Completed Sketchbook Project

The Sketchbook Project is a global, crowd-sourced art project and interactive, traveling exhibition of handmade books. Their mission is to allow anyone to be able to participate in art and to create a collection of work that represents the current state of artists worldwide.

The title of my book was First Aid for the Soul and here is a sneak peak at my book that will be cataloged, digitized, and go on tour later this year.  I combined zentangle, gelatin monoprints, and the quotes that get me through the day.  It was such a rewarding experience that I encourage all of you to consider participating.  You can order your sketchbook now and it will be due 1/15/15.  I'm ready to do another one!!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Everyone!

I received this postcard from Mary Ann Scheblein-Dawson who attended the very first CZT training class!  She used the tangles Paizel, Paushalov, Flux, Fungees, Antidots, Rain, Pokeleaf, and Bales.  I love it!  Pay particular attention to how well she shaded! 

I'm also working on my sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project that I have to send in by Jan. 15th.  Here are two pages I've almost finished! 

Ornaments!

We enjoyed painting and tangling on paper mache ornaments last night.  You can really make a statement using the white pen on black (red too, but I forgot to take a picture!).  I also tried black on silver with some added rhinestones.  Just the bling needed for the holiday season!

Retreat Success!

Our first Zentangle Retreat was a huge success!  We spent the day learning several new patterns and working on pumpkin projects!  It was a chance to relax, enjoy great company, and learn some new things. In short is was really a TREAT instead of a retreat:).  Pictures below of all the amazing work by attendees.  I'm working on plans for another retreat in February - stay tuned!

The Exhibit is Up!!

Wow - it was a monumental task, but with a lot of help we were able to display all the wonderful zentangle art at the Ludington library.  This exhibit is sponsored by the Philadelphia Calligraphers' Society. 

In the first image you'll see the display cases on the right and the framed pieces hanging on the left.  There are seven display cases and I don't have images of all of them.  If you are in the Philadelphia area please stop by to see the exhibit open now through Nov. 30th. 

Thanks so much to Rose, Colette, and Bonnie for stopping by to help and to everyone who submitted work for the exhibit!!

Ludington Library           Hours Mon.-Thurs 9am-9pm; Fri. 9am-6pm Sat. 9am-5pm; Sun 12-5pm
5 South Bryn Mawr Ave
Bryn Mawr, PA 19010

Spreading Joy!

Have you ever made something and then left it in a public space for a stranger to find?  That is the premise behind the random acts of zentangle facebook page that you can find here.  I also just met Bonnie Neubauer who paints rocks using zentangle patterns, names them, and then releases them into the world. As her tag line of her website says "spreading joy one art rock at a time".  I love this idea and plan to work on some of these to "release" soon.  They make me happy and I hope they can indeed spread some joy.

Gel Monoprinting - I'm in love!

Oh boy.  There is nothing better than new art supplies.  Today a Gelli Arts Gel Printing Plate arrived at my door and my daughter and I had a good time experimenting.  I think we're going to have a lot of fun with this one!

First you add some acrylic paint to the gel plate

 

then you use a brayer to spread it out

                                 then you draw on it using anything you can find that isn't sharp

              Then you press a piece of cardstock down onto the image and Viola!  A monoprint!

 Here is one I was had to do quickly because Mia wanted to make more.....this is addictive!

More lettering (and some good reminders)

I've been playing around with lettering and enjoying it more than I thought I would!  This one evolved into a much needed reminder to myself.  I find that the patterns can be simpler or only a portion of the full pattern.  These letters started out as my own handwriting in pencil, then I outlined the letters in pen to make them chunky and started tangling.  I went back and erased my original letters.

Block Letters!

I'm working on some lettering examples for my next Beyond the Basics class and played with block letters today.  You could use stencils or chip board letters to trace around if you need uniform sized letters. I tried tangling within some letters and tried just a tangled background for some.   Which one do you like best??

More creative fun

I made this fun bird and can't wait to try more:).  My soldering skills need some refreshing, but it will be worth it for the smiles they bring!