Keenees, Diva Challenge #98

he waits by the window, every day

for the little girl to come home and play

she's his favorite, he likes the smell of her

the way she runs her fingers through fur

and talks to him, even if he doesn't understand

she's never rough when giving a command

it's more like a question, a 'please do this'

she tops it with a pat and he gives her a kiss

she lets him sleep in her big warm bed

gives him baths and makes sure he's fed

she listens, even though he doesn't talk

plays ball with him, takes him for a walk

something's different, it doesn't make sense

no big yellow school bus pulling up at the fence

no little girl with pigtails and a happy smile

maybe he should just wait a little while

same thing happens day after day

why doesn't the little girl come home to play?

and the humans cry, the house is always too dark

and he knows now what it's like to have a broken heart 

he stops eating, though they all try

he just waits by the window as the days pass by

he doesn't understand how she can be gone

leaving him so desperate, feeling alone

because she was his, his one true friend

and he feels the changes in the wind

and how the world seems empty without her laugh

the roads look scary without her dancing down the path

and every sound makes him bark

when he can't find her hand in the dark

she was right, innocent, and she was good

and now tennis balls don't bounce like they should

Tennis Balls

by Ashley Brooke Bearden

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This week's Diva Challenge was to use CZT Donna Hornsby's tangle Keenees. As I started drawing, an idea of tennis balls falling through a net came to mind. Follow the photos to see how I put this together. That is a roll of washi tape you see in the first photo. I used Pitt Artist Markers for the color. Netz is a pattern of my own. You can check out the Diva's Keenees Challenge here. You should really take the challenge and post a photo of your own!

The Garden

I come to the garden alone While the dew is still on the roses, and the voice I hear falling on my ear the Son of God discloses.
He speaks and the sound of His voice is so sweet the birds hush their singing, and the melody that He gave to me within my heart is ringing.
I'd stay in the garden with Him though the night around me be falling, but He bids me go; through the voice of woe His voice to me is calling.
And He walks with me, and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own; and the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known.  ~ C. Austin Miles, 1912 ~ I didn't start out with this song in mind, it just seemed to fit when I sat down to make this post. We've had a lot going on in our lives lately and I've spent some time wishing my dad was still alive. I think he'd be thrilled to see my son and his wife as they prepare for their first child. I believe Dad would be excited for my daughter as she begins her journey to a career in the pastry industry. Dad would be proud of both my children. I can see him now sitting in his rocking chair, one foot tucked up under the other leg, pushing and rocking with his right foot. This song was one of his all-time favorites. So I'm not really surprised that this song popped into mind. He's been gone almost seven years, but it's just like yesterday.

Black Water

Really just playing around with some of my favorite tangles. There are two of them that I don't even know the names of, but I use them often. So, I should probably figure that out!

And once again, I realized that I forgot to shade. Shading really does make an incredible difference, adding depth and dimension. Some of the shading is done with a pencil and tortillion. Other parts are shaded with a light grey colored Pitt artist pen. At this point I probably couldn't tell you which is which. You should get your pen and tile out and draw something. You'll be glad you did!

Zendala Dare #24

It is hard to believe it's been 24 weeks since Erin started the Zendala Dare. I participated in her first dare. It was my 3rd post on this new blog. Since then I have gotten fully immersed in this art style called zentangle, to the point that last month I trained and became a certified zentangle teacher. For jollies, here is the zendala I drew for that first challenge.

I have learned a lot since then, but I still kind of like this zendala. Haha! Wow! I've learned a lot about editing since then, too.

Back to week #24, this is the template Erin gave us to work with. I didn't really know what I would do with it, nothing was coming to mind. So, I just picked up a pen and started with that center square. Then I moved on to the main square and dreamed up some borders.  I enjoyed trying out Helen's petal ribbon (a take-off of finery,) which you can see on her blog A Little Lime here. A really pretty and fun variation! From there, this tile just kind of took on a life of its own. Throw in some Pitt artist pens and Derwent Inktense Pencils, flick a little color around, and call it done.

