July 31, 2010 Newsletter

Our July 31, 2010 newsletter was just posted.

We invite you to share your comments here.

Fine Motor Skills

We always knew that Zentangle was great for developing fine motor skills. Jella Verelst, CZT in Belgium, reinforces that view with this email:

I challenged my students to draw a ‘first Zentangle’ again after 9 months. (same string, same tangles) They could see with their own eyes how Zentangle improves fine motor skills.

Thank you for sending that Jella.

Jella's website is here.

Hands Down

Jeannie Mahood and Joan Payton are CZTs in Atlanta, Georgia, and together they give many Zentangle workshops.

Jeannie wrote,

I wanted you to see this wonderful photo from one of my and Joan's classes. Wednesday Night Arts Group at my church has been wanting to learn Zentangle - we had a wonderful time!

. . . and sent this picture:

We marvelled at the parallels between the hands and Zentangles in this picture. Each hand is recognizeable as a hand, each Zentangle as a Zentangle. And each one is also unique and beautiful.

Thanks Jeannie for sending that!

You can see a list of all our Certified Zentangle Teachers here.

Odyssey

We just finished a wonderful two days at the Odyssey 2010 Calligraphy Conference.

Here are a couple images from one of our classes.

We are so grateful to the staff at Odyssey for all their help. We made many new friends, met old friends and finally met many people that we had previously only known online. It was a wonderful time.

Helmet Revisited

Maria turned our friend, John's motorcycle helmet into Zentangle art back in February of 2008.

John came by our house yesterday on his motorcycle for a visit. We took some pictures of how his helmet art had fared these past two and a half years.

(Our friend's last name begins with "Z.")

Other than a few scuffs, it looked just as it did the day it was created. You can read about it's creation in this newsletter. This helmet was not coated or varnished.

Click images for larger view.

What's the sound . . .

 . . . of one hand tangling?

We came across a YouTube clip this weekend that thoroughly intrigued us. In this clip, table salt is poured on a flat square plate. As this plate vibrates - well, just watch and you'll see what happens. One suggestion before you begin though, be sure you know how to turn down your volume.



The similarity of this clip's patterns with Zentangle's strings and tangles was striking. We've always appreciated and cultivated a "resonance" of our approach and our tangles with primary patterns and shapes in nature and in cultures throughout our history. Now, we're appreciating the implications of how these primal shapes and forms are functions of frequency and vibration.

We also marvelled at how similar these patterns' sudden changes were to the string demonstrations that Lois and Earl Stokes of Hawaii teach and showed everyone at our recent CZT training (think "cat's cradle").

We hope you enjoy this as much as we did. Now we're wondering, "What's the vibrational frequency of crescent moon, of cadent?" Maybe we'll build one of these machines and find out (and discover some more tangles while we're at it!).

Blog Topic

She: "Do you have a blog for today?"

Me: "Not yet."

She: Grabs markers. Heads for back hall. Closes door.

She: (five minutes later) Come see!

Our back hall is covered with 1950s era linoleum.

It still is. But now it's sporting a new Zentangle layer!

Our plan is to tangle some more and varnish everything. We'll keep you updated.

(Start a blog. Redecorate your home!)

Materials used:

• Linoleum floor
• Chalk Ink™ markers (white and black)
• Varnish (later)

Click images for larger view

Pyramid Enjoyment

Jane Harrington, CZT, sent us these photos of a Zentangle pyramid she created.

Looks like her cat, Duncan, is enjoying it as much as Jane!

For more Zentangle pyramid sightings, check out this blog entry.

Click images for larger view.

Six by Eight . . .

Is fortyeight!

We recently received this lovely email:

Hello Rick and Maria,

I have been a fan of yours for a whole year now. I discovered your website last August and fell in love with Zentangles at first sight. I have introduced your website and the art of Zentangle to at least 12 of my friends and I know they have introduced Zentangles to their friends and family and the list goes on and on...

