ZENTANGLES and STUFF

ZIA Journal Prompt #8 - "I Won't Stand For:"

2012-02-19T13:21:00.000-05:00

The inspiration for this week's ZIA journal came as I was watching a show on the USA channel. This movement to reach out and spread such a wonderful message was really impressive! To read about it, follow this link to the "Charactersunite project - I Won't Stand For: __________". The message of this project is that Each of us, whoever we are, wherever we live, can do something to fight intolerance and hate. You can also see videos about it on Youtube link.

Tangle Prompt: Choose a tangle/pattern and explore only that pattern. Change it, add color - play with it.

Writing Prompt: Respond in your journal to - "I Won't Stand For:"

Let me know if you're following along - I'd love to hear from some of you!

If you have a blog or flickr, add the site-specific URL where your Zentangle Inspired Art Journal Page is posted to the linkey machine below! Don't forget to link back here so that others can join in the fun!

Also, please feel free to come back often and visit the links of those people on the linkey machine - don't forget to leave a comment or feedback, everyone loves feedback. ;)

You can also post your work in the Zentangle Inspired Art Journal Flickr Group or if you're a member of the ZIA Yahoo Group you can post it to the photo album in the groupsite. Lots of options! It's up to you!>

Zentangle Inspired Journal Prompt #7 - Tangled Love

2012-02-12T14:47:00.003-05:00

I just couldn't resist tangling some hearts! We had a tangled heart pennant swap on the ZIA Yahoo Group in January and it was so much fun tangling those hearts! Had to include some in my journal too!

I'm keeping this blog post simple.

Tangle Prompt: using a heart as the string - tangle away!

Writing Prompt: tell someone that you love them.

Here is my attempt: To Frits and Zeke!

Zentangle Inspired Art Journal Prompt # 6 Positive vs Negative

2012-02-04T22:32:00.000-05:00

"A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes." -Mahatma Gandhi

There are so many fun and interesting things you can do with your tangles. One thing I always admire in others' Zentangles is the use of both positive and negative versions of the same tangle. I often say to myself, "hmmm, maybe I'll try that next time." Well, this is it - time to play with tangling in both the postive and negative.

Quickly, it became apparent that some tangles/pattersn were easier to draw in the both the positive and negative than others. Some tangles made my brain hurt even thinking about it.

Give it a try this week!

Now how do I tie this to a writing prompt? Well, it just so happened that someone close to me had a string of annoying events that really pushed his buttons this week - so an idea was growing! One could write about those types of "negative" events and then balance them out with some positive reflections...

Tangle Prompt: Draw tangles in the positive and negative. Freestyle draw them all over your page - or draw a string and tangle inside the string - your choice.

Writing Prompt: Write a list of several things that are negative to you - that annoy you (or piss you off) then under each of those things write something positive: happy, cheerful, something you are grateful for - that balance out the negative!

Wow! That's quite a bit of black and white! It takes some thinking and a little bit of planning to do the tangles in both the positive and negative. I did enjoy this challeng - I'm planning to do more on Zentangle Tiles with a variety of tangles.

An interesting thing is that after starting to write some things that annoyed me - they seemed like really silly things - and I found myself listing more positive things!

I hope this challenge didn't "annoy" you!!!

If you have a blog or flickr, add the site-specific URL where your Zentangle Inspired Art Journal Page is posted to the linkey machine below! Don't forget to link back here so that others can join in the fun!

Also, please feel free to come back often and visit the links of those people on the linkey machine - don't forget to leave a comment or feedback, everyone loves feedback. ;)

It's a Leftie Kind of Day!

2012-01-30T19:17:00.000-05:00

Today's Diva Challenge is a good one! Complete a Zentangle using your non-dominant hand! For me that's my leftie!

The ironic thing about this is that yesterday - I posted the weekly Zentangle Inspired Art Journal prompt which was about not trying to be perfect. This is the perfect (hem...hem..) challenge to get you away from trying to make all your tangles and strokes be perfect.

I had posted a link to Mary Oliver's poem - "The Ponds" and it rings even more true, as I let my leftie stand on it's own five fingers and complete this task!!! I thought I would try "Fife" one of the newer OZT tangles - what was I thinking!!! This required quite a bit of concentration. But when it was all finished and I looked at all the imperfections - I love this little Zentangle because of its imperfections!

A few things I noticed during this activity:

I hold the pen much more lightly in my left hand - in fact, it's quite loose.
I find that I turn the tile more frequently - so that I can make my marks from the left to right.
It is really hard to stay in the lines when filling spaces in with black!
This exercise really reminds me about making "deliberate" strokes - one stroke at at time. I really did find myself getting lost in the moment of as I made this Zentangle!

What were your observations about this experience?

Zentangle Journal Page #5 Are There Perfect Zentangles?

2012-01-28T22:33:00.001-05:00

Are there perfect Zentangles?

In the Zentangle® method, there are no mistakes.

True, we do at times do things that are unintended or unexpected. We can take

advantage of these "oops" moments and learn from them - develop a new pattern

or take the piece in a new direction. Sometimes these moments turn into those,

"Ahaa!" times, in which we suddenly have an epiphany of understanding.

One should be spontaneous while enjoying the process of Zentangle®.

Worrying about making a perfect Zentangle® can impede this process. Realize that the little

imperfections in tangles very often add the most charm to your work. Embrace

your imperfections in Zentangle® and in life!

One of my favorite poems is "The Ponds" by Mary Oliver. Take a moment to read

this poem to experience Mary's reflections on imperfection.

Tangle Prompt: Draw a tic-tac-toe grid (draw it freehand - don't
try to be perfect!) In 5 of the grid sections draw tangles. You may
want to use this exercise to explore new patterns. Save the other 4
grid sections for your writing.