Several people have asked how I take photos of my tiles for posting. My main problem is always finding even light. Look for a spot where you have the same amount of light across your tile - and background, if you use one. Be careful around windows because you will get some sunlight, some shadows, making your photo uneven. 
Every photo on my blog has been taken with my iphone 4S, even though I have an excellent canon, the iphone just takes good pictures. I get as close as I need to so that the tile and a minimal amount of the background fill up the screen on my phone. I lean against my chair, lock my arms to my side, hold my breath, watch for the square on the phone that tells me the shot is in focus, and gently push the button. No snapping, no jerking, no punch the button to get it over. Gently, so your photo is sharp. Then I just email the photo to myself for editing. And that will be the subject of a different post.
Head on over to Erin's page The Bright Owl and check out all the incredible zendalas! You should really draw one of your own and post it for us to enjoy :).

Floating on the Bottom

How's that for a depressing post title? Hahahahaha! Seriously, I wish I was a scuba diver! We used to spend a couple weeks each summer in the Florida Keys. The boys would snorkle and look for lobster. Kali and I would swim in the pool and shop :). A couple years Mark had an underwater camera and was able to shoot some pictures of fish. I've never been down there swimming, but if I could - I imagine this is what it would look like - all zentangle-y :).

When I was at CZT training this past month, there were a couple ladies there that had large artbooks with pages filled with every pattern type imaginable. When I got home I knew I wanted to give it a try. I got a little side-tracked along the way and came up with this, so I will give it another try soon. I built this on a 9" x 12" sheet of Bristol from a Strathmore pad. I started with the pokeleaf at the bottom and the pokeroot in the adjacent corner. I thought fengle would make one awesome starfish, so I did that next.  I just started adding elements here and there.

When I'd get stuck, I would start adding in some color with Pitt markers and Copic markers. Then I realized that ixorus would make some awesome swimming creatures and I kept adding indyrella around the bottom.

My favorite element is definitely that fengled starfish with the danglies and springkles! It also has a little rounding enhancement.

More color added in - when I got to this point I thought I was finished.

Silly me! There was still some room to add in some popsicles (hahahaha!) and those dandelion-looking floaty-thingies. Add a whole bunch more color, and voila! Floating on the Bottom! Just because I can :).
So much fun! I will definitely be doing more of this real soon!
The challenge this week in the Artist's Play Room is ~ juicy! Beneath the seas, lots of water, lots of bright juicy colors - it's just what Jenn ordered up this week. Check it out here and join in the fun!
I am also trying to link up to Serenity Now where Amanda hosts the Weekend Bloggy Reading. You can share your best post of the week and check out other bloggers' fun posts! Why don't you head on over and join in the fun?

Did Someone Ask For Circles?

I mentioned yesterday how far behind I am on challenges. I've had this one sitting in my smash journal waiting to lay down some color. And now I remember that someone challenged us to circles, but for the life of me I cannot remember who - and I cannot find the challenge in my daily reads. So. Here is my response to the Unknown Circle Challenge! I used a little spinner pattern, mixed in some assemblies and jalousie, threw in some of my barz and geerz, and you have a bit of steampunk. With a whole bunch of circles. I count 79, but there might be more :). On to the next drawing.

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!

Catch Up Time, Zendala Dare #14

Not sure why, but my life has been a little hectic lately. Last week I was busy building a new facebook page The Creator's Leaf and working on this blog - trying to make it more professional. Crazy times! Cause I sure don't know what I'm doing. Anyway, I missed last week's Zendala Dare :(. Above is the template Erin gave us to work with.

I found this template a real challenge. As I was staring at it last night - trying to think, "what circular patterns do I know?" and it dawned on me that this could be one big gear! Yay! Steampunk! So this is what I did with Erin's template. Lots of fun! I started with the center gear, then expanded the metal arms along the sides of the smaller circles in the template. The large circles at the top made up a bunch of screws and fittings. Add in some pipes and a wall in the background, then liberally wash some watercolors around. Ta-da!

