DRAWING FROM THE DAY
  • ...a blog on art, creativity, and mindfulness

Bee-ware

2/9/2021

 
Picture(Phase One Done)
Phew.  I finally got this entire project redone and finished.  It's not my best work, but now at least I know what the trouble was--my helpful teacher pointed out that I need better quality small brushes.  (And lots more practice)  Yes!

Here is the initial stage, the underpainting before I used the smaller (problematic) brushes to add in  the tangle patterns.  Although I preferred the bee I painted yesterday, I had more control in this painting overall.  It's an improvement over yesterday's background wash and hexagons.  I'll take improvement!

When I got to the very end (adding tangles to the underpainting) and switched to small brushes to created detailed tangles, I noticed the points on the brushes were poor and the hairs would collapse--and spread--at the slightest pressure, resulting in sloppy lines.

But it's done (below), and wow did I learn a lot in creating it.  See yesterday's post for my initial problems.  Now that I know what went wrong, I think I'll be able to do better work in future.  I'm glad I experimented, and so glad I stuck with it long enough to try again.

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Final version (Phase Two)
There are two major take-aways: 
1) As usual, anything new takes substantial practice, and
2) Do not use cheapo materials--the right tools are worth every penny.

Bee-leaguered

2/8/2021

 
It started out so well...and ended up so badly!  The story of an epic failure.
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The start:  And, here we go again.  Another watercolor in a class with Sam Taylor/zenlapse (she has wonderful classes mixing Zentangle® with watercolor). 

Whoa, watercolor is so darned tricky!  Here I have prepped a 6x6" watercolor paper with her bee template, put a wash over the background, and done some coloring of the bee itself. 

Those are Fine-Tec metallic watercolors on the wings (silver) and the pollen baskets (gold) although as usual, they are so hard to show in a photograph.  The overall wash and other colors I just mixed from myregular cheapo Prang watercolors. 

If you really look you can see some hexagons drawn lightly in pencil and scattered randomly throughout the wash; unfortunately, as you'll see below, I did rather too-good a job erasing them so that the outlines wouldn't show in the final painting. 

Hah!  When it came to painting them, I couldn't see what I was doing.  And I still haven't mastered the trick of avoiding "hard lines" in a watercolor wash.  Watercolor has a big learning curve.  That's ok.  I'm determined.

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Mid-stage:  I'm beginning to paint the hexagonal cells.  Because my light is on the left side, you can only see the gold and silver Fine-Tec there.  More hexagons to come.

Having done an over-zealous job of erasing, I'm having issues making my hexagons the right shape because I can't really see my guidelines.  Live and learn!  I'll keep going and post the outcome next.
                                         * * *
Er, um, no, I guess I won't.

The End:  The entire project went off the rails badly just a couple of hours later.  It went so far off that I ended up gently, slowly, and deliberately tearing it into several pieces (yes, I did indeed, a first for me), with the intention of keeping and  repurposing parts of them somehow into another art project.  I bet I can.

What went wrong?  When I began tangling onto the completed background using a watercolor brush, I lost control and completely wrecked the bee.  Oh, I was fond of that bee!  I tried to rescue it using a Micron, but that made it so much worse.

I was stung.  (pun intended)  However, as I mentioned earlier, I am determined.  I will re-do the entire project.  Perhaps I'll improve the next time.  I know I learned several useful things even though this attempt didn't work.  Hope springs eternal.

Dammit.  <g>

Best to have failure happen early. [It] wakes up the phoenix bird in you.
--Anne Baxter

Neutrality

2/6/2021

 
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What should we do when there appears to be very little energy for "doing?"  Sometimes we have days like that.  I had one today.

Fortunately, I had two small Bijou (2"x2") tiles already prepped with Map Tangled backgrounds, so today I did them as experiments.  I had to make an effort to get going since I had no energy at all. 

The jury is out on whether I like the results all that much.  On this first tile I put the tangle Pepper (with a few orbs added) which I tarted up with Gold Jellyroll pen in between the black Micron PN strokes and also in the negative spaces.  I'm still contemplating this one.  But at least it got me drawing on a day when I felt...blah.  As we sometimes do, for no reason.  Just blah.  Not bad, not good.

How often do we notice these moments of complete neutrality?  I usually don't, unless a lot of them get strung together during a day--unusual, but it does happen once in awhile.  Should neutral always equal "blah?"  Many folks experience an occasional no-energy day.  