Recently I finished a 48-piece Zentangle that measures 22" X 30" assembled. I loved the process so much that I am going to begin another large piece. I have this large piece on my blog, as well as detail work and a "Zentangle" photo album. I wanted to share with you what you have inspired me to do.

I just wanted to touch base and say hello and let you know that you have inspired me and I that have learned so much from your newsletters.

Many thanks,
Jill Ehlert

We invite you to visit Jill's blog to view a full size image of this 48 piece ensemble and read her descriptions.

We also invite you to explore creating Zentangles in an Ensemble format. See this recent blog entry and our Ensemble page on our website. We encourage you to create your own like Jill did.

Thanks, Jill.

Bordering on . . .

Here's a before shading view.

And here's an after shading view. It's also an after-coffee-splatter view - that's why the Bronx Cheer.

Click images for larger view

Odyssey, Bales, Betweed & Pokeroot

Odyssey
We'll be giving two Zentangle classes at Odyssey 2010 Calligraphy Conference on Tuesday, July 27 at Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts. There is an afternoon class from 2-4 and an evening class from 7-9. These classes are $30 and are open to the public. To sign up for a class, please email Odyssey or call 617-835-6565. More information is on their website.

Bales, Betweed & Pokeroot
With a hint of hollibaugh!

Click image for larger view

July 16, 2010 Newsletter

. . . is here.

All newsletters are archived here.

Feel free to comment and have a great weekend!

Cross Pollination

Zentangle's string and tangle translate well into other media.

Hello Rick and Maria,

I have been following your newsletters and blog for more than a year, and I am in love with both the visual impact and the act of producing Zentangles. I am a Fiber Artist . . . using the concept of Zentangle for free motion quilting is a natural. I have attached pictures of both the front and back of a quilt I made. Each color uses it's own pattern throughout (8 colors, 8 different patterns). Stitching is worked using thread same color as fabric (exception, black is stitched with white) and really shows the pattern on the back.

Thought you might like to see yet another result of your inspirational designs and posts. Thank you so much for sharing, you are awesome!

Cherie

 

 
Thanks, Cherie.
 
See more of Cherie's creations here.
 
 
Myrna Grigsby, President of the Washington State Gourd Society, received her Zentangle Kit and sent us pictures of her first forays into Zentangle gourd work.

Okay..here are my first attempts! I know I will get better as time goes on!

 

 
Thanks, Myrna. We look forward to seeing more!
 
 
Following up on our recent Cross Training blog entry, here's a picture of the author's cross trainers:
 

 
 
This image is part of his recent blog article Emotional Responses to Zentangle Art. We hope you take a moment to read what Verlin has to say.
 
 

Welcome Laura

Laura Harms, CZT from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada has joined our Zentangle blogosphere with her iamthedivaczt blog.

We invite you to visit and you'll enjoy her words and images like these.

And if you're in her area, contact her to arrange a Zentangle workshop.

If you write or want to recommend other Zentangle dedicated blogs to be linked here, please email us.

Click images for larger view

Playing in the Shade

To explore the impact of shading, Maria created an unshaded Zentangle.

Then I made copies on several Zentangle tiles and we shaded them in different ways.

We discovered you can spend as much or as little time as you like with your pencil (just as with your pen). We enjoyed noticing how each Zentangle's character changed with its shading.

This was like a photography exercise using different combinations of framing, lighting, lenses and depths of field on the same subject.

Materials used:

• Sakura® Pigma™ Micron 01
• 2B pencil
• Zentangle tile
• finger tip

Click images for larger view

Cross Training

Deb Phelps, CZT, sent us a link to a blog about Zentangle as cross training. It is an eloquent example of one aspect of what we intended when we created Zentangle. Here's an excerpt:

Zentangle, I have discovered, is one of the better cross training activities for my brain.

Creating a Zentangle art tile as cross training for the mind, requires investing an hour

• Paying attention to the ceramic point on the paper,
• Feeling the pen drag across the ridges of Italian watercolor paper,- Hearing the muffled sound of paper,
• and watching the pen move deliberately in repetitive movements; rhythmically, hypnotically entraining the mind to this narrow focus.

