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Cassowary Coast, North Queensland, Australia heychrissie@ChrissieMurphyDesigns.com

Chrissie Murphy Designs

Contemporary mixed media art and quiet explorations

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Tag: #challenge

February 8, 2018July 1, 2024Chrissie Murphy Designs2 Comments on 7 Ways to Challenge Yourself Creatively

7 Ways to Challenge Yourself Creatively

chrissiemurphydesigns

👩‍🎨 Contemporary Mixed Media Artist | CZT39
🎨 Ink, watercolour, collage and Zentangle
🔎 Always exploring
😊 For small moments of delight 👇

💢 Here's another page from my work on Zentangle Pr

💢 Here's another page from my work on Zentangle Project Pack 6 earlier this year.

The journal for this Project Pack came pre-marked with ink spills ✒️ — not as accidents, but as part of the process for us to embrace, right from the very beginning.

This was a project pack that focused on the philosophy of "No Mistakes" - Instead of avoiding the ink spills, the invitation was to work with them 👭 They became part of the overall design.

To me, it was a little reminder that not everything needs to start clean or perfect to become something meaningful ✨️ Sometimes the most interesting parts are already there… Just waiting to be included.

#ChrissieMurphyDesignsStudio
#Zentangle
#ZentangleInspiredArt
#ZentangleArt
#PP06Day5

🍁 Lest We Forget A quiet moment today to remember.

🍁 Lest We Forget
A quiet moment today to remember.

#AnzacDay
#LestWeForget
#AnzacDay2026
#Remembrance
#InRemembrance

Zooming in again today 🔍 Here's some beautiful la

Zooming in again today 🔍

Here's some beautiful layers of tangles sitting quietly over a gel plate print… lots of soft purples and pinks, little touches of gold catching the light. 💖💜🌟

I love how these layers started to speak to each other building a gorgeous colour relationship that we can all adore.

#ChrissieMurphyDesignsStudio
#ArtworkDetails
#PatternCloseUp
#ZentangleInspiredArt
#ZentangleArtwork

There’s something really special about not knowing

There’s something really special about not knowing where a piece will go… and choosing to trust the process anyway 🤗

This tile came to life at our monthly @yintangles meet up hosted by @yvorein . We used the @enioken Art Raffle App to select our patterns — a true mystery tile.

I worked on an Apprentice-sized tile, pretreated with blue watercolour 💦 and I love how that soft wash quietly holds everything together.

At times it felt challenging, but it was always unrushed… like the piece was revealing itself, pattern by pattern.

And maybe that’s the reminder…
Even in a noisy, busy world, there are still small pockets of beauty waiting for us to notice them — moment by moment 🤍

#ChrissieMurphyDesignsStudio
#ZentangleLovers
#Zentangle
#ZentangleInspiredArt
#ZentangleArtwork

💫 A single letter. 🔖 A simple tag. And a quiet mo

💫 A single letter.
🔖 A simple tag.
And a quiet moment of creativity.

Sometimes it’s not about making something big…

It’s about adding a little beauty to something small 🧳

👭 Today's studio companions:
Unipin Fineliners
@prismacolor Premier Pencils
And a steaming hot cup of Vittoria Decaf Coffee ☕️

#ChrissieMurphyDesignsStudio
#ZentangleLovers
#Zentangle
#ZentangleInspiredArt
#ZentangleArtwork

Sometimes a quiet page and a pen is all you need t

Sometimes a quiet page and a pen is all you need to slow things down for a little while 🤗

This is another piece from Project Pack 6 — just sitting, drawing simple lines, letting patterns build one stroke at a time ◻️◼️

There’s something about repetition like this… it settles the mind in a way not much else does.

If your day has felt a bit full, I hope this gives you a small moment to pause 🍃

#ChrissieMurphyDesignsStudio
#PP06Day4
#Zentangle
#ZentangleInspiredArt
#ZentangleArtwork

A little close up from one of my journals today 🔍

A little close up from one of my journals today 🔍

This border edging almost didn’t happen…
but once it got going, everything started to settle into place 🧩

Do you ever find it’s the little additions that make things feel “finished”? ✨️

#ChrissieMurphyDesignsStudio
#ArtworkDetails
#PatternCloseUp
#ZentangleInspiredArt
#ZentangleArtwork

🤗 There’s a lot I want to share about my recent wo

🤗 There’s a lot I want to share about my recent works exploring geometrical art 📐📏

I’ve had a few people ask about it and I thought I’d write a blog post 💻 about how I became interested in exploring isometric grids and the artists that have inspired me ☺️

🤔 It started with curiosity
📺 and an afternoon on YouTube
and it ended with a need to explore 🔎

You can read the story on my website (link in bio for today's thoughts from the blog ⬆️)

#ChrissieMurphyDesignsStudio
#IsometricArt
#GeometricArt
#Zentangle
#ZentangleInspiredArt

✨️ It’s easy to look at a piece as a whole… but I’

✨️ It’s easy to look at a piece as a whole…
but I’m always drawn to the smaller sections.

The parts where elements start to build, overlap, and take on a life of their own 🍃

This is where I tend to spend the most time — just moving slowly from one section to the next.

Do you find yourself looking at the whole piece.… or the details? 💬

#chrissiemurphydesignsstudio
#ZentangleInspiredArt
#ZentangleArt
#zentangle
#MixedMediaArtwork

🍃 A recent piece from my studio. I like artworks

🍃 A recent piece from my studio.

