Tipple: A Tangle for the Diva's Challenge

3.5" tile

White on black makes Tipple sure look like bubbles.

In this case...carbonated.

Working with Watercolor on Yupo

Preparing for teaching the Yupo Class

First small sketch w/grid lines, second tiny color sketch (on Yupo scratch paper), 

and final drawing on  13 x 20 half sheet of Yupo

If you are planning on taking my Sept 18 Yupo paper WC class I want to remind you to bring your watercolors and brushes and water container...I like several size flats brushes and whatever else you like, a box of tissues (non lotion kind), a roll of paper towels, scissors, masking tape, an old shirt or apron (it is messy), newspapers and/or plastic to put down on the table.  Bring a ruler and a yardstick (or T-square), pencil, and please choose your subject ahead of time.  

The key actually is to pick things that have simple lines in them...a simple still life, a simple figure or figures, etc.  Remember we are going to play with "textures" and it will be more fun if you have some larger less complex subjects. It is especially fun to have a "border" around your subject out of which the objects can emerge.  Optional.  

It would be VERY helpful to actually have your subject drawn on tracing paper or very thin drawing paper ahead of time as well. Then we can tape up the two papers and trace the subject onto Yupo. The dimensions of a half sheet of Yupo that we will be using are: 13 x20 which is a half sheet.  

The idea for this drawing/painting came from a poem written by my son-in-law who is a poet.  I would hope that the painting might turn out well and I can use it for Christine Alfrey's poetry in WI project next month.

Here is the poem:

A Burr Oak We Pass

by Mark Nesslar (Madison, Wi)

A tree will sometimes grow in a way such that it appears unnatural.

Say it grew around another tree and that one died, was cut into pieces,

and hauled from the forest by draft horses and log chains,and of the scars,

where it pealed the earth, none remains.

If you choose to look, not at the tree, but the space it describes,

you see where two shapes entwined.  The powerful barked limbs

curled to hold the air as delicately as the lover holds the beloved,

while the space, remembering most patiently the years embrace,

extends outward to encompass all.

Zentangle in a Shell?

My friend, Florie, gave me these shells from Marco Island and challenged me to tangle them!

Nothing like a challenge!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

The Little House on Herman Street

WC on 140# Arches   quarter sheet  11 x 15

I have finished my "house commission" for the Carlson family.  This is the house in Delavan, WI that my husband's cousins grew up in.  Delightful little house.  Dear Aunt Cile passed away in July and since the families will soon be putting the house up for sale, it seems like a really nice time to have a moment.  

Am hoping to pass the painting on to the families next weekend.  

It is not signed yet because I am cropping it slightly from the original and I want to be sure that I have it just the way I want it.  

DEX-turbia: a Tangle-ation for the Diva's Challenge

Dex (v), Gyro

3.5" square with white jelly-roll pen and pastel pencil.  Even I think this is weird.  :-)

But it "felt good" to just be nutty today.  

Everyone needs a "do whatever" once in awhile.

Putting the Zen in Zentangle

Ciceron, Earth Rising (v), Germies

Wow I sure love that new tangle Ciceron (hope I am spelling that right). It's the one on the left side of the Zentangle.  Very nice illusion.  Just enough shading to give it a little pop.   I will surely use that one again and again!  

Am hoping to get into the studio this weekend a bit to work on a watercolor.  Photos to come later.  

I missed my Outdoor Painters this morning as I am working on getting photos and writing up memories of a dear friend who just passed away on Monday morning.  It has sort of consumed me as I look at the old photos and think of what a dear person she was and how accomplished she was.  She was only 59 and died of esophageal cancer just 3 months after diagnosis.  The Memorial will be Aug 24.  

The Zen in my zentangles has been useful...very calming and gentle.    

Navaho is a new tangle

Navaho, Knightsbridge, Cadent Border w Black Pearl, Fiore, Jalousie, Striping

This is a 3.5 Zentangle using the new tangle Navaho.  It was done with a two-pencil string (holding two pencils in one hand to draw the string design).  

We are having some "moderately" nice weather here in the north woods...temps ranging in the 70-75 degree range with some on and off sunshine.  Our guests are wearing sweatshirts much of the time but also we have had enough sunshine to get down to sit on the deck/pier and to take the grandkids out tubing.  The mosquitoes are STILL amazingly awful.  I guess we'll have to wait to the first frost to diminish them! 

There is a decidedly fall feeling in the air up here which would normally come in about 2-3 weeks.  We feel it at the end of August of every year...just a shift in the humidity, the length of days, and subtle nature changes like falling acorns and yellowing of the roadside ferns.  All that is beginning to happen now. (Although I haven't heard the acorns yet.)  I am into making soup and cabin stew and pumpkin bread!  Mornings are "brisk".  Autumn is not official until after the first frost and I can wait for that!!!

White on Black Tangles

Twile, Snugz, Oakling

One more experiment in white on black today.

I tried a few tangles that do enjoy some shading and used the white pastel pencil for that.  These shaded tiles will need a light coating of acrylic spray to "set" the pastel shading so it won't smudge.

I am finding that this "reversal" of the pattern colors makes a whole new dimension to the tangles.  That is every tangle looks new to me in the reverse.  So now I have double the number of tangles.  YIKES.   

Book Binding Workshop

Ginny, Karen, Jane with their newly created books!

Emily demonstrating how to trim the cloth corners during glueing. 

