Surprises Are the Best!

Isn't this beautiful? What a fun suncatcher! And it looks wonderful in my window!

Such a nice surprise from one of my photography students - Jesse and Mrs. Bonnie! I love it!

When I unwrapped the package I was outside - the sun was shining bright - and the colors were magnificent!

Here is a picture of Jesse at our photo gallery exhibit. Thank you, Jesse and Mrs. Bonnie!!! I love my surprise!!!

Using a Blind-Sighted String

This week's Diva Challenge is to use what Erin calls a "blind-sighted" string. Just close your eyes and draw a string. Give up your control and just draw blind-sighted. The above shot is a somewhat blurry (but the only one I have) picture of my string drawn with my eyes closed. Hmmm. What to do with it, what to draw?

That was so much fun! I must do another! I started with ixorus and that just laid out a plan for me. It's really a challenge to decide what tangles to use where. A challenge to make them flow together. Many times when we draw a string we already have an end in mind. It's hard to mindlessly draw a string with our eyes open. So. Close your eyes and give it a try. And when you are done, visit over here and link it up to the Diva's Challenge. You'll get some wonderful feedback! And while you're there, check out some the blind-sighted string drawings and leave some love :).

The Sketchbook Challenge

On my desk today I have The Sketchbook Challenge by Sue Bleiweiss. A whole host of artists have shared pages from their personal sketchbooks to make this book possible. I bought my copy through amazon.com - of course. The back cover reads:

Have you ever bought a new sketchbook, opened to the first page, and thought, "Now what do I do?" Sue Bleiweiss and the talented minds behind The Sketchbook Challenge are here to help.

Imagine a supportive community of artists sharing the innermost pages of their sketchbooks and offering you tips and techniques for overcoming creative blocks. That's what The Sketchbook Challenge is all about, and the popular blog of the same name has already inspired thousands. Inside this book, you'll find:  · Themes that will motivate you to start your sketchbook—and, more important, keep at it  · Tutorials spotlighting such mixed-media techniques as thread sketching, painted papers for collage, digital printing, and much more  · Strategies to get off the sketchbook page and start creating inspired art—whether you're into painting, collage, fiber art, or beyond  · In-depth profiles of artists who have taken the Sketchbook Challenge and used it as a launching pad for their own meaningful artwork
I picked up my copy last night and started thumbing through. It covers a variety of media, has lots of beautiful full-color photos of art in progress, tips galore, and basic hands-on information detailing what steps to follow. Understandable for the beginner, yet challenging enough for the more advanced. If you want to get into sketchbooking/art-journaling, you can't go wrong with Sue's book, The Sketchbook Challenge.

String Challenge 015

  

The string challenge this week was fun! The past few weeks have been so busy with revamping my blog, getting ready for the CZT training, then going to the CZT training, then coming home and trying to get caught up at the house - that I am falling further and further behind on my challenges. I think this will at least catch me up with Tangle Patterns' challenge. 

Above is the string Linda gave us, provided by Texas CZT Courtney Frantz. You can see what I came up with. I tried some new ideas - for me - some new patterns and just a little color pop. If you are interested in joining the string challenge, check it out here. We get a new string each week and it's always fun!

                                             

Betweed the Jellies

What a fun drawing! I have admired this style of drawing when someone like Michele Beauchamp does it. So I was seriously happy when Maria and Rick showed us some flow-y lines like this at CZT class! I thought - hey, I might could do this! My main problem - most of the time - is I go too fast and don't take my time with my lines. I need to be 'deliberate' when I draw. 
Flying home from Rhode Island, I had a three hour layover in Baltimore. I drew this sitting in their food court area while I waited. There was a table of businessmen sitting next to me and they kept watching what I was doing. No conversation there - I know not to talk with strangers :) - but they seemed to enjoy watching it come together. I did, too! So happy with how this turned out. Reminds me of some photos I took at an aquarium of jellyfish :). Thanks, Rick and Maria!

Presentation - Does it Matter?

Anyone who knows me can you tell that I always go with the pink! Always. So, when I got ready to photograph my tile for today's post, and I started pulling scraps out of my drawer to use for background - I wondered. Does it make a difference?

Last week I was in Rhode Island and to tell you truth I am way behind on challenges! I thought I was going to catch up with Linda Farmer's string challenges on Tangle Patterns, (I was 2 weeks behind there) and then as I sat down to start typing this I saw that Linda had posted another string challenge! Ah! Oh well, I'm working on it. Above, on a vibrant pink background, you see my response to string challenge 013. 

And then I placed my tile on a scrap of mottled black with a hint of maroon. I thought I would like it better on the vibrant pink background, but looking at them together here . . .

. . . I think they look like 2 different tiles, and I think the colors are brighter and fresher on the black background. What do you think?
And, in case you were wondering how I made the background, you may recall a couple weeks ago I had some fun playing with some paints and sprays. This is one of those tile - you can read all about it in this post :). There's that pink again :).
Thanks, Linda, for an awesome string challenge - just 2 more and I'll be caught up!

It's a Celtic Challenge

Judy from Creative Doodling offered us a challenge - a celtic knot challenge! A freestyle celtic knot challenge. You can see the link to her instructions here. 

Step One was to draw your string - draw one at random, with no specific directions other than to have it connect together at the two ends of the string.

Step Two was to draw the contours inside the shapes created by your string.