Perhaps I just needed a day to do nothing?  Or simply to contemplate neutrality?  There hasn't been much to feel neutral about in a long, long time (locally or globally).  Perhaps neutrality has been snoozing, and is now waking up again.  Is it actually neutrality, then, or could my over-stimulated nervous system from these last few traumatic years not recognize what it means to rest and restore itself?

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Experiment #2,is also done on a pre-prepped Map Tangled background on another tiny tile.   Only this time, the prep included putting a silver metallic Fine Tec watercolor glaze over the regular pink-rose watercolor.  I used a purple Micron PN to do the tangle, which is Diva Dance--a tangle I love but always find quite baffling.  I need remedial Diva Dance lessons!

Diva Dance reminds me of neurons in the brain, quivering and firing.  And yet when I'm drawing, I'm usually totally absorbed and just not thinking.  Perhaps my own dancing neurons go into some type of trance when I draw.  A good thing, on days like this one.

A metallic shine is hard to capture on camera, and the deep rose color did not show truly here.  As is the case with the other small experiment above, I am still waiting to decide how I feel about the tile. 

In the end, it doesn't matter.  The practice itself--and "showing up" even on a day when I didn't have much energy--was my intention, not the final outcome. 

Show up.  Sit down.  Whatever comes up  is simply what is arising in this moment. Notice it.  No judgement. 

Exactly like  meditation.

More on Map Tangling

2/4/2021

 
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A Zendala tile prepped and waiting to be tangled. I almost don't want to do any tangling on this one--I just love the look of adding metallics. I'm leaving it to think about for a good while. Watercolor paint and Fine-Tec Gold Metallic mixed a la MapTangling Method. I did this the day after a class on using the metallics with Map Tangling. Class details below.
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This is another MapTangled Zendala, mixing watercolor + metallics and then tangled with a new-to-me tangled called SeaWave. Done during a class with Nancy Domnauer on Metallic MapTangling.
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Another metallic MapTangle-prepped tile waiting for some decisions about what to tangle on it. Did this one on my own the following day.
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Also done during the class. Prepped with a pink watercolor MapTangled base and then mixed with Silver FineTec paint, then tangled using Crescent Moon. I added some Lemon General's Chalk Pencil to the very large white space surrounding the MapTangled part.

After taking the class with Nancy Domnauer, during which we prepped and completed the tangling on three tiles (I only showed two of those), I spent just a few minutes the following day to produce the two UN-tangled tiles above.  I'm learning as I go.  People get obsessed with MapTangling, and I can absolutely see why.  It's a surprise every time; results are always unexpected and ever-changing.

Just like our day-to-day lives. 

But with MapTangling, results are likely to be beautiful every time, even if tangling on them can turn out to be tricky and challenging.  That's half the fun. 

Now, if I could only learn to be as calm in daily life when presented with a challenge as I am while doing this.
PictureWith a hint of Gold Gellyroll.

Here's a tiny tile I did just before bed last night.  It took about ten minutes.  This was done on a Bijou tile (2"x2") which I'd prepped a background on earlier in the day.  This is simply more linework from one of Jo Quincy's lovely soothing videos, just what I needed before trying to sleep after a wild couple of days in my life.  Once again I combined a video from Jo with my own "take" on it, by using MapTangling.  Ahhhhhhhhh.

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To finish up, here's an iPhone-app "distressed" version.  I can never resist those iPhone apps.

Subtle or Startling?

1/27/2021

 
PictureMonotangle (done in MapTangling style) of Betweed. Using Micron 01 in black; shaded with General Chalk pencils. Shadow tangling in the background just using a tortillion (same tortillion used for shading, so had some shadow color on it from the chalk pencils). Inspired by Zenjo's YouTube video.
I noticed my British friend and teacher extraordinaire,  Jo, has a YouTube channel (why didn't I know this before?) and I took a look today.  She did a lovely job demo-ing one of my old favorite tangles, Betweed.  I've loved this tangle forever and used to use it all the time.  Why did I stop?  Like a lot of things, it just passed out of my consciousness at some point and I haven't done it in years.  What a welcome reminder.

I had time to experiment this afternoon and decided to use her video to do this monotangle version of it.  Soooooooo relaxing.  But rather than do it plain, as she did, I used a tile I had previously prepped for MapTangling, and used that as a technique.  Well then I couldn't leave well-enough alone so I did some shadow work in a couple of the negative space surrounding the motif.  This was totally fun.  I liked the depth and subtlety.

