Organizing Zentangles

I am always looking for interesting ways to "organize" tangles.  Someone on line (and I have to go back and find out who it was) suggested this idea.  Inexpensive and really pretty cool.

JetPens.com has a fascinating website with a lot of very interesting stuff (including lots of pens, of course).  You can go directly to the word cards page here.

The 100 little word cards on a ring only are $3.85 each.  (Orders over $25 ship free.)  You can buy all kinds of pens on this site and get to $25 rather quickly.  OR buy some of these card rings for friends?

The card stock is nice and thick enough I can put a tangle on each side with no bleed through. So 200 of your favorites ones!  And I think it will be a nice way to carry your tangles in a mobile way.  Slip into a small zip lock bag with pens, tiles and pencil and stump and away you go.  

I like that the little cards are big enough you can put step outs on them (as I demonstrated) if you wish.  Or you can put several "variations" of a tangle on one card as well.  My thought is to put all the tangles in this alphabetically as well...these are all "C" tangles by the way.  

If you are coming to my Zentangle workshop on November 7 at the Leesburg Florida Center for the Arts (9:30 to 12:30) I am giving two away free in a drawing!  

Sorrow

Today on Robert Genn's Twice weekly Blog he wrote:

On Saturday morning, 10:30 to be exact, I was painting at my easel when a quiet knock came to my upper studio door. It was my friend and neighbor, Dr. Bob Cheyne, who also happens to be our family doctor.

As soon as I saw his face I knew something was up. "We got the results of your CAT scan," he said.

I ask him to sit down. Without belabouring our conversation, I can sum up what he said in five words:

"Pancreatic cancer--perhaps a year."

After that he went on to talk about how he is planning to use the year, what he plans to do about his much-loved blog, how his daughter Sara may take over the writing, how he will plan to divide up his paintings, etc.  

I just sat in front of the computer stunned.

I have been reading and following Canadian acrylic painter, Robert Genn's writing for many years.  I have one of his books.  He has, through his blog, become like an old friend.  He is an amazing writer and a great great inspiration to thousands of artists. 

He is funny and wise.  How he can find time to paint and write is always been amazing to me.   

I know some of my blog friends out there follow Robert too.  I would like to put out some sort of "tribute" to Robert.  But I am at a loss for words right now.  Even though I've never met him, I feel like a friend would feel...huge sorrow and anger at the unfairness of the prognosis.  Perhaps that is all the tribute that is needed at the moment.  

Zentangles Everywhere

I took a private tour of the Clifton Forge School of the arts in Clifton Forge, VA yesterday.


I was just blown away by this stained-glass paneled piece of art in the window. This room divider is easily 5 feet tall.

The artist is George Ayers and he teaches there regularly.
Www.cfsota@lumos.net




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White on Black

C-Bun, Cruze, Tuftid, Pozer

Sorry this is a little blurred this morning.
Hmmmm. Not sure why that happened but when you take photos with the iPad it is harder to hold it steady.

I love how Tuftid looks like crochet with white on black. In fact the who,e Zentangle looks a little like it is crochet.

On the road today...in Cincinnati and headed tomorrow for the WV mountains. Expect rain today here but clear in WV and that is the important thing.

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Jigty:a new app

With this app you can make a virtual jigsaw puzzle out of any photo image on your iPad. The app is free but the $1.99 upgrade is worth it allowing you to use your own photos, rotate pieces and change the number of pieces.
This is a puzzle made of Margaret Bremner's wonky great Zentangle.





This is how it looks after the puzzle breaks apart.
You just slide pieces around with your finger.
Very fun.



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Sketching Along the Way

This little ink and watercolor was done at my step daughter's home during a football game last Saturday in Lodi, WI (sorry the photo os a little crooked.)
This shelf was above her kitchen...her fridge, stove and cabinets were all below this. The odd-shaped tall thing next to the white pitcher is for inserting corks in wine bottles for your home-made wine. The quote is actually written on the green board next to the jar of pheasant feathers.
It was interesting doing it from a low perspective.


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Wednesday Zentangle

3.5" tile using Pozer, Carole Ohl's tangle pattern, and some stippling.




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Pointillism

Challenge this week is to creat a Zentangle using nothing but teensy dots.
These tangle patterns are Brabs, Hurikan, Bridgen, and Inapod.
3.5" tile.

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Stepping Out

Okay.. So I saw this most beautiful tile at Black Point Home on a tour of Lake Geneva. I dreamed of being able to do the step outs to draw it.
No such luck!!!


SO.. I asked Lee Ann Denzer if she would take a look at it. Here are her step outs. I am just blown away. 15 steps. Wow.


So I very slowly followed her steps and although this is NOT as beautiful as hers...I was able to follow...here is my first attempt.


