DIVA Challenge #259 Touch of Irish

Since this week is St. Patrick's Day, the DIVA challenge is to add a "touch of Irish" to your tile. I kept it simple and drew a 4-leaf clover to tangle.  I used watercolor first, let it dry, then tangled.  Have a good week, everyone! 



DIVA Challenge 258 UMT: Rautyflex

It's a first Monday of the month challenge (UMT) at the DIVA's blog this week.  We are to try using the tangle Rautyflex, by CZT, Kathrin Bendel.  I must say that Kathrin did a fantastic job of deconstructing this tangle from a picture of a pattern she had!  Wow!  I admire that, because I have a hard time with deconstructing.  As Laura stated, it is a high focus tangle for sure!  For that reason, I decided to make it a monotangle (the only tangle on the tile), but I did a lot of the variations all together on the tile.  So many ways you could go with variations to this tangle.  Thanks Kathrin, and Laura!  I always love trying a new tangle pattern! 

DIVA Challenge #257 Ooh Shiny

This week's challenge at the DIVA's is by guest host, Amy Broady, a CZT from Tenneessee, and also a classmate of mine from the CZT4 seminar.  Amy challenged us to make our tangled work shine!
I took a black tile and used a Sakura copper pen to draw the tangle Fengle.  Then I decided to add more shine with some Fine Tec watercolor paint (in a silvery white) to fill in Fengle.  I am finding the tangle Molygon just fills in so nicely around other tangles, so I used the copper pen again to draw Molygon.  Then I added more shine to the Molygon shapes with Sakura Metallic gel pens in silver and pink.  Finishing it off with some silver dots. I went all out shiny for this challenge!
Thanks, Amy! 

Zentangle Inspired Art (ZIA) 11" X 14" on black

I have my classroom in my basement and after our water problem a couple of weeks ago, it gave me the opportunity to make some changes.  Clean things up, add things, etc. I like to have a wide variety of zentangle inspired art on the walls for my students to see and hopefully, be inspired by.  After one of the recent DIVA challenges of taking a tile you did years ago and redoing it with your skills of today, I decided I needed to do that with some of my old art work too.  I had a piece in my basement bathroom from 2010 and I could see that it needed updating. 

It's also nice to have examples of art for all the classes I teach.  I have a 8 sized cube of white on black tiles, but decided I needed something bigger.  I also wanted to add some new color and techniques to it.  The piece I was replacing was 11" X 14".  So I purchased a large piece of Canson Mi-teintes paper and cut it down to size.  I started with the tangle, Molygon toward the center of the paper with a Sakura White gelly roll pen.  Then I just started tangling, nothing planned, and using whatever tangles came to mind, of course some of my favorites!  I alternated between the white pen and a Sakura Metallic Gold gelly roll pen.  I have seen some really pretty color done on black recently, so I gave it a shot and added two shades of blue Prismacolor pencils to the Molygon (both the white and gold).  *Tip: When adding color pencils to black paper, put down a layer of white pencil first. Then I thought it needed some touches of blue in other tangles, so I added a little for balance. I shaded with a white charcoal pencil and a zenstone.  I also added just a little shading in some of the gold tangles with a gold metallic Prismacolor pencil.  To complete it, I took a Sakura Stardust (clear) pen and added just a touch of that to some of the tangles for some sparkle (I love that pen!). 

I mounted it in the mat and frame I had, and now I am going to hang it in my studio because I am really happy with how it turned out!  That means I need to do another piece for the bathroom wall which I originally intented on replacing.  Not a problem for me, I love working larger on ZIA's!

*NOTE:  I always tell my students to remember the Zentangle method of art is more about the process then the product, and you can let your zentangle practice take you wherever you want.  If you only like doing tile size art, that's perfectly fine!  If you are inspired to do larger ZIA pieces, that's fine too.  Do what you enjoy and is right for you! 

DIVA Challenge #256 Duo Tangle: BooKee & Artoo

This week the challenge from the DIVA is to use two of her tangles; BooKee and Artoo.  Both of them named after her boys.  I like both of these tangles and kept my tile simple with just those two tangles.  Wishing all of you a good week! 

DIVA Challenge #255 Ghosts of Tangles Past

What a fun challenge this week at the DIVA's!  Our challenge is to take a tile from your past and recreate it with your tangling skills of today.  I have a box of tiles from when I first started tangling, before I became a CZT.  It was kind of fun to go back and look at them now.  Some I even had a really good laugh at!  This is one I remember being kind of proud of back then and I can see that my style is more bold now and with better shading. It makes me wonder if I revisit this new one in 5+ years, will my style change even more, hmmm?  

Tile on left done 5/10/2010 and tile on right done 2/18/2016
 


DIVA Challenge #254 Valentangle

The DIVA's challenge this week is to create a tile with a Valentine theme.  This has been a couple of busy weeks for me....two 1 yr old birthday parties (one still to come tomorrow), a wedding and babysitting.  I have been busy making things for all these occasions, which I will post next week!  All so much fun!  Love has definitely been in the air here!
I will be honest, this may be one of the few tiles I did in 15 minutes....grabbed some metallic pens and here you go.  Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! 

