I have been participating in the 12 Days of Zentangle challenge. I tried to do each challenge on the day it was published but that proved impossible. I did get close though.
What continues to surprise me is how versatile Zentangle is in the hands of Rick and Maria and their daughters. They take a simple tangle like Printemps and find new and interesting ways to draw it.
Here are some of my tiles.
Have a great week and thanks for dropping by.
Karen
Hi. It's the last week of school here. Lots going on at school, lots of very stressed teachers and kids craving the long school holidays. The heat has arrived, with temps around the mid 30s this week and next.
Today my son graduated high school. He is now looking for working, probably as a carpenter as that was his best subject this year by a long way. We now have no children at school, it's just me, teaching English to high school kids.
I'm taking a couple of days holiday on my own next week. The place I've booked is only minutes walk from a beach. During those days I will be walking on the beach, swimming in the beach, sitting on the headland looking at the beach, then reading, drawing and sleeping.
Thanks for visiting my blog this year. Thanks for commenting.
Diva #345 - happy holidays
The Diva asked us to be inspired by the holidays for our tile. I took that idea and added it to the 12 Days of Zentangle Day One challenge.
My Diva tile used the 12 Days concept - a border deep within the tile, a Z string, Hollibaugh, Crescent Moon, Printemps and a grid Tangle. My border space was in the shape of a Christmas tree.
Here's Moo and the Husband choosing our tree last weekend. Having a live tree and having the house smell of pine tree is a tradition in our family. Notice the dry grass and how hot it looks. We got there early before it got too hot and before the flies came out. Flies in Australia in summer - hate them but have to live with it.
12 Days of Zentangle Day One
Trying to keep up with these challenges. I'm posting my tiles on the Zentangle Mosaic.
Other drawing
I spent hours working on this piece recently. It is A3 sized. The coloured leaves are inspired by a downloadable design on the Sakura website. There's a video that goes with it, explaining how to blend watercolour paints.
I made a photocopy of the artwork and gave it to my Deputy Principal. She's going to hang it in her office. It made her happy.
Health and fitness
I had my last personal training session for the year yesterday. My present to my trainer, Mean Man, was to do a very difficult type of push up. He was impressed and surprised. He then proceeded to give me super hard exercises to do, and didn't expect me to be able to do them. He was speechless when I did them so well that he needed to increase the weights. The weights we use are kettle bells and free weights - lots of fun and lots of variations. Love it.
I started training with Mean Man in Feb this year. I did not expect to become as strong as I am now, or to love the gym as much as I do. I get so much satisfaction out of smashing out circuits that Mean Man has created for me. Love seeing and feeling the improvement. I have abs of steel. Yay me.
Happy and safe holidays.
Karen
Not much drawing going on this week for various reasons: time, tiredness, Christmas shopping.
Before I get to my Diva tile, I was wondering if anyone has noticed that the number of participants in the Diva challenges has been decreasing? A year ago she was getting over 100 entries each week but now she is down to about 40 or so.
Anyone know why this is so? Where are people getting their challenge fixes from or is the Zentangle community moving away from weekly challenges?
For myself, I used regularly visit people's blogs and comment on their tiles, particularly Diva challenge tiles. This year I changed schools and other life matters changed too, leaving me less head space to comment and visit.
Thoughts?
Diva challenge #344 - Afterglo
My tile is based on something I saw on the Zentangle App Mosaic. The colour was created using Faber-Castell water colour pencils.
Here's a version using Mooka instead of Afterglo.
Cats and Kittens
A work colleague is foster mum to some kittens. They can't be left alone all day so she and her partner are taking turns bringing them into work. They are just 4 weeks old and sooooo cute. I am NOT taking one home.
Here's Arthur wanting attention.
Have a great week and thanks for dropping by.
Karen
