Art Every Day, Take 12 or Something

I've fallen off the Art Every Day wagon again.  I try, I really do.  But I want to do 30 Paintings in 30 Days in September (I am asking for it, I have a huge craft show to get ready for in October...), so I want to start here and now.

I got a book called Creating Mandalas:  How to Draw & Design Zendala Art by Deborah A. Pace, and this is the result of me playing with it today.  I am loving the Sakura Gelly Roll Pens on black paper!

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!)

Mysterious

The valley spirit not dying
Is called the mysterious female.
The opening of the mysterious female
Is called the root of heaven and earth.
Continue on the brink of existence
To put it into practice. Don't try to force it.
-- Tao Te Ching

This is a Zentangle. I'm playing with it so I can work on my abstracts.