Ah, but I thought I might run it through an app on my iPhone to see how it would look.  Holy crow!  It went from subtle to glaring.  You had better wear your darkest sunglasses for this version below (altered by the iPhone app).

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Same photo as above, altered by a filter on the iPhone app. Yikes! Very bright and the background shading is gone.
Once I start playing with the iPhone to alter a photo, it turns into a project all on its own.  Using another iPhone app, I came up with all of these:
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Variation #1. Like the distressed look of this one.
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Variation #2. Somewhat smeary but I like it, and can still see the shadows in the negative space.
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Variation #3. This was a surprise! Much smearier and closer to a painting, but I like the altered colors and negative space shadows.
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Variation #4. Also fun use of different colors and the effect it had not only on the tangle but also on the negative space.

There is something to be said for each of them.  Besides, it's so much fun being able to play with alternatives.  It's even more fun greeting an old friend--this tangle--one I haven't seen for awhile. 

I imagine we will all feel that way once the pandemic is over and we are able to see each other in person again.  We can Zoom, and that's helpful, but to be able to spend time with old friends and hug each other again...priceless.
“Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together.”
– Woodrow Wilson
“A day without a friend is like a pot without a single drop of honey left inside.”
– Winnie the Pooh

A Life Filled With Gems

1/26/2021

 
PictureA Zengem on Black, from a string developed by Stefanie vanLeeuwen using multiple Prismacolor pencils and General's Chalk Pencils, plus a White Gellyroll pen. #tanglestudiostefanie, #zengemonblack
Truly, I am a lucky gal.

I did this tangle last night for a friend whom I think of as a  real gem.
 
  This woman has been my mentor for the last two years in a meditation teacher training program.  She has been unbelievably kind, sensitive, helpful, and has drawn liberally from and shared her own deep practice and her decades of experience teaching meditation to others.  In the process she has been a powerful example to me, as well as to the other four people in my small peer group for the last couple of years.  We have been fortunate to know her.

In Buddhism there are many lists, one of which is known as "The Three Jewels:  The Buddha, the Dharma, and and Sangha."  I mailed off this little Zentangle® Gem Portrait today with that in mind, to say thank you to her.  She has managed to embody the Buddha's teachings, transmitting the Dharma clearly and faithfully, and with patience and kindness has helped us to form a peer supervision group (the Sangha) that will continue long after the program ends.

Thank you, Adi.

"...You should understand that you are one of the Three Jewels. You shouldn't put the Three Jewels outside of yourselves; you should always think of yourselves as being one of the Three Jewels—and that includes your body, your speech, and your mind.”
― Dhomang Yangthang, The Union of Dzogchen and Mahamudra

Grand Canyon at Sunset

1/23/2021

 
Yes, it really looks this way. 

This exquisite photograph of the Grand Canyon at Sunset was taken on the Martin Luther King Holiday, 2021, by Michael Quinn, a fabulous National Park Service photographer who has lived at the Canyon forever. 

I think it speaks to his heart.

It certainly speaks to mine.
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Photograph by Michael Quinn of the National Park Service, January 2021. Grand Canyon Sunset.

Eating Fruit at the Grand Canyon - A song to make death easy


Since this great hole in earth is beyond
My comprehension and I am hungry,
I sit on the rim and eat fruit

The colors of the stone i see,
Strawberries of iron cliffs, sagebrush
melons, white sand apple, grapes

The barely purple of the stonewashed slopes,
And every color I eat is in my vision,
Colonized by my eye, by me and everyone

I have known, so vast, so remote,
That we can only gaze at ourselves, wondering
At our reaches, eat fat fruit while we

Grow calm if we can, our folded
Rocky interiors pressed upwards through
Our throats, side canyons seeming almost

Accessible, the grand river of blood
Carving us even as we sit, devouring
Color that will blush on our skin

Nourish us so that we may climb
The walls of the interior, bewildered,
Tremulous, but observant as we move

Down in, one foot, another,
careful not to fall, to fall,
The fruit fueling us in subtle

Surges of color in this vastly deep
Where birds make shadow and echo
And we have no idea

Why we cannot comprehend ourselves,
Each other, a place so deep and bright
It has no needs and we wonder

What we’re doing here on this fragment
Of galactic dust, spinning, cradled,
Awestruck, momentarily alive.”
― Diane Hume George

Gems on Black

1/16/2021

 
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Zengems on a black tile, using Prismacolor pencils in a wide variety of colors, General's Chalk Pencils in 3 colors, and a White Gellyroll Pen #10.
This is the result of a truly wonderful class with Stefanie vanLeeuwen this afternoon <@tanglestudiostefanie>.  There were students from Canada, the USA, Holland, Germany, the Carribean, and Spain.  We had such a good time and I certainly learned a lot.  I'll be trying this method again with other forms and colors. 

