Love through a scientific lens: Our true capacity to connect

Very insightful conversation about the biological effects of positive connections on the NPR program Voices in the Family this week.  Take a listen here.

Definition Differences Between Doodling and Zentangle

Thanks to fellow CZT Meredity Yuhas for using dictionary definitions to show the difference between doodling and zentangle. 

Doodling VS Zentangle

Doodling (from dictionary definitions):
1. Mindless
2. Aimless
3. Unfocused
4. Used as a distraction
5. Done while doing something else
6. Getting lost in a daydream
7. Unstructured/chaotic
8. Foolish activity

Zentangle:
1. Mindful
2. Done with intent
3. Focused
4. Purposeful
5. Sole activity
6. Attention in the moment
7. Structured process
8. Helpful activity

My First Original Pattern! Kuke

How the pattern came to be:

My six year old daughter loves cucumbers and one night she dropped a slice on the floor.  I did not notice it until the next day.  When I looked down and saw the partially shriveled up cucumber slice I immediately saw a beautiful pattern.  I struggled to deconstruct the pattern until I thought to put it on top of my light box so I could be able to see through the slice (see image below).  X-raying the cucumber slice made all the difference and I developed Kuke.  Cuke is short for cucumber, but there are lots of C patterns already, so I thought it would be cute to spell it Kuke (it is also the first letter of my name - Katy's Kuke)!   Have fun!!

 

Here is the slice when I looked through the light box!

Zentangle at the Quadrangle

The Quadrangle is a Continuing Care Retirement Community in Haverford, PA that has independent living, assisted living, and skilled nursing care.  I taught a Zentangle Basics class yesterday for 13 lovely residents.  We had a lovely time!  Here are some images of their work.

I wanted to show a close up of one of the tiles that was completed by one participant.  I had taught crescent moon, hollibaugh, florz, and printemps and this was her interpretation of those designs!  Delightful!

Example of tangled poem on a special occasion

One of my friends created this poem for her sister's 50th birthday and tangled around the edge.  With the season of celebrations (graduations, weddings, mother's and father's day) coming up, I thought this might give you some inspiration!  Thanks for sharing Jenn!

Color or black and white?

Here is another earth day postcard that I drew while we were driving back from Indiana last weekend.  I had a good time starting with Rain and then drawing Reticulated and then adding more Rain so there is the illusion of depth.  I also added Hatchpatch and Arc Flower.  Finally, I added some color with ranger distress inks.  What do you like more?  Black and White or Color?

Earth Day Postcard Swap #3

Here is a post card I made for an Earth Day Swap.  Patterns used include: Rain, Reticulated, arc flower, tagh, eye-wa, heart string, tortuca, and echo.  This was lots of fun and forced me to learn some new patterns!

Totally Cool Coasters!

One of my students, Lisa Donnelly, sent me this image of coasters she is making using glass tiles from Home Depot and her Zentangle Tiles. 

She said that she sprays the tile with a sealant, such as hairspray and then uses modpodge to adhere and seal the tile to the glass.  She then cut some felt and glued that to the back of the glass.  I think these are totally cool and would make great gifts!

Earth Day Postcard #2

Here is the second postcard I created for the CZT Earth Day Swap.  I used Echoism as a string and it worked out really well for giving me lots of spaces for patterns.  I could only use patterns that started with E, A, R, T, and H.  So that was a nice challenge and forced me to learn some new patterns like eke and angle fish!