Art In The Park

WOW!  What an fun learning experience it was for me to have my first Zentangle inspired art booth at Art in the Park on Aug 11th & 12th, in my home town of Loveland CO.  This was the 48th year for this festival and one that I have attended as an art and craft lover for the last 30+ years.  How exciting it was to be on the vendor side this year, something I always dreamed about doing!  I started thinking about doing the show last January, and really got serious with the planning in February.  It was a very scary prospect at the time, as a new artist, to put your work out there....yikes!   I sensed it was time to give it a shot, and every new experience makes us grow, right?

Since I have been practicing and teaching Zentangle, I try to approach new things in my life with the same philosophy....any thing is possible one line (one word, one day, one action,etc.) at a time.™

 My corner dots and border became my objectives for doing the show:  

1) Get the word out about Zentangle and get an email list of potential students.

2) Sell enough to cover my booth fee

3) Put my Zentangle inspired art out for all to see

4) Have fun

My string became my outline of planning for all the different items I wanted to create.

Then came the actual tangling....and I did a lot of that!   What fun I had creating the work.  Just like tangling, I tried some new items along with the tried and true.  If you have been following my blog, you have seen some of the items in my Weekly Wednesday Sneak Peeks.  I had the following items for sale:  Matted tiles, Mandala's & Zendala's,  Zentangle inspired art in all different sizes...some matted in poly bags & some matted and framed, two sizes of canvas tote bags, visors,  paper earrings, glass pendants & earrings,  cloth napkins,  bookmarks,  and zenspirations letters and dangles.

Did I make too much of each thing, yes!   That was the hardest part of doing the show, deciding how much to make.  My most popular items that sold were the note cards and cloth napkins.   I did sell a couple of ZIA pieces, and a variety of the rest, including 2 Zentangle kits. In hind sight, I also realize now it's hard to compete in a show with 185 vendors!

The shading became all the unexpected things I learned that made the whole thing come together as a wonderful experience.   I learned that there are still a lot of people out there than have not heard of Zentangle and there are only so many ways to explain it-LOL!  I also found it very interesting how so many people thought my work was computer generated or a lithograph, and when they found out it was all hand drawn, pen and ink, original work,  they had a whole new respect for the art. Meeting a lot of the other artists was great.  So many travel around from show to show, city to city...incredible!   I also found out that it makes you feel really good, when people other then your relatives and friends tell you how beautiful your art work is....defiantly the frosting on the cake!

My initials became my taking ownership over this whole new experience and meeting all of my objectives!
1) I got 62 email addresses for future students, and a lot of people that didn't put their name down took my card and/or flyer.  One already emailed me for a private class. 
2) I sold enough to cover my booth fee and quite a bit more.
3) I took a big leap of faith and put myself out there and was so glad I did.
4) It was a lot of fun!

A big thank you to all of my relatives and friends that came to the show!
I can't thank my husband, Doug and sister, MaryAnn enough for their help in preparing for the show, and helping me man my booth.  They both were great (wearing the Zentangle T-shirts), setting up, staying the whole time, taking down, and never complaining about anything.  I couldn't have asked for a better crew!  Thanks also, to Rick and Maria (the founders of Zentangle...see www.zentangle.com ) for sharing this wonderful art with us and making another one of my dreams come true! 

If you made it to the bottom of this long post.....thank you for following my blog and for being part of my Zentangle adventure! 

Challenge #83 Assunta & Mooka

I love the duo tangle challenges from the DIVA, because they are always a real challenge for me.  It's usually putting two tangles together that I normally wouldn't put together......yes, stretching my comfort zone.  Mooka is a tangle that I have always loved and somehow always ends up looking like hearts to me (I love hearts!).    Assunta is one that I struggle with a bit, so I don't use it very often.  I used a pre-strung tile, did the Assunta first and added Mooka around it.  Another fun, duo challenge....thanks, Laura for continuing to stretch our comfort zone! 

 

 

 

Challenge 82 UMT: Brayd

The 1st Monday, or in this case Tuesday, of the month has rolled around again and that means The Diva's Challenge is one of the UMT (use my tangle) featured tangles.  This month it is BRAYD from CZT Shelly Beauch.  I have long been a fan of Shelly's work and was happy to see this tangle as the challenge!  I had just recently opened a pack of pre-strung tiles and decided to use one for this challenge too, as Laura said she did.  Brayd is a fun tangle to work with.  Thanks, Shelly and Laura! 