Writing Prompt: Talk about how imperfection enhances life/your life/your
art/your experience.

If you have a blog or flickr, add the site-specific URL where

your Zentangle Inspired Art Journal Page is posted to the linkey

machine below! Don't forget to link back here so that others can join in the fun!

Also, please feel free to come back often and visit the links of those

people on the linkey machine - don't forget to leave a

comment or feedback, everyone loves feedback. ;)

Weekly Challenge #55 "String Theory v. VIII: Moebius Trip

2012-01-27T01:13:00.000-05:00

The Diva's Challenge - if you are seeing this for the first time, please treat yourself and check out this BLOG today!

For me, this is my first happy accident - of 2012. I had big plans for this challenge. I was going to use the tangle, "Lacey" by Sandra Strait on the Mobius Strip. It was going to be done in positive and negative. I began and instantly realized this string was too small for my fine motor and eyes to be able to do what I had envisioned. My first marks became a solid black square. Yuk! Now what?

Hmm, let's go with the flow and do black and white boxes and see what happens! Okay, I can live with these checkerboards, I guess! I completed the piece with two of Sandy Bartholomew's tangles: "Ripple" and "Scraper". (from Sandy's book - "Totally Tangled")

Again, I am reminded - that with Zentangle it is more often than not best to let it take you and not try to plan and force something!

I was quite wide awake so then I played with my image in photoshop - adding drop shadows and frames and just having a great time!

Have a great week!

Update on Gratitude Journal Page

2012-01-25T17:46:00.001-05:00

Finished the page - I fussed with acrylics, gel pens, sharpies, and even white out! I did have to use fixative in between layers in order to not smear anything too badly.

Some of the elements I really, really like and think maybe I'll include those in another piece. Some were not so successful - but it's the process right!

This was fun!

Zentangle Journal Page #4

2012-01-21T11:00:00.003-05:00

Gratitude
I am so thankful that I have time to spend tangling. I am so grateful that I discovered Zentangle and that I had the opportunity to meet Rick and Maria. I am hugely grateful that I can hold and manipulate a pen and that my eyes can still focus (with reading glasses of course!) enough to see what I am doing.

I happened to see a few minutes of Goldie Hawn talking about her new book 10 Mindful Minutes. In her discussion she shared the importance gratitude plays in wellness. Conduct an internet search and you will find endless information about GRATITUDE. There are sites about gratitude journals, zenhabits (we have a "zen" habit, don't we....), healthful practices, etc. The meaning of the term,"on" in the Japanese language "includes a sense of gratitude combined with a desire to repay others for what we have been given. It’s not just that we feel grateful, or that we express our gratitude, but that we actually experience a sincere desire to give something back."

This week in my Zentangle Inspired Art Journal - I'm reflecting and focusing on gratitude. Perhaps, I'll include a gratitude page each week or each month.

Have you explored GRATITUDE?

Tangle Prompt: Drop a background into your journal (watercolor, acrylic - your choice) Draw circles and tangle in and/or around them. (kind of in the theme of gratitude - the circle reminds me of the circle of life, everything comes around full circle, what you give comes back to you et.)

Writing Prompt: Write your reflections on GRATITUDE.

I started adding tangles and stuff to this page and then I spilled and really smeared things. No mistakes right? I got out some cheap acrylic paint and put a layer of color on top. I added another color and just smeared the paint around (the ink from below added to this a bit - go with the flow right?) I'm working on adding tangles in each circle and will add more tangles around the circles. Then I'll add my response to the writing prompt. I'll post the completed page later this week.

If you have a blog, add the site-specific URL where your Zentangle Inspired Art Journal Page is posted to the linkey machine below! Don't forget to link back here so that others can join in the fun!

Also, please feel free to come back often and visit the links of those people on the linkey machine - don't forget to leave a comment or feedback, everyone loves feedback. ;)

Diva's Challenge #54 "Purple"

2012-01-19T22:04:00.004-05:00

This week's challenge at "I Am the Diva" was to add purple to your Zentangle.

In addition to adding purple I decided that I would try new tangles. I had so much fun with "Dust Bunny" by Margaret Bremner, CZT - that I can highly recommend it! I also used the following "official" Zentangles: Quabog, 'Nzeppel, and Bumper. Pilot G-2 O7 pens and Derwent Coloursoft pencils were used.

These challenges are always such a fantastic way to explore Zentangle!

ZIA Journal #3 Snow

2012-01-15T15:29:00.001-05:00

I hope everyone is doing very well as we begin a new week!

I'm listening to the song "snowflake" by Kate Bush, off of her new album "50 Words for Snow". While this music/CD may not be accessible to everyone - I find the first song - "snowflake" has a meditative quality to it and it is very good music (for me) to listen to while tangling. It also inspired me to focus on the cold, ice, and snow for this week's challenge.

Many of us have the treat of experiencing snow! Today, my friend Sandy - posted a message saying that in her part of the state of Washington - about 7 inches of snow landed! Happy snow person building Sandy!

Tangle Prompt: Snow, ice, snowflake, winter inspired tangles.

Writing Prompt: Reflections about winter, snow - a poem - different words for snow etc.

Enjoy!

A few notes about my Journal Entry: A few weeks maybe longer - we had a zen - snowflake challenge in the ZIA group. I saw some fantastic approaches to this challenge - and I fell in love with Dineke's approach to icicles - the icicles on my page were inspired by Dineke! Also - there was discussion about vellum and brads in relation to a very cool technique by Jane LaFazio recently. I didn't have any vellum - to try the technique - but added another zenflake by attaching it with a brad.

I used white crayon to add resist to this piece - then watercolor and Micron Pigma Pen. White gel/glaze pen was also used. Tangle "coaster" by Carole Ohl.

