Fuck The Limits, week one

I have neglected my blog posts for the last few weeks. January is Fuck the Limits month, where every day artists participating make art of any kind and share it with each other. Here are a few of my visual art pieces from week one:

Todays art

Art every day

Truth - 11-23-13

I have been sticking to my commitment to make art every day even if only a doodle or phone art, but have been having a hard time keeping up with blogging this week. I am starting a new medication which seems to make me very tired and migraines a daily occurrence. it's a bit better each day, but naps are a necessity not an option. Very frustrating and the migraines have meant I can't get on the phone or computer at all some days.

So I may not be blogging daily for a while. Although it is getting better, my dosage will be raised each timer out sues until I build up a tolerance to the medicine. more details coming soon on Mastcellaware.blogspot.com in a blog entry called "Starting Gastrocom"

In the mean time, here it's some pieces I made yesterday:

Awakening to Inner Truth - 11-23-13

Faces of Truth - 11-23-13

Transgender Day of Remembrance

Transgender Day of Remembrance

Yung LT rest in peace an amazing artist is lost. So many taken from us this year, and Evon Yung was one of them. He was a great rap artist. Check out his video  and let's remember his words and you do you and I'll do me: http://youtu.be/MzN0_-96HgM

Grand - my process

"Grand" - 11-13-13

I doodled this in response to the prompt "grand" then took it into programs in my phone and edited it, mirrored it, and created this design which I edited further. I want to carve This onto wood and make wood block prints. Need to Get some wood first. This is my process.

Grand, mirrored 4 ways 11-13-13

Grand Universe - digitally altered - 11-13-13

Joy

Joy - 11-5-13

The other day I was experiencing quite a bit of pain. In order to cope, I tried to distract myself by focusing on the word "joy". A poem and some art came out over the next few days. You can view the poem here in  ASL http://instagram.com/p/gblXsyqwwB/ or hear it here in English: http://instagram.com/p/gbkJDzKw92/

Daily Art - My Sketchbook

Walter - 11-7-13

A few looks at my sketch book/artist journal since I began making art every day. Some Of TheM have LeAd To Series I ContinIue To Work On.

Do You Make Art Every Day? DO you Use An Art Journal?

"Joy" is  My first sketch using fine tip sharpies 11-6-13

Tree of Life Sketch - 11-3-13

A Loved One Mandala - 11-2-13

Amazement - 10-31-13

Free - 10-30-13

Truth & Consequences Abstracted - 10-29-13

The Mirror has Two Faces-Balance

Freedom Monster - 11-4-1

Today has been a busy and productive yet reactive day. I may have pushed myself a bit harder than I should. Lately I have been feeling a need for a time of restoration and renewal. At some point I may need to have a time of silence. But for today was about facing pain and healing through art, dealing with various doctors, and helping in various ways with online planning and networking behind the scenes of a variety of projects.

I feel the need to have an assistant who can help me keep track and take care of the nitty gritty while I am allowed to focus on my art, but at this point I am not able to pay someone a salary. I will be starting A self driven e-course soon about running a home business in a way that its more conducive to my sensibilities, yet successful. So although I completed several of the items on my to do list today, I feel a bit behind and as if I was spinning my wheels.

Double Edged - 10-29-13

There must be a way for artists to give tiMe to our creations without letting the business side completely fall by the way side. One can not always be filling orders without losing some amount of the inspiration that makes the art flow. There must be balance. I am still finding my stride. Bit by bit I will lean How to live within my visit body's limitations and thrive.

This is my ultimate goal and calling: to empower myself and others through art and creativity.

Two Faced - 10-30-13

Other than my meandering thoughts, I am sharing with you today mirrored art. These were freehand drawings, which I photographed, digitally mirrored, and then edited for texture and color in  Pixlr on my Droid X. They are each part of a different series, which will appear here in the future. 

Truth and Consequences, Balance - 10-28-13

Effervescence, Within - 10-22-13

#Gratitudefor30days

I have tried to cultivate a culture of gratitude in my day to day experience, but sometimes I forget. Recently, a friend on Instagram suggested we take pictures of something we are grateful for daily. We're then posting the pics to Instagram using the hashtag #gratitudefor30days and of course that means I have been making art out of those pics.

I hope you will join and play along!  Just take a photograph or make art based on each of the words in the picture to the left, and then upload it to Instagram (which is free if you don't already have it) or post it in the comments section below. It's fun to follow other people's take on the same gratitude prompt, so make sure to use the hashtag #gratitudefor30days and here's hoping you have fun with it!

