Red Star Mandala

When I want to create but have little energy, I often turn to the free graphics editing program Sumopaint and make mandalas from images I already have on hand.

This mandala was created from a photo of a painting in progress (shown below).
I really love how the texture of the canvas itself shows up in this mandala and makes beautiful, feathery lines.

The painting in progress is small and simple so far. I'm enjoying the colours.

Golden Light
5"x7"
acrylic on canvasboard

Pink Morning Glory Mandala

created using sumopaint.com

Source Image:

Mosaic Mandala

I hope you are all having a lovely summer (and winter to those in the southern hemisphere).
The weather has been very weird here this year with temperatures going from cold to hot to cold again all in a single week but in the last few weeks, it's finally been hot more than not and the gardens are suddenly going wild!
I've been spending less time on the computer and more time in 'real life' :-)
My favourite thing about this season is the magic of flowers blooming. I get up each morning excited to go out into the yard and see what new blooms are waiting to light my face up with a smile or awaken my fingertips as I gently touch their petals.

What's your favourite thing about this season?


mandala created using sumopaint.com from source image:

Inspiration Cloud Mandala

Hmm... this blog seems to be mostly mandalas lately.
I have been doing a huge amount of art journalling/playing and painting.
These mandalas get shared most because they are so easy to post since I don't have to upload and edit images from my camera! And they're sooo much fun to make :-)





The source image for this mandala is a pen and marker drawing I did that I called an 'inspiration cloud' - doodles surrounding an empty place to write inspiring text:

Very Tiny Butterfly Doodle

I recently found some Fiskars squeeze punches at a discount store for $5 each. Wow! They work like a dream.
After testing them out with some white card stock, the little punched pieces suddenly looked like perfect, miniature canvases - just crying out for colour...


This butterfly is about the size of a penny :-)
Materials: micron pens, markers, card stock, punch

For some reason I find that I like doodling on smaller pieces of paper much more than on larger ones.

Do you have a size of paper you prefer doodling on?

Rainbow Crochet Cell Phone Cover - in progress

The sun has been shining brilliantly, gloriously, scintillatingly... all day!
I am so amazed at how much this can effect my mood, physical energy and mental state.
Just yesterday I was sharing how I haven't been motivated to take photos of works in progress, let alone upload and edit them.
Well... the radiant, dazzling sun and clear blue sky have worked their healing magic on me and I've gotten motivated to write this post :-)

I've only had a cell phone since Christmas and I've already dropped it in the snow!
Thankfully it was fine but it made me realise that I really want a case for it.
I don't like any of the ones in my price range so I decided to try and crochet one.

Almost done!

It's very simple and it has an almost rainbow progression(it's missing purple) so it is soothing to the part of me that has been craving colour amidst all the white and grey of an Ontario winter.


When I get to the top, I'm going to crochet back and forth on only one half of this tube to make a little flap that will fold down over the top of the phone. I'll post pics when it's done.

My cell phone is also an MP3 player and since that's what I use it most for, I think I may add loops that I can attach a long single crocheted chain to so I can wear it either around my neck or shoulder-bag style. That way I won't have to unzip my coat if I want to switch songs! Brrrrrr.
:)

Update
After posting this I was thinking about how much I like how snugly the cover fits on... and I suddenly realised there was no way to have the headphones plugged in if the phone was in it's cover! OOPS! So if you decide to try something like this, be sure to leave a hole in the side that matches up with where your headphone jack is. Luckily I only had to pull out a few rows to go back and correct this (I'm glad I didn't realise after it was all done!).
☺


~

Thanks mom for teaching me to crochet all those years ago. I am still at a very low skill level... but it suffices for me and I love doing it :-)

Mandala Drawing 1

As you can see, I love colouring so much that I can't wait until a drawing is 'finished to begin to colour it in.
The only thing I don't like about this is that I would love to make copies of entirely black and white drawing and be able to use them later as colouring pages.
I'm trying to discipline myself to do some drawing without colouring as I go along... for the express purpose of being able to copy them... and maybe share them here in case you'd like to print some out to colour in too!

early in the process

later in the process

I actually kind of prefer how it looked before I drew all of those lines around it (the ones filled with pink and greens).
Oh well!  :-)

I just have to say, again, that I am in love with Pigma Micron pens. (No financial interest)  I just love how they don't smear when I colour on them with marker (or watercolour paint).
:-)

The Magical Forest - returning to my heart

Yesterday during a meditation I was reminded that painting is the pathway to my heart... in a way it is my heart.
I have been drawing, sewing, doodling and more but haven't painted in over a month.
It takes a bit of prep work to begin and once I do, a time warp occurs and I emerge finding hours to have passed!  So I'm more likely to take an 'easier' or 'faster' creative path.

Yet when I do take the time to paint my spirit soars!
I am more in the moment than any traditional meditation can bring me.
I feel free, joyful, excited and immersed in a state of wonder at the beautiful colours and shapes that blossom.

I'm calling this piece The Magical Forest after the woods that live inside of me with my heart at their centre.
The heart is not seen directly here but the glow from behind the trees is from it.

The Magical Forest

Watercolour

8.5"x11"

Apologies for the photo quality.  When I get a camera upgrade, I will update the photo. :-)

Technical stuff for those interested:
I didn't use watercolour paper for this because I wanted some of the paint to be more diffuse and spread into the paper itself (watercolour paper has 'sizing' added to help prevent this).
I used 135lb smooth drawing paper.  Acid-free.
Tips:
Tape paper on all sides with green painter's tape, pressed down firmly onto a metal clipboard.  can use masking tape but it is more likely to rip the paper when removed.
Wait more than 12 hours to remove tape.
The wait is worth it - it may feel dry to the touch and you may despair at how it's still warped but if you leave it long enough, this weight of paper will shrink almost flat again if the tape is pressed down well (and didn't get horribly soaked by water or paint).