Diva Challenge

2012-01-14T16:40:00.000-05:00

Undine

One thing I must say about "undine" is that it's "undone"! The new tangle by Laura Harms - "undine" - I'm loving it!

The last several months of 2011 I rarely finished my Diva Challenge during the week that it was posted. I'm hoping to complete this challenge weekly because it's such great practice, and such a great way to reach out and spend time in cyber space with other Zentangle enthusiasts!

So, here it is Undone - I'll post the completed tile down the road! I thought it's better to post a partial than nothing at all. Still undecided if I want to take the blank ink to the edges and then tangle with white.

I welcome your thoughts about ways to complete this one!

Have a great Sunday!!!!

ZIA Journal #2

2012-01-07T22:32:00.002-05:00

Thanks to all of you for stopping by and for joining me in this Journal Project! Week 2 - here we go!!!

Tangle Prompt: Explore the spiral. Incorporate spiral tangles or draw a string in the shape of a spiral or both!

Do you have favorite patterns or tangles? Are there certain shapes that appear in your work frequently? I tend to find spirals appearing in my work frequently. Much of the time - they just arrive as if I've drawn them on auto-pilot.

The prompt for this week is to be more "mindful" and "deliberate" with the use of spirals in your tangles/art. Try explore the internet to see how the spiral is used in art and in symbolism and to admire how it is reflected in nature. Browse the tangle patterns posted on the internet and look for the use of spirals either as tangles or used as strings. Look for symbolism as you explore these patterns - for instance the universe spiraling out infinitely - the concenpt of endless - skies - unlimited possibilities for your creative energy.

Writing Prompt: Reflect on the symbolism or use of spirals and how they interact or interweave into your life. What do spirals mean to you, how do they make you feel?
Try finding ways to explore the spiral with your whole body as well by - dancing in spinning spirals or walk a spiral labyrinth.

Journal page in progress: I haven't added my journal reflection yet and will most likely add more tangles and some more color. I'll post the completed page when it's finished!

Have fun!

Remember you can post your work in either (or both) the yahoo ZIA group or the ZIA Journal Flickr page.

ZIA Journal #1

2011-12-31T14:46:00.002-05:00

Welcome to the first day of ZIA Journal Project!
First, a tiny bit of housekeeping.
There will be 2 prompts given for each page and these will be posted on Sundays. There will be both a tangle prompt and a writing prompt. If you're a member of the ZIA Yahoo group, the links to these blog posts will be given in the group. There will be 2 places to share your work, either in the ZIA Yahoo group photo album dedicated to this "ZIA Journal Project" or to a Flickr group http://www.flickr.com/groups/1821405@N25/ set up for this project. Both are acceptable. Please do consider taking time to leave comments of support for each other. Promts will be posted each Sunday.

The focus of the prompts for today is "Reflection."
I came across an interesting blog post titled, "20 Questions for reflecting on your 2011". This got me thinking! Or should I say reflecting! As I thought about my year in 2011 and the word reflection it gave me the idea for the string for our Zentangle. Reflection - meditating, thinking, giving careful consideration, deliberate thoughts - Wow! this fits in so well with the phiolosophy of "Zentangle" - meditative, deliberate strokes, etc.

For me, 2011 was bittersweet. Frits and I got married on a beautiful, sunny day in Annapolis. Sadly, my mother passed away in early August. She lived a long (90 yrs) good life, but it's always difficult to say goodbye. Overall, I realize that I am fortunate and have had many reasons to celebrate in 2011. Anyway, on to the prompts.

As we all take time today to reflect on 2011 let's hope that some of those thoughts and reflections find their way into our ZIA Journal.

Tangle Prompt: I thought about my string and decided that I would draw a simple string and then flip it creating a reflection of that string. This would be the basis for tangling. Each side of the reflected string would contain different tangles.

SAMPLE String

Writing Prompt: Write your "reflections" on the year 2011, in the margins around your Zentangle. Here are some questions to get you started: What was an unexpected joy this past year? What 3 words would you use to describe 2011? What was an unexpected obstacle? What was the biggest think you learned this past year? Take a peek at the question on this blog to help you with more ideas: http://simplemom.net/20-questions-for-reflecting-on-your-2011/

Patty's Page

Share your pages with us if you can! Happy New Year!!!!!

Hugs and Smiles

Zentangle Inspired Art Journal

2011-12-29T20:28:00.001-05:00

Welcome to the Zentangle Inspired Art Journal Project (2012).

How Will This Work?
The ZIA Journal will combine tangle prompts and writing prompts. This will be a weekly challenge - minimum of one page per week (of course more pages can always be done.)

What Materials?
A spiral bound set of 5"x8" index cards is suggested. (although any type of paper is acceptable) Gather your micron pens, sharpies, gel, glaze, gelly pens etc.... The use of color is expected! Try mixing different mediums - crayons, watercolor, colored pencils, collage, pastels, etc... Experiment and have fun. The idea is to explore different tangle patterns and techniques as you respond to given prompts.

How to Get Started:
In preparation decorate the cover of your sprial set of index cards - incorporating tangles, and other art techniques. Include the year 2012 on your cover.

Post Your Work
If you're a member of the ZIA Yahoo Group you can post your work in the group photo albums for the ZIA Journal Project.
You can also post a comment on this blog linking back to your work.

Leave a Comment if you think you will participate!

Front Cover

Back Cover

Phonebook and Tangles

2011-11-13T10:04:00.001-05:00

It seems like every four months we find another package of phonebooks on our doorstep. I feel awful because we rarely use a phonebook these days. So they almost immediately find themselves in the recycle bin.

When the most recent phonebook arrived, looking so fresh, crisp, and new - I thought I have to keep this one and try to combine phonebook pages with my art.

Hence - tangles and phonepages. I'm loving my index card a week project, so index cards served as the substructure.

It was fun to play with this.