Every person in the class produced something very beautiful--the sign of an excellent teacher.  Stefanie had everything extremely organized well in advance. 

I chuckle when I contrast the sense of control I have with colored pencils to the lack of control I have with watercolor; see yesterday's post for more on that.

Art is truly endless learning. 

"Regard everything as an experiment," said artist Corita Kent.  Words of wisdom.

Tricky Tricky Tricky

1/14/2021

 
Or should that be, Rusty AND Tricky?  I did some watercolor yesterday and today and wow, was the it ever hard to handle.  What a mess!  The result is fun but not particularly good--I say that not to put myself down, only to say I can definitely get better with practice.  It's been about 3 years since I've done any watercolor practice, and it shows.  Did this one in a class by Sam Taylor (@Zenlapse on IG).

I'd gotten a new set of "tropical" colors and couldn't wait to try them out, so I tried them out on this warty fish:
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Watercolor on 140 lb cold pressed paper, 5x7". With a tad of gold Finetec paint and gold gellyroll. Tangles are Perfs, Printemps, Shattuck, Beetlejuice.
It's just amazing how that darned water can get away from me.  Or I would assume something was dry, only to discover it wasn't...so then I'd have one color running into the other.  Or I put my hand down to draw something and would feel that sickening wet feeling under my hand--I'd forgotten that part was still sopping wet and now I'd smeared it.  Yikes!  Hilarious, however.

Watercolor requires patience and plenty of mindfulness.  Looks like it's time for me to cultivate both. 

I think I'll try doing another fish.

Because watercolor actually moves on the paper, it is the most active of all mediums, almost a performance art.
                                                --Nita Engle

The Leftover Lesson.

1/6/2021

 
Picture2x2" white Bijou tile with red Micron 01, white and red chalk pencil, and Map Tangled watercolor.
After I posted yesterday I found this Bijou (2.2") tile.  Truth be told, this was the very first Map Tangling tile I did at the workshop yesterday.  I had tossed it aside because 1) I did it "wrong," (normally a black Micron is used for the tangling; I used red) and 2) I thought it looked terrible

But a big Zentangle® guideline is, "There are no mistakes in Zentangle."  And I had ignored that.

When I found the tile while cleaning up and putting materials away, I took a second look. I added a few black center dots and a tiny bit of chalk pencil shading, and voila.  Suddenly I liked it a lot better.

Many lessons here. 

The first is about the randomness of Map Tangling results--just like the randomness of what happens to us in life. 

Then there's the typical immediate adverse reaction to something that didn't meet expectations, with a later softening of that reaction, and then a final change of mind.  Just like life.
 
Also, there's the experience of allowing myself to experiment and put a little more effort into something to see if can be salvaged--and it can.  Just like life. 

Finally, even if I still disliked this tiny tile, still felt disappointed with it (although I quite like it now), I know I would still be happy to have made it because it was an important first try, an important learning, an important session of practice.

Yup, just like life.

Map Tangling: First Attempt

1/5/2021

 
Picture6 tiles prepped in Map Tangling style (watercolor), two of which have been tangled.

For years I've heard about Map Tangling and while I had some idea what it was (see below), and had really admired it, I didn't have time to figure out how to create it.  Today I took a class with Nancy Domnauer.  Great fun!  She's an excellent teacher.

Here you can see my first attempts.  We spent time preparing the tiles with watercolor (that's where the Map Tangling technique really applies) and then completing two monotangle tiles. 

There appear to be at least two ways to prep a tile by Map Tangling.  Nancy's class focuses on one.  I think there is at least one other.  I will be playing with this technique for sure--I know I can get better at it with practice.

