Tuesday, August 1, 2017
Lisbon Fragment
Just noticed that some people still have the old address so I thought I'd give you something new to look at :-)
Thursday, February 6, 2014
This Blog has Moved!
Friday, December 20, 2013
Finally Finished
Here are some I did with templates from the book |
But the absolute best part of this book is that each one sold feeds a hungry child. See the details on yesterday's post.
The second big project is my painting of Mendenhall glacier. This thing has gone through many iterations and growing pains. It will never be my favorite piece of art, but it brings back wonderful memories.
If I hadn't done it on a gallery wrap, I think I would have cropped it:
Have a great Paint Party Friday, everyone, and Merry Christmas!
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Sharing Christmas Cheer
At this time of year, people think of giving. We give gifts to our family, friends, teachers, hairdressers, babysitters, and co-workers. We send money to our alma maters, drop change in bell-ringers’ kettles, buy food for local food banks, and send checks to our favorite charities. I know that money is especially tight at this time of year, but I would like to ask you to please consider opening your pockets and your hearts a tiny bit wider.
I just learned that St. Vincent’s Center for Handicapped Children in Port-au-Prince, Haiti has been without electricity for several days because with the rising cost of food, they have had to divert funds in their electricity budget to buy food. If you can spare just $3, it will feed a child for a day. If enough of us give $3, it can make a world of difference.
For more information about the crisis at St. Vincent’s, please see The Red Thread Promise blog.
If you want to feed a child and get a gift for yourself, I offer you Seeing Stars: a Zentangle Constellation, an e-book I wrote based on a popular workshop I held earlier this month.
This 29-page book contains
- Complete full-color instructions and templates for creating 3-dimensional star ornaments
- 21 original tangled stars with space to color or add your own tangles
- These same stars dressed up in bright red and green or gold and silver, as inspiration or to cut and fold
- A third version of each star intricately tangled and shaded
- 25 poetic quotes about stars for dreamers or card-makers
- A coupon for $4 off an autographed copy of Made in the Shade (good until 1/14/2014).
The book is available as an instant download on my etsy shop.
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Merry Happy
As my holiday gift to you, I’ve written up a little instruction sheet so you can try it yourself. If you do, please let me know how it goes.
Sunday, December 8, 2013
Chicago TARDIS, Part 2, Waxing Philosophical
I started thinking about names more philosophically when I heard this quote from Dr. Who:
My name, my real name, that is not the point. The name I chose is, “the Doctor.” The name you choose, it’s like a promise you make.It made me wonder about naming tangles, but first I present Birdie in her cosplay.
From upper left: Birdie as Professor River Song. (Don't you love her sketch?) Later that day: Donna Noble. Going from a curly blonde to a straight-haired redhead, to which I said, "Really?? why?" (Am I too old, or just not a big enough fangirl?) Then Femme 10. (I think she looks even better than David Tennant.) And finally at the beginning of the day as the Mach 8 sonic screwdriver, before the painful shoes went on and before 8 hours of not being able to move her head or shoulders.
Below, she is standing with the other winners of the costume competition, looking a bit worse for the wear. She won most creative. As the guy sitting behind me said, "That's fresh!" And then later, "Who dresses up like a screwdriver?"
She is an original thinker.
First let me say that I am interested in starting a discussion, but not in getting anyone upset. (To which Birdie replied, "I don't think you can have a really good discussion without upsetting some people.") These are just my opinions and I realize there are others out there and I'd really like to hear what you think.
Now for tangle patterns. I present:
Birdie thinks Chillon is just a tangleation of bales. I think Warble is just chillon with auras and shaded differently. |
Different tangles? I just see a squared and rounded version of the same one. |
Different or the same? |
We need names to identify tangles just like we need names to identify people. But, is it really necessary to name each and every tangleation with a unique name? I'd just as soon have a single name for a tangle and its tangleations. I would call emingle the "a square version of tortuca." For that matter, I'd call chillon the "half-done bales." I think it is easier to not have to remember so many names. Sonya, on the other hand, thinks it is easier to name them all so it is easier to talk about them.
Also, have you ever heard or used the phrase, "just a tangleation"? As if a tangleation is somehow a second-class citizen. Really, imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. Why does it seem more prestigious to come up with a new tangle than it does a new tangleation?
