A is for Angel

I have started working on a Zentangle Alphabet book.  I may call it AlphaZen, or something like that.  I set up some parameters for my book:  1)  each letter would be done as a zentangle; 2) each word I used, like A is for "Angel," would be a word that I was drawn to, and it would be 5 letters long; 3) each page spread would include a quotation or definition that worked for that word; and, 4) I'd use my photographs or digital art for the images. 

Here's my letter A that I did as a zentangle.

The quotation I chose:  "When I was a child I thought I saw an angel.  It had wings and kinda looked like my sister.  I opened the door so some light could come into the room, and it sort of faded away.  My mother said it was probably my Guardian Angel."  (Denzel Washington)

The image at the top of the page has one of my photos of the ocean as the background.  The young lady was my paternal grandmother, Rosilia Theroux Marchesseault. 

I've worked on lots of old family photos, and this is the one I used for my angel image.  My grandmother was 15 years old in this picture. 

Lastly, this is what the first page spread looks like.  I have a few more letters done.  I'm up to F!  I'll post as I go along.

Portrait of a Moose

I've been trying to break out of my rigid ways of doing things, and wanting to do some art that didn't involve any planning.  So two nights ago I got out some card stock, a black pen, and I doodled on the card stock.  When I'd finished doodling and took a look at it, I saw a moose's head.  I added the big eyeball, got out my collection of markers, and had a ball coloring it.  Doing zentangles lately seems to have freed me up enough that I was able to do this.  I'm quite pleased with it.  I named my moose Morris, and wrote a few words in his honor.  :o)

Mister Morris Moose,
after primping and preening,
posed for his portrait.

So yesterday I was at a used bookstore (The Book Shop) and found a book called Wild Lands for Wildlife: America's National Refuges.  When I saw this picture of a moose I had to buy the book.  Don't you think there's a fair resemblance to my Morris??

That's Ed - holding the book open for me.

Oh No!!

Check out this book - not only is it about Zentangles, but they're playing with fabric.  I have fabric....  I made art quilts for over 10 years, and even though I've greatly reduced my fabric stash, there's still several drawers of the stuff in my studio.  I am NOT going to buy this book.  I am NOT going to buy this book.   (Okay, it's on my amazon wish list, but that doesn't mean I'm going to actually buy it.)  The author, Suzanne McNeill, has a great blog about zentangles and some beautiful examples done in color.