 







Weekly Wednesday Sneak Peek #8

Wow, when I started these sneak peek's 8 weeks ago, it seemed so far away.  Now, here I am posting my last one!  Art in the Park is finally here this weekend-YAY!  We are packed and ready to set up our tent on Friday, then get ready to have a full weekend of fun on Saturday and Sunday. I couldn't have done this without the help of my wonderful husband, Doug and my sister, MaryAnn!  For more info on the Art Show you can go to:  www.lincolngallery.com/text/art-in-park.html.  This is a big weekend in Loveland, with 2 very large sculpture shows, which feature sculptors from all over the world displaying their work.  If you are in the area and have the time, it's well worth checking out both Art in the Park and one of the sculpture shows.  I hope to see you there!  :)

I plan to post some pictures next week, and let you know how the show went. Thanks for all of the kind comments along this 8 week journey! 

SPRING DANCE

Challenge #81 Relay for Life

The Diva has another guest challenger this week, CZT Erin Olson from www.thebrightowl.blogspot.com.  Erin is walking in the Relay For Life event in her area to raise money and awareness for the American Cancer Society.  You can read about the challenge here.  Erin does a Zendala Dare at her blog every week, and as the guest challenger this week, she is giving us a Zendala template to complete.  I have fallen way behind on the Zendala Dare's, so it was nice to sit down and do a template for a change.  Good Luck with you walk, Erin!  Thanks for the challenge, Erin and Laura! 




Weekly Wednesday Sneak Peek #7

Let's hear it for sister's...YAY!!!   As I mentioned in an earlier post, my sister, MaryAnn (from Wisconsin)  is here to help me out with my upcoming art show.  We really got down to work this week, figuring out how to display items and then making displays, researching and pricing items, running to stores every day, etc.. We get a little more done each day.  She has been a huge help to me and I am so grateful she is here, not only for the help, but to spend time laughing and talking too.  Well, here is week 7's Zentangle Inspired Art item:  glass pendants & earrings.  I made some pendants to sell alone, and some in sets with earrings.  The picture is of the display with the earring sets.  Of course, taking a photo of glass, it's hard not to get some glare, but you get the idea anyway.  These were fun to make and I am hoping they will sell! 

Weekly Wednesday Sneak Peek #6

Oh my gosh, I am at week #6 already!  We have been having a great time for the past 9 days with family here from out of state for my nephew's wedding.  The last family members leave Friday, except for my sister MaryAnn from Wisconsin.  She wanted to stay and help me prepare for the Art Show.  What a treat it will be to have her here for almost a month! So, next Monday, it's back to work, getting ready for the art show in the final 2 weeks.  This week's sneak peek are a sample of some Zentangle Inspired Art cards that I will be selling. 

Challenge #80 Mi2

The Diva's Weekly Challenge has us playing with Mi2, a wonderful tangle by CZT Mimi Lempart.  I have been a huge fan of this tangle since it came out in March.  I consider this one of the true Zentangle patterns that looks so complicated, but when it's broken down it's really quite simple, yet looks so elegant!  Ahhh,  the true beauty of Zentangle! 

I don't have time to write more this week, as we have had out of state relatives staying with us last week and this week.  Everyone was in town to attend my nephew, Justin's wedding.  Not only were we celebrating the happy occasion of the wedding, but the fact that he just served a tour over in Afghanistan safely, and is on leave to get married and return with his beautiful bride Julie, to Germany. Congrats Justin & Julie!  Life is good!!!

Weekly Wednesday Sneak Peek #5

This Wednesday my sneak peek feature is paper earrings. That's right....paper earrings!  I first heard about this on the Certified Zentangle Teacher's page on Facebook.  You use 140lb watercolor paper, so it's quite heavy and when you are done tangling on them you coat the front and back with decoupage, which makes them even stronger.  I think they are quite fun and unique!  I just have them hanging on a sheet of black paper now, but I will be displaying them differently for the art fair. 

Challenge #79 Citius, Altius, Fortius

This week's DIVA challenge is brought to you by guest challenger, Rho Densmore/ CZT.  In honor of the upcoming Olympic games, we are challenged to do something with the Olympic rings. The title of the challenge means, Swifter, Higher, Stronger.   A little bit of history that Rho shares is: 

The Olympic Ring emblem was also created by Pierre de Coubertin in 1894 and the intention of his design was to be representative of the five inhabited continents of the world which at that time had chosen to participate in the Olympic spirit of healthy competition. The five interlocking rings colored, blue, black, red, yellow, green, and white background are colors in which at least one appears every national flag at this time.
The motto for the current Olympic Games was proposed by Pierre de Coubertin to the International Olympic Committee back in 1894 who also helped define the true intention of participating in the Olympic games with this quote:


“The most important thing is not to win but to take part!"