So, what do you think? Please share. Enquiring minds want to know...
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Chicago Tardis, Part 1
Birdie is a much bigger fan than I am, so I spent some time tangling during the presentations. I love using Gallifreyan as a string, so I couldn't resist tangling this.
This was so fun that I think I need to do more. Next time, though, I think I’d like to use a compass to get “circles” instead of “orbs.” Want to try tangling in Gallifreyan, here is a generator you can use to get a string using whatever phrase you’d like. For instance, here is “Zendala Dare.” Wouldn’t that be a fun one?
I also had fun playing with the new Renaissance Tiles from Zentangle.
This is the first time I’ve tried the new Zenstone and I like it. I don’t think it completely replaces the GellyRoll, but it makes a nice addition. I also like adding gold and silver like on the Dalek. I don’t like regular graphite shading on the brown ink though.
I do love these tile. Want to try them out? I have them in my new Etsy shop. I also have a sampler kit with the pens you need to try them out. Here are the first 3 tiles I tried.
Well, I’ve been requested to go watch the Sound of Music and this post is getting long as is, so stay tuned for the rest of the fun from Chicago TARDIS tomorrow.
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Another Week, Another Challenge
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
If at First You Don't Succeed...
Aunt Gerri Modeling Birdie's Duct Tape Hat |
Monday, November 25, 2013
Well What a Mess!
Anyhow, my first thought was to do Well as a border and Pea-nuckle in the center. Since I'm in the middle of an ATC swap, I did it on an black Zentangle ATC card using metallic Gelly Roll Pens. Meh.
I thought it would be fun to try and combine them somehow.
Well, I was wrong. It was frustrating and confusing and I felt like I was turning my brain inside out. No Zen, just Tangle. You can tell by the results.
In fact, all 3 of them are double-sided because I thought if I turned it over I could do a better job on the back. Nope. Not even sure I should be posting this slop, but it's been that kind of day. Couldn't come up with anything better. <sigh>
I can't wait to see what my fellow tanglers do on this challenge.
Monday, November 18, 2013
A Little "Quib" ... a Lot of Fun
Want to see more? Check out this week's Diva challenge.
I'll try to post one or two more, but right now it is time to get back to getting prepared for tomorrow morning's Tangled Star Ornaments class. (There are still a few seats available. Drop me an email.)
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Zentangle Fun with Metallic Gell Pens
Well, these pens are absolutely luscious. They are a bit thicker than I usually like to write with and the ink color does not match the cap color, but otherwise I have nothing to complain about. The ink flows beautifully and the colors appear to glow. I just love them.
So, since I am not a huge “bug” fan, I decided to stick with lady bugs. After all, you can’t draw a crescent moon without a lady bug! And I found an adorable lady bug pin who wanted to sit in the center of the flower with his little metallic friends.
And here are the stars from this morning’s Zentangle for the holidays class. We had so much fun making them that we decided to do it again next week.
I hope you all have as much fun with your art as I did today.
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
More Challenging Than Usual
This week’s Diva challenge is to use Caren Mlot’s beautiful tangle Cruze. She makes this tangle look so easy that I didn’t bother writing down the steps when I went out to tangle. I ended up with some interesting tangleations, but nothing that looked as elegant as the original. I'd show you those, but they are hiding in shame.
So, I got out my iPhone and checked the steps again. The same thing happened. I thought I had it, but I still didn’t get it. This time, the results are closer:
At this point, I resorted to drawing guidelines, something I’ve never had to do before. I teach and believe that there are no mistakes in Zentangle, just opportunities to go off in an unexpected direction and see what happens. Some of the most interesting tangleations are the result of this. So, usually I am just happy to see what happens, but this tangle is so interesting that I wanted to “get it right.” I also thought it would be really interesting to do in a circle. This is probably part of the reason it was confounding me.
I’m still not sure I succeeded 100%, but I really like the overall result.
Despite the frustration, I really appreciated this challenge as I have students who face these same sorts of challenges regularly and I new feel more able to empathize with their need to “get it right.”
I haven’t had this much trouble since I first tried Mooka.
Did anyone else find this one more challenging than usual?
Monday, October 21, 2013
Fengle Frenzy?