First I tried cutting the phonepages into shapes and making tangles with the shapes. I will try this again - however, I muddied up my first attempt so it doesn't look that great. But it was fun!

Then I cut a section of phone page and attached it to the index card, then tangled on top. I added left over cut outs from the first attempt to the sides and tangled on that. Ohhhh, yuk! These needed color and embellishing. But since embellishing is one of my favorite parts - here goes!

One more attempt as cutting out shapes and then adding tangles. I like where this one is going!

This one is not finished.

A Tangled Turkey for Thanksgiving!

2011-11-05T20:44:00.001-04:00

Today, I followed my creative muse and spent most of the day creating a tangled turkey. I had every intent to draw him on paper, but then I started playing with the Scribbler tool.

I adore using the Scribbler Tool "ZeFrank's Scribbler"; it is quite addictive. I love that there is a feature which allows you to save your creations. Once the turkey was drawn and saved, I used Photoshop to add color and some shading. Oh, my, this takes time, especially when one is such a Photoshop novice!!!

But I'm really pleased with the completed piece - I did enjoy working on this and learning more about creating different layers.

Will you be making a turkey this year?

Crayons, Scribbles and Tangles - oh MY!!!

2011-10-30T00:31:00.000-04:00

My poor, poor, neglected blog! The excuse that I keep giving is that my day job keeps me too busy. It's true, it's true!

Lately, I've been obsessing on creating little pieces of art either in my sketchbook or on index cards which start off with scribbles. Then a few more scribbles. Next I add some watercolor washes, some tangles, and then some shading.

These are so relaxing to do. I don't have any direction in mind where I expect them to go. I don't worry about the final outcome, simply enjoy the process!!

I especially like adding at least one of the scribble strings with crayon. I've made some scribbles with my eyes closed. That's interesting too!

Here are a few of my attempts:

I used a charcoal pencil then did a wash over that. Next I used a red water-based marker for the second layer of scribble. I put down the second scribble while the paper was still wet from the wash over the charcola pencil. A yellow overhead pencil was used to add some tangle patterns.

I did this one following the same process as for the first scribble attempt.

This one is my favorite!! Instead of the charcoal pencil, I used an "inktense watercolor pencil - chinese black for the first layer of scribble. I also used this same pencil to add some shading. The next two scribble layers were added with crayons!!! A white crayon and a neon pink crayon. Over that I added watercolor washes using only blue/green.

Index Card-a-Day (ICAD) Update

2011-07-30T20:33:00.001-04:00

Finally, I made time to start scanning my index cards. I joined the group late, mid June after luckily seeing an ICAD badge on someone's blog. What a happy day that was!

I found myself on Tammy's blog (Daisy Yellow). I must say that this is one of the MOST inspirational and motivational blogs I've seen. I immediately got in the car and headed to my nearest office supply to get a wire-bound set of index cards. (why I had to have the wire-bound, I can't say, but I had to)

I am so much more relaxed and at ease when working on index cards - makes no sense, but why question it? My husband hates that there are lines on the pages, but next time (next time?) I'll try to get unlined. I couldn't explain to him that I had to have the wire-bound and they were only available in lined! LOL!

Anyway, here are a few and I hope to catch up on my scanning soon!

New Tangle - SLAW - Tangleation

2011-07-30T18:01:00.000-04:00

I was working on some ideas for a greeting card swap on the Zentangle Inspired Art Group (ZIA yes, I have to promote the group - LOL), which has the theme of summer produce/summer flowers. I first played with this idea in my Index Card-a-Day (ICAD) project. I was thinking watermelon. I made a grid and added some watermelon shapes. I wondered if I could make a tangle out of a row of watermelons? Hmmm, here we are... whoa - those look like rows of cabbages. I added some color - yes - definitely cabbages!

So there it is - watermelons to cabbages to a new tangle!

Index Card a Day (ICAD) Attempts to make happy melons!

Then I thought, I want to try making a row of melons the football shaped image..... it turned out as this! Hmm, maybe that can be turned into a tangle?

I played with the this and came up with the tangle, "Slaw". But slaw is not really a new tangle. It would be more accurate to say that it is a "tangleation". Don't you just love the Zentangle vocabulary?! Slaw is made almost the same way as one of my favorite tangles - "Inapod" by Carole Ohl, with some variations. Take a look and tell me what you think - does this meet the definition of "tangleation'?

For more fun, I took a piece of a foam meat tray and made a stamp with "slaw". Here's the print - another ICAD entry.

Diva Zentangle Challenge #32

2011-07-29T13:35:00.006-04:00

Week 32 of the Diva Challenge - How about that!!! This has been a fantastic challenge to be a part of. This week's challenge was hosted by Carole Ohl - an amazing artist herself! Carole's challenge presented us with 4 tangles to include in this week's Zentangle.

After completing my Zentangle, I reflected on how wonderful this artform is. This week has been very stressful as my family deals with end of life needs of my mother. This challenge was so helpful in changing my focus for the time I spent working on it. I felt myself move into the moment focusing on forming the new tangles and letting the patterns mesh themselves together. My breathing was relaxed and I felt a sense of freedom as I became part of the pen floating across the paper.

I listened to the "Mande Variations" by Toumani Diabate. This is AWESOME music to listen to as you tangle. The delicious sounds on this CD come from the Malian kora played by Toumani; believe me it takes you to a very nice place. I suggest you follow the link to the Mande Variations CD and listen to samples. You may also enjoy watching and listening to Toumani on Youtube.

I hope this week finds you all well and making time for art. I want to leave you with this quote, that is a good way to describe Zentangle.

"When I heard the sound of the bell ringing, there was no bell, and there was no I - there was only the ringing." - Unknown

Pais (by Mikee Huber), Zedbra (by Laura Harms and Margaret Bremner), Keenees (by Donna Hornsby), and Baton (Carole Ohl)

Spinning the Paper - How Much Fun is This!!!

