Friday, August 28, 2009

Doodling as an Art Form

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh, summer is just about over. The dry cooler air is coming to North Texas on a more-often basis. In the meantime, the garden is welcoming the last chance to show off its spender. While gardening is winding down and weeds are not flourishing, I have discovered this art form of doodling. I've been a minimal doodler......mostly straight lines and circles, etc. However, this old but new again style, named Zentangles, is fascinating. As the wise man Solomon said, "there's nothing new under the sun." He followed that statement with "all is vanity and vexation (or frustration) of spirit." Too bad that Solomon didn't have a Pitt Pen or a Micron pen to doodle on the parchment. He was chasing his 700 concubines and 300 wives anyway. No time for doodling.

The examples here are my first attempt at Zentangling. I did use a template to achieve the beginning circle so they would be uniform, but the rest is freehand. It's so addictive and easy to do.........no calories either. I'm using a Drawing Pad which is 80 lb. paper and a Pitt Pen. I find the Sharpies bleed through on most paper or cardstock. I'll try Sharpies on watercolor paper soon. Watch for coming examples! Thanks for checking in on my blog. I welcome your comments.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Double Purple Althea













Last year one of these oddities showed up on this white double althea shrub. I was so surprised to find a whole stem with open blooms today. Things like this always make my heart sing!!
It's beautiful how the double white althea blooms so heavily compared to a regular althea. I also have white and purple single althea, but they have never mutated.