DIVA Challenge #253 Molygon

Our challenge from the DIVA is to try the new official tangle, Molygon.  I love this new tangle and the way it just moves along the tile in lots of different directions.  I kept it simple and just did a monotangle of Molygon.  I used stippling for shading and a light gray marker in between some of the shapes.  

DIVA Challenge #252 Tangle In a Tangle

This week's challenge from the DIVA is to tangle in a tangle!  Use one tangle as your string, in this tile I used W2 and made it kind of wonky with different size squares.  Then I tangled inside it with Crescent Moon, Printemps, and Zander.  I had to add Tipple around the border to soften it up some.  I did this on a quick 30 minute break in our clean up...read below (even a basement flood won't keep me from the DIVA challenge)!

 

It's been a crazy week here!  We woke up Monday morning with about an inch of water in our basement...Yikes!  That's where I have my studio and classroom, not to mention all of the other stuff one stores down the basement.  It turned out a water pipe in our front yard broke and when the basement pump pit filled up, it overflowed.  Doug and I have been working our tails off all week to take care of this mess.  Looking at the positive, we were home,  we were only without water for 24 hours, we had a great plumber who knew how to fix this problem, only a huge hole dug in the front yard and not the whole yard, my daughter and son-in-law live in town so I could stay there Monday night, and we were able to save the carpet in the studio and classroom!  All the other carpet remnants in the other part of the basement had to go.  A lot of cutting carpet, hauling it to the dump, moving things around to get to it all, running fans, drying things, and putting it all back again.  Did I say our backs, arms, legs are pretty sore, and that we are exhausted...yup we are!  But, as the saying goes....it could have been worse!  I kept thinking of all the people you see on TV that lose everything they own in a flood, and this doesn't compare.  We are using it as an opportunity to get rid of a lot of stuff! That makes me think of the George Carlin routine on too much stuff, remember that, LOL!

If you made it this far, I hope your week was good and uneventful! 



DIVA Challenge #251 Moebius Syndrome Awareness Day

If you been with the DIVA challenges awhile then you know about Laura's little guy, Artoo (online name).  If not, please link over to her blog to learn all about Moebius Syndrome.  To raise awareness, Laura includes this challenge every year, using the Moebius Syndrome Logo and the color purple.  I looked back through my past years tiles and I have always included a little heart in each one with Artoo's name.  So in keeping with tradition here's my tile...........
#MSAD2016

DIVA Challenge #250 Back To The Old School

This week Laura, the DIVA is challenging us to get back to the old school or basics of Zentangle!  I am also one of the old timers CZT's from class 4 in Oct 2010.  Way before there was anything but white 3.5inch tiles, black pen, and pencil shading.  After reading Laura's post, I tend to agree that sometimes it can be overwhelming with all the choices we have now. 

So, in Laura's words...This week's challenge is for us to go back to the roots of this Zentangle thing.

This week challenge is to create a piece on a WHITE 3.5" square tile, with a Black pen and pencil for shading.  To take the time to slow down and enjoy the process.  Enjoy the feel of the pen on the paper.  Create a string, and maybe use 4 or 5 tangles you really enjoy.

don't think about composition.  don't think about how you want it to look in the end.  Just put your pen to paper and begin and enjoy the process.  after all.  It's ABOUT the process.  Not the product.
I decided to take it one step further and not even think about which tangle I would use or put where.  I got out my old Zentangle kit, with the legend, and the 20 sided die (forgot name right now).  I drew my border, string and rolled the die and did whichever number came up.  No planning that way! 
I rolled Tipple, Crescent Moon, Keeko, Florz, and Flux and did them in the order they came up, without knowing what was coming next.  I slowed way down and really just enjoyed the process!
Thanks, Laura! 

Bookmarks

In early December 2015 I had a table show at our library which I wrote about in this post.  For the show I decided to try something different for bookmarks.  I made the traditional long ones, but also thought it might be neat to make some out of Zentangle tiles.  I took some pre-strung tiles and put watercolor on them.  After they were dry I tangled them.  I put my blog info on the back and laminated them.  I sold quite a few, but have quite a few left too.  I always make more then I need.  I plan to put a few around town for fun.  Who knows, maybe someone will be interested in a class! 

 

Pre-strung tiles painted with watercolor
 

After they were tangled
Wish I would have taken pic before laminating!
 

Watercolor and then tangled

Traditional black and white

 

Watercolor and then tangled



 

 







DIVA Challenge #249 Auraknot & Diva Dance

A new year of challenges is starting over at the DIVA's blog and this happens to be the 5th year of challenges!  I can't believe that I have done them all!  If you follow my blog, then you know that I talked with Laura last summer, when we met at CanTangle (a CZT retreat), and she told me that I can't stop, since she can't stop.  How long will I hold out....I guess that remains to be seen! 
Anyway, I love the DuoTangle challenges (using only 2 tangles).  So here is my entry for the beginning of the 5th year! 

