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

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.

Making Art Every Day

Today's Word of the day - Swoon 

Some time ago a friend on Facebook invited me to a group challenge to rekindlle my artistic spark and make art every day. I did it consistantly for a while, then lost my stride and continued making art but sporadically and self judgement came up for me often.

Then my health took a turn for the worse and I realized that I needed to refocus on my purpose in life, and that I could still make 

Art Therapy Prompt

art even when stuck in bed for days at a time.  I decided to make art every day even if just a doodle on my phone. At first I downloaded a simple free paint app for my Droid X, and over time I have returned to making art offline as well as online, and a combination. taking pieces I have drawn and adding color in my phone is one of the most relaxing methods. I will share that process in  another entry.

 For at least the last 2 months I have created something daily. Sometimes a piece of something,  Or a doodle, tiny sculptures, sometimes 100% original, others use layers of pics and graphics. Some unfinished,  others multiple complete pieces that are whole series of paintings. 

Here are some examples:

Just fun playing with stickers on a Mandala, Made in PIXLR

Art Therapy Prompt Zentangle - Poor Advocacy

Zentangle and Sketch turned into a meme

Word of the Day Tangle and Mandala - Wisdom

Happy Bean Doodle

Zentangle - Triumph

Digital Manipulation of Freehand Drawing

Zen Drawing - Hope Mandala

Mural Plan for Phoenix Mural Event 2013

Zentangel and Poem - Confidence

Alice Mandala