Banbury class pictures 4/28

I always love teaching the Basics class. As the light bulb moments start to happen, the fun really begins. And when they put their tile into a mosaic and start to hear the compliments from all the others, they all gain more trust in their own abilities. In this class it was fun to hear people identifying shapes within their tiles as looking like other things - like when you lay in the grass in the summer and look up at the clouds to find funny shapes.

Earth Day/Amanda Day challenge

When I first got the new Zentangle Zendala tiles I have to admit I was intimidated. They are beautiful but looked way too complicated to do tangles on. I mean, how was I ever gonna fit tangles into some of those tiny spaces. Then I agreed to do a tile for an exchange so I knew I had to buckle down and do it. I put it off of course - I'm a great procrastinator. When it was finished I couldn't remember why I was intimidated at first - it came together so easily.

When the Diva challenge to do a piece for Earth Day came along I was inspired and this Zendala tile was the result. I pulled out the Sakura Koi Coloring Brush Pens. I only needed two colors and I used them almost like watercolor paints. They worked beautifully! Tangling with a green Micron pen, a little shading with a colored pencil, and it's done!

And the new Zendala tiles are here!  I have several sets available. Right now they are only available for sale through a CZT. Contact me if you are interested. Or meet me at Banbury Fair when I have a class there. (see the tab for classes above.) The price is $25.

Zentangle and Decorative Painting - my story

Zentangle and Decorative Painting

I started as a decorative painter many years ago. I had just moved to a new town and joined a local community group to make friends and do some charitable work. They sponsored a craft fair. For our booth at the fair we painted and personalized wooden lawn ornaments in the shape of Canadian geese. (Now does that date me or what!)

I just had to paint more so I started classes with Jo Ann Reeves. Jo Ann has since moved away but she introduced me to all the paints, all the brushes, strokework and Dolly Parton hearts. She also got me into Windy Brushes of Northern Illinois, and the Society of Decorative Painters.

I have continued on that journey , learning about acrylics, watercolor, colored pencils, pastels, and even a little oil paint. I even painted murals in my area until my shoulders started to give me problems. 

About two years ago I discovered Zentangle when I happened upon it on the internet. I was very quickly hooked. I went from one site to another. I was inspired by all the wonderful work I was seeing. I kept bookmarking one site after another. And I found I actually had some of the supplies up in my painting stash already. So I was off and running.

In Feb. 2011 I was able to attend the CZT (Certified Zentangle Teacher training) in Massachusetts. I came back all enthused and ready to go. Luckily I knew a great shop. Banbury Fair, in Bartlett IL is run by Sandy Braun. Sandy has been a great friend to decorative painting through the years. I began to teach classes there and continue to teach there now. I teach for local groups and do home parties too. I'm willing to travel teach too.

Zentangle continues to inspire me. It helps me to see the world in new ways. I hope to share the excitement I feel with you!

Today, I am lucky to be the featured author on the Society of Decorative Painters blog. http://decorativepainters.org/blog/ To all the decorative painters who are reading this blog through that link - Welcome! And Happy Tangling!

Patterns I saw this weekend

I love seeing new patterns. It gets my mind going. I'm not sure if  I'll find something new here but it's fun to try to pick them out. These photos were from the upholstery on two benches and the back of the sweater Deena wore to my zendala class. 

Laura's Auras challenge - and room in my Zendala class tomorrow!

The Diva challenge for this week was a fun one. AURAS! Aura's are something that can easily be added to many tangles. It is something that I try to add to each class once I get past the basics. 

In this tile I decided to try a multimedia approach. The black flowers were done with a paper punch. I love the drama it brings! Then came all the auras. I was happy when the auras were done but it needed something more. So I added a variety of tangles to the middle flower. Then I got to the shading and I knew it was a tile I liked. 

-Also-

There are a couple of spaces in my Zendala class at Banbury Fair in Bartlett Sunday afternoon. See my class  page for the link. You are welcome to come at the last minute if you are open. 

Zendala for tote bag project

click photo to enlarge

I thought I had done enough for the tote bag project but then I looked at the extra pieces of blank Roclon and I had to do another. This time I tried a zendala. I started out with a quilting stencil. That made getting the string on super easy. I found a couple of plates to get the circle shape and then got to work. This one was fun - and as zendala's usually are, very relaxing!

Tote panel for Wednesday

Almost done with this project - one more still in progress and then I'm shipping them out. It's fun to be working on a bigger scale with these Roclon panels. I'm still following the same basic Zentangle principals. Each time I start a new panels I find different ways to use the tangles I love and different ways to shade them. I'm excited to see the finished tote. - That unfortunately won't be until mid August though so don't hold your breath!

