Week 10--Rain

Let's start with some humor shall we?
If April showers bring May flowers, what do May flowers bring?
Pilgrims.
Maybe we should stick with making art, hmm?
While we're secretly praying for weather--here in Arizona there's a fine line between some rain and way too much--and keeping an eye on the sky, we're enjoying the work that our artists have created to celebrate "Rain."

Sarah had some paper waiting for such a project and created this one:

Rain by Sarah

(We also noted that she carried the theme forward for her Diva response this week. You never know where the inspiration will take you!)

Margaret got into the spirit of things and created TWO Bijoux!

Rain by Margaret

Freebird explained her inspiration came from her favorite movie for her beadwork:

Singing in the Rain
by Freebird

In Denmark it was raining, which helped to inspire Ann to tangle some zen:

Rain
by Ann

And our official response, imagining umbrellas viewed high above a palazzo:

Rain by
Cheryl

Hopefully we'll get that rain we need, just enough. In the meantime, we can sing and dance! And we can check out what else all these marvelous artists are doing--they are a creative bunch and multi-talented! Or, perhaps you can try your hand at the challenges!

Until next time....

The Secret to the Universe

Somewhere in a stack of design books, we found a very simple rendition of the "Flower of Life." We know you know what that is, but perhaps you didn't know it had a name. At it's most basic, it looks like this:

Fiore della Vita

It gets more complicated with each set of circles, all interlocking on centers. The more circles, the more "flowers." We've seen a battery of tutorials on how to draw it, and we've posted one here, that doesn't require a compass, whittled down to size for the TwobyTwo.
The geometric pattern has a long human history and in some faiths is considered sacred. We found this explanation a quick study and this one is a bit deeper, still just a tip of the iceberg of its religious and mathematical implications.
Can you spot the pattern in this image of silver Shi, the Chinese Guardian Lions?

We can honestly say that this blog adventure started with drawing some doodles and finding out about the Zentangle (R) method. From there, we found all sorts of tangly people on line and a very long story short, found the work of Margaret Bremner. Margaret did a study on the Flower of Life in mandala fashion, including this beautiful Zendala:

Flower of Life
by Margaret Bremner (c) 2013
Reproduced with Permission

For those who practice Zentangle, Margaret (whom you may know as the Enthusiastic Artist) offered a gentle reminder that there is an official Zentangle tile called, "Bijou" that just happens to be two-inches square! And, there's also an official tangle by Molly Hollibaugh called, "Fife," patterned after the Flower of Life. What a perfect combination for the TwobyTwobyTuesday challenge! (You can find a Certified Zentangle Teacher near you who can hook you up with materials).
And while we're talking about art-stuff, Sarah shared with us some yard sale finds:

You can never have enough gizmos, can you? These are Fiskars templates and can be found at a craft store near you.
And true to form, we found something way off-base for this challenge:

Flower of Life
Manga cover
 Fumi Yoshinaga

A lot of inspiration can be found that starts with one little circle. It just begs modern artistic interpretation, doesn't it? 
Show us your "Flowers;" send them to:
1xeritas@gmail.com by June 30, 2015 at 2PM Arizona time. Creations will post later that day.
Thank you in advance for participating and creating. Spread the word so more artists can try their hands at the TwobyTwobyTuesday art challenge.

Week 4--Royal

We could not be happier for the British royal family, with the arrival of a daughter, Charlotte Elizabeth Diana to Will and Kate this past weekend. It's big doings for Windsor Castle as the princess will retain her succession rights even if they have another child (until now, all male children took precedence over their fair siblings).
Thus far, the participants of the TwobyTwo are all girls...so it's a big WOOHOO!

And without any further ado, the results from the "Royal" challenge:

From Zoe in Australia, who wishes everyone a winning hand:

A Hand-crafted Royal Flush
by Zoe

From Ann in Denmark, who created TWO TwobyTwos:

Royal Copenhagen's Blue Pattern and
a Royal ZIA
by Ann

From Sarah, Michigan/USA, who was also inspired to create TWO!

Two Zentangly Illustrations
by Sarah

JLJohnson created this collage with images from Realm Magazine:

Royal Collage
by JL

And TWO more from Cheryl, Arizona/USA:

Fleur de Lis and
Good to be King
by Cheryl

An effort fit for a king, or future queen, was made by all of the participants this week, don't you think? Be sure to visit each artist's blog to see what else they've been creating!

Until next time...