2011-07-24T21:32:00.003-04:00

When is the last time you had fun creating some awesome swirly spin art? I used to love going to the spin art booth at the County Fair, when I was a kid!!! I couldn't wait to get my hands on those bottles of paint and pour it on. I then eagerly watched and waited for the paper to stop spinning to see my creation - what FUN!!!

So it goes to follow that getting a spin art toy to add to my studio supplies was a brilliant idea! The inspiration came from watching a video by the fantastic Alma Stoller which was part of an incredible set of art ideas/lessons/inspiration on "21 Secrets." Alma demonstrated using her spin art toy to make some really cool backgrounds to use for art journal pages.

I highly recommend that you do follow these links and check out "21 Secrets" it is so worth it. I love the gal who organized this - Connie Hozvicka - "Dirty Footprints" - you should check out her website too!!!

Anyway, I surfed the web and ordered a spin art tool. It's so easy to find one either on the web or at a local toy or department store. I don't think I've put it away since it arrived.

Here's how I played:

I first tried using acrylic paint on black paper. It's also great to cover up an unsuccessful artprint attempt.

I tried white crayon to see how a resist would look with the addition of the swirly paint.

I tried watercolor paint and used a black permanent marker to add some contrast.

I created a couple of "spin girls" adding faces and patterns!

I used the swirly painted background for butterflies made for an ATC swap on my ZIA group. I penciled in the drawing first and then moved the paper to try to get the swirlys where I thought they would look best.

What's next, you say? Hmmmm, I have a stack of paint chips on my table - I'm thinking they would make some really great gift tags. Let the spinning begin!!!

Tangle Practice

2011-06-13T21:07:00.000-04:00

The old saying, "Practice makes perfect" is a good rule of thumb, but I like to say, "Practice makes better" because I know I'm not going to be perfect. And, that's okay with me! In the ZIA group we had the task of making a 3 x 3 grid of our favorite tangles. Our own designs or tangles identified by others. I chose to take a look at "cadent" one of my favorite tangles from Rick and Maria at Zentangle®. I came up with some variations and could have kept going with variations just on this one tangle.

Thanks to Sandy P for putting this challenge out to us. Actually, it was an "entry fee" to play a game in the group. Yep, there are prizes and everything!

A Few Variations on Cadent
(I like the one that looks like a turning page - hmmm, maybe I should name it!)

Working on ZIA swaps and experimenting...

2011-05-31T20:48:00.000-04:00

There is just not enough time in the day for art! There should be a National Art Day - don't you think? I've missed several of the Diva's Challenges - but I can always do the challenge when I have time to fit it in.

In the meantime, I've finished several ATCs for a couple swaps in the Zentangle Inspired Art Group on Yahoo. I've been using a 140lb. Canson rough watercolor paper. I had some from a watercolor class that I took __years ago (we're talking double digits of years). This paper really, really takes the Micron Pigma pens well and it is a joy to add watercolor to. Colored pencil is easily applied on this paper also. I like to add some shading or contrasting colors with pencils.

I recently purchased a Sakura Koi watercolor sketch box set (24) and I just love it! The colors are wonderful and the set is perfect for small artwork. I really like the small palette that comes with the kit too.

I've added a few pictures of my ATCs 2 for the 100th member swap and 1 for the Eyes swap. The ZIA group celebrated it's 100th member with an ATC swap. I explored tangles created by Carole Ohl, CZT from Ohio. If you haven't been to Carole's blog it's a wonderful treat!

For the "Lizard Eyes" I used N'Zepple one of my favorite tangles. I applied it randomly on the ATC. Then I selected areas to sketch the eyes. I also used Tipple generously. This was really fun.

Back to the Diva's challenge this week!

Challenge #20 - "Royal Wedding" - "Tudor Rose"

2011-05-07T12:40:00.000-04:00

I had to squeeze in time to watch bits of the Royal Wedding - the YouTube link was much appreciated.
Did you know that your computer stores the downloaded YouTube files in a temporary folder? Then you can copy/paste the file into a folder and it will sit on your computer for later viewing. Doing that I was able to open and watch parts of the wedding and fast forward through it at my leisure - no need to wait for the download. (to watch the video I use a free FLV player which can be downloaded off the internet) No offense to the Royal Couple, of course, just not enough time in the day.

The strangest things always catch my attention. I was drawn to the uniforms of the "Yeomen of the Guard." (one can learn so much using search tools!) I liked the look of the overlapping ribbon bands on the back of their uniforms. It reminded me of the tangle - "Umble". Looking more closely at the Guard's unifom I noticed the emblems on the front. Part of the design is the "Tudor Rose." According to wikipedia, "
The Tudor Rose (sometimes called the Union Rose) is the traditional floral heraldic emblem of England and takes its name and origins from the Tudor dynasty."

My response to the challeng was to use the tangle "umble" and the tudor rose. At first I was going to use the red and gold as in the Yeoman's Uniform and then I changed my mind. I did have fun creating tudor roses this week, which I think are themselves a tangle.

Thanks to Laura for another great Zentangle challenge!

Challenge #18

2011-04-21T19:23:00.000-04:00

Egg Challenge
Challenge #18! The weeks and the challenges are flying by. I wasn't sure I was going to get to this challenge before the deadline because I have so many projects going on this week. But I managed to take a break and I attempted to crack the egg!!!
Wow! I never thought about it before, but eggs are really hard to draw! Of course I had to go to google and search for "draw an egg" and this is what I found; a really nice "How to" on YouTube - "Egg Drawing". Funny thing is - my finished ZIA doesn't look like the egg in the video - but it was very interesting to watch. I can spend hours watching artists at work. How about you?