Zentangle Book by Beate Winkler, CZT

I am so honored to have 2 of my tangle patterns and more artwork included in a new Zentangle book by Beate Winkler, CZT in Germany!  Five years ago when I started teaching, I would have never dreamt that my artwork would be published in books, and now this is the 6th book that has artwork of mine.  What an awesome feeling that is, and one that never gets old!   Thank you so much, Beate! I hope someday I can meet you in person!  Congrats, your book is beautiful!

DIVA Challenge 248-Give the Gift of Zentangle

This is the last DIVA Challenge of the year!  Wow, another year that has flown by!  I was busy with lots of travel, projects, friends, and family, but I still managed to do all the DIVA challenges this year.  Some even while traveling, which required some learning on my part....how to post and download pics from my iPad.  It's fun for me to figure out new tech stuff, since that's not part of my world any longer.  This week's challenge is to give the gift of Zentangle (something you made) to someone in your life.  I also love to both give and receive handmade gifts!  Such a treasure! 
These two ceramic ornaments will be gifts for my daughters this year.  I like to give them an ornament every year for keepsakes from me.  My tree is full of keepsakes.  A lot of them are from a very dear friend of mine who is no longer with us, and every year that I decorate the tree, I have such good memories of the years she gifted ornaments to me.  Great challenge to end the year with, Laura!

Wishing all you a very Merry Christmas and a peaceful New Year!

DIVA Challenge #247 African Artist

It's another first Monday of the month challenge at the DIVA's blog.  This week are trying a tangle named African Artist by CZT, Tina-Akua Hunziker.  This is my first time trying this tangle, and I like it!  Thanks Tina!

Loveland Lights at Loveland Library

The Friends of the Library put on a Holiday event every year at the Loveland Library, called Loveland Lights.  They have all sorts of things going on at this 2 day event, gingerbread house making for the kids, origami classes, spinning demo/sales, tatting demo/sales, crochet demo/sales, model trains, and all kinds of wonderful holiday music.  We were entertained with the Hurdy Gurdy, harp, trumpet, and a variety of choirs.   I was invited to share Zentangle with make & takes, and to sell some of my Zentangle Inspired Art.  I had a prime location in the center of everything, and had a lot of fun.  I sold note cards, bookmarks, Christmas ornaments, etc., and got 3 1/2 sheets of emails for future classes.   My thanks to the Friends of the Library for inviting me to your wonderful event!

 

DIVA Challenge 246 Monotangle Trees

Dilip Patel/CZT is the guest at the DIVA challenge this week.  Dilip has challenged us to use only one tangle (monotangle) to create a tree.  I have been into using Isochor a lot lately, so I used it for the challenge to create my monotangle tree.  It's a rather simplistic looking tree, and I thought maybe I should do another, but it is what I had time for this week.  Thanks for the challenge, Dilip and Laura!

Home hosted party/class

I attended a home party/class last week Sunday and shared the art method of Zentangle with 8 new tanglers!  It was a wonderful group of people and everyone had a lot of fun!  Thanks so much to the hostess, Erin!  Here is their beautiful work....

Keep tangling, and I hope to see some of you in classes in the new year! 

DIVA Challenge #245 Hollibaugh

This week over at the DIVA's challenge we are getting back to basics and using the tangle, Hollibaugh.  I always enjoy teaching and using the tangle Hollibaugh, and it turned out to be fun on this tile! 

DIVA Challenge 244/Tripoli

The DIVA challenge this week is to use the tangle Tripoli.  I decided to do Tripoli with big triangle shapes, added some Mooka, Tipple, and a little Fescu. 

DIVA Challenge 243: Just a Tiny Taste

This week we had a fun and interesting challenge from the DIVA!  She told us to...

 INTENTIONALLY LEAVE THE MAJORITY OF YOUR TILE EMPTY.... giving the tile just a tiny taste of tangle.
I have to agree with Laura, that this challenge was harder then you would think!  We are so used to filling up our tiles, except for maybe a space or two, and leaving so much of the tile white was hard to do! 

I did enjoy it though, so I did two tiles!



DIVA Challenge #242 Gourdgeous

The challenge this week is to try the new official tangle, Gourdgeous.  I decided to use black tiles...






On this tile I used the Sakura Metallic Gel Pens
Tangles:  Gourdgeous, Mooka, Printemps
Enhancers:  Aura and Perfs


On this tile I used the Sakura Moonlight Gel Pens
Tangles: Gourdgeous, Fescu
Enhancers:  Aura and Perfs





Beyond the Basic's/String Theory Class on Nov 1st

I love teaching Zentangle!  It's so fun to get a group of people that want to go beyond the Basic's class and learn more.  This class was all about strings and of course learning new tangles!  You all did awesome work and it was so fun to share more on Zentangle with all of you! 





INKtober Day 31 Rocks

I finished my last day of INKtober on time, but forgot to post it yesterday! INKtober has been fun for me to make sure I tangle something every day, which actually wasn't too hard as I do tangle almost every day anyway. For the last day I am posting my painted rocks. If you have been to my house, you know that I have these rocks scattered along the path that leads to my front door. Some of the rocks are tangled, some painted, some dotted, and some Mandala's. They are always a conversation piece and my neighbors love them. I made this one for one of my neighbors........

These are some more of the others......