so much has happened since then that I can not remember! The scripture was from the previous Sunday morning.

We came home to Tropical Storm Beryl. What better time could there be to work on drawings? I finished the crete section, and added some color with Pitt markers and Gelly Roll Glaze pens. I also used sunz (my own pattern,) mura for the rocks, kloonz, and beams.

Feel free to check out Crete and see what you can do with it!

Mooka Challenge

Last week, Tangles and Stuff gave us the challenge to use mooka in our journal and to use a quote, or to write something of meaning to us.  (I had never drawn mooka successfully, so I was determined to make this work!) Sunday morning, Pastor Matt repeated this verse several times. It was the focus of his message. It is important for us to know we can look to God when trials hit, and in good times, too! 


We had a few new trials hit yesterday - a health issue in our blood-related family, and a death in our speech and debate extended family. Lots of tears being shed over the southeastern United States, from teenagers and adults alike. I am thankful that Pastor Matt - who has own challenge going on - took the time to share this one verse. Look to Him who is invisible! 


I gave this tile to my daughter, who is dealing with the loss of a friend today. Please help me pray her and our speech/debate family through this loss of Justin, who was so loved!


And, take a minute to visit Tangles and Stuff, what a wonderful blog!

This little piggy

Meet my little piggies and my little birdies!
Before I show you close-ups and explain, let me say that I can not take credit for these ideas. 
My favorite art-journalist is Lori at Elvie Studio. She provided the step-by-step in her post that you can find here. Check out her blog - there is plenty there to get excited about!

Let's look at my little piggies first. I worked on watercolor paper and I basically just made 5 blobs of color on my page - I opted for yellow, and 2 different shades of pink. Just make blobs - they don't have to resemble anything. One of my better purchases lately has been a heat gun, which I used to quickly dry the watercolor blobs. Then you use a pen and outline your blobs - making them into piggies. I added ears, snout, feet, and curly tails. Slop on some muddy brown color and blue sky and you're all set.

Then I moved on to the little birdies. Same thing, make random blobs of color on your page.  I used a bit more color for these. Dry them, then use your pen to add beaks, eyes, legs, tail feathers, and wings if you want them. Add some ground - I added bird seed - some sky and then you're done. I tried to tie my "farm" together with the colors and I love the verse that popped to mind, especially as far as the piggies in mud - "People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." I Samuel 16:7


I hope you have enjoyed my little piggies and birdies. And I reiterate - I can not take credit for the idea. Please check out Elvie Studio at www.elviestudio.blogspot.com. You will be glad that you did!

No other name

Today a page from my art journal - one of my earlier attempts. I am having fun - and a challenge - trying to incorporate scripture into these drawings. I thought the hearts were very apropos with this verse. I think this was also the first time I added color. I know I have a long way to go, but I'm enjoying the journey!

Know my heart

This one was fun! I learned some new tangles, and I got to play with some cool new pens - Twinkling Like Stars! At You Spica pens. They are glittery, which makes me happy :). To make the large circles - I traced a CD - a circle is one of many things I can not do without help. Hahaha! 

Blessed are they that trust in the Lord

Again, I drew this in my smash journal. Still trying to figure out what kind of actual book/journal I want to use. For now, this works fine. The page texture is smooth and the pen glides across it really well. I like the way this turned out. This is a verse I learned as a child. It's always been one of my favorites!

A little bit of everything

Zentangle. Zentangle is an art form that anyone can try. You use patterns in a series of steps, with repetition. I learned about zentangle on Pinterest, of all places. I was searching art journal boards and kept running across patterns. I just wanted so badly to be able to draw like these ladies and men whose boards I browse over every day. I started at zentangle.com and began reading and studying what I saw. This was my first large project. It's on a page in a smash journal, about 7" x 10". It was a lot of fun! No, it isn't perfect, but in zentangle it doesn't have to be. And that's only one thing I like about the art! 


My daughter asked me what those little fellows in the middle were supposed to be. She thought they were aliens. So, now they are aliens! (Originally they were supposed to be cats :), but I can't draw at all, which is another reason to like zentangle - I don't have to.)

A Walk on the Beach

     Art Journaling. A new concept to me, but not really. It's like scrapbooking with lots of messy stuff. Markers, paints, gesso, photos, little bits and scraps of paper, and a smattering of ideas. Hahaha! This is my first attempt at art journaling. I had a couple pictures of Kali walking on the beach - just found them mixed in with my scraps of paper. I originally gessoed this page because some markers I used on the page behind bled right through. White gesso covers that up and I had a whole new page to work with.
 I started with this page, the one covered in gesso. I liked the color of the gesso, so I left it that color and added several bits of paper with a nautical theme. Next I laid down a quote that I like and a chalked sun square. Placement of the photos came next, followed by some loose journaling and doodling.

This page was really fun! I started by placing the two scraps of paper and the extra sun I had. Then I tangled my first waves ever. Wow! I know they could be a lot better, but I was pleased with this first effort. I used some blue marker to fill in some of the waves, then moved on to my big sun. I seriously can not draw circles, so I traced an old CD to get the round shape, then I just tangled various patterns. The last thing I did was hand-write in a verse I thought went with my art journal spread. Not as tough as I thought it might be. First attempt? Completed!