Coloring 4.0

In my continued quest to be a "sort-of-artist" (I say "sort-of-artist" because I don't sell my work or consider it my full-time job.  It's just something I do in my spare time), I continue to hone my skills in my medium of choice - crayons and markers.  Recently, I have noticed a significant evolution in my coloring technique (and yes, I just used the word "technique" in reference to crayons...get over it).  Specifically:

• While in the past my coloring's would leave quite a bit of "white space", my newest pieces contain little to none of it.
• While pursuing deeper pigmentation, I am using a much heavier hand with the crayons - pressing down firmly so that the wax completely shades the intended area.  This is quite distinct from my lighter-handed approach in earlier pieces (feel free to compare my pieces here and here with today's post).
• In general, I am using darker color palettes - branching into blacks, browns, and grays, and also employing more jewel and obscure tones.

While I am coloring, I am not thinking about anything outside of the piece at hand.  Perhaps it is for that exact reason that I found myself coloring a LOT when Bo was out of town for work.  In just a little over a two-week period I colored all of the pieces below...fifteen in total, representing 30+ hours of coloring.

Crazy...I know!

To be honest, I'm not sure why I am drawn to mandalas...maybe it is their balance.  Whatever it is, I find coloring mandalas to be particularly calming and meditative.  I have also recently been drawn to geometric patterns and shapes.  Something about their abstract patterns really get my creative juices flowing.

Just as a refresher:  the word mandala originates from Sanskrit and means "circle".  Mandalas represent wholeness.  I find it interesting that mandalas are around us all of the time, whether we realize it or not (i.e. the Earth, sun, moon, and the abstract circle of friends, family, and community).  While we currently have 16 of my mandalas hanging in our guest bedroom, and several other pieces decorate our bedside tables and a stool, I think that my most recent pieces are going to stay filed away for a while.  Eventually, I might look into Mod Podging them for friends or family, making coasters, or doing who knows what!  We'll just have to see what my creative mind comes up with!

In the meantime...

...here is a closer look at my newest completed works:

#1 - Snake Dance

#2 - Seated Meditation

#3 - Blooming Hibiscus

#4 - It's a Rainbow Kind of Day

#5 - Photosynthesis

#6 - Pinwheels and Diagrams

#7 - In the Pink

#8 - Circus Balls 1.0

#9 - Circus Balls 2.0

#10 - Sunlight Through Your Window

#11 - Twilight

#12 - Forks, WA

#13 - Tangerine Tango 

#14 - Geometry: In Living Color

#15 - Alien Invasion

This weekend Yoga Life is hosting an Ashtanga workshop entitled "Recharge Your Practice" with Krista Shirley from Orlando, FL.  My Business Partner and I will be busy making sure things run smoothly, so you might not hear from me for a few days.  But I look forward to telling you all about it next week! :)

Question of the Day:

What do you do when you are lonely (or bored)?!  

Blessings,
Ally and Bo

Coloring 3.0: Mod Podge

As you all know from previous posts, I LOVE to color!  I color almost every week, at at times, almost every day.  Like most artists (a word that I use very loosely when it comes to me and my coloring), I go through phases.  There are times when I feel the need to color almost constantly, completing three or more pieces in a single day.  Then there are other times when I don't feel the desire to color at all.  I will go weeks, sometimes months, without coloring a single piece.  But, inevitably, the desire to color always returns; and I am grateful for that.

Recently, I have started to notice slight changes in my coloring style.  I still:

• use both crayons and markers;
• outline the perimeters of every space with a marker; and
• fill in the space with a crayon.

However, I have also:

• started using oil pastels in addition to my crayons and markers; 
• colored in every section of a piece (as opposed to leaving some white space, as I have in the past); and
• incorporated a much harder and intense coloring "stroke" which results in pigmentation that is both deeper and richer.

Although certainly not earth-shattering, these slight modifications to my coloring style have made a large impact on my recent work (again, a word I use loosely when it comes to my coloring).

