For the Love of Rubber Art

Zendala Tile Set

Rick and Maria, at Zentangle Central, have come up with a new surface to tangle on... round tiles called Zendalas—a marriage of the Mandala and Zentangle. 

Zendala Sets come in a nifty round tin which contains 21 tiles, eighteen beautifully pre-strung tiles with inspiring strings (2 sets of nine strings) and three blanks.  This photo shows just 6 of the prestrung tile patterns, with the strings darkened so you can see them.  Click on any of the photos for a larger view.

And because I can never resist asymmetry, on the left is a tile I created using a blank Zendala and two new tangles.  The more organic one, from Zentangle, is called, Springkle.  Love it!  The border tangle is my creation, which I named Frippery.  Also love it—I have so many variations to this tangle that it is ever-changing and super fun to do.  I will have instructions up here once I've introduced it at my classes.  On the right, is one of the gorgeous, symmetrical Zendalas created by Maria Thomas.  Can't believe I'm bold (or goofy) enough to place her work next to mine.  At any rate, it illustrates the versatility of the great new surface... available at Stampassion.com!

Zentangle Inspired Christmas Card

I am beyond impressed with this lovely card created by one of my students, Beth, after just one Zentangle class!  Obviously, she had lots of talent to start with and Zentangle added another technique to her artistic quiver.  

After I snatched it out of her hand, Beth agreed to let me to share it with everyone ; )  Her ornaments include each of the tangles we did in class, as well as a couple of additional ones.  Beautiful, isn't it?

CZT Retreat Group Mandala Project

Bette Abdu and Christine Britos, hosts & facilitators extraordinaire for the Certified Zentangle Teacher's Retreat in North Andover, MA this summer, planned a group project.  Each of us chose a section to tangle within a 'pre-strung' circle. Best of all, everyone received a copy to take home (which I must frame for my office!).  Here's a shot of the entire piece; just click on the image for a larger view:

I decided to draw a fun border tangle I dreamed up and named Frippery.  Below, you can see a close up of it within the group project; it's the diamond shaped border right below Suzanne McNeill's red heart and hands.  Christine did her section after I completed mine and I love the way she shaped her Betweed columns under the Frippery border to integrate the two patterns.  Looks great!  Again, click on the photo for a larger view:

CZT Retreat, North Andover, MA: Part 2

Continuing the post from yesterday, the first-ever CZT Retreat was held at the Rolling Ridge Retreat Center in North Andover, MA.  It's a lovely place, with beautiful grounds, next to a lake—great spot for a creative retreat*.  

The group shared so much and I tangled more that weekend than I ever have, proving that practice really does make perfect (or close enough!).  My tangle skills improved quite a bit. I had the opportunity to introduce my tangle, Frippery, to the group and also taught those who needed it a lesson in how to stamp. Speaking of which, here is Part 2 of Suzanne's video from the retreat:

  

*Disclaimer:  maybe not ideal on the hottest weekend of the year... no A/C!

CZT Retreat, North Andover, MA: Part I

Planting my feet firmly in the better-late-than-never camp, I am writing about the  first-ever Certified Zentangle Teachers Retreat that took place in July.  Yes, July.  2011.

It was not a Zentangle company event, rather one put together by fellow CZT's Bette Abdu and Christine Britos, and I signed up immediately.  When it was time to go, I was mentally doing the usual, "but I don't have time" and "I won't know anyone there" and blah, blah, blah.  Thank goodness I don't always listen to me, because I did go and was enriched by the experience.  

The CZT's who attended were a group of wonderful, talented women.  Rick and Maria have attracted a lot of exceptional people to Zentangle and I'm happy to one of the tribe.  While we were there, CZT Suzanne McNeill of Design Originals, publisher of all those great Zentangle books, videoed many of us sharing a bit of tangle-love.  Here is Part 1 of her video (I'm in Part 2 and praying I won't be too goofy).

 

Tangled Trading Cards

 

I finally got Zentangle's delicious new Artist Trading Cards, also known as ATC's, up on our web site.  Switching to a new web site host and aching wrists and fingers (don't want to hear the 'CT' phrase please!), have slowed me down. Still... I managed to find time to Mooka-up this baby:
And... it was fun, relaxing, invigorating.  As mentioned, the tangle is Mooka, with a little Flux thrown in because I wanted to.  Also, some doo-dads.  Next up, one of the new Black ATC tiles and my trusty White Gelly Roll Pen ; }  Stampassion.com also carries ATC's from Ranger, including Manilla and Glossy White papers and... ATC's made from Claudine Hellmuth's fabulous Sticky Back Canvas.  Lots of options for creative opportunities!

