Cay Denise

Participated in QA Mag's "What's in Your Heart?" challenge.  The link has photos of some of the more ingenious artist trading cards from the challenge.  The photos shows the one I received (from an artist in South Africa) and the one I submitted. http://www.quiltingdaily.com/media/g/extras/default.aspx

I watched a TV program this morning about infants and very young children (up to 4-5) having most of the parts of their brains active (as if everything stimulates them) while adults have reduced areas of their brains active (and consequently, are stimulated by a narrower band of triggers).  This change seems to begin as young children become self-aware and create their own self-narrative of "I" in time-space.  At that point, they begin a process of 'forgetting' any expanded consciousness they may have demonstrated or experienced during their younger ages. This made think about how artists are challenged to "play" with their mediums to enhance their creativity, jump-start it, or simply explore their world through their art as if they were seeing it through the eyes a child (e.g. seeing something for the first time).  It seems when we do that, there is an intrinsic freedom felt to explore trying things we might not normally try or a release from the limitati

The December challenge was about numbers and using our favorite in a piece or one that had meaning (e.g. a soul number from numerology).  I looked into numerology, but was not inspired by any of the numbers that came up for me.  So, I started to think about circles and then zeros.  That is how I arrived at this piece ~~  a pretty out-of-the-box effort for me.  It is titled "Zero My!" (a word play on 'Oh My!').  I like it much more than I would have imagined.

I almost forgot that one needs to use the Lasso Tool followed by the crop action to cut out the drawing parts to reveal the photo underneath.  It has been that long since I've done one of these (maybe just a few weeks). In any case, I tried something new ~~ to insert a color layer under the drawing (.jpg) and attempted to do the cutting out prior to moving the image over the photo.  That didn't work.  Oh well, something else learned.  Something else learned too is that you can use the Magnetic Lasso to draw around an area where you want to limit filling an area with a color or change in color. Its 'Off the Wall Friday', and I'm linking this post to Nina-Marie's blog at http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com .   She provides space for artists to post work done during the prior week.  Thank you Nina-Marie!