For the past several months I have wanted to do something with the stack of pieces that are lying in a folder at the bottom of my dresser drawer.  While coloring them is therapeutic and rejuvenating, I found it disappointing that my work was just sitting in a cold, dark drawer hidden from view.  One of my close girlfriends, who is a craft-maven in her own right, suggested Mod Podge (and even went on to give me a bottle that she had on-hand!):

Since 1967, crafters have entrusted their most treasured decoupage creations to Mod Podge, the number one all-in-one glue, sealer, and finish!  The ultimate in convenience, Mod Podge is loved by crafters young and old for its flexibility, versatility, and supreme ease of use.  Best of all, it's waterbased for easy clean-up, and non-toxic, too - perfect for young crafters.  In addition to the original matte and gloss formulas, the Mod Podge family includes an assortment of specialty finishes for visual effects. (source)

So, with my mom in tow, we headed home with a bottle of decoupage and a head full of ideas, ready to get to work!

In our first Mod Podge experiment, my mother and I bought an old stool from a local antique store and decoupaged one of my mandalas on the surface.

Isn't the stool cute?!  We found it for $8.00(!); and although we weren't exactly sure what the handle was for, it gave it some character and was certainly a piece that I could actually use in the house.  Surprisingly, using Mod Podge was a cinch!  The end result had little to no bumps or wrinkles, a sealed surface, and a matte finish.

There was a small bit of color-bleeding, but not to the point that it was too terrible.  I was a little sad to lose some of the careful color definition that I work so hard to achieve, but when I look at the end result objectively, I think it looks pretty darn good for an amateur piece!

I decided to use the stool as a pedestal for some decorative bottles that I had in a corner.  The bottles have lights inside and are beautiful when lit (Thanks for the idea, Mom!).  I think the mandala pedestal adds a nice touch and completes that little decorative corner of the house.

As for experiment number two, my mom and I got a little more ambitious!

Currently, Bo and I are using some cheap, wooden, DIY tables from Wal-Mart - that were given to us for free - as our bedside tables.  Since we didn't pay a penny for them, my mom and I figured we didn't have too much to lose with decoupaging these pieces.  So off to work we went!

We selected four mandalas for each table, choosing more of a pink/blue color scheme for mine and more of a red/green for Bo's.

On each table, there was one mandala that seemed to bleed more than the others.  What I realized was that the pieces with "white space" were the ones that tended to bleed...DUH!  My newer pieces, the ones without any white space, held up considerably better to the Mod Podge treatment.

Note to self:  When Mod Podging in the future, use only those pieces with NO white space!

In the end, I was more than happy with the result!  These tables cost us nothing, and although we plan on replacing them down the line, at least they now lend some color and excitement to the room.  Even when we do buy new bedside tables for our master bedroom, these might be the perfect fit for our guest bedroom!

Tomorrow - Lola vs. the crate.  Who do YOU think is winning?!

Question of the Day:

Have you ever used Mod Podge before?  If so, on what (and how did it turn out)?!

Blessings,
Ally and Bo

Coloring 2.0

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am a professional colorer. 

I know that may sound silly and juvenile, but I am as serious as one can be about an artistic hobby.  Coloring is my art form.  So in that sense, I suppose you could call me a "sort-of-artist" (I say "sort-of artist" because I don't sell my work or consider it my full-time job.  It's just something I do in my spare time). 

I find coloring to be creative, calming, and meditative.  It is the perfect stress-relief tool because while I am doing it I am not thinking about anything outside of the project at hand; and after hours of detailed work, I have a beautifully colored piece to show for all my time and effort.

Since mid-October I have colored eleven more mandalas.  As I explained in my original coloring post, the word mandala originates from Sanskrit and means "circle."  Mandalas represent wholeness; and personally speaking, remind me of my relationship to God.  It's interesting to realize that mandalas are around us all of the time in the form of the earth, sun, moon, and our conceptual circles of friends, family, and community.  Currently, Bo and I have hung a grouping of 16 of my colored mandalas as a headboard.  Now that I have completed eleven additional mandalas, Bo and I are trying to decide how we can display them in a unique way that will not make our house seem like the "mandala house"!  After all, there is a limit to all good things...even colored mandalas...

