I have three art-related passions: drawing meditatively with Zentangle patterns, playing with Celtic Knot designs, and making fun and useful drawing journals.
Marvelous Mandala Stories
I recently had the privilege of introducing a summer-long series of classes on drawing mandalas. As I began researching and playing with designs, I discovered that mandalas have a rich history across time and cultures. The style used, designs and colors all impact the artist in different ways.
Mandalas seem to be universal designs in art and religion. As an example, I found that the Navajo and Tibetan cultures drew similar types of mandalas using both a circle and square to form the design. They also used beautiful natural colors from their part of the world.
Map Tangling - Say What?
A tangling map is just a pool of color that has been blown around to achieve “contents” with “peninsulas” and “islands”. Annie sent students a video in advance of the class, showing us how to create our “maps”. I used Ecoline liquid watercolours to create my maps. Naturally, the watercolour needs to dry completely before tangling begins.