What a wonderful day at the book making workshop yesterday (Wednesday)!

Just three of us so it was like private lessons!  Emily Umerntum is a professional bookbinder!  She brought tons of interesting tools and all the paper and the covers were pre cut for us as we only had 4 hours to complete the project.  

This particular process is called a Japanese Stab Binding book.  We used fabric (special coated fabric in this case) for the covers, pretty papers for the inside covers and then gorgeous tinted pastel paper for the 25 pages inside.  The books were placed in a press that she brought along (I was amazed).  More photos to follow in a subsequent post.  We completed the books by "sewing" the bindings.  What a special journal this will be!!!  All this for $15! 

Incidentally if you put "Japanese Stab Binding" into YouTube you can find several nice videos of how to do this.  But nothing beats an actual teacher helping you!  And by the way,  Emily has a special "punch tool" she uses for making the holes in the cover and papers.  But in a pinch you can use an awl.   

Lacy Zentangles

Whyz, Paradox, Knightsbridge, Bubble Booble Blup,  Cadent: 3.5" square

Okay...decided it is time to experiment with white on black as an alternative to black on white. 

Finding the right black paper is one issue, of course.  

It's fairly expensive to order the pre-cut tiles.  So I've been searching around.  I am trying out Black Stonehenge Printmaking Sheet Paper from Cheap Joe's.  It is 90# 100% Cotton Rag and comes 22 x 30" sheets.  It's not a bad price (about $2.50 a sheet) before shipping.  But I ordered it online for the $1 shipping special along with some other things I needed.  

I am using a Jellyroll white pen and a white pastel pencil for shading.  Linda Farmer had a nice tutorial on her website recently. tanglepatterns.com.  And that gave me the courage to give this a try. 

I think it has a nice "lacy" effect.  You have to really wait a long time for the white ink to dry before you touch it.  I really like those tangles that do not rely on shading the best in this color combination.

Diva's Challenge: Henna Drum

Henna Drum, Flux, Pais, Bronx Cheer, Fescy, Opus, Poke Root, Aura-leah

I think this can safely be called an "organic" Zentangle tile.  3.5".  Henna Drum is the Diva's challenge this time and it's really a beautiful tangle.  It is the one with the dark centers in the floral tangle.  And I believe is drawn to resemble the patterns (henna?) drawn on hands of new brides just before they are married in India. 

ZIAs make great gifts!

Tangles top left to right around the frame:
Fiore, Yew-Dee,  W-2, Aurakonot + Hollibaugh, Vortex, Dex (or A-3 Grid), Germies, Knightspeek, Hibred, Hurry, Fishnet, Opus, Rain, and Schway

Verve (with Black Pearl), Cadent (Gathered), Crescent Moon, Cadent (Windows on the Stars) and Spider Web

I actually finished most of the picture frame during the Demo at the MAL art show back in July.  But forgot to post it.  It is one of those VERY cheap frames you pick up at WalMart or Michaels for like $1.  Sometimes you find them painted.  This one was not...so I just gave it two coats of white gesso and sanded it lightly with fine grain sandpaper.  

The tangles were done with Ultra-Fine Sharpie pen.  They really make a nice gift for people.  You might decide to use fewer tangles...I wanted this one to be an "example" of tangles so I worked in quite a few.  I do use graphite shading on this and then give it a few light coats of spray clear acrylic to protect it.  

The second ZIA is a birthday card for my granddaughter Abby who is 13 and will be starting high school in a few weeks.  BIG excitement there.  I now have 5 grandkids in high school this year! (one in college and one already out of college) and 5 still in elementary school from first to 8th grade.  That should add up to 12.  Whew.  

Does anyone know if the tangle in the "O" (which I dub "spider web") really have an official name?  I use it all the time but don't know if it really has a name or not.  

Making Zentangles with my Grandson

Zach and I made Zentangles on a chilly day in the north woods.  We used post card sized Zentangles so we had a little more room.  He loved adding color to his...we used watercolor crayons, watercolor pencils, and marker pens.  

Zentangle Demo Table

My friend, Florie, took this photo at the July Art Show Zentangle demo table.  I thought it was a good shot of my Zentangle Apron.  I had people do little Zentangle book marks if they had time to stop awhile.  I had a lot of visitors.  It was fun.

Kaleido Zentangle Challenge

Kaleido, 4 Corners, I-1 Grid, Star Map, Cadent Border w/Black Pearl

This challenge is Sandy Bartholomew's FB challenge.  This week she suggests Kaleido in whatever variations one would want. I have 3 "versions" of Kaleido in this tangle (3.5" square). The very top one is the actual "pure" tangle.  I haven't used this one for a long time.  Fun to try it again.

A Happy Birthday Zentangle with Cadent Variations

4 x 6 card
Y-ful Power, Rain, Shard, and four versions of Cadent

Ever since Margaret Bremner did her definitive study of  Cadent variations, I have been trying out hers and those from Patty Meijer in various ZIAs and Zentangles.  

In this birthday card for my 15 year old grandson, I used 1) Cadent a la Bunzo, 2) Cadent with Gathers 3) Windows on the Stars and 4) one from Patty that had no name...on the top between the one and 5 that looks more square.  I call it "Envelope Cadent" because it looks like the back of an envelope with a sticker in the middle.

I think Margaret's "Bunzo Cadent" is really fun and exciting to look at. (right hand bottom corner).