Category Archives: Uncategorized

I’m Still Alive

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I find it hard to believe that I haven’t said anything here for about four years. A lot has happened over those four years. Here’s a quick breakdown:

Went back to work full time, so by the time I got home in the evening, I was too tired to do anything else!

Worked for three years and then my mom fell ill. I went on Family Leave to care for her and lost her in October of 2018. That’s when I decided to actually “retire” from the work force.

In January of 2019, I decided to re-boot my other business, so that took my time away from my artwork.

Which brings us to 2020… Yowzers!! What a year!! I put my house up for sale at the beginning of March. Within two weeks’ time, we were going under with COVID and I took it off the market. Not having family here (except for my stepdad), I really had no responsibilities except to make sure he and I remained safe. I did A LOT of binge watching, sitting around, thinking I “should” do something but not really finding the push or drive to do it. So here we are in July now. I’ve taken a few art classes for myself to help me “Prime the Pump”. I’ve learned how to use Zoom and want to start sharing Zentangle classes online.

I put up a new Group on Facebook, so please join it: https://www.facebook.com/groups/591816075072680/

Keep an eye open — I’m working through a program to learn about doing Facebook ads in order to market my classes. I’ll be doing a couple of freebies to get up and running, and I’m sure you’ll want to take advantage of that!

Keep me in your thoughts… Happy Tangling! Bon 😉

Update…

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It’s been almost a month since my last post and, as usual, much has been happening…

I had an opportunity to paint with a student recently that had never painted on canvas before.  Mind you, she is a creative type, but I was just blown away by the piece she completed with my instruction. Here are a couple of pictures…

 

Beginning Zentangle classes are still ongoing.  Here are some pictures of my most recent classes.

 

The next Viva Art & Vino painting class at Three Pea Consignment is scheduled for August 20.  We’ll be painting Whoo Whoo The Owl.  You can register here if you are interested in attending that event. Bring a bottle of wine and bring a friend to share in this special painting time with you!

 

The Annual Chalk Festival was held at the beginning of August and we had great weather and fun!  If you scroll down through the comments in the link, you’ll see that Ralph Joest, Mutual of America, picked up my house chalk painting.  This was my first time participating as an artist.  I’d love to do again next year and have more of you join us.  It’s for a good cause and it’s wonderful to see all the art that is created.  Plus there’s YOB (frozen yogurt) right in the square and makes for a great treat after a long, hot day!

 

The Wichita Tanglers have been very busy working on Christmas ornaments that will be sold at the ZenXpressions Art Show at the end of September.  The money we collect will be given to a local charity.  If you haven’t submitted your application for the show, please get cracking!  It’s less than two months away!  Don’t worry if you don’t know what you will be entering, just complete the application to the best of your ability and get your payment in to hold your spot.  Titles of the pieces can be provided later, and the artwork itself isn’t due until closer to the show.  If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to call me.  You can download the application instructions here, and the application for entry here.

 

Vision Quest

Vision Quest

 

Those of you who are interested in exploring your creative side on a greater scale might consider participating in Vision Quest.  If you want to create change, to invest in what you know is POSSIBLE for you, and to open up and expand the way you feel about your life, Vision Quest starts September 11.  As your Creatively Fit Coach, I’ll be working right along side of you, to hold you accountable, tailor the experience to your needs and love you through the process.  Everything you need to know can be found here.

 

 

 

 

Botanica has requested that I return again, this time to share creating Zentangle Christmas Cards (a couple of examples are shown).  The event will be held November 5th if you are interested, and is for anyone – beginners and advanced alike (21 years and older, please, as you are able to bring wine with you).  Botanica has not yet posted the link for this workshop…it should appear on their events calendar soon.

 

I think that’s plenty to keep you up-to-date on what’s happening at Emerald City Tangles Studio!

Keep on Tanglin’!!  B 🙂

Infinite Possibilities…VISION QUEST

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Vision Quest

Vision Quest

My coach, Whitney Freya, is always talking about infinite possibilities…”Just like the blank canvas, infinite possibilities exist in the art that is your life,”  and “Life is the canvas of your soul”.  That is so, so true.  I had NO IDEA at the beginning of 2015 what an adventure I was in for.  Sometime at the very beginning of the year I posted some art I was working on in a Facebook post and it prompted an old friend to comment, “you need to be a part of our tribe”.  What the heck?  It turns out this friend had taken the Creatively Fit program from Whitney a few years before and was thoroughly enjoying the “infinite possibilities” that had now become a large part of her life. Always being open to new opportunities and because I was beginning to allow my creative juices to once again flow, I asked her to connect me to Whitney so I could learn more.