Using Art Stamps as The String

For those familiar with the method developed by Zentangle® creators, Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas, you know that we start Zentangle tiles and ZIA (Zentangle Inspired Art) with a "string".  This helps to segment and frame the space, gives us structure and something to "hang" the tangles on.  As an art stamp lover, retailer and etailer for lo these many (18!) years, it's natural for me to reach for a stamp.  The structure of the stamp has now become my "string".

I had tons of fun working on my latest class, Zentangle & Art Stamps, combining these two mediums.  The samples for the class are shown in prior posts, but I also wanted to create a tile to give my students a peek at how the tangles would look in a conventional Zentangle format.  Here it is:

The tile includes the tangles...

Pepper

Shattuck

Finery

Poke Leaf

 

Take a look at my two prior posts to see the tangled cards created with rubber art stamps and how tangle-ations of these patterns were used within the stamp.  Too fun!

More of Zentangle & Art Stamps Class

I was up til all hours finishing this bit of Zentangle Inspired Art (ZIA) for my July 13 Zentangle & Art Stamps class. Not because it was difficult—it wasn't—but because I could not STOP.  Adding a little more color here and some additional shading there.... I was having a blast, just me and my pencils. Goofy, but true. I can proudly say that I color for a living (and live to color too).

(click on either photo to see a larger image)

The Open Poppy rubber stamp comes via one of my favorite stamp purveyors, Memory Box. Open is good when you're tangling, so this choice was a natural for our new class on combining stamp art with Zentangle®.  The repetitive patterns in both this ZIA card, and the one in my prior post, are official Zentangle-tangles that I've altered to fit the project, which is called a "tangle-ation". The flower is tangled with a version of Finery and the leaves are Poke Leaf, embellished like crazy 'cause, again, I was having way too much fun to quit ; )

 

Here's a close-up of just the card:

Like the other class project, this is colored with PrismaColor Pencils and shaded with them, along with a regular #2 pencil.  I tangled using several different sizes of Black Micron Pens.  You often need a smaller or larger nib, depending on what you're doing, so the Micron Pen set is a sensible buy for tanglers.  I added Black Glaze Pen to the center of the flower, along with some black gems for a little sparkle. 

 

Zentangle & Art Stamps Class

Life has been hectic (as usual) but I finally put the finishing touches on the ZIA projects (Zentangle Inspired Art) for our new class, Zentangle & Art Stamps, on Wednesday, July 13.  It's all about combining rubber stamped images with Zentangle®.  The stamp, aptly named Flowers in a Pot, is from Lockhart Stamp Company and is perfect to tangle within.  As you can see from the photo, the stamp is open and not too big, so it's quick to color and tangle—so fun.  Stampassion carries the full line of Lockhart Stamps, as well as Zentangle products, and you can find them all here on our web site.

(click on either photo to see a larger image)

I absolutely love being able to take two of my passions, art stamping and Zentangle, mush them together and end up satisfied creatively and happy, happy, happy.  Zentangle is fun and so adaptable—as I've long said about rubber stamping, you can also tangle on anything that isn't moving too fast : ) 

I'll post the second project later.  For now, here's a close-up of just the finished image...

The image was colored with PrismaColor Pencils and shading is a combination of color pencils and a regular old graphite pencil.  The tangling was done with a .01 Black Micron Pen and the flower center is accented with a White Sakura Glaze Pen, which will be up on the web site soon.

Tangled Pears

Zentangle® and art stamps work very well together! 

Here is Karen Lockhart's stamp, Perfect Pears, all tangled up by me, myself and I.   The card is Memory Box Parsley (A2 size), which is a duplex card stock; white on the inside, color on the outside.  So fun to do and this card, along with others I will post are on the Lockhart Stamp Company web site, as I am their Guest Artist!

The close up, below, better shows the simple tangles I used to create this ZIA (Zentangle Inspired Art), specifically:  Chillon, Printemps & Hibred Band.  The finished pears were lightly colored with PrismaColor Pencils with a little stardust added for sparkle... the Clear Stardust Pen from Sakura.

Combining two of my favorite things, Zentangle and art stamps = a slice of happy.