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a
As shown here and above, "Map Tangling" is when a watercolor wash is applied to a tile in such a way that the colored portion is left with ragged edges., and could be interspersed with lots of white space or just have white space surrounding it.  Only the colored space is then tangled.  The watercolor background frequently resembles the map of a continent or country--hence the name.

The process reminded me of gelli-printing.  There was lots of pressing going on before the tiles were done, and all results were inevitably surprises.

"Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing."
— Werner von Braun


Looking Backward and Forward

12/26/2020

 
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Every year at this time I find myself looking backwards.  And forwards.  Today I was doing some cleaning in my art room, and I found these 12-month-old-tiles below.  Bittersweet, indeed.

In mid-December 2019, I was just back from a wonderful weekend with a good friend at Kripalu, drawing tangles with Martha Huggins (on the left) and Molly Hollibaugh (right) of the Zentangle® family.  If this year had been normal, I'm sure I'd have done the same.  But we all know it was not a normal year. 

So here is a short review of some of the work we did in December 2019, with the fond hope that we will be able to do something similar in 2021.  Looking at these tiles brought back so many good memories for me.

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Four Bijou (2") gray tiles; in these 3 photographs you can see the fun of turning them in a variety of ways.
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Mandala on a gray Zendala tile. This was made by folding the tile 4x to create a folded "string" to tangle on. I remember being distressed that we were folding our tiles, but now, a year later, I can barely see the folds.

And although I'm not a Christmas celebrator, I just happened to get some non-Christmas presents this year (the timing just worked out that they arrived at Christmastime).  Here are two that I'm thrilled by but haven't had time to try out yet. 
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This is a commemorative but perfectly functional Oxford Punchneedle, called The Peacock. Amy (Oxford) had only 1300 of these made from laminated wood, to commemorate her 25th year in business. It's a #13 Fine size and I cannot wait to try it out. Check out the bag, made of fabric to match the needle. I love it! I gifted this to myself from myself.
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And out of the blue, an outrageously kind friend I haven't seen in way too long just up & sent me these fabulous watercolor markers. Unbelievable. "They were on sale and I thought of you," was her comment. WOW. Cannot wait to try these out, hopefully in a day or two.

A friend is a gift you give yourself.

Robert Louis Stevenson

Bumper Philosophy.

12/24/2020

 
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I mean. 
Right?
I spotted this bumper sticker on the back of a car a couple of blocks away from my house as I was out on a walk this afternoon.  At first I walked past it, but I was laughing so loud I had to circle back to take the photograph.  There were a few other things on the car that suggested to me that the owner might be an amateur or even a pro astronomer.  Some type of scientist.

I want this on a t-shirt.  They do make them, of course.  I found them on amazon.

What a year.

Foggy Mountain Breakdown

12/13/2020

 
This was the scene as I took a walk this morning.  I do not live on a mountain, but this reminded me of one of my favorite instrumentals, Foggy Mountain Breakdown.
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Such a lovely morning, and then in the afternoon, there was the sun and relative warmth.

Meanwhile, a good friend send me a greeting card I well remember from buying some of these myself in the 1980s.  I haven't seen them in years and loved getting this.  There was a whole series of these cards, based on flowers and vegetables.  Here is the lovely Eggplant Deva, painted by Azra Simonetti circa 1986.
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Some days have their own sweetness.  This was one.
Yesterday's the past, tomorrow's the future, but today is a gift. That's why it's called "the present."
--Bil Keane

Forget About It

12/5/2020

 
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A mosaic formed by putting six 3-Z (triangular) tiles together.
I've been so busy attending to another major commitment that I completely forgot  this follow-up to my last post.  Here I've added another three tiles and put them together into a hexagon.  (I'm actually writing this on December 11th, having completely forgotten that the draft was sitting here since the 5th, waiting to be posted.) That's the way life is going at the moment.  Scattered.

It makes me aware of the fact that we can only really attend to one thing at a time, while everything else fades into the background.
“To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.”
― Mary Oliver

The Way the Light Shifts

12/1/2020

 
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A trifecta of 3-Z tiles (white) with nothing on them but Micron 01, Micron PN, and graphite. Tangles include Cockles and Mussels, Joku and Ginli.
PictureHere I tangled over the space for a stamp on a white envelope, using black Micron and greenish colored pencil. If you look hard you can just make out the words, "Additional Postage Required" underneath the drawing.
Out my back window, immensely tall trees are swaying in a wind passing through the back yard.  I'm thinking about the way the light makes the sky at this moment--just before sunset--look like stainless steel.  Exactly the color of stainless steel.  Clouds have blocked the setting sun and as I watch, the tone of the clouds shifts slightly more towards blue.