I knew in my heart that I wanted to create more. My Zentangle training had awakened my Artist Within and now I wanted to continue on that journey. Although I grew up in a family of artists, I never had any formal training, and I always thought that I needed formal training to be called an artist.  One of the first lessons I learned from Whitney was that I was an artist!  My Artist Within wanted to get out and begin participating in the art that was my life!  Because, you see, just as you create art from a blank canvas, you create the life you want on the canvas of your soul.  How exciting is that??  Although I wanted to be creative, I needed guidance. Whitney became that guiding force through her program, now called VISION QUEST.

As I began creating art on a daily basis (even for as little as five minutes), I began to understand that my right brain had been dormant for way too long.  I’m a pretty organized person (if you go into my closet you’ll see that all my shoe boxes are labeled…okay, okay, maybe a touch of OCD – LOL) and I keep track of my life with my calendar and to-do lists.  My left brain was so strong that my right brain was crying, “help me, I’m melting!”  My left brain was the dominant force and my right brain really, really wanted to have a say.  Through the Creatively Fit/Vision Quest experience, my right brain is getting stronger every day, providing me with insight and understanding of the infinite possibilities that can and are occurring in my life these days.  I’m now using art making as an expression of my life!  The connection between personal creativity and personal growth and fulfillment is real and your Artist Within knows it.

YOU have an “Artist Within.” Your Artist Within lives in your right hemisphere and is the part of you that thinks intuitively, fearlessly, and creatively. You might also call your Artist Within your Higher Self, your Soul or Spirit.  It is infinitely creative, infinite in its perspective, and the only part of you that can CREATE miracles, joy, passion, and radical AUTHENTICITY. ART making is SO much more than creating product; it’s about creating a life that is ART!

So, would you like to ignite your passion, experience more ah-ha’s, enjoy more excitement and feel less stressed?  Join me on the VISION QUEST journey this September (open the EVENTS tab).  If you are anything like me, you’ve spent hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on books, online courses and other “stuff” that is probably STILL sitting on your bookshelf and in your computer! The Vision Quest experience will provide you with accountability and you will never be the same!  I will accompany you on that journey every step of the way! Commit to four months – change WILL happen.  Your Artist Within WILL be unleashed!

Here is a quote from another fellow Rainbow Warrior Vision Quester.  Her words echo exactly what I feel…

“Before the Creatively Fit Program I felt very stuck, and while I intellectually took responsibility for my life, I had repressed my soul’s callings and labeled them as ‘impractical’…In spite of having many ‘successes’ and blessings, life felt very ‘heavy’ and ‘quietly desperate’ (Thoreau)….Immersing myself in Creating & the Creatively Fit program has brought such New Life and has helped me to see possibilities. While I’m very much still on this Journey, I more fully ‘own’ truly being the Artist of My Life. I’m more accepting of letting things flow vs. needing to have detailed plans. I’m becoming more brave in putting my art ‘out there’ and am filled with new energy & excitement. This program has truly changed my life and has greatly supported me in excavating my true self.”

YOU can become part of this “tribe” THIS SEPTEMBER 2015!

You want to create change, to invest in what you know is POSSIBLE for you, and to open up and expand the way you feel about your life. Your Creatively Fit Coach [ME :)] is here to hold you accountable, tailor the experience to your needs and love you through the process.

It starts SEPTEMBER 11, 2016, and ends JANUARY 11, 2016!  Here’s where you’ll find all the information — Open the EVENTS tab once you arrive at the site.  We are combining personal creativity, art making, spirituality, self-awareness and personal transformation in a whole new way. Not just for a weekend, or an evening. It won’t be experienced on an isolated page somewhere in cyber space. It will be personal, interactive, communal and expansive. Big change requires time and integration, guidance and inspiration, support and contrast, creativity and courage.

Four months from now, you won’t remember what it was like to NOT be surrounded by your own original art, your talismans and messages from your Soul.

You WILL remember your purpose, your passion, your own special “secret sauce” that is what you, and only you, can bring to the world. You WILL remember that, in fact, you are the sole CREATOR of your experience and you WILL remember how to take back that power.

Watch out world. Here YOU come!

Viva Art & Vino

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A NEW ADVENTURE!

Kudos to Kadinsky

Kudos to Kandinsky

Come join me as we debut a paint and sip class, VIVA ART & VINOon June 18, 2015!

Well, not just any paint and sip class. There are a couple of things that makes this different than most of the paint and sip classes in the area.  First of all, I’ve been studying under Whitney Freya of Creatively Fit (I’ll soon be able to say CCFC after my name – Certified