21 Day Photo Challenge: Travel

Travel is the theme for today at the 21 Day Photo Challenge over at Elle Moss Photography. Photo taken at China Town, Toronto.

Mandala Tile Zen Art Box

This is the last of my "art" boxes, as boxes of this size, shape and wood are no longer available in the market. To make this special, instead of painting directly on the top of the lid, I created the mandala on a watercolor aqua board. The mandala is based on the Indian "rangoli" or "kolam". 

The design is drawn on a background that was first painted with India and acrylic inks. Over this background, I hand wrote several sanskrit verses: (1) invoking Ganesha, the elephant god, known as remover of obstacles, (2) couple of verses from Yoga texts, (3) a verse from Bhagavat Gita. I scrubbed the board to give it a weathered finish. Typically kolam or mandala is drawn on washed and scrubbed mud floor and I wanted the same look on the board also. Finally, I drew the mandala over this background with black and white inks.

The aqua board was anchored on top of the box with strong gel and nails (they are invisible). The top of the box was painted a lovely shimmery peacock green using Jacquard's Lumiere paint.

The sides are painted in coordinated colors. The inside of the box is layered with foam. 

The inks and the aqua board are archival. Several layers of varnish have been added to protect the paint and the design. 

The box measures 7"x7"x3". A capacious box, it can be used in multiple ways--to keep your journals, prayer beads, jewelry, photos etc. It would also make an excellent gift.

You will find more hand painted, decorated boxes in my Etsy shop 

21 Day Photo Challenge: Three Things

Three Things is the theme for today at the 21 Day Photo Challenge over at Elle Moss Photography. These are photos I took at the Metropolitan Museum of Art last November. All of these except the last one are from its medieval, renaissance collection. The last photo of Iranian turquoise pottery is from the Islamic art collection. Enjoy.

Thanks for visiting.

21 Day Photo Challenge: Horizon

Horizon is the theme for today at the 21 Day Photo Challenge over at Elle Moss Photography. Of the many photos I had I chose this one because how the foreground and the horizon lend a balance to the composition.

Zentangle Weekly Challenge #70: Color Me Sepia

This week theme at I am the Diva Zentangle is Color me Sepia. I had already anticipated the challenge a week ahead by doing the Week #69 challenge "Groovy" in all sepia! I had to come up with something different, and Zentangle color challenges usually lend themselves to much creativity.

Recently, I have been working on making little journals using various formats and materials. For this challenge, I created a 2 1/2" by 2 1/2 square coptic journal. The covers of the journal are made of thin wood (probably balsa). I distressed the wood first and then drew a ZIA in sepia. I added a touch of white around the sepia with Dr. Martin's Bleed Proof White, which added some pop to the brown.

Thanks for visiting.

21 Day Photo Challenge: Grass

Grass is the theme for today at the 21 Day Photo Challenge over at Elle Moss Photography. Cows eating grass! As it should be. 

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21 Day Photo Challenge: Dress

Dress is the theme for today at the 21 Day Photo Challenge over at Elle Moss Photography. The one above is a photo of a Chinese boy posing in a traditional Chinese dress (you can see the blue jeans underneath). The one below is a young Indian girl all dressed up for her cousin's wedding.

Thanks for visiting.