 Then, for the next three days, my journal writing shifts:

• the handwriting becomes legible,
• the mind stays on the page,
• the writing develops focus. (this must be the “Zen” part.)

 Less drivel fills space on the page, more material comes from the intuitive heart.

 
Thanks for posting that, Verlin. We look forward to seeing those shoes!
 
Read Verlin's entire blog post here.

Music to My Eyes

Carole Ohl, Certified Zentangle Teacher, good friend and frequent commenter here has a blog called Open Seed Arts that we've added to our blog list (on the right of this page).

Carole recently posted "Music to My Eyes" on her blog and we invite you to check it out. There are some great images. Here's one:

Thanks, Carole.

Click image for larger view

Zentangle Alterations

When Maria was a little girl, her mother had a sewing shop and did alterations.

Her family tradition continues with her repairs of this well-loved jersey top.

Before:

After:

Click image for larger view

Master Class Openings

We have a couple last minute openings in our August 3 - 5 Zentangle Master Class in Newport, RI.

Here is an excert from an earlier newsletter about this class:

We are offering a Zentangle Master Class on August 3, 4 and 5 in Newport, Rhode Island at IYRS (International Yacht Restoration School).

We'll begin with a small get-together/reception on Monday evening August 2nd. We encourage you to arrive on or before Monday morning or afternoon, and to stay a bit after that to see the beautiful sights and beaches there . . . just to make the trip that much more fun. Newport has many hotels and B&Bs within walking distance and there's plenty to do and see in Newport. The Newport Folk Festival is the weekend before and the Jazz Festival is the weekend after our Master Class!

Join us as we take Zentangle to another level as an art form -- working bigger, more complicated and utilizing other mediums. We're also planning side trips like pattern hunts in Newport's mansions, gallery and museum hopping, and a few other surprises - in other words, we plan to have lots of fun.

Please note:  This is not a Zentangle teacher certification class.

Cost of just the class is $300 and includes some supplies. You will be responsible for a few other tools (we'll send you a list) and for your food, transportation, lodging, etc.

This is not an introductory Zentangle class. It is a gathering of passionate tanglers who wish to play with and explore Zentangle's artistic possibilities.

Please email us right away if you are interested in attending. We will use the time stamp of the emails to decide who responded when.

Pardon this late notice, but we didn't create a wait list for this event and we wanted to let you know of these last minute openings.

Zentangle Print

Recently we created a large Zentangle inspired work of art that we call 102 Tangles of Zentangle.

We make high quality prints on a variety of museum grade papers. Most all prints have a natural deckle edge on at least on side and are 13 inches square. We both sign each one.

These are now available for $39 plus shipping. Read more about 102 Tangles of Zentangle here.

Click image for larger view

'Nzeppel Again

When Maria created this Zentangle tile with 'nzeppel, she was focusing on its natural unfolding, not pinecones.

Nevertheless . . .

Click images for larger view

Zentangle Garden

We harvested garlic yesterday.

After pulling it, we noticed a snake skin shed in our garden. Its pattern was so similar to 'nzeppel that we had just blogged moments before, we had to share it with you.

Take some closer looks . . .

And see how their roots are ever so hollibaugh - always behind, not woven.

Click images for larger view

Getting some shade

Before and after images show shading's impact.

Above is another version of  'nzeppel described in this newsletter.

Click images for larger view

On the ninth day of naptime . . .

. . . our daughter (and grand daughter) gave to us . . .

This has been so much fun. We hope you've enjoyed this series as much as we have. Let's look again at this Ensemble's other eight tiles.

Thank you Molly for sharing this with us and thanks to our grand daughter for taking nice long naps!

This series was created using one of our pre-strung Zentangle Ensemble mosaics. Learn more about our Ensembles here.

See also:
Day One
Day Two
Day Three
Day Four
Day Five
Day Six
Day Seven
Day Eight

Click images for larger view