I never tire of watching the changing sky, or the way the gray and brown tree branches dance across it, finding their own rhythm in the evening wind.  This light is moving us gradually from day to night.  It subtly alters the cloud colors in each passing moment. 

Just like thoughts change, and just the way life changes from moment to moment. 
I want to be fully present for this moment.  Just this moment.

When I finished typing and looked up, I could see a horizontal band of luscious rose-tinted light crossing the sky below the stainless steel and blue clouds.  And below that, a band of gold-white from the last rays of the sun. 

Exquisite, this moment.

Explore-Adapt-Learn

11/26/2020

 
Picture Second try at this design. Black Micron 01 and PN. Graphite, Prismacolor pencils, Signo Uniball White pen, white Gellyroll pen. Tangles: Ratoon, Belle, Flux, Orbs.

The three watchwords of this year must be explore,  adapt, and, learn.  Because we have had to explore, adapt/find alternative ways to do things  that we were forced into altering, and learn quickly, all because of the pandemic.

Here in the USA, Thanksgiving Day is an occasion that requires all three words this year.  I've never been a celebrator myself--I prefer to stay home and keep a quiet day, often dining with friends later in the week.

All those friends would be simply astounded to know I actually have a turkey in my oven this year.In fact, they'd never believe it.  Everyone knows I do not cook--I don't know how.  Never learned.  So here are 2 important facts:  First, I am NOT dining with or having anyone in my house this year.  Second, I didn't cook this turkey.  I am merely warming it up as a favor to another friend who has two and can't get them both in her oven.  Explore, adapt, learn--indeed!

Between the two of us, we are packing up plates and sharing with our neighbors.  The food will go in bags and neighbors who cannot travel this year or who cannot have friends/family over can come pick up a contact-free Thanksgiving Dinner and go home and be safe and eat it.  I wish I could say I thought of this, but I didn't--it was my neighbor's idea and I'm just warming up the bird for her.  A genius of an idea!  And one I am thankful for on this very strange Thanksgiving.

Since I'm working on getting back into the tangling groove, I made her the tangle above as a thank-you gift.  I retraced my steps from the one I posted yesterday but this time I created it without the underlaid outer square of white wax pencil (there is indeed an underlay, but the one you can see above is intentional, whereas the one I did yesterday shows an unintentional white "frame" near the border of the piece).  I used a light frame of graphite instead.  It worked well and I think I've  finally gotten this technique down.  Good to know.

Despite this globally agonizing year, I am aware of much I still have to be thankful for.  I wish that were so for everyone, even as I know of the struggles and losses so many have had.  May we all find something good in our days today.

The poet Rumi has said:
Wear gratitude like a cloak
and it will feed
every corner of your life.


Below is a repeat of today's version next to yesterday's version, for simple comparison.

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Today
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Yesterday

The Learning Continues

11/25/2020

 
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Tangles: Belle, Ratoon, Verve, Flux, Orbs, and a ZenGem. On a Renaissance (Tan) tile. Micron PN in black, Tombow Black Brushpen, General's Watercolor Pencils, White Gellyroll, White Prismacolor, White Signo Uniball.
It never stops, the learning.  Here I'm trying to learn a Zentangle® technique called TranZending--a form of layering one pattern over another.  I've never really gotten the hang of this before, but am happy with how it turned out.  I watched one of ZenLinea's videos and followed along.  What I learned:  for one thing, even tho she suggests some very very faint white colored pencil guidelines to start, and I did make them faint, the wax in the colored pencil still acts as a "resist" and doesn't really get colored over later on.  Which is fine -- even promising -- if it's a design element.  But here it wasn't meant to be a design element.  Now I know.

