Journal prompt 35 and the Diva's challenge

The journal prompt this week was thinking about those things that just bring you joy.  I am so lucky that there about 400 of those things I could think of.  I decided to combine the journal prompt with the Diva's challenge and did (Level A) prompt. 

Now for the moment of writing I have a senior moment and have  lost the name of this tangle…arrgh.  But it'll come back to me.  It's done on a 2" Bejou tile.  The design behind it is an iStencil stencil done with a foam roller in oranges and red acrylics.  I laid down a square paper mask before I rolled it so I'd have a "window" for my tile.  

Getting ready to teach a Zentangle class this Wed so it's on my mind again!  

Using Gelli printed papers to make coasters

I wanted to share a small project I completed yesterday using mono-printed deli paper.

Any paper would work but I find the deli has a translucent look that mimics stained glass well.

I found 4 of these cork back coasters at the Dollar Depot in Woodruff, WI (4 for $1).  

They had a design on them and I coated them with one coat of opaque off-white acrylic paint before I started.

I used mat medium as the adhesive for the papers and used a paint pen for the lines.

If you use a water soluble paint pen you should spray them with a coat of clear acrylic before you add any other coating to avoid any smearing.  When dry I covered it with two coats of gloss medium and varnish to add shine and waterproofing.

So don't through those scraps away!

Wouldn't 4 of these make a lovely gift for someone?

I should probably have signed them before the final coating.

The project only took about an hour.  

Ginny

I used abstract shapes but if you had a cat lover or bird lover, why not cut out a silhouette to include, etc.

Flip Books for Zentangle Organization

door prises for Zentangle Classes

These little flip books make great door prizes for my Zentangle classes.  You "can" buy these pre-made for about $5 plus shipping.  But I can make these in about half an hour with office supplies.  I decorate them with acrylic paint (some on my Gelli plate) and then cut paper to fit.  Hole punch the paper.  Voila.

That way tangles can be included in alphabetic order!  And it's very portable.  I have a class this Wednesday in Manitowish Waters, WI.  (I also trimmed some in Washi tape).  You can buy Washi tape pre-printed or like me, print your own.

Tiny Zentangle Mural: Wonky Houses revisited.

3.5 x 11.5 on Canson Montval 140# wc paper

I had some fun on a rainy afternoon here in the north woods doing a mini mural of "Wonky Houses".  It's a term that Margaret Bremner coined and she's been having a lot of fun with them too.

I have played with these fanciful little houses a little before but doing this piece, which is the equivalent of doing 3 regular 3.5" Zentangle tiles, took me far longer than expected.  

It is the "decision making" that slows you down.  How to balance the patterns with some restful areas so as not to be totally out of control.  How to balance dark and light areas, gridded and organic elements, and keep the composition true to the "wonky" nature of the piece. 

It took me the better part of two afternoons…maybe 4 hours all together to complete the tiny mural.  I love the "frost flower" tree near the center of the piece and the "narwol" tree off toward the left.  

You wonder WHO lives in these hobbit houses?  Why are some of the doors open?  Where IS everybody?  :-)

We are praying that the wind, cold, and rain which hung over Lac du Flambeau ALL day long today will soon move off and give us some nicer weather as the week begins.  We are looking forward to a friend's visit Tues-Thursday and it's her first time up to the north woods cabin.  

The Gelli Plate workshop in Minocqua today

The Gelli Plate workshop today!

The workshop was sponsored by Lakeland Art League of Woodruff-Minocqua.  AND co-sponsored by iStencil.com.

Thanks to iStencil for demo stencils AND for door prizes.

Special thanks to iStencil.com

Using iStencils

One of the lucky folks who won an iStencil (Patti Parrish stencil)  Door prize!!!

Tangle A Day calendar

I am trying hard to keep up here…with all my company this summer the challenge to do this AND keep up with my weekly journal prompt is about all I can handle with "challenges".  I've dropped Diva challenges for a few weeks until things settle again.  
Of course one can always do Diva challenges IN one's calendar!