Friday's tote design with shading - for Monday

click on picture to enlarge

Over the weekend I got all the shading done on this panel for the tote bag project. I'm enjoying adding the subtle touches of color with my shading. - Oh, by the way, the computer rotated the picture on me as I was inputting it to the blog. So it may look a little different from Friday's picture - but it is still the same panel. I decided against rotating it back because one of the principles of zentangle is that there is no right or wrong way to display a zentangle - it's whatever way you like. I always have my students turn their tiles around each way before they decide where to sign their tile.

tote bag for friday

click on picture to enlarge

In my series of the tote bag project, here's the newest one. It's not done yet, I still have to add the shading. But I thought you might like a before picture.  If you look, you can see that my strings are all circles. Since I'm working on a larger scale, my circle template wasn't big enough. It was sort of comical to see me scavenging around the kitchen looking for plates and lids of all sorts of sizes. I'm pretty happy with the way this one is coming. I also tried out a section (in the biggest circle) where I started out with just the Bales pattern - but then I sectioned off the circle and added variations. Fun!

Tote bag - inspired by Shelly

If you look at my blog you'll see a long list of blogs that I follow in the right hand column. I love this particular program because it always put the newest blog entries at the top of the list. I am able to keep up with all my favorite artists now!

This photo shows the newest artwork I've done for the tote bag project. If you notice some similarities to artwork by Shelly Beauch (aka Michele Beauchamp), that's because I've been a fan of hers ever since I discovered zentangle and found her work on Flicker. She did a wonderful piece on March 1st that had aspects that I had to try out here. http://shellybeauch.blogspot.com/2012/03/bigger.html Thanks Shelly/Michele!

When I see artwork that inspires me I save a copy to my computer in a special folder for zentangle. I always save the artist's name in the title. If I'm even more inspired, I print out a copy and put it in a binder that comes up to my studio with me. It's important to me that I don't copy the work entirely, but the inspiration I get from these artists - Wow!

tote bag project

Before I learned about Zentangle, I was an avid decorative painter - actually, I still am. I'm active in several decorative painting chapters in Illinois, and because my son lives in Ohio, I'm also a member there. Every year I go to the HOOT convention. http://www.heartofohiotole.org/convention.html  It's a wonderful decorative painting convention, held in August, in Columbus, OH. They've been doing it year after year so it's a well-oiled machine. It is extremely well run.

Well, anyway, one of the things at the convention is a gift shop, the proceeds subsidize the convention. And all the chapter members are asked to contribute. The line when the gift shop opens is unbelievable. Attendees are so excited to get their hands on the one-of-a-kind hand painted items. This is what I'm painting for the gift shop this year. These are done on Roclon cloth and will be sewn onto tote bags. I'm doing these with the Sakura Identipen and then I'm using acrylic paint and adding the shading.

Challenge #65 - Huggy Bear

The Diva challenge for this week is to try out a tangle pattern called 'Huggy Bear'. This tangle was developed by JJ LaBarbera. Instructions for her tangle can be found  here . 

I didn't get around to trying this out until late last night. As you can see though, I had fun playing with tangleations. In the second tile I played with the grid aspects of Huggy Bear and incorporated other grid based tangle patterns. My husband was very surprised when I pointed out that the tangle pattern started out the same in both tiles. 

New classes scheduled at Banbury!

New Classes scheduled

Banbury Fair - Bartlett, IL 630 837-1727

Zentangle Basics -  Saturday, April 28, 2012  1:30-3:30

Beyond the Basics - Sunday, May 20, 2012,  1-3:15
Tangling techniques - COLOR - Sunday, June 24, 2012  1-3:15 
Tangling techniques - Zendalas- Sunday, April 22, 2012  1-3:15 
http://www.banburyfair.com/webpages/Zentangle%20Classes.html

We've just set up several new dates for classes at Banbury Fair in Bartlett, IL. Banbury is a gem of a shop that you will love to wander in if you have some extra time. It's a homey kind of a place with friendly staff. There is also an ice cream shop in the store. I hope to see you there on one of these dates.


As always, if these dates don't work for you, click on the tab marked 'zentangle classes' for other options.

bright colored Zendala

With all the bright colors out for Easter, I decided to try out the new colors (for me) that came in my new pack of Tombow markers. I started this with a quilting stencil and colored it with my Tombows. The tangling was done next with colored Micron pens and shading with colored pencil. Even my husband was impressed with this one.

More Easter eggs for my tree

Last week I showed you my 'eggs' for my Easter tree. I got a few more done this week and I wanted to share them with you.  I'm very happy with the way they are turning out and I thought I'd share the guidelines I used when I created them.

- They start with a 3 1/2" oval cut from colored poster board - I used a large paper punch but you could do it by hand.
- The tangles were drawn with a white Sakura gelly roll pen.
- I tried to limit myself to just one or two tangle patterns (OK sometimes I did more.)
- The shading was done with a colored pencil. I usually choose the same color in a value that is darker than the background.

Have fun! Easter is almost here!