The Jewel in the Lotus

Om mani padme hum.

I had the urge this morning to Zentangle.  This is what I came up with.

From there I went to my new henna impasto technique on some of the mini canvases I base coated yesterday.  I have my paint mixture a little too thick, so that needs some tweaking, but they came out pretty cool. 

I think it's kind of nifty the way the design goes off the edge of the canvas.

I had this green one since a couple of weeks ago - the base coat on it is also impasto (textured).

Finally, I painted the lotus that is the first painting in this post.  Beneath it in Sanskrit it says "Om mani padme hum," which is a mantra meaning "jewel in the lotus."    It is meant to help the meditator focus on compassion, wisdom, and indivisibility (we are all One), and it is associated with Quan Yin, a bodhisattva/goddess of compassion. 

I'll have these posted on the For Sale pages on my website, and also possibly on my Daily Paintworks gallery and/or Etsy (need to get my Etsy shop fully operational this week!)

Painting With a Cone

This past weekend I went to ConNooga, which is a "multi-fandom" convention for gamers, trekkers, Star Wars fans, steampunk, anime, etc.  I did henna while I was there and I was very pleased to discover that all the art I've been doing has really increased my confidence with henna, and I had the chance to do some really nice designs.  I thought I'd share a few.   A brief explanation of what mehndi, the art of henna, is.  It is an ancient, mainly women's art, done traditionally in the middle east, India and Africa.  The henna plant (Lawsonia inermis) is dried, ground to a very fine powder, sifted so that it is still more fine, made into a paste with an acidic something (I use lemon juice), then applied in various methods.  I, and a lot of henna artists, roll a cone out of mylar/cellophane, pipe the henna into the cone, and apply it in delicate, fine lines.   When the paste dries, it flakes off, leaving the design stained into the skin.  They last for several weeks.   About a month or so ago I had the idea to mix oil paint with Liquin impasto medium to thicken it, and then put it in a henna cone and pipe it onto a prepainted canvas.  Here is the result of my first go at this:   I played with a few more today.  The one below is prepainted with a typical brush technique and then the impasto "henna" piped onto it, the same as the one above that I did last week.  On the last one I used impasto medium in the base coat as well, giving the canvas a texture.  I think I like the smoothly painted style better.         These are little 3 x 3 mini canvases, and basically experiments, although I kind of like the way they turned out.  It occurs to me that this might work better with a still thicker medium, and acrylic paint rather than oils (plus, I won't worry quite as much if I get paint on my hands while doing it).  Since that would involve an investment in yet another set of paints, I probably won't try it in acrylic for a while.  I also need to see if the paint can be kept if I put the cone in a plastic baggie and freeze it.... that way I could do a cone-palette that I keep in the freezer rather than having to fill cones with all the colors - and color blends, can't wait to try that! - that I want to use.

50 Hands & 50 Feet Challenge

Because one challenge isn't enough this month, (and also because it was my intent to begin with, to improve my drawing skills), I decided to take on a second... SenshiStock's 50 Hands and 50 Feet Challenge.  It's my plan to do 10 hands or feet a day until I make my 100, hopefully by the end of the month, and thereby overcome any hesitance with drawing them, and also the plague of a mind-block I have when it comes to foreshortening (#10, not bad I think, considering I thought it was awful in progress).  I may not get to this every day but I should manage it by March 1.

And today's contribution to One Billion Rising is another henna-inspired watercolor.  At its center is a sort of Triskele.  This particular symbol has a lot of meaning for me; it represents the phases of a woman's life and the maiden, mother and crone aspects.  Juggling these three aspects at any phase of life is part of what it is to be a woman; the maiden represents innocence, the mother nurturing and the crone... well, she can be a bitch sometimes (as is sometimes called for).  Also, as my own life phases out of the motherhood stage -- my son is grown and in college -- there are a lot of lessons for me there, too.  Learning how to be something other than a mom.

Which is kind of what this art thing is all about, when I get right down to it.

Mehndi Inspired

I started doing henna body art in 2010.  Let me explain a little about what it is. 

A paste is made from the plant Lawsonia inermis (henna plant) and an acidic liquid -- I use lemon juice.  The paste is then put into some sort of device for application (mylar cones, in my case), then applied in fine strands to the skin.  Left on the skin for a few hours or overnight, henna will produce a deep chestnut stain, which lasts up to several weeks.

Henna art has a distinctive look; often floral, lots of spirals and swirls, often intricately detailed.  I have wanted to play with henna inspired designs in oils for a while now but I need to order more mylar cones; so I thought I would experiment with watercolor today.  I really like the way the first one turned out.

If you'd like to see some of my henna art on people, you can check out the Henna page on this site. 

I recently discovered that my henna supplier has a new product; a glue that can be applied with a henna cone and then dusted with gilding powder or fine glitter for gorgeous shimmering body art designs that last for 3-10 days.  I have an event coming up the first of March where I will be doing henna so I'm really excited to order some and try it out :)