I like artworks that slowly reveal themselves while you’re working on them.

They have an unpredictability that I’m growing to really love pursuing.

And I just can't get enough of using isometric grids as a base 🙌 yep.... this grew from a grid

👭 Today's studio companions:
▪️Distress Inks by @ranger_ink
▪️@clairefontaine_finearts Goldline Mixed Media Art Journal
▪️A yummy glass of Apple and Blackcurrant juice 🍷

#ChrissieMurphyDesignsStudio
#GeometricArt
#ZentangleInspiredArt
#Zentangle
#MixedMediaArtist

Here's another piece from Project Pack 6 earlier t

Here's another piece from Project Pack 6 earlier this year 💢

Have I told you how much I enjoyed working on these 🙂
There's something special about going back to just ink and graphite pencil.

Simplicity and beauty... 🖤🤍

#ChrissieMurphyDesignsStudio
#ZentangleInspiredArt
#SketchbookIdeas
#Zentangle
#PP06Day3

Just a quiet moment in the studio, sitting with a

Just a quiet moment in the studio, sitting with a few ideas and seeing where they might lead 💫

Like many, I’ve been feeling the weight of what’s happening in the world. There’s so much conflict and heartbreak, and it’s hard to look away. It reminds me how much we need beauty and how much we need the pause and wonderment an amazing piece of art can invoke.

A small reminder today to choose that, even briefly, when you can 🙏🙂

#ChrissieMurphyDesignsStudio
#ArtForPeace
#creativepractice
#ZentangleInspiredArt
#Zentangle

I'm zooming in today 🔍 I reckon tiny sections of a

I'm zooming in today 🔍
I reckon tiny sections of artworks are like little neighbourhoods.... You can wander around them for ages and still see something new 🙂

#ChrissieMurphyDesignsStudio
#CloseUpShot
#PatternArt
#ZentangleInspiredArt
#Zentangle

📐 So I’ve been playing with geometry and isometric

📐 So I’ve been playing with geometry and isometric grids lately...

Apparently I like structure.
Apparently I like repeating 3D shapes.
Apparently I like creating things that take longer than expected...

No regrets tho 😜

👭 Today's studio companions: @prismacolor Coloured Pencils+ @clairefontaine_finearts Goldline Mixed Media Art Journal + a nice cup of warm Milo ☕️

#ChrissieMurphyDesignsStudio
#GeometricArt
#ZentangleInspiredArt
#Zentangle
#ModernFlorals

Easter has crept up on me this year, and I’m grate

Easter has crept up on me this year, and I’m grateful for it 😌

The world feels a little heavy at the moment… like we could all use a collective pause and a moment to reflect.💫 A chance to remember that hope still rises.

Wishing you peace this Easter my friend 💕
Sunday is coming 🙌

#ChrissieMurphyDesignsStudio
#Zentangle
#ZentangleInspiredArt
#PauseOnline
#MixedMediaArtwork

Just popping this here… because sometimes your bra

Just popping this here… because sometimes your brain needs something delightful to wander through 😌

There are lots of layers in this one—shapes, patterns and tiny details tucked into corners.

I share work like this regularly—art that gives you a few minutes to pause ⏸️ and find something beautiful 😍

👆 Follow along if you’d like more of that in your day.

#ChrissieMurphyDesignsStudio
#ZentangleInspiredArt
#momentsofbeauty
#mixedmediaart
#ZentangleArt

Here’s another piece from 💢 Project Pack 6 earlier

Here’s another piece from 💢 Project Pack 6 earlier this year.

😃 no pressure
😃 no perfection
😃 just lots of lines and a bit of graphite

The perfect pause for a balmy summer afternoon ☀️

#ChrissieMurphyDesignsStudio
#ZentangleInspiredArt
#PP06Day2
#SketchbookIdeas
#Zentangle

Today’s studio activity: 🙄 Looking at art to be f

Today’s studio activity:

🙄 Looking at art to be finished
✏️ Moving pencils around the desk
💭 Thinking important artistic thoughts
☕️ Drinking coffee

Progress was made (I reckon it was the coffee 😉)

#ChrissieMurphyDesignsStudio
#GeometricalArtwork
#ArtistDesk
#WorkInProgress
#SketchbookDays

I walked into this piece hanging on my artwork mob

I walked into this piece hanging on my artwork mobile yesterday and I realised after all this time, it still makes me happy 😄

It has lots of coloured pencil layers, patterns I adore, and it was made using a string dipped in alchohol ink…

📝 Note to self Chrissie: You really should revisit this technique some time soon 💫

#ChrissieMurphyDesignsStudio #mixedmediaartwork #patternart #zentangleinspiredart #zentangle

Before fuel contained liquid gold and robots dance

Before fuel contained liquid gold and robots danced at the Chinese Spring Festival I was working on Wonderland 😃

I never did share the finished piece, so here it is 🍋🧶 Swipe 👈 to see the full drawing

21cm x 29.7cm

Watercolour and coloured pencil on 300GSM cold pressed watercolour paper

© Chrissie Murphy Designs, 2025

#MixedMediaArt #ColoredPencilArt #chrissiemurphydesignsstudio #CairnsArtist #ColouredPencilDrawing

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