Here's to the egg!

Inchies

I love making inchies. I hope to try making inchies of my favorite tangles. Recently I've been working on some inchies for a swap on Zentangle Inspired Art - Yahoo Group. Take a look! The theme for these inchies was "stars".

Nelumba Tangle

2011-04-06T16:57:00.000-04:00

I've been playing around with this pattern for a few months in my sketch book. I got the idea from a piece of barn door hardware. If you can imagine the first row of the tangle below with holes in it for screws - that's the shape of the barn door hardware that I am referring to. As the pattern grew I realized it reminded me of the dried lotus pods used in flower arrangements more so than the barn door hardware.

I searched on google to see if anyone had developed a lotus pod type of tangle, and guess what? There is one which was created by the fantastic Margaret "Enthusiastic Artist", which she calls "lotus pods" - please do take a look at her wonderful version of lotus pods!

I call this version Nelumba (Nelumbo is a genus of aquatic plants commonly known as lotus....Wikipedia) - of course you could always draw the center holes smaller and think of barn door hardware instead!

Zentangle Inspired Art - using Nelumba

Well aquatic plants made me think of water fowl which made me think of ducks - they've been walking around the neighborhood this afternoon - so I added a couple of duck feet and a head to this zentangle! He's cute! Nelumba and the duck!

Challenge 16 "I Am the Diva" - Mooka

2011-04-05T20:36:00.000-04:00

This week a new tangle was announced on the Zentangle.com website - and an accompanying video on YouTube! The tangle is called Mooka. Of course all Zentangle enthusiasts are eagerly tangling away using "Mooka", and our dear "Diva" has extended the challenge for this week - to include/focus on Mooka!

When I first saw Mooka - I said Ohhhh! and I thought - no way! I don't think I can do this! When I watched the video - I still had some doubts. But again, the words of Rick and Maria - "Anything is Possible, One Stroke at a Time", went through my head. It will take a bit more practice, of course, but how fun this was, and how awesome is this tangle!

Another VennTangle Anyone?

Last week I posted a "VennTangle Challenge" and it was fun but quite a workout for my brain. I didn't try that again for a week. Some fellow tanglers jumped on this challenge and their attempts blew me away! It's wonderful to be able to share and interact with such creative people! Their efforts inspired me to try another - so here it is.

This "VennTangle" was made combining "Poke Leaf" and "Nipa".

VennTangle Challenge!

2011-03-30T23:15:00.001-04:00

I was brainstorming some ideas for future ZIA swaps for the ZIA Yahoo Group and I thought about an idea I've seen where folks combine 2 tangles to create a new tangle. For some reason a Venn Diagram popped into my head. Maybe it's the teacher in me or maybe I tend to think in pictures sometimes. So my first attempt was to use 2 overlapping circles to illustrate the union of 2 tangles. Hence the phrase - a "VennTangle".

Next, I thought, "Hey, what about 3 overlapping circles?" While 2 circles overlap and create 1 union or 1 new tangle - - 3 overlapping circles creates 4 unions or 4 new tangles. Hmm, not sure about this - it will take much concentration. Ouch! this was truly a yoga workout for my brain.

So anyway, this was interesting and challenging (I used relatively simple tangles) - feel free to give "VennTangles" a try!

These are my first attempts.

This 2 circle VennTangle uses "Crescent Moon" and "Tipple" to create 1 tangle variation.

The 3 circle VennTangle uses "Knightsbridge", "Static", and "Printemps" to create 4 tangle variations.

Anyway, just thought I'd share - I plan to try this every so often as a workout for my brain and to try to stimulate ideas for creating variations on tangles.

You can see the 4 overlapping areas in this diagram.

Challenge # 13 Non-Dominatrix

2011-03-15T00:14:00.001-04:00

This Zentangle/Inspired Art - was created with my left hand - which is my NON-Dominant Hand. My right hand insisted that I put those words/letters in Caps! Boy was this challenging - couldn't even draw a straight line.

I learned a few things (as we always do when completing the Diva's Challenges): 1. I was even more focused on my tangling while using my left hand -i.e. my mind did not work ahead thinking about the next tangle, or I'll walk Zeke after this 2. My right hand snatched the pen out of my left hand several times! That was weird - and I had to make myself stop and take the pen back into my left hand 3. I had a hard time controlling the amount of pressure that I was applying - especially when I did the shading and then the coloring (my paper shows some wear if you see it in person) and 4. My right hand really got a work out holding the paper in place and helping rotate the tile - something I do without thinking when I am tangling with my right hand.

This was a good learning experience. I realized how much I do without thinking and how much I take for granted everyday. I also realized how much I try to keep doing things the same - the easier path. I think I may try more activities using my non-dominant hand - it was good to take a look at things from a non-dominatrix point of view!

I used color pencil after I had shaded the Zentangle - I don't know that I like the outcome of using the color over the graphite. But this was lefties project so it shall be.

Funky Mandala
I'm working on some Mandala ZIA ATCs for a swap in ZIA group. This is one that I think of as a funky mandala. I'm so intrigued by mandalas - so it was with excitement that I decided to sign up for this swap. I have found it difficult to create the mandala on the ATC size. What's your experience been with Mandalas?

Check out the Zentangle Inspired Art Group on Yahoo: Swaps - Challenges - Friendships

Student Work

2011-03-09T23:07:00.000-05:00

It's a GREAT day when you have a chance to share Zentangles with someone. It's an even greater day when you have the privilege to teach a basic Zentangle class to a group of students. I'm not sure who had a better time - me or the students!

These wonderful Zentangles were created by a group of middle school students who have intellectual disabilities. They demonstrate to us everyday why it's not a good idea to put labels on people. So many opportunities are lost when we make judgements about each other based on a label.