Rain has come to the cabin in the north woods and this is unfortunate since we have company again.  But never fear as we have DVD movies, popcorn and lots of games!  

Am teaching the Gelli Plate mono-printing tomorrow in Minocqua so am glad I packed the car up after lunch.  Not fun loading in the rain!  I do hope it'll let up tomorrow for folks driving up from Wausau.  

Photos to follow.

Merit Award

What a nice surprise I had at the awards ceremony tonight at Howard Young Hospital exhibit in Woodruff, WI.  I won a merit award!!!  This is my first piece that is non-objective art that has won an award!  
The piece is called "The Power of One" and is dedicated to the people who ignore the odds and power on to make a difference in this world. 
And it utilizes hand painted papers done on my Gelli Plate!

It's been a nice year for me winning best of show at the Manito Art League show and two merit awards in two different shows at Howard Young this summer.  Sometimes things seem to come together!!!  All 3 were very different…one a Zentangle pen and ink, one a watercolor, and one an acrylic collage.  

A Gelli mono printed surpise

Some Gelli Arts before breakfast…

Okay Greg and I got these "tags" when we visited the Duluth Train and Art Museum a week or two ago. I know you can "buy" these nice tags at Michaels and JoAnns, etc. but darn, they are kind of expensive.  I know I should make my own…how hard would that be?  BUT anyway I painted up the tags, mono printed them and added some stencils.  I can use them in journals or as gift tags.  Other ideas?

The antique kitchen timer came with our old cabin when we inherited it.  I am sure Greg's mom must have found it at a garage sale many moons ago.  I have actually never seen one like it.  Maybe someone made it? It was wood.  But not very attractive wood..just some varnished plywood.  So I decided to make it a little more attractive. Now I smile..it looks like a small bomb wrapped as gift.  Hahaha.  No taking this on a plane!!!

I use it in my classes to set times so I remember to do this or that or so students know they have 20 minutes to complete something and then we'll get back together or as a reminder that I have 15 minutes to wrap things up…whatever.  I have probably just ruined an antique that would have brought $1,500 at Antiques Roadshow.

Circles of Zentangles

I needed a quick way to get caught up after lots of interruptions.
So when this came off my Gelli plate as a mono print the other day it seems destined to have some tangling added to it!  I actually could have gone on and on with this.  I got to thinking that some tangling could actually be done in the white spaces too!  The paper is Deli paper (now pretty much available only at Sam's Club). But it can be ordered through Amazon.  

Acorns are falling here and we are on the cusp of autumn.
There are "signs".  Days are getting shorter again.  
We see a young buck drinking at the lake at dusk with a new rack of antlers emerging.  Birds seems hungrier than they did in July…are they thinking of the long trips ahead already?

Lots of company this week and weather man seems hopeful we will get some "summery" weather yet.  

Gelli printed papers used to collage a clear glass plate

Salad plate size clear glass plate collaged on the back side

Here's a fun little project.  This is a salad plate sized plate I found in a thrift shop for 50 cents.  On the back side I applied a coat of Modge Podge.  When dry I collaged bit of Gelli plate printed paper (using more Modge Podge).  It took about an hour for this smaller plate.  I saw this done on a Gelli Arts video which you can find on You Tube.  But that artist used carefully but triangles that had to be matched up.  Yikes.  

After the collage was done and dry I coated it again with a layer of Modge Podge.  So the front surface of the plate is still clear glass…everything is on the back shining through.  And the glass somewhat magnifies the textures.  Very cool.  

You cannot immerse this plate in water…but it would make a nice candy dish or some little serving dish that just needs wiping off afterwards.  I think it would be pretty under a plant too.  

This is a little "craftier" than I usually get, but it was fun and a good example of the many many ways to use your papers!