I may try this one again.  Lots to learn, and I'd like to try the guidelines in graphite and see what happens.  Once I figure this out, I can apply to my own future tangle designs.
Here are the beginning and mid-stages of this piece:

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The start. Those "lightly drawn" colored pencil lines at the edges and the diagonals never went away. Good to know for the future. Here's the white Gellyroll tangle Belle which underlies the piece. This is my first-ever attempt at "TranZending." And not the only way it can be done.
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At about the halfway point, with the overlay tangles drawn and coloring begun. And there's that pesky white colored pencil frame that resisted everything that went over it. Definitely want to try this again and change a few things, even tho I like the overall final piece.
I'm always open for people saying I'm wrong because most of the time I am.
- Prince William

What's Old Is New Again

11/24/2020

 
Bubble Gum Pink Anything is always a turnoff for me.  However, I discovered a blank but watercolor-washed tile that qualified as  that shade or something really close.  Someone else had done the wash, and it was in a pack of pre-colored blank tiles I bought from a vendor at a Zentangle® event a decade ago or so. 

I wondered what, if anything, I could do with it when I ran into it yesterday.  The color was hurting my eyes (as you'll read below, the photo actually drained out most of the eyeball-popping bright pink).

Since I am so rusty and trying to get my drawing mojo back, I'm studying instructions from other teachers whom I respect, and Zen Linea certainly qualifies.  So I went to SkillShare and logged onto one of her videos and tried this on the Bubble Gum Pink tile.
PictureAlas, this is much pinker in person. Tangles: Ratoon, A-Frame, Flux, Tipple. Based on a video by ZenLinea. The tile was previously watercolor washed by someone whose name I don't remember. Micron 01 and PN, Prismacolor Pencils, Signo Uniball Pen.
Interesting to note that in the light available when I took this photo, the "Bubble Gum" quality of the pink really calmed down.  Trust me:  in person, the pink is MUCH louder than it looks here.  And the violet color is much more subtle.  So interesting how color can photograph.

But here's the fun part.  At the end of the video I was using, there was a list of projects previous students had done.  Not only was I shocked to see I had done this video before, but I had done in exactly one year ago today. 

I had no memory of ever having done it before.  Not only did I do it then, I did a second, alternative version the next day.  So this version is my third.  Pretty comical.

Surprise Gifts Are the Best

11/23/2020

 
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In my mail today was a small flat envelope with the return address of a place from which I could not remember having ordered a thing.  Huh??? 

I puzzled over it, put the mail down to do a few other things, and didn't open it until just now.

This cracked me up!  I had recently sent a donation to the Insight Meditation Society, or "IMS," in Barre, MA, and in response they sent a lovely thanks and included these three masks.  A total surprise!

IMS is renowned for their meditation instruction, and with good reason.  In times when Covid-19 isn't interfering, it's a tremendous place to go for a weekend program or on a meditation retreat.  As you might imagine, they are offering a full slate of programs online at the moment to keep people safe during the pandemic.  These messages of lovingkindness really made me smile.

Start to Finish

11/21/2020

 
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Here is the start of a mandala, just the beginning linework. 

I drew this last night while studying one of Romi Marks' videos.  I screwed up the center--but luckily, there are "no mistakes!" in Zentangle® and so I just kept going and did my own thing in the center.  And I like the way that came out.  I also changed a few things in the next layer.

This is one major thing I learned about drawing since I've begun to draw regularly.  In fact once I began drawing in the Zentangle® tradition it was resoundingly, repeatedly, and overtly reinforced.:  There are no mistakes--keep going and see what you can make of what is in front of you.  90-95% of the time, not only can you work through whatever is there but you can actually surprise yourself with a good result. 

It's the same in meditation.  And, I believe, in much of life in general.  What about that other 5-10%?  Anywhere from "meh, or disappointing," to a genuine catastrophe.  But still, those odds sound pretty good to me.

So I persevered and began adding color.  Big difference!  Encouraged, I drew the outside of the tile and stopped there for a bit, having worn myself out for the day:

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And here below is the finished tile.  I'm glad I stuck with it.
Picture Black Micron 01 and PN, assorted Prismacolor pencils, graphite, Signo Uniball White pen, White Prismacolor on a grey Zendala tile.

Whatever it is you are pursuing, whatever it is you are seeking, whatever it is you are creating, be careful not to quit too soon.
--Elizabeth Gilbert

Knotty Issues

11/21/2020

 
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Birthday bookmark, tangling on a piece of watercolor paper. I did not do this watercolor. Graphite, Flair Pen, Gold Gellyroll. Embedded initial technique.
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Above you see one classic type of pretzel knot.  On the left, when you think of it, is another type.  Those are washed and dried worsted weight yarn skeins from my wildly successful bargain hunting the other day--twisted into the kind of gentle "knotty looping" that is useful when storing yarn.