Patterns are pretty much ones I made up: geerz, barz, pipez, and a wall :). Color from Derwent Inktense Pencils, a Pitt Artist Marker, and  Pentel Slicci pen. Check out all the zendalas that were done on time at The Bright Owl.

It's All About the Swirls! IA Challenge

This is the first week I've participated in the challenge at Inspiration Avenue. This week's theme is swirls, so I had fun tangling a bunch of swirly patterns - swirling! I drew this in my mini smash journal, then colored portions with my Pitt Artist Markers. Patterns include wavy border, portholes, swirls, printemps, river, and a variation of nipa. To check out all the swirls, visit Inspiration Avenue. Perhaps you 'd like to post a piece of your own artwork!

Steampunk String 010

Yesterday, Tangle Patterns posted a string for the week. I posted a tile last night that I made following the string of Anne Marks. Today, I made another - of the steampunk variety this time :). You know how I like drawing steampunk! Patterns - jalousie, assemblies, and from my patterns - pipez, barz, and geerz. Color by Pitt Artist Markers and Derwent Intense Pencils. You can join in the fun at Tangle Patterns here :).

String 009

Tangle Patterns is hosting another string this week, the offering of Sue Zanker.

My first tile came together really quick! I decided to just tangle along the string with pokeleaf. Then I added the background of blox - one of my tangles. I'll try to add the steps once I get them drawn out.

Second offering - an assortment of tangles. Cadent, hollibaugh, yincut, swarm, scallops.


Both tiles watercolored with a child's paintset from Wal-Mart. Haha! It works great! I also used Pitt Artist Markers in the first. You can see the string tiles at Tangle Patterns flickr page.

Triangle Party!

It's a party over at Tangles and Stuff! This week's ZIA challenge was to use triangles as a string. Hence, a triangle party! I am really enjoying these challenges each week - thanks for hosting them :). This past week has been tough - creatively - I guess I have too much going on in my life. I was able to complete this page in my newish mini Smash Journal! I really like the size of the book, the spiral binding, and the smoothness of the pages. Haha! If you noticed my notations - "no weave" and "no betweed" - it's because I've been using those two patterns entirely too much lately! You can check out other triangle tangles - and join the party! - here.

Diva #77: Fiore di Pietro

Fiore di Pietro, this week's Diva Challenge, for Peter's Memorial Book. This pattern was designed by Rho Densmore as she grieved the passing of her brother-in-law. Rho is putting together a memory book for the family and has asked to use our drawings in the book. Rho, yes, you may certainly use my drawings. What a wonderful thing you are doing for the family! You are all in my prayers.

Above was my two-page spread. I drew this out in my new smaller Smash Journal. The pages are small and compact, fun drawing in these books. Patterns on this page are: fiore di pietro, pokeleaf, and sunz (my pattern.) Coloring was done with Pitt Artist Pens.

Rho's new pattern was a real challenge for me. I spent 3-4 hours drawing this 2-page spread. I'm still relatively new at this and speed is not my friend. My fiore di pietro is different on this page, a variation so to speak. And totally not planned. It just turned out this way :). I do know what I did 'wrong', but I like the two different versions. This page patterns are: fiore di pietro, pokeleaf, and pokeroot. You can see all our contributions here, at I Am the Diva! Jump in and join us!

Zendala Dare #12

Behold. The blank mandala Erin gave us this week. This is a weekly challenge where Erin posts a blank on the Bright Owl, and we fill in the tangles! I thought this was a fairly easy one, but it actually turned out to be the most intricate drawing I've done. I think.

And this is what I did with it. I tried some new tangles that I hadn't used before: pokeleaf, pokeroot, fencee, and a variation of purk. On my hand-drawn tile I have a border of snookums in that vast whiteland seen above, BUT I picked up the wrong pitt artist pen and ruined it. Ruined with a capital Ruin! So badly I couldn't figure out how to resurrect it. So, I removed snookums in photoshop. On my real tile I am probably going to remove it with a pair of deckle-edged scissors. Please head over to the Bright Owl and check out this week's zendalas. There is plenty of time to join in the fun and add one of your own :).