We had a great time making Zentangles together and the students asked some great questions - such as "where did this pattern come from - like what place - maybe India?" Or, "Could I use a zentangle for the cover of my book that I will write someday?" These kids are my heroes!

"Out of difficulties grow miracles."

~Jean De La Bruyere~

Challenge #12 Add Blue

2011-03-08T00:05:00.000-05:00

The Zentangle Challenge for this week is to add blue to the Zentangle. How fun! Adding color to Zentangles is one of my favorite things to do!!!

It's easy to see where my inspiration came from if you live in the mid-Atlantic region of the States. We received almost 2" of rain during the overnight Sunday into Monday morning; things we're pretty soggy when Zeke and I went for a walk this morning. Funny, how the tanlge "rain" made it's way onto this week's tile. Rain - water - the color blue - it works for me.

Zentangle Inspired Art (ZIA) Group

I'm working on my ATCs for the Shades of Green Swap in the ZIA - Group. I'm thinking, dreaming, feeling spring - love using shades of green! Feel free to stop by the group and join us for sharing some Zentangle Inspired Art and maybe join an ATC swap or two!

Shades of Green in Zentangle Inspired Art Group

The Space Between - Challenge #10

2011-02-22T19:51:00.000-05:00

Do you ever have one of those moments when you hear someone speaking or read something that someone has written and think, "Hey she's talking to me!" That's how I felt when I read Laura's 10th challenge. I'm a tile hog - I use every bit of it - almost all the time. I too see the zentangles of others and admire the white space between. So I feel this challenge is for me!

It was so interesting to read a number of tangler's blogs today and listen to their reflections about this challenge. While in the zen moment working on these tiles (2 attempts) I too found myself reflecting about other space. For instance, taking the time to notice that which is not always obvious - like the space between. Wow! I came out of my ZENtangle session so much more aware of my surroundings during my walk! How about that!

In my first attempt, I used a couple of tangles from Sandy Bartholomew's new book, "Yoga for your Brain." Boy do I need this - the brain workout that is. I had such a hard time with the woven tangle - called "Jute." I can see it when it's finished, but while I'm tangling I just can't figure where to put those lines! I had to cheat and pencil in the short lines - hopefully practice will make this one easier. By the way, did I say Sandy's book is AWESOME!

The second zentangle doesn't feel that I left enough space between. I think the last (I hope it's the last) winter blast hit overnight here in Baltimore and I found myself daydreaming about spring and flowers. Do you think that is reflected in this zentangle?

Zentangle Inspired Art - Challenge

2011-02-20T12:21:00.000-05:00

The Challenge in the Zentangle Inspired Art group was to use "betweed" and color to create an artwork. Still under the effects of the zentangle challenge - "ixorus" in particular - finds this tangle popping up also. I used watercolor, gel pens, souffle pens (a favorite), glaze pens, soft gel - to add texture to some of the leaves, and the black micron pen. I overwhelmed the background with yellow so the project sat for over a week until I was inspired with an idea of what to do next - yikes! Well - it's complete and very busy!!!

To extend this project I played with the image in photoshop to create a mixed media artwork. I created a tessleation and then cropped a section of the image (the bird now has 2 heads - sort of picassoish.) Then I created the postage stamp background and added some drop shadows. Digital Art is kind of fun, I must say.

Throughout the project - I reminded myself the emphasis is on the process - breathe - relax - smile. You know what? It was great fun!

Bird-n-Hand

Close up of attempts to create texture in leaves. I like how this section turned out - so it has given me some ideas for another project.

Mixed Media - using Bird-n-Hand and Photoshop! This was fun!!!

Challenge #9 - Artoo Tangle!

2011-02-14T21:53:00.000-05:00

This week's zentangle challenge was to use the Diva's tangle - "Artoo" - and what a great idea. A great tangle to bring in the great news that Artoo is home and doing so much better!

I love botanical type designs - and this certainly reminds me of some type of budding new growth. I tried not to think to much but to just tangle away. The process is the important part - right? I enjoyed the process - even remembered to breathe - relax - smile. The finsihed zentangle reminds me of a bunch of weebles...remember those toys? Weebles wobble but they never fall down...that's what I heard running through my head as I shaded this one. I think this tangle is calling out for color - maybe that's next on the list!

Hearts for Artoo - Challenge #8

2011-02-12T16:22:00.000-05:00

This zentangle is dedicated to Artoo - Laura's

little baby. Sending warm thoughts and a wish

for a speedy recovery with this zentanle!

The challenge was to use hearts and some element from past challenges. I used orbs with a heart string. Again my focus seems to be spending time on the shading. I was trying to create some depth in the heart as if one were looking down and into the heart area. A splash of pink was added for the background.

Breathe - Challenge #7

2011-02-05T17:29:00.000-05:00

It took 5 days to get this posted! The challenge was to focus on our breathing, relax and smile while completing this week's zentangle. Wow! Does anyone else find themselves biting their lip while making strokes? How about holding your breath as you make strokes? I had to really practice the breathing and to think about relaxing. Apparently, I spend too much time tensed up and holding back my breath.

This was a great exercise! It is a huge part of what zentangle is all about - thanks for the great reminder Laura!

I seemed to have still been thinking about the new tangle - Ixorus - because it appeared in my zentangle again this week. My favorite part is when I'm finished with all the tangles and it's time to begin shading!

New Tangle - Ixorus

2011-01-25T00:29:00.000-05:00

The January Issue of the Zentangle Newsletter announced a new tangle - "Ixorus". For many of us this is like waiting for a new flavor to be released by "Ben and Jerry" or a new CD to be released from our favorite musical group or .... There was excitement among us all!

Clever as usual - Laura - our dear "I am the Diva" set our weekly challenge of one in which we incorporate the new tangle. So another great challenge and another great tangle. Thanks Rick and Maria and thanks again for being such a gracious host Laura!

