Recent Zentangle activity

Well I've gotten behind in my Journal 52 but have gotten a couple of Zentangle Inspired Art pieces done so thought I'd post them.

Did I mention I love Owls?  These are tangled using templates from Ben Kwok.

Here's a Zendala - the theme was sunrise and moon shadow.

 Twinchies  2 x 2 inches with acrylic magnets

Spiral ATC's

 

And a page from my workbook

Journal 52 - is caught up to Week #28.  Only 2 behind as of today.  Go to the Journal 52 page to see all the pages.

Journal 52 Week 22

Week 22  Travel

On The Road Again  Lyrics by Willie Nelson

I'm not sure driving is my favorite means of transportation but it is th emost common.  ANd every time I start to travel I sign (to myself) the opening stanza  "On the Road Again".

My Mother used to load up all five us kids in a VW bus and head out for Ohio to visit relatives.  On the way we visited: Hershey Chocolates(very out of the way),  A winery,  Budwieser Brewery,  a Pottery, a Glass blowing factory (we walked right through the active factory floor), and Corning Glass factory.    Oh and then there was the trip to Maine when we went to a Sardine Packing Factory!

We started out with a blue VW.  Later there was a School Bus Yellow VW Bus with Flowers and snakes painted on it over rust spots.   Couldn't find a picture of this in my albums.  Must ask my sisters if they have one.

Journal #52 - Playing catch up

Yikes - didn't realize I was so far behind in posting my journal pages.
I'll post my most current one here.  Please go to the Journal #52 tab to see all of them.

Week #21  Mandala

This is paper pieced from scraps of scrapbooking paper, highlighted in white pen.  The background is the roll off sheet from a Gelly Print Class I took.  A great way to use scrap paper.

Week 13 - How does you garden Grow?

In My Mind!
     I live in a 2nd floor apartment so my garden is in my mind.   I do have 4 plants in side but....
     I sort of followed the original prompt sample here.  Started with black card stock, blocked in some colors (had to plan this out in advance), then highlighted with black ultra fine permanent Sharpie, and black ultra fine Sharpie paint Pen.  Oh and I added the butterfly later.

AN explanation of the layout of the garden.  There is an old shade tree for me birds, and squirrels. Some rocks for critters to sun themselves on, plenty of flowers big and bigger, a path leading to a Narnia light post, and in the distance a huge water fall coming down from a Mt.

 You may have noticed that I jumped over week #12 - still thinking about that one.

Week #11

The theme for this week was Stars.   My favorite constellation is Orion.  I could see it from my bedroom window growing up.  I could see it in North Dakota, I could see it in England, and I can see it here in Massachusetts with all our light pollution.  I went looking for qoutes and inspiration and settled on the wiew from my childhood bed, a quote from Blade Runner and one from Vincent Van Gogh.

 

"The night is even more richly colored than the day. . . . If only one pays attention to it, one sees that certain stars are citron yellow, while others have a pink glow or a green, blue and forget-me-not brilliance. And without my expiating on this theme, it should be clear that putting little white dots on a blue-black surface is not enough."  — Vincent van Gogh, Painter

Not sure if you can see it or not but I have some green, yellow and red stars.

Week 10 Journal 52

Art for a Cause - Or Why Do I Do Art.

   I was having trouble coming up with a firm idea on this.  I did think of Random Acts of Art right off, but didn't know how I wanted to portray it.   So I let the idea sit for awhile- well a week.  Then I was going through my junk mail and happened to browse through a colorful ad and found the perfect picture of a stack of rocks on a pebble beach.  So I tore it out and thought some more.  Here is my final page.  Also in the picture are 2 RAA's that will be left somewhere soon.

Origami vrs Zentangle

This is a bit different for me.  I'm going to give you excerpts of an Origami article(Black) and then change them into Zentangle quotes(Red).


"Paper Beats Iron Bars" by D'ario Pedruzzi in  The Paper: The Magazine of Origami USA. Fall 2013 p.22-23
Beautifully written article, by a young man in Italy who has been teaching origami to the Children of prison inmates as they wait for their monthly parental visit.


The "O3A" virus: Origami Anywhere, with Anybody, folding Anything!
"Z3A" Zentangle Anywhere, with Anybody, Tangling Anything!
"...we begin with the usual paper toys: jumping frogs, jumping grasshoppers, bangers, boxes, airplanes, and all of those things rotating, mouth-opening, tumbling, rolling, flying, gliding, that make paperfolding with children so amusing, so magical."
"...we begin with the official patterns: Crescent moon, Hollibaugh, Static, Flux, Bales, and all those intriguing patterns that make tangling so magical"
"Another magical element inside any origami workshop.....is the total absence of competition and aggression.  The competition is demolished by a sheet of paper! "
"Another magical element inside any Zentangle workshop.....is the total absence of competition and aggression.  The competition is demolished by a small tile and a pen! "
"I always stress that in origami, we don't produce objects, we make objects.  This substantial difference in approach leads us to consider each model made by each child as an icon of the moment, the instant which we are living in that moment of space/time.  All models are beautifully folded just because they are ours, not anyone else's.  The patience, accuracy, precision, dexterity were not by anyone else, and it follows that the folded model is gorgeous because this child has gorgeously created it."
"I always stress that in Zentangle, we don't draw objects, we make art.  This substantial difference in approach leads us to consider each tile as an icon of the moment, the instant which we are living in that moment of space/time.  All tiles are beautifully Zentangled just because they are ours, not anyone else's.  The patience, accuracy, precision, dexterity were not by anyone else, and it follows that the tangled tile is gorgeous because this person has gorgeously created it."
"When we fold origami, The entire individual is involved in a dual synthesis of body and mind.  Anyone who has tried it knows that when you fold a pleasant model that you have mastered, breathing starts to slow down and the mind begins to cheer."
"When we Zentangle, The entire individual is involved in a dual synthesis of body and mind.  Anyone who has tried it knows that when you use the Zentangle Method with patterns that you have mastered, breathing starts to slow down and the mind begins to cheer."


