Zen Mushrooms, 7x5 Pen and Ink

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It is fun to make up your own world. With Zentangle, it's not "less is more." It's "more is more."

By the time this post is online our artists' group, Pieces of 8, will be off to Georgia to paint, eat, and do other fun things. We will visit our former member, Phillis, who has lots of good things for us to do. It will be a riotous good time, as always, and we will have new scenery to paint. I am getting my Pleininator outfit together today (below). For painting en plein aire. It even has a citronella candle.

Ruby Beach in Black and White, 7x5 Oil on Canvas

There was so little color when the mists were over Ruby Beach that I saw it as an opportunity for a black and white study. The Pacific Ocean comes rolling in, making a stark contrast to the dark rocks. Qiang Huang's gorgeous paintings with grays have really inspired me lately, and not mixing color was a nice little rest for my brain. 

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Highway 70, 10x8 Oil on Canvas

It seems that every time I travel this highway there is a big rainstorm and my favorite light happens, that dark gray sky with the foreground bright green (after all, it is Florida, where I have seen it rain in the front yard and not in the back yard). A little while farther there was blinding rain, then a while after that, sun! It's kind of like life, isn't it?

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Liquidity, Acrylic Abstract, 6x6

I've gotten carried away with abstracts lately. They are more relaxing (and messy) than my other work. This one looks very fluid, rather like a gentle stream. The colors are not very gentle, though, are they? I'm thinking of the 70s...tie dye...lava lamps...

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Check out the Pieces of 8 Blog today for a wonderful new book by member Cindy Michaud, Sainted and Painted, Stories of the Not Wholly Holy. Cindy's cleverness never ceases to amaze me!

DeniZens, 7x5 Pen and Ink Drawing

My shading in the waves is made up of sea creatures, hence the title. I actually made this larger, but it did not enhance the drawing, and diluted the impact. I like this much better. I mounted it in a 10x8 mat. Zentangle techniques are so much fun, especially if making up my own designs.

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Greenleaf, Acrylic Abstract, 4 x 4.5

This one just makes me happy. I love the colors and it looks very botanical to me. Leaves and flowers, some of my favorite things. The surface is nice and glossy and the support is wood that is a half-inch think. I painted the sides black, so the painting can be on a little easel or framed.

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There Will Be Light, 6x6 Oil on Canvas

We were driving across South Florida on an emotional day, seeking medical attention for a family member. It was very stormy, but there was bright light on the other side of the darkness. After a blinding rain we finally came into sunny skies. I am praying that the same thing will happen for my loved one and a very weird illness will just be a bad memory.

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The Depths, 7x5 Acrylic

I could have called this Abyss but The Depths sounds much friendlier. The word Abyss seems to imply a one-way trip, not the invitation to adventure in turquoise waters that I am trying to portray.  

Out of Obscurity, 7x5 Acrylic on Canvas

I toyed with the idea of calling this "Oh, What a Tangled Web We Weave." I find it a lot harder to title abstract paintings, though some of them are easier than others. I can't get enough of that bright turquoise color. Makes me think of when I lived in Bermuda, where the water is that color and didn't even look real at times.

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Stormy Day, 7x5 Oil on Canvas

The ocean is so exciting. What's in it, what's on it, what shines through it--all exciting. I never liked reading girlie books when I was young, but I loved seafaring adventures. I had a couple of seafaring adventures of my own as an adult, and I can only say that it sounds better in books. Especially if you are reading about it in a warm, dry, stable, level place.

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