Passover Memories

Passover starts tonight. For the Jewish people all around the world, we remember the harshness of enslavement under the Egyptian Pharohs and celebrate the freedom finally achieved. Many of you probably have seen the classic movie, The Ten Commandments with Charleton Heston. My family watch this every year. Passover is my favorite Jewish holiday because it's all about family and friends gathering, sharing the story of freedom.

If you have never participated in a Jewish Seder (the word means order), you are missing out on stories, food, songs, props, and more food as families gather to recount the story of Jews in Egypt and how Moses led the people out of Egypt. My first Seder was with my husband's large yet close family and friends. There were over 20 people gathered around the dining room table. It was a bit intimidating as I only knew about Passover from reading about it. But it was an amazing night full of laughter, great food, and songs.

The first time my husband and I hosted our own Seder was when I was pregnant with our first child. It is one thing to attend a Seder, but to host it is definitely a daunting task. Lucky for me, my husband did and still does most of the cooking, which include brisket and matzah ball soup. For our first Seder we invited some of our non-Jewish friends to share the special night. At the Seder, it's not all about eating. Each person takes turn reading the Haggadah which is a special book that tells the story of Passover. There are specific rituals, prayers, food, and 4 cups of wine! Every woman or man who ever hosted will tell you, it's an exhausting night. But I love it. For every Seder we have hosted, we always invited at least one non-Jewish family. Most years, we hosted both nights! One year, we had 20 people the first night and 16 people the second night! Over the years, my husband would let me help cook, not the brisket or the soup, but other main dish items like roasted lamb or chicken. And I love making Passiver deserts!

One of my very special memories of Passover is attending the Women's Seder in which we retell the Passover story from a woman's perspective. That's when I learned about Miriam, Moses' sister. She 

was a woman who lived through the heartache of slavery, but never failed to celebrate the joys of life. She was also a rebel who spoke up when she saw fit. One of my favorite part of the Seder was when all the women got up, held a tambourine and danced as we sang Miriam's Song written by Debbie Friedman. It tells how Miriam and the women grabbed tambourines and began to dance and sing after they crossed the Red Sea. It was a moment of pure joy! Every year, I listen to Friedman's CD The Journey Continues, which was used in the women's Seder.  My art today depicts Miriam and the women dancing. I hope I can be as strong as Miriam, as joyous.  Happy Passover and Happy Easter!

My ABC Journal Flip

In the Fauxbonichi Group on Facebook, we were challenged to draw or write about a word in alphabetic order.  Here is my entire alphabet memes in under 5 minutes.  Hope you enjoy it.

A New Month, A New Beginning

For those of you who know me, I have been working on a visual journal everyday since September.  It has gone through several changes but the main thing it does for me is to keep track of things I need to get done and appointments, satisfy my need to add color, and help me keep a daily log of events, thoughts, special memories, etc..  But, what I wasn't doing was keeping track of goals I  set for myself in January.

So with the help of some new friends I made on Facebook in the Fauxbonichi Group, I now have a system I think that can work for me.  As the name implies, Fauxbonichi is a DIY Hobonichi which is a Japanese planner/journal popular today.  It is a beautiful planner and so many have done beautiful art and journaling in them, but I just don't think it would work for me.  But I liked the idea of a Hobonichi, hence my Fauxbonichi.

This month, I'm playing with a new book (a composition book), and a new format.

I covered the outside with scrapbook paper and washi tape.

I also covered the inside cover and created a pocket to keep my stencils.

Created my month pages with goals and important dates.  I can keep track of how I'm achieving my goals with color coded stars.

I decided to use one page per day instead of two like I had in the past.  But I can still add art.

And when you open the flap..

My todo's and appointments are at the bottom and I still have plenty of room to journal.  The header also helps me keep track of goals..  

The Fauxbonichi Group has a new challenge for April, with a daily prompt that you can draw or journal.  I'm going to try this system for the month of April and see how this works for me.

Do you use a planner?

Tangled Tuesday

Every Tuesday, I participate in Doodle Tuesday, a group on Facebook. Most weeks, I submit a simple doodle from my daily journal, but recently, I have been participating in a Tangle Challenge within the group. In the challenge, you have to use three zentangle patterns and one color to create your piece. If you have never heard of zentangle or have done one, you should check this out.

I've been doing zentangle tiles and zentangle inspired art for about a year.  There are hundreds of patterns and most require only a few simple strokes, anyone can do it, I promise!  It really is a relaxing way to create art because the strokes are often repetitive and you get in a trance-like zone once you get started. Most of the patterns can be found here.

This week, the challenge was to use B'twined, Blooming, Butter, and Hibred (don't you love these names?) and the color yellow. So here's my usual process. I practice the patterns in my zentangle journal.

Once I'm comfortable with the patterns, I try to think of ways to combine them in one piece. Sometimes, I have a shape in mind and I fill the shape with patterns or other times, the patterns dictate the shape I create. I practice a bit then I start on my actual piece. For this piece I knew I wanted to combine B'twined and Blooming Butter so one would lead to the other.  And then I decided to use Hibred to frame the others. 

If you would like to see more of my zentangle inspired art, check out my YouTube video.

Do you tangle?

A Brand New Adventure

I've been following other people's blogs for years...artists, writers, and other interesting people.  Why would anyone want to see my art or read what I have to say?  Perhaps there won't be too many of you reading this.  But lately, I've had a need to share.  Share my creative process or my thoughts.

The picture you see above is a piece I did on canvas.  The inspiration came from one of my sister's friends and now sits in my living room.  The poem I wrote came from one of those fill in the blank poems I saw on Facebook.  But it reveals much about me.

So what will you see in the future?  I'll be sharing my art journal as well as other types of journals I have.  Most of my art pieces are inspired by a quote I find.  I hope you'll enjoy this journey with me.