Dedicating a journal prompt/drawing to Coralee

5 x 7 journal page
Art work on Zentangle tile 3.5 x 3.5

Prompt #32" Thoughts about water:
"We can make our minds so like still water that beings gather around us, that they may see their own images and so live for a moment with a clearer, perhaps even freer life, because of our quiet" William Butler Yeats

When you live by a clear lake, with amazing and beautiful stones, the meaning of still water…the beauty of quiet water becomes real. I love the quote about the "reflective" quality of water. 

For this prompt I used a "tile" (3.5 " square) and a version of Hollibaugh that I saw somewhere recently that touched me. The "watery greens and blues" were created with Brusho powders and a spritz of water. Then tangled on top. Stones, sticks and vines hold the beautiful stones quiet beneath the surface. Quiet.

I dedicate this prompt to my friend Coralee who has her 4th chemo treatment tomorrow.

A tribute to Margaret Bremner's Wonky Houses

Tangle a Day Calendar for July 31- 2 x 6"

Just a little extra fun today closing out July (a few days behind). The page had some extra room so as a tribute to Margaret Bremner I tried a few "wonky" houses, as she likes to call them.

NOTHING like what she does but I can see they are addicting.

I love the bird house and the round windows in the house at the far right.  Repunzel?   Now to get to the first 3 days in August quickly!!!

Adding Zentangle to the Gelli Prints

4 x 6" Greeting cards and envelope

These two cards (with envelope below) were done in Gelli print.

The top one is done on CD/DVD labels and was posted before but now I've added some "tangles" to it.  The other is just a print cut to size and glued on the card with YES glue.  I like putting a little decoration on the envelope too.  

Does anyone know the name of the tangle I used for the half round shape?  I know it came on zentangle blog recently but I forgot to put down the name!  I love it.  So lacy but easy to do.

I'm going to have to go back to see if I can find it!!!  

Had a great weekend of company here at the lake house in northern WI.  We had lots of wild storms come and go, but in between the 3 grandsons (all in high school) got in some tubing, skiing, kayaking, canoeing, swimming and a big campfire with s'mores!  While it rained we played cards and did jig saw puzzles. We did not have to resort to movies once!  (always a stand by for rainy afternoons).  The boys helped Grandpa with log splitting too.  Big help…those logs are heavy to load up and stack!  They are all so young and strong!!!

Partly cloudy this morning and just 65 degrees at 10:30 am.  So it's not going to be a warm one today.  Windy down at the lake shore again too.  I'd like to get to some watercolor paintings today.   Have a good week everyone!

Creative Plagiarism

5 x 8 journal page

This week's prompt is a head's up to the many ideas that we "share" amongst ourselves as artists.  Often we do not even remember where we saw a particular idea or possibility but then we creatively plagiarize the idea or medium or color combination and make it "our own" as we conceive of the idea in a new way.

Happens to most of us quite often.

The idea of "weaving paper" is surely not new but I have never gotten around to trying it and I know there are tons of variations on how to do this.  Terri Young did a sample a few weeks ago on the Journal Prompt Facebook group that I belong to.  So when the prompt came up to go ahead an "borrow" an idea…her weaving came to my mind.  These are Gelli print strips.  I know now that I should have used more contrast for either the warp or the woof or probably changed the width of the strips.  Lots of variations on this.  So here's to gently borrowing ideas and making them unique!  

Portable Light Saves the Day

3 x 6" DP LED Foldable Desk Lamp

For those of us who demo to large groups in poor lighting, or who attend workshops in less than desirable lighting, this is a really handy thing to have.  So small it fits in a purse or small art bag, it runs on batteries and has a large LED light that is quite amazing.

It is supposed to hold it's charge for 5 hours of continuous use (I have yet to test that).  Runs about $10 at Amazon.  (It has a little gray Apple on the top but has NOTHING to do with Apple products.) 

 No more long extension cords! (Except for hair dryers.) Sigh.