The Challenge of the Orb

2011-01-18T18:49:00.000-05:00

The 5th Weekly Zentangle Challenge was "Orbs". I was thrilled - I love circles. I seem to gravitate toward drawing tangles with circles quite frequently. So, I was up for this one.

Well as usual - the challenge tends to present itself as - a challenge! This time my challenge was the shading. I spent time looking at images of circles, spheres, and orbs on the internet to observe the shading of such creatures. So once again - this is a case of practice makes better!

Star Stuff

2011-01-12T19:56:00.001-05:00

This week's challenge was to create a zentangle in response to Laura's post about how she loves stars. She also posted the song "Starry Eyed Surprise", by Paul Oakenford - for inspiration.

For my first couple of attempts I tried incorporating stars using a few rubber stamps that I have on hand. I didn't feel I was successful at integrating these stamps into the zentanlge. For the finished zentangle I drew the star. I found this challenge quite challenging! Perhaps trying to force a shape into the zentangle when I usually just let the design happen is why it was a bit difficult. Anyway, here it is!

Eyes Wide Shut with a Digital Twist

2011-01-09T21:25:00.000-05:00

This afternoon I felt like practicing my skills at using Photoshop to enhance and/or manipulate - or better yet - play with some of my zentangle and other images. Believe me, I'm a novice when it comes to Photoshop, but I'm learning. I enjoyed making the buttons for this blog on Saturday, so I wanted to reinforce my learning (practice makes better).

I chose this past week's zentangle challenge - Eyes Wide Shut. I loaded the original scanned image into Photoshop and began to play. I love M.C. Escher's work - so I used a filter that creates tiles and turned my zentangle into an Esher type tile. The image equally divided the plane! (I think!) Next, I removed sections, added layers, added some color, some shadows, changed some colors, added a differenet background etc. These are a couple results:

Eyes Wide Shut - Challenge #3

2011-01-04T19:33:00.000-05:00

Week #3 of the Zentangle Challenge was titled "Eyes Wide Shut" - yes, we drew our strings with our eyes closed. Yikes! I approached my task as anyone would who has tried to navigate their home in the darkness of a power outgage. Slowly, cautiously, and with one of my hands feeling around my tile as if I were trying to locate the light switch. The result was a string drawn mostly on one side of the tile and going off the paper. I added some random "nzepple" to the background to fill all the empty space and give the zentangle some sense of balance. But wait - who feels balance in a power outage? Sadly, I jumped into adding my tangles before I thought about scanning my string - oh well - next time.

Another great challenge and fun way to keep making those tangles - one stroke at a time! Thanks again to Laura at "I am the Diva"!

Strings, strings, and more strings...

2011-01-02T20:44:00.000-05:00

I found that I was a bit stiff when it came to drawing a string to start a zentangle. I don't know why; maybe it's that beautiful clean smooth tile, fear of flubbing it up, or generally thinking about it too much. I've noticed other zentangle enthusiasts on the web have also commented that strings are tough at times.

Here is what I'm trying. I'm using a sketch practice technique posted by Suzette Morrow, which is helping me loosen up and also gives some inspiration for zentangle strings. Check out the link to Suzette Morrow's "Day 1 - Habit Forming" video. Suzettes Video

I begin by drawing squares about 2/3 the size of a zentangle tile. Then using Suzette's technique, I say to myself, "How Do I Feel" as I move the pencil inside the square - not lifting the pencil - until I'm ready to move to the next square. See the sample below - the sketch practice looks like zentangle strings! Try it and check out Suzette's video.

String practice - with Zentangle

Two Pencil String Technique - Challenge #2

2010-12-30T18:23:00.000-05:00

Wow! This was a challenge for me! First, I seem to have had some trouble with my hand coordination in that I kept dropping one of the pencils. So I needed to practice loosening up and making some deliberate strokes while holding both pencils a bit more firmly.

After a bit of practice, I grasped using two pencils to draw a string. Looking over my zentangles, I found that I tended to be drawn in making strings that resemble a twisted ribbon - so that's what I went with. I think the final zentangle looks a bit "Dr. Seuss-ish", and that's okay with me!

Thanks again to "I am the Diva"- Laura for organizing this and to Margaret for the two-pencil string idea.

Holiday CD Compilation

2010-12-28T15:16:00.000-05:00

I used a zentangle inspired art (tile) for the cover of my 2010 Holiday CD compilation. The theme was - dream of peace, love, and friendship. I shared this with my colleagues as a gift. The members of my team spend quite a few hours on the road during the week. I thought it would be nice to have some inspirational music to listen to as we travel around the Baltimore beltway.

It was fun to put the compilation together and even more fun to design the CD cover. The zentangle inspired design was drawn on a zentangle tile and shaded as is typical for a zentangle. Sakura glaze pens (red and green) were used to add a touch of color. The background was added in photoshop as was the text and drop shadow.

I'm looking forward to making next year's Holiday CD!

Simplicity Challenge

2010-12-26T18:56:00.000-05:00

This is Simplicity for me. For this first zentangle in the Weekly - Zentangle a Week Challenge ( see I am the Diva for details) I chose to focus on one tangle. The tangle is Ennies; simple, clean, and deliberate was my goal!

A Very Special Zentangle Class

2010-10-27T19:54:00.007-04:00

Zentangles made by students who have developmental disabilities.

I had the wonderful pleasure of teaching a basic Zentangle class to a group of middle school age individuals with learning challenges. They were enthusiastic and diligent in their approach to learning several tangles. One of their teachers commented that one of the young ladies was engaged in creating her Zentangle longer than she is usually able to attend to a task. These young men and women demonstrated that they are quite "capable" artists. The process and the outcome we all agreed was AWESOME!