Step Three was to aura the outside of the entire shape. Apparently I forgot to take a photo of the next step. Step Four was to connect the lines at the gaps, creating over and under sections. (I opted to round some of the corners to smooth out some less than perfect lines.) Step Five was to rub out your pencil line and tangle/doodle in the sections. This was the fun part! I tried some new patterns and some old.

Next I started adding some onamato in the string.

Completed the onamato with a row of perfs around the outside.

Then I shaded. I was happy with my celtic knot at this point. But, you know how I am. Everything is better with color - even if only a little pop of color!

And so I added a little color with my copics. This was a really fun - and easy - challenge to complete. Judy has just posted challenge number 2! If you want to participate this week, click here to get the instructions. I am going to go check it out now and get an earlier start this week!

Anticipation

This was me. A little over a week ago. I was waiting for CZT training to start. I couldn't wait! I got to Rhode Island a day early so that Kali and I could fly to Baltimore together. She got off there to spend a week in town, I changed planes and flew on to Providence. The hotel was in a sketchy looking part of town - at least at night - so I didn't wander off to explore. Instead, I stayed in my wonderful room and practiced. I'm still new to zentangle, but I am loving it and enjoying learning something new every day! And here I am - a little over a week later - and I'm certified now to teach zentangle. I have my first series of classes already set up. I'll be working with my favorite home schooled kids! Going to be so much fun!!!    

Blog Makeovers

Cindy has been so diligently working on my blog - making beautiful boxes and buttons and badges and a banner! Tonight she sent me this name block she made for me - using my artwork! I love this, Cindy! I don't know how I am going to use it yet, but I wanted it posted here for everyone to see :).
Cindy has done some beautiful work with my blog. She is ready to help you with your blog, as well - if you are interested. You can see more of her work at her blog Ethereal Dreams Graphics located here. You should go check it out right now! Thank you again, Cindy!

Duo Tangle - One = Uno Tangle

The Diva's Challenge this week - #83 - was to make a duo-tangle using mooka and assunta. Last week I attended the CZT training and these two tangles are some of the many we worked on.

As you can see from my CZT note-collecting book, I worked on me some mooka!

I like this pattern - I've used it a couple times before. I worked on assunta a little - we tried that one on our own. And I just never got the hang of it. I will continue to work on it, but I wanted to get something posted. I've been gone for a week, and was getting ready for my trip for a week before that and I am soooooooo far behind on challenges. So, I'm posting my uno-tangle tile for the duo-tangle challenge. Here it is again - maybe if I post it twice that will make it similar to a duo-something-tile.

Sorry, Laura. I'll do better next week!
To check out all the duo-tangles (meaning those that actually used two tangles) head on over to the Diva's page here. Why don't you join us?

Tangling a Frame

One of the useful things Maria taught us was this little photo frame. You could make it any size you wish, we worked on the 3 1/2" square tiles.

The premise was simple - tangle the border, shade the inner and outer edges, then cut and paste your photo into the center.

They did the same kind of thing when we arrived for the workshop. This awesome, tangled photo frame was in the lobby. What a great photo opportunity!

During my stay at the Hotel Providence, I made friends with the sweet lady who kept my room cleaned up and fresh. The last night, I drew this photo frame on one of the new 4 1/2" tiles and left it behind in the room the next morning, along with a note for the cleaning lady. I hope she enjoyed her frame! 
The very first morning, I left a piece of artwork I was still working on out on the desktop. When I went back to the room that afternoon I noticed that it had been moved, as if someone had picked it up to look at it, then placed it back in almost the exact spot. Each morning I left a different piece of art - whether completed or in progress - on the desktop. And each afternoon the tiles seemed to be moved, if only at a different angle. So I knew someone was enjoying my drawing - or either laughing at it, I'm hoping for the 'enjoyment' being in a positive light. That is what made me think to leave a photo frame tile for the housekeeper. Hopefully a nice surprise for her - and the note I left for her telling her to take it and keep it.

CZT Training Was Great!

My zentangle training has come and gone. The past few days whirled past in a blur and then, all too soon, the workshop was over. (I need to do a post about Rhode Island - apart from the CZT process. The area where we stayed was interesting in its own rights!)
Rick and Maria started us out with some basic tangles. We were able to get our feet wet a bit before we jumped on some of the harder patterns. The one above is an interesting design - it's called Punzel. They told us why it was called this, but I couldn't hear them. I'm guessing it's because it looks like Rapunzel's braid. I could be totally wrong, too :).
(Short break while I try to kill the humongous wasp flying through my work room!)

Rick's Paradox. Not the cleanest drawing, but it's the best I've ever done with this pattern. I wondered how to get this look with paradox. Who knew it would be as simple as reversing the pattern and laying the sections side-by-side!

I mentioned here recently that I used betweed entirely too much. The top pattern in this photo is betweed, but I can tell you I have never had it look like this before. Wonderful! The fishy looking one below that is fengle. I had never tried this one before - not that I remember - and I love the way it turned out! You will notice some of the arms are filled with orbs, while some appear to be open in the middle. Rick was showing us some variations of fengle.  I can't wait to play with this one some more!

And this one was my absolute favorite! Maria named this one marasu - for her sisters. I don't believe I had ever seen this one before. It was easy to draw and gave a real sense of accomplishment. The light running on top of the rounded portion was drawn in with a chalk pencil.
I have lots more to show you, but I think that's enough for today :).
(By the way, said wasp has been dispatched! It is once again safe here.)