This zentangle was inspired by two little books I recently bought- Zentangle Basics, and Zentangle 2, both by Suzanne McNeill of Design Originals. Zentangle is a kind of structured doodling, using 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 squares of paper. They're usually done in black ink, although I love to scan them into Photoshop and add color (of course). I'm getting more into the "zen" aspect of this type of art; I find that I usually feel very peaceful after a zentangle session!
For those of you celebrating Passover next week, I hope your holiday is full of love, family, friends, memories, and good food. Here's a two-page journal spread I did a couple of years ago for Artful Journaling class. The first page shows a 1940's photo of my mother's family (the Harry and Beckie Fox family of Baltimore, MD) at one of their legendary Seders. The second page has a circle constructed of decorative paper; each section has a Passover-related word on the top, and opens to show a member of my family. This holiday has a bittersweet theme (the freeing of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery), and it's certainly bittersweet for me. It makes me think of all of my relatives who are gone, who sat around Seder tables with me since I was very small. I'll especially miss my Dad this year; the journal pages above were created just after his last Passover-- a few weeks before he passed away. But other family members (including Ryan --coming in from Austin!) will be here at my table with me. And we'll be visiting more relatives to share a meal during the holiday.
So, I am doing what many Jewish women are doing at this time of year: cooking, cleaning, running to the store for forgotten items, organizing, remembering, and looking forward as well.
This is the front of a birthday card I just made for a friend (who won't be reading this because she doesn't have a computer, imagine that!). It's a digital collage I created using a scan of part of my "rainforest" collage (shown in a February posting), and some butterfly and flower images available free on the Internet for artistic use.
On this gray, chilly day, I thought I'd share some of the photos I took in San Antonio. Warm breezes, bright flowers, noisy birds, rippling water, and palm trees chased away my memories of a blizzard-filled winter. I'm trying hard to keep these images in my mind until our spring finally arrives.
We just got back from San Antonio and Austin. Texans are really really proud of their State. The hotel breakfast buffet had make-your-own waffles in the shape of...guess what?