Here is a closer look at my newest creations:

Note: Bo has proclaimed himself the official "Coloring Naming Director."  Yeah...my hubby's just a little weird sometimes (that's why we go together so well!).

#1 - Star Flower

#2 - The Triangle Dance

#3 - Pretty in Pink

#4 - Shalom

#5 - From Darkness to Light

#6 - Thai Lotus

#7 - Cathedral Ceiling

#8 - Aztec Christmas

#9 - Ring Around the Rosie

#10 - Hands Adjoined

#11 - Octopus Eyes

So there you have it...all my lovely new mandalas! 

Just so you know, I don't always color mandalas.  In fact, I received a new adult coloring book for Christmas.  It is filled with intricate drawings of nature.  I actually colored one yesterday, but it is going to be a gift for my step-mother (and therefore, just in case she is reading, I can't share it with you on the blog).  Regardless, look for an upcoming post about those colorings in the next few months!

Up next -   a traditional (vegan) chicken finger basket (complete with homemade sweet potato fries and homemade honey mustard sauce!)  Yum-o!

Question of the Day:

Do you have any suggestions for how we can display my newest colorings?!  I would LOVE to hear your ideas!

Blessings,
Ally and Bo

Thanksgiving Thankfulness

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVE!

My Thanksgiving holiday has officially begun, and Bo's will begin in just a couple of hours!  I am really looking forward to watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade tomorrow morning, enjoying the company of friends and one another while eating delicious and healthy food, and creating our first memories of Thanksgiving as a married couple.  It is going to be an amazing holiday!

Although I plan to share my Thanksgiving dessert recipe with you later this week (pumpkin + chocolate + pecan = delicious!):

...today's post doesn't have a new recipe...

...it doesn't have any yoga instruction...

...and it doesn't share a new ABC adventure. 

Today's post is all about practicing conscious and purposeful thankfulness.

Since I am 27 years old, I figured it would only make sense to list 27 things for which I am thankful.  Some are serious, some are funny, but I am truly thankful for each one.

Thanksgiving Thankfulness Exercise, 2011:

• I am thankful for my yoga practice.

• I am thankful for no car payments.
• I am thankful for my fellow Navy wives...which become more like family with each passing day.
• I am thankful that, for the first time in eight years, I can say "I'll be home for Christmas."

• I am thankful that I am a full-time yoga teacher = stress free career!
• I am thankful (for now) for my pixie haircut: fast and easy!

• I am thankful for a healthy, strong body...even though sometimes it still frustrates me.
• I am thankful for my dedicated yoga students because they inspire me every day.
• I am thankful for captivating books.





• I am thankful for my husband.  There aren't enough words...

• I am thankful for my stocked pantry (no vegan chef could live without one!).
• I am thankful for my food processor (no hummus or peanut butter would come to be without it!).

• I am thankful for our furniture (when we got married, we had a 46" TV, and nothing else!).
• I am thankful for jeans that fit.
• I am thankful for shoes and yoga pants that always fit (hahaha!).
• I am thankful for my relationship with my grandparents, deceased and alive.

• I am thankful for Satchidinanda Ashram-Yogaville.

• I am thankful that my husband has finally agreed to get a puppy this spring!
• I am thankful for holistic medicine.
• I am thankful for football traditions.

• I am thankful for unexpected packages.
• I am thankful that we will always live near the ocean.
• I am thankful for seasonal produce.

• I am thankful for soft sheets.

• I am thankful for dozens of crayon and marker colors.

• I am thankful for pashminas.
• I am thankful for friendships that continue to survive long-distances apart.
• BONUS: I am thankful for my family!



Happy Thanksgiving!

Next Time: A post about our Thanksgiving Day celebrations!

Question of the Day:

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving holiday?

Blessings,
Ally and Bo