Lee Ann does amazing Zentangle.
Check her out at http://leeanniszentangleiing.weebly.com/design-gallery.html


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Feeling Fall-ish

Now that my iMac is packed for Florida, I am relegated to the iPad.
Thank heavens for mobile media. What did we do without it!
This Zentangle is Crezn't, Cruze, Lotsadots, Bridgen, and Gyro.
I don't know about you but this one looks Steampunk don't you think?
Retro-futuristic?

Car is packed pretty much..we are going out for dinner. The cupboards are bare. I might squeeze in one more small sketch before we head out tomorrow.



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Yupo Painting from Sept 18th class

Watercolor on Yupo by Leslie Johnson

There is nothing more pleasing to a teacher than to have his/her students carry on and complete some paintings in the style or medium or technique that you shared with them!

Here is Leslie Johnson's completed Yupo painting after the Watercolor and Yupo class on September 18th.  Her choice of the simple shapes of bottles is absolutely charming and really gives her the chance to play with enriching the surface of her painting.  It also gives the illusion that the glass is either art glass OR there is something intriguing inside the bottle!  

She has a wonderful combination of colors that show case the bright colors that appear on this plastic surface...very rich. And because of the richness she really features the fascinating texture possibilities. 

Great job, Leslie and I hope you will spray this with a couple of light coats of acrylic clear mat spray.  Although Cheap Joe advertises in his catalog that some Yupo art is framed without glass...I am very reluctant to do that myself.  I do frame watercolor on canvas that has been sprayed without glass. So I am sure that is possible.  I'd probably suggest like 5 coats of spray in that case.  

Love this painting, Leslie.  Thanks for sharing.   

En plein air in the north woods...one more time this season!

5.5 x 8" sketchbook, watercolor

Having an autumn day in the north woods warm enough to sit outside and paint (Oct 9) is AMAZING.

I cannot remember when that has happened.  The gift has not gone unappreciated!  

This is Greg's little garage up the road a bit from the cabin.  We had just come back from our walk...shuffling through the piles of crisp leaves now.  More falling like dazzling confetti.  

Chipmunks scurry about and nuthatches and chickadees at our feeder are storing seeds somewhere for another day.  We got up to 72 today!

We might get one more day and then it starts to drop back down to normal..which is about 45.  

But we'll be happy to just get one more!  

"More is Less"

Koryl, Oakling, Knightsbridge, Static, Crescent Moon, Framz, Rounding, C-bun, Sugar Cane, Tipple, Funf

Well, we all know that "less is more".  And I go by that idea.  So when "more is less" then you know I got totally too carried away.  I couldn't stop.  Hahaha.  And it shows.  I am most fond of elegant simplicity.  This tile is NOT in that category!    

I think it show that I am in some anxiety right now and need to just tangle to Zen-off some of that.  It starts with Framz and then gets carried away from that point on.  I kept saying "well what if..." and then I was off again.  This is a 3.5" tile.  It might have worked better in a larger format.  

I did experiment with some tangle patterns like "Static" and "Funf" that I haven't used in a long while.  I am glad I did leave a few blank black spaces to rest the eye a little bit. 

Having gorgeous 72 degree autumn weather in the north woods of Wisconsin.  Wow.  Sometimes it is snowing by now! Lucky us!   

C-Bun and a Two Pencil String for Tuesday

C-Bun, Merryweather, Tipple, Stripes, Laces, Diva Dance, Carole's mystery tangle

This is a two-pencil string again.  There are usually some mirror images in such a string although now and again I ignore a line and tangle over it or leave it out entirely.  Carole still hasn't given me a name for that tangle I love near the bottom left so I just called "the mystery tangle".  

By the way, a two pencil string is where you hold two pencils in one hand at the same time and draw the strings.  

C-Bun is a new tangle...simple and appealing.  I like it.  

Diva Challenge 139

8's Parte Dos

This particular tangle has a lot of possibilities.  That is what makes it a rather nice tangle pattern.  I posted this same tangle a week or so ago when Diva's challenge asked us to use "color" in a tangle.  You can scroll down to see that one.  I had more "hits" on that blog post than any other post I have ever put up. I find that fascinating.  

One person commented that this is a "steampunk" tangle.  Interesting comment!  I think a lot of Zentangle has a steampunk look about it.  "Retro-futuristic".  

It's going to be fun to look at what everyone does with this one.  

Where's Waldo?

Gingham, Brabs, Henna Drum, Sriping, Schway, Planateen, Hybrid,
 Pop Cloud, Cobbles, Fescher, Knightsbridge, Flukes, Voga, Squares.

Where's Waldo?  Remember how that game goes?  Can you possibly find all these 14 tangles?  :-)  Actually EVERY single thing on this 3.5" tiles IS a tangle.  Even the strings. I'm just kidding...I am not sure I can find all 14 now either!  Hahaha.