Sleepy boi - 11-1-13

Kitty Love - 11-1-13

Art Therapy - Conflict, Through Another's Eyes

Through Another's Eyes - 10-26-13

This week's journal prompt was "Conflict - Through Another's Eyes" and Working on this was a very inspiring evolution process.

Resolution - 10-26-13

I would love to see others take some of the journal prompts I share, and make them your own. If you make art about this topic,  I hope you will share it in the comments section.

Last week I faced multiple difficult communication moments with a variety of people who have some sort of influence or authority in my life.  These are my attempt to explore those from a different perspective.

I found the process healing and empowering. And due to that, I managed to have some good conversations that resolved some of my questions. 

Of Two Minds - 10-30-13

BowTie and Bars - 10-25-13

Success - 10-30-13

4 AM, the Series

4 AM - Awake 10-28-13

Since April I have been waking up at various degrees of mast cell over activity between 2 and 4 AM. At first it was multiple times a night. Thankfully the waking has gotten much less frequent, although I still seem to wake at 4 AM.

Trying to make the most of a challenging situation and reclaim the morning as a positive and productive time, I've begun a series called 4 AM.

4 AM - Creation 10-29-13

Here are the first few pieces I have created since making the decision to heal my feelings around these morning wake up calls from my body. They were created by tangling a pattern in freehand with a micron .01 pen, photographing and digitally altering those drawings in my Android phone.

This has also inspired a new Zentangle pattern I call 4 AM. Here is an example of the pattern and a page showing how to draw my "4 AM" Zentangle is coming soon. You can find lots of instructions on how to draw zentangle patterns at TanglePattern.com, one of my favorite sites!

4 AM - Magical Reclamation 10-29-13

"4 AM" Zentangle Pattern 10-28-13

Too Much Inspiration (not complaining!)

Have you ever experienced a time in your life when So much inspiration flowed they you could not keep up? These were created by drawing a sketch, taking a photo, then digitally manipulating it in my Android phone.

Here are a few of the pieces I recently created:

UnNamed Truth and Consequences Sketch 10-27-13

Swoon Series - Mister E 10-??-13

Swoon - Elemental 10-??-13

Thank You to the Nurses at St Joe's 10-25-13

Swoon Series - Doorways - 10-25-13

Inspired - Truth and Consequences Series (part 1)

Today was a day of making much art, both ink and digital manipulations. Actually since my most recent ER visit I have been really inspired and since I have mostly been recovering with bed rest and trigger avoidance, I have had plenty of time to sketch and to digitally manipulate those sketches.

Here are just a few examples:

Truth and Consequences - Finding Wisdom 10-27-13

Truth and Consequences - Seeking Wisdom 10-27-13

Truth and Consequences - Four Directions 10-26-13

Truth and Consequences - WWND - In Process

Truth and Consequences - Bright Eyes - 10-26-13

Art Therapy - Zentangles

String Theory - Learning how "strings" work in Zentangle

Recently I began experiencing a turn for the worse in my health. I started shocking, passing out, and being told by the Emergency people that I was having anaphylaxis. We were unsure what was causing it, and not knowing how to prevent it was overwhelming and frankly terrifying. To learn more please visit my  Mast Cell Awareness blog.

Relaxation - ZIA

In order to deal with this anxiety provoking situation,  as well as the frustration of being often confined to the house, I asked my Facebook friends and family to give me a list of positive or inspiring words  and began drawing a "Daily Doodle" on my phone inspired by this list of words. I also began to see a therapist who really encourager me to continue this as an active participation in directing my own art therapy. It has been really helpful!

Today 9-26-13

This has been a personally empowering and motivational experience, and over  time, has changed into making art every day of some type. Sometimes it it is a small doodle or other times a 3d piece or
digital manipulations of my own art.  Most recently whole series have been born.

Along the way a friend on Facebook asked if I had ever tried to Zentangle,  which I had never heard of. I am so grateful that she did, because it has become a very relaxing thing to do in scary situations. Zentangle.com has more information and you can find inspiring patterns at tanglepatterns.com

Do you Zentangle? Why do you do it? Do you also make Zentangle Inspired Art (ZIA) or is it primarily about the zen of the tangling? If you haven't tried it, please give it a shot and share  your pictures with me! You can share them in the comments section,  on my google plus profile or at my Peace Full Creations Facebook page. I hope you enjoy and look forward to seeing your tangles.