So I started, and I started, and I started. Finally, I got one with the "arms" of the fengle almost even. There wasn't enough room for another arm, so the quandary escaped and began to float away.
My next tile was a little crooked and kind of "blah", so I abandoned that and tried making one bigger to see if I could draw the arms even. This one is better, but not great.
I really wanted to add more tangles, but that's not allowed for the challenge, so I got my pencil out to see if shading would help. Guess what? That was all it needed.
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
A Book Review, a Challenge, and a Book Question
Finally, Margaret Bremner shares her expertise on Zendalas. Her stunning art alone is worth the price of the book!
This is a nicely designed, sturdy book meant with plenty of room to practice right in the book. It is a worthy addition to any tangler's library and a great book to have on vacation. All you need is this book and a pen and you're ready for hours of enjoyment.
One thing about stippling/pointillism is that it can take a lot of time. Since I don't have a lot of that right now, I decided for Laura's challenge, I would use a pen with a much larger nib than I usually use. Bigger points = less time stippling. Despite this shortcut, I like how this one turned out. The background tangle is one that my daughter developed for the new book. She based it on the windows of our church, Seton Parish, so the tangle is called Seton It is similar to several other tangles, but I haven't been able to find out exactly like it.
So, you've had a very small sneak peak of the new book. This book will feature 52 different tangles and show you 6 different ways to do each of them. That's enough for a bit of tangling every day, but also enough time to really get to know each of the 52 tangles. I hope to encourage people to experiment with tangles they know and love and use their own creativity to adapt them to their own style. Right now, we're considering 2 different titles for this book. If you want to see what they are and have a chance of winning a free copy, take this quick (3-question) survey.
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Catching Up
For instance, I went to painting class on Monday and managed to paint: green.
It was kind of fun just to paint with no rhyme nor reason, but I'm not sure I had to go to painting class to do it.
I had 2 very successful Zentangle 101 classes and started a Zendala class. I love getting people excited about Zentangle. I had one lady share that 30+ years ago, as a freshman in college, she had her "teacher" tell her that he would give her a 'B' in the class if she promised to never take another art class! I am so grateful that she took the chance to come to one of my Zentangle classes because she is now getting back her confidence in art. What an honor to be a part of that. It really makes me angry when I hear stories like that. Clearly, the fault was on the teacher not being able to teach, but it totally destroyed her confidence. Can you tell from this mosaic which is done by the "art failure?"
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Tippled Knight?
Now that I've had my tangle break, my brain is clear and I am ready to think again. I can't tell you how much I needed that.
Do you have a cool tangleation of Knightsbridge or Tipple that you think should be featured in the book? If so, please let me know where it is in a comment below.
Thanks for stopping by.
Keep calm and tangle on -- Cris
Friday, September 20, 2013
One Stroke Plus
It has been sitting on my kitchen and every time I walked by, it looked lonely.
It isn't any more! I thought it might be fun to combine One Stroke painting with "Anything is possible one stroke at a time" Zentangle. Birdie doesn't think the Zentangle is an improvement, but I must admit that I really, really do. I didn't care for the way the pens (faber Castel Pitt artist pens) worked on the canvas, but I did want to try again.
So, I grabbed a smaller canvas and started out to copy the tulip so l could tangle around it, but the paint had other ideas.
It's not done yet, but I am seriously thinking of just putting in the stem and leaves and signing it. It was fun to just play with colors. My brain felt like it was in a fog and I could barely form a coherent sentence, but I think that helped quiet my inner critic long enough for my to just enjoy the process.
I am hoping that I will still be able to do that now that the meds are kicking in and I'm feeling more myself.
Wishing you joy in creating this week. Happy paint party Friday.
-- Cris
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
More Color
Went to Urgent Care yesterday because I suspected that my 'flu' was really bronchitis. I was right. And I am happy to report that the 7 prescriptions (!) are beginning to work. I still cannot think clearly, but I am able to at least sit up which is an improvement, since I've been mostly lying on the couch since Saturday.
I'm also happy to report that I can still tangle, even with my brain fog. Here is today's project. Mostly Zig markers over a watercolor wash. With accents of Marvy white Reminisce pen, Prismacolor purple marker, Green perm opaque, and chalk. I was also heavily influenced by a piece of Sonya Yencer's are that is sitting here waiting for our new book.