Live and Love: A Senior Amplified Art Project by Arlene Oriel (2015)

Over a series of three days, both Design classes came together to meditate, respond to a quote as a quick-write activity, and then create a different piece of art for each day during the Blink Unit. On the first day of Blink, the task was to create a zentangle, where we each got a piece of paper and used sharpies to separate it into sections, then fill those sections with different designs and patterns. On the second day of Blink, we took one word from our writing prompt response and turn it into our art piece for the day, creating zentangle patterns within the word, and then using watercolors to add some color to the piece. On the third day of Blink, our task was to create a mandala on a piece of Shrinky Dink paper to be shrunk down into a keychain ornament. When all three pieces were complete, we scanned them for the next part of the unit: the Blink Amplified piece, in which we had to creatively incorporate all three Blink pieces into one piece. We also had to include two sentences from one of our writing prompt responses and a photograph that relates to our piece.

For my Blink Amplified piece, I used my zentangle as the background and lowered the opacity to make it less intense to the viewer's eye. My zentangle word was love and the photograph that I used was one that I took of a flower, as people often give other people flowers to show their love. The sentences from my quick-write that I selected to use in my Blink Amplified piece were: Live your life with an open mind and an open heart. Invite positivity and laughter into your life, which I wrapped around a path outlining the flower photo. I wanted the flower and the text to be the main focus of the piece, so I cropped the original background of the flower photo out. I placed the love zentangle in a corner of negative space to balance things out. Then, I replaced the middle of the flower with the mandala.