Hawaiian Zen

 Lucky me!  I got to spend 10 days in Hawaii with very, very close family friends. It was beautiful, relaxing and fun, fun, fun!  Of course all of this bought out a little Zen, how could it not?  We saw turtles and man of wars  (Jellies) at the beach. I decided to do a couple of Zentangle memories.

My friends had lots of river rocks in the yard which I tangled and left as a little thank you.  These were done with an 03 Sukura micron pen and then sprayed with a matt finish.  There is something very calming and spiritual about working on the rocks warm from the sun.

Mahalo M and C you are the best!

Last of the Baltic Sea

 This is a part of the wall around the city of Visby, Sweden on Gotland Island.  The keys were worn by the women as a symbol of their homes and their command over running it.  The sea birds were nesting by the ship and if anyone walked too far to the right coming back to the ship they were dive bombed.  Quite intertaining for those of us already aboard!

St. Petersburg, Russia was amazing.  We only visited palaces but they were crazy in opulence! The grounds were just as massive and beautiful.  This lizard was part of some hand painted wall paper.  The door knobs were fantastic.

Of course I had to get a few of those wonderful domes.  I was intrigued by the massive inlaid wood floors.  There were so many types of wood in each of the intricate patterns.

More from the Baltic Sea

Gdansk, Poland was a lovely and interesting city.  We toured a museum of their med evil history and after a hearty lunch got to hear a huge pipe organ concert

On a day at sea we made a stop off the coast of Finland and took zodiacs ashore to hike around a beautiful little island, Kallskar.  The island in not inhabited but there are little shelters you can rent for a night or two.  No amenities...camping in a shelter.  Sounds fun to me!


In Stockholm, Sweden we went to an open air museum which was buildings and structures from all around Sweden and from different eras.  There were people dressed in period costume demonstrating activities of the time.  I loved the wooden tree signs.  This one I know is apple but I don't think it is a granny smith.

  

I'm back!  I just returned from a fabulous vacation on the Baltic Sea.  10 countries in 16 days!  It was a fast paced trip but oh so much fun.  Wonderful places and people on the trip.  Here are the first few pages of my sketchbook.  This first page is a little street scene from the canals of Amsterdam and then bits and pieces of Lubeck, Germany.

To get to the Baltic Sea we went form the North Sea along the Keil Canal to the Baltic.  It's a beautiful ride and the canal is like a park where the locals take a stroll or come and spend the day. The fish sign come from the next stop but I put it on this page with the fishermen.

Everything in Germany that was in bloom was white or a very pale lavender so when I stepped foot on Christianso Island in Denmark I was welcomed with color, color, color.  So I did a botanical page, at one point sitting on a rock under my umbrella sketching!

In Klaipeda, Lithuania I took the Hill of the Witches tour which was a nice hike in the forest amongst carved witches.  Each statue told one of the many pagen stories from the past.  The black circle is metal and topped one of the carvings. I had to add a little sprig of evergreen to represent the forest.

On to Tallinn, Estonia where I opted for the bog walk.  I had been on a bog in Alaska a few years ago and surprise all bogs around the world have pretty much the same plants.  It was a very relaxing and interesting way to spend my time. The little Sun Dew plant is a bug eater!

The Brooklyn Art Library, who are the wonderful folks behind the "Sketchbook Project"  sent out a call for a Print Exchange.  I decided to participate and these are a couple of my prints.  The theme for the exchange is "The drive home" and I have entitled my entry, "around the last bend"  We needed an edition of 12 prints.  Now they said a monoprint could also be an edition so I chose to build a collagragh plate and then played around with the colors, each plate being different.
There are 500 artist from around the world participating.  10 of the prints will be exchanged, one will be held in the Brooklyn Art Library archives and the last one will go on exhibition in New York and San Francisco.  I am hoping they will add Los Angeles otherwise I may have to go up to SF.  Road trip anyone?  I moved into a new home last June and when I thought of "the drive home" I envisioned that last turn and being home.

Happy Holidays to All!
I have been away too long and I apologize.
Big life changes but all for the better.
 In January I will start posting more
 now that the dust has settled.

Playing with my Silverware

Mom aways said don't play with your food but nothing was said about the silverware! Thrift store, old silverware, wire, jewelry bits, goodies and a little E 6000 glue.  Voila, art! Actually it is also lots of fun.  I was visiting two of my sisters in Washington and we took a collage workshop. I made this spoon for Marcy our instructor.  See the row of three beads in the bowl of the spoon? That's us. I call this one "Three Sisters"

I really like the way these turned out.  The different types and colors of the metals make them very pleasing to my eye.  The long spoon was used in the collaged cigar box I did with Marcy.  I will post the cigar boxes later.  Just another reason to collect and save broken bits and pieces.

The Year of the Dragon

This is the year of the Dragon, the Water Dragon to be more precise.  I was not only born in the year of the Dragon but also in the year of the Water Dragon. So "look out baby" this is my year!  I did this page in a journaling book a few years ago and when I realized it's the year of the Water Dragon I decided to post it.    Happy New Year to you all, especially any Dragons out there.

Sketchbook 6" x 10"
Pen and Watercolor Pencil