I drew the tangled piece as a bookmark for a friend having a birthday next week.  It's inspired by one of Sadelle Wiltshire's very nice freehand-knotting videos and this is what fell out of my pen.  Perhaps I should do a Celtic Knot punchneedle piece with that yarn.  These knots are very relaxing to draw. 
And given the knotty problems facing us all right now, with the pandemic and a planet dealing the climate change, political messes and human rights issues, I seem to have knots on the brain.

We learn the rope of life by untying its knots.
--Jean Toomer

Small Things

11/19/2020

 
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This was a tiny row of Celtic Knots I put on an envelope addressed to a friend who is experiencing a major loss. Micron 01, chalk pastel.
With a bit more time now, I'm back into mindful drawing techniques.  This is based on one of Sadelle Wiltshire's classes.  More of this to come.  Very easy, very mindful.  And very small, hence the title of today's post.
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My latest completed rug. This is one of only 4 rugs I've ever put up on a wall. For a closer look, see the October 1st post. Just to the left of it is the wonderful handmade mirror a dear friend created and gave me--I blogged about that on October 5. And on the side of the stairs you can just see my "Hooker" sign. Got that a few years ago and love seeing it every day.
I don't normally enjoy putting rugs on the wall--I prefer to walk on them.  But the colors in this one are so subtle I finally decided the wall would be safer.  It's all scrap wool that I had lying around.

I've also run out of room for rugs at the moment and may have to put a few more of my patiently-waiting rolled-up rugs on walls around the house.

Less than 3 minutes was all it took to hang this, once I had some assistance.  A very small amount of time (title of today's post), and something I've wanted to do for weeks.
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Preview of my current rug-in-progress. Just a small view (title of today's post)
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Today I made it (with mask on my face of course) to a new shop called Swanson's Fabrics in Western Massachusetts.  I'd heard about it but hadn't gone until today.  It was large enough to feel safe inside.  Part of the time it was just me and the owner, and there were never more than 2-3 others at any one time, all distanced.
But oh, the treasures!  Kathryn Swanson, the owner, has more than fabrics; she also has yarns, threads, sewing notions, and braiding equipment. 

NOTE:  All her fabrics are $4/yard.  No matter what they are made of.  Seriously!  Cottons, upholstery and lots of other fabrics, and even wool yardage (the wools go out the door nearly as soon as they arrive--I grabbed 1.5 yards of the light colored wool you see above on the right, for $6 total).

And I'm pretty certain she mail-orders, so feel free to contact her and ask.

All of her fabrics, yarns, and notions are rescued from people's basements or from fabric stores or yarn stores that have gone out of business.  You could go one day and find nothing, and go back the next day and find tons of wonderful new rescued goods.

When you click the link to her website above, be sure to go to her "About" tab and read her mission statement.  I'm in awe.

I also got seventeen 100-gram skeins of off-white, 100% wool yarns, very high quality if a bit grubby from being stored for quite a while.  I'm pretty sure they were originally from Sweden.  Some are worsted weight and some are DK.  I can overdye them all.  Very exciting.  I cleared her out of these, however, so you'll have to find your own treasures some other day.

This was a Big Find, and therefore doesn't fit the title of today's post.  But I didn't think any of you would mind...

How It Was

11/13/2020

 




Here I am, circa some time in the summer of 1948.  That's a guess on my part, but I think it's accurate.

This is how it was. 

My how things do change.
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"We never really grow up.  We only learn how to act in public."
--Bryan White

Always Turning Always Changing

11/9/2020

 
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Mandala on a black Zendala tile using metallic, stardust and white gellyrolls and white chalk pencil. Also a metallic gold Prismacolor pencil. Tangles are Shattuck, Betweed, and Pepper.
I did this last night just before I went to sleep.
My thought in this moment, this morning:
The Wheel of Change rolls on, every moment of every day. 
Let's roll.
"The thing that lies at the foundation of positive change, the way I see it, is service to a fellow human being."
--Lech Walesa

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    ABOUT ME

     I'm a textile artist (traditional rug hooking, punch needle rug hooking, and other textile arts), long-time meditator, meditation teacher and coach, focused on learning about the interplay of art, creativity, and mindfulness every day. 

    I am also a Certified Zentangle® Teacher (CZT 11) and a student of drawing and of the tarot.

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  • ...a blog on art, creativity, and mindfulness