This Zia is creative plagiarism of Margaret Bremner's darling wonky houses.  Have you seen them?  MUCH more wonky and darling!!!  But this is FUN.

Sparkles for Sunday

Brabs, Organza, Exis, plus mystery tangle from Carole

This was a sort of "morning meditation" as well as a try out with the new mystery tangle from Carole (scroll down to yesterday for info on that).  I wanted to see what it looked like in reverse.  It is not nearly as effective but still is "interesting" enough to make me smile.  

Brabs always looks a little like sturdy blocks of some sort and I wanted to try out Exis in the "sparkly" way that it was shown on Linda Farmer's blog.  Sparkles always nice white on black.  

The rain is finally ending in the north woods.  I feel guilty whining about weather when you look out west and see blizzards!!!  OMgosh.  And then in the Gulf they are battling another hurricane.  Here I am whining about a few days of nice quiet steady rain.  Very good for our lake and the water table.  Shame on me.  But I am happy to see predictions for sunshine now for the rest of the week.  Although our color up here is past peak already...it is still enough to be very pretty.  And the roads and forest floor are carpeted with yellow.  Very pretty.  

Have a good Sunday everyone!  

Hanging It Up

A beautiful tangle (a gift from Carole Ohl)

Sometimes you see a tangle pattern and it just resonates with you.  This was one.  I found it on Carole Ohl's blog.  As far as I can see she did not give it a name.  So I have emailed her to ask her what she calls it or where she found it.  

I had all kinds of ideas about how to do a much more complicated string for this one, but then after I was done with this part,  I realized that the tangle pattern itself was so pleasant to look at that it really did not need anything else to go with it.  So I just "hung it up" for now.  :-)

Zentangle is keeping me sane these last few days while I am packing to return to the south.  AND it is raining raining raining here today.  But we have some sunny days ahead next week..so not to worry.

It is napping sort of day so I'll probably sneak a short one this afternoon.  

800 posts

Oh by the way...today's post...it is post #800.  

Good Lord.  I have posted 800 times!!!

Zentangle Unzipped

Fife, Rain, Cadent, Zinga, Confettus, Black Pearl, Laces

The more Zentangle blogs I read, the more variety of people I find that enjoy this meditation and artistic fun.  Today my own challenge to myself was to use a creative string AND to find ways to "make the points end creatively" each in a different way.  I think it sort of looks like the tangle is "unzipped", don't you?

I love that people comment now and then...I have some loyal followers. (Yes Roberta I am talking about you!!!) Some day soon I plan to do what others have done and offer a give-away for a comment.  You know, like the Diva?  Every now and then she will say, I have this book to give away or this painting or this game or this stamp or whatever.  If you comment on her post within so many days she will put you in the drawing for it!  Very cool.  

I once won a gorgeous rubber stamp that came all the way from Australia.  I looked it up and it cost $20 American dollars!  Wow.  The gal owned her own stamping company.  It's my FAVORITE stamp.  

It stamps out 6 postage stamps and you can then fill them in as you like.  I use it ALL the time.  I am sure I have anything to raffle off that anyone would want!  But I'll keep my eyes open!  

When I started to do Zentangle two years ago...there were about 4 how-to books to choose from.  I went to Amazon the other day to look up something and found over 30 online now!!!!  One book is only about shading!  Just shows you how this has grown and spread!  And yes, I am thinking about taking a CZT class next year. (Certified Zentangle Teacher).  More on that later.  

Back to packing...it's time to "make the southward trek" to our dear Florida abode.  6 days and counting.  

Merryweather: a new tangle

Merryweather, Hollibaugh (v), Knightsbridge

I wanted to try out the new tangle Merryweather...it looked intriguing.  So do you look at the lemons or the flowers?  It is one of "those" kind of tangles...kind of fun.  I also tried it white on black but at least so far am not liking it much that way.  

Watercolor Sketch

WC sketch 8 x 10

Just had about 1/2 hour to do a little sketch this afternoon before tea time (3:30).  Lots of of late afternoon shadows coming on.  I wish I had made the cabin a little more "brown" but I can go back and add a little darker wash later if I want to, I guess.  Our gorgeous flowers are gone from the flower box...everything is on the compost pile now as things wrap up for the season. I was tempted to put them in but this, after all, autumn and that is the way things look in autumn...finished.  I think I might go back and darken some shadows too.  But it felt good...being outside.  We'll have 4 days of cold rain ahead.  ARGHHH.  

Zentangle Fun

Summer Sitter, Spanders, Carres

Here are 3 tangle patterns that have been "around" for quite awhile but I personally have never tried using them before.  This is on a 3.5" tinted tile.