See what I mean? - However there is a big different.  In order to get to this point with Origami you have to master the model- which can take some time and a lot of work.
Thank You D'ario Reduzzi
Cheers!

Journal 52- When I Grow Up

When I Grow Up I want to be.....  Up until a few years ago I'd say I still didn't know what I wanted to be or where I wanted to live "when I grew up"   I always hated those employee surveys or evaluations that asked  "Where do you see yourself in 10 years time?"
 
   Now that I've finished my: family and schooling years (0-24), my professional Life (24-57), what do I want to be now and where do I want to live?
   Guess what I still don't really know.

   But here is my Art Journal page for "When I Grow Up I Want To Be....  

I spent an hour today making backgrounds with string and acrylic paints.  This one is white on black, but I did some with white, yellow and red on black and one on white.  Then I used up the paint to make some more backgrounds.  Fun and Messy!

Journal52 Week 5

I'll be updating the Journal 52 tab also but wanted to post this here as well, because I have a visitor in the picture I was taking of last weeks journal page.

The prompt was  The Lost Art of Love Letters.   Well I usually read the prompt and then think on it for a bit.  I came up with an idea but forgot the actual prompt and did a page on the Letters of Love - as in L, O, V, and E.

   Then I saw a bunch of the others and went Oh.  Good thing I hadn't figured out what I was going to do with the back of Week 4's page.  So here are the two pages with and with out visitors and I'll explain the techniques below.

Hi Georgie!  Right after this picture she sat on the pages.  Not sure if that meant she approved or not.

Letters of L,O,V, E.:   The suggested technique was to take a brown paper bag, dampen it, crunch it up, let it dry, brush with gel medium, dry, and then wipe on acrylic paint with a baby wipe.  This can look like leather.   So Leather and Lace or Leather endures - Ah what about Jeans they last a long time.   So I glued some faded Blue jean material to come card stock, cut out the letters, added marks for fake stitches.  There are many origami heart patterns and since it was Valentines Day I added a corner heart and some flowers.

Lost Art of Love Letters:  I scanned a small piece that my Mother had embroidered for my Father with their wedding picture.  The original had lace but I cut that off the picture and added real lace around the edge. of the page.  The scan is attached to the page on two sides only leaving a pocket to store other Love Letters.

New Year's Resolutions Update

Well it is Jan 26th, let's see how I'm doing on the checklist.


 should send out a Birthday card tomorrow
-2 days Behind on the Zentangle a Day
-I've completed each weekly page for my Journal 52
-I'm a bit behind in keeping the blog up-to-date and posting pictures
- Ornation creation - I've done 2 this month and am using them in my Journal and an ATC Swap
- Going to post pictures on the blog pages now

2014 D/W/M Projects		January
Zentangle a Day		Almost
Kate Robinson's Monthly ATC Challenge		Check
Journal52 - Weekly		check
Letter a Month		check
Monthly Birthday Cards sent
NE ATC Monthly ATC Swap		Check
NE ATC Monthly Journal - Zentangle Plus		Going to drop this one
Ornation Creation - Weekly		2/4
Creative Connections - Monthly		Check
Keep Blog Up to date and post pictures

Blog Pages and Projects

Hello
   I've changed around my tabs/pages and added one for my year long art journal project called Journal 52.  I'll be adding pages for some of my other creative projects as I get time.
   So far I'm doing ok but have things due next week.  Yes I have tangled every day.  And I have a letter half written just not mailed.  See my Creative Endeavors for 2013 in the previous post.

2014 Creative Endeavors

Just spent 15 minutes setting up a spread sheet  keep track of my proposed creative endeavors for 2014.  Here's the first Month's list.   I will try to post results with pictures etc.   Guess I need to add blogging to the list. (Done - I've revised my list - I'm sure there will be more changes to come)

2014 D/W/M Projects		January
Zentangle a Day
Kate Robinson's Monthly ATC Challenge
Journal52 - Weekly
Letter a Month
Monthly Birthday Cards sent
NE ATC Monthly ATC Swap
NE ATC Monthly Journal - Zentangle Plus
Ornation Creation - Weekly
Creative Connections - Monthly
Keep Blog Up to date and post pictures