I love how Rho compared this to the Zentangle process, "It is this same message that is at the heart of Zentangle, the outcome is not as important as the process. It is the journey each one of us takes one stroke at a time, every time we take our pen and put it to paper". 
 
I have always loved watching the Olympics, and I'm am looking forward to seeing the games this year!  Thank You, Rho for your wonderful words and great challenge. 



My tile is rather simplistic with Auraknot done for the flame and star. 
 I did like how the sunlight and shadow made the photo look

Now for a little bit of fun!

I am honored that my blog was chosen to be nominated!  I am in really good company, among a lot of blogs that inspire me daily!  Congrats to all of the nominee's!


To be nominated for the award, your blog must:

*Inspire your audience
*Encourage discussion through comment
*Contain genuinely fascinating content

Voting Starts: July 16, 2012 (1:01 EST)
Voting ends, 1^st place winner is chosen: July 23, 2012 (11:59 PM EST)

The blog with the most votes will win the grand prize, a $100 restaurant gift card.


I would be thrilled to receive your vote...Thank You! 

Sue

Teen Zentangle Class

I taught a Zentangle class for teens yesterday at the Loveland Public Library.  This was part of their summer reading program and was sponsored by the Friends of the Loveland Public Library Foundation.  What a great group of kids to hang out with! We had a lot of fun and as you can see by their smiling faces, they loved learning about Zentangle.  Take a look at their fantastic art work too!  Thanks, Michelle, for all of your work getting this set up! 

Weekly Wednesday Sneak Peek #4

This week's sneak peek into some more items I will have for sale at Art In The Park (Aug 11th & 12th) features canvas bags in different sizes.  So, go green (or maybe pink) in style!  :)

Challenge #78 AURAKNOT

This week's challenge, from Laura Harms has us trying out the new official tangle from Rick & Maria at Zentangle.  What a fun tangle this one is!  At first it's a little tricky and it definitely takes a bit of concentration, but with a little practice, you can quickly get the hang of it.  Of course, I always love when Rick & Maria do a video with a new tangle because they always give you lots of hints and variations. It also helps all of us who are visual learners. You can link to it from the challenge page, of from my blog (under links). 
I look forward to playing with this tangle more.  I hope you join in on the challenge!

Weekly Wednesday Sneak Peek #3

If you are new to my blog, I am doing a 8-week Wednesday Sneak Peek feature to show you some of the Zentangle Inspired Art I have made for my 1st Art & Craft Fair in August.  For week #3, I am showing some of the mandala's I made starting with an apple peeler/corer template.  That's right, the kitchen gadget most of have,  makes a wonderful template for a mandala!  I first learned of this great little tool on CZT, Margaret Bremner's blog and have used it a lot ever since.  It's a simple little template, but the results are always so different (just like Zentangle).  I apologize for the picture of the 3 together in the frame...got a little glare off the glass and I was too lazy to take it out for the photo.

I hope you all enjoy a wonderful and safe 4th of July!

Challenge #77 UMT: "Fiore di Pietro"

The first Monday of each month is UMT (Use My Tangle) at the Diva's blog.  This month the tangle is Fiore di Pietro, from Rho Densmore, CZT.  Rho created this tangle as a tribute to her brother-in-law.  She is going to make up some books with all of the tangle art that is submitted and give it to his immediate family.  I had already seen Rho's request on Facebook and emailed her my tile to use, so I am cheating a little by posting the same tile here for the challenge.  This will really be a beautiful collection of work for her family.  Thanks Rho, and Laura! 

 

 

Zendala Color Fun

Just having a little fun last night, trying watercolor pencils with a pre-strung Zendala tile.  I like how it turned out.....

Weekly Wednesday Sneak Peek #2

Last week Wednesday I did my 1st post of something I have made for an art and craft fair in August.  If you missed it you can see it here.  I will be posting something every Wednesday for a total of 8 weeks. 

This week I am sharing some of the letters and dangles I have made. Everyone seems to love to have a letter of their 1st or last name, so I am hoping these will sell.    I was inspired to create these after I read the book "Zenspirations" by Joanne Fink.  I think this is just an awesome book in which Joanne shares so many creative ideas.  She shows you step-by-step how to create letters, patterns, color ideas, and some really cool dangles.  The book is also filled with various project ideas  (ex. borders for frames, bookmarks, cards, t-shirts, mugs, etc.).  I have been so inspired by this book, and am thrilled to have it as part of my Zentangle library because I know I will use it a lot.  If you haven't see it yet, I highly recommend that you check it out....you will be glad you did! 

Challenge 76 HOME

I feel very fortunate to live in Loveland, Coloraodo.  It is a pretty little town (pop. 66,000), but still feels like a small town.  We are centrally located in northern Colorado with Ft Collins 10 miles to the north, and Denver 60 miles to the south.  Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park are a 45 minute drive up the Big Thompson Canyon. Lake Loveland is a beautiful little lake in the middle of town, with the mountains to the west.  We love the outdoors, and have gone on a lot of hikes in RMNP.  You haven't really seen the park until you explore it on foot! 



In my tile I used Golven for the lake (since it means waves) and the mountain on the left is Fife, to symbolize all the beautiful wildflowers, the mountain in the middle with Flux and Tipple symbolize the winter snow, and the mountain on the right is Hollibaugh to symbolize all the hiking trails.  The heart in the lower right corner is for all the hearts you see around town (Loveland). This place is plastered with hearts in the month of February.  The lower left corner is Finery...just for more outdoor beauty.  Last but not least, is Ahh to symbolize the stars you can see while in the mountains at night.   

SIDE NOTE: I am sure most of you have seen on the news that we have a large wildfire (High Park Fire) burning west of Ft Collins, with 250 plus homes lost and only 45% contained. We have had temperatures in the 100"s with no relief or rain in sight. In Estes Park, 21 homes were lost due to a fire on Saturday (that one is contained).  Now there are other fires around the state too.  Not a good summer for Colorado!  Please keep the firefighters and families who have lost their homes in your thoughts and prayers. 

Challenge #75 Cadent

This week's challenge from the DIVA, Laura Harms has us experimenting with the tangle, Cadent.  Cadent has always been one of my favorite tangles because it looks elegant, but is very easy to do.  It also blends in so well with a lot of different tangles.  It is really fun to play with one tangle and see how you can make it look so different.  Thanks, Laura!

Weekly Wednesday Sneak Peek #1

I decided at the beginning of the year that I was going to go out on a limb and enter my very first Art & Craft fair this year.  The fair is here in Loveland every August, and is called Art in the Park.  If you want, you can read more about it here.  It runs in conjunction with 2 large sculpture shows and is a big outdoor event each year.  This year, the show will be Aug 11th & 12th.  I have always attended the shows, but this year I will have a Zentangle booth!  Along with spreading the word of Zentangle and hopefully attracting some future students, I will be trying to sell some of my art work.  I have created a large variety of work (and still creating more), but my goal was to be done with the creating part by July 15 since we have a lot of out of town family staying with us for over a week,  for my nephews wedding on July 21.  That will let me focus on the the actual work of getting the booth ready the 2 weeks before the show.  Since I now have 8 Wednesdays until the show, I wanted to share some of the work I have been doing.  Hope you enjoy, and if you are near, I would love to see you at the fair! 



ZIA- Matted & Framed 16x20






Zendala Dare #9

This is my contribution to the Zendala Dare at The Bright Owl.

TANGLES:  Black Purls, Yinlinx, Paradox, Snail

Challenge #74 Eccentric Circles

This week's Diva challenge was to draw a string using eccentric circles.  You can read all about the challenge here.  I really like circles of any kind to tangle in or around, so I really liked this challenge. Thanks again, Laura for keeping us entertained each and every week...WOW week 74!

Challenge #73 UMT: Bridgen

The first Monday of the month has rolled around again.  This means that Laura at the Diva challenge is using a random number generator to pick a tangle to challenge us with.  This week we have the tangle, Bridgen, from  CZT Carole Ohl's husband, Daved (who is also a CZT).  On my first attempt, I tried it with a lot of different tangles inside the string that Bridgen creates, but I didn't like it because Bridgen really got lost.  So, when I tried it again, I stuck to one tangle, Baton (by Carold Ohl)...keeping it in the family, LOL!  I put in a little Ahh, and I like this one a lot better. 


 

 

 

Ensemble Complete

What a fun 9 days it was completing a pre-strung ensemble set!  I tried to use some old tried and true tangles, some that I don't use often, and some newer ones to mix it up a bit.  Of course the best part of making an ensemble is putting it all together!  Drum roll please......

Thanks again to everyone who left comments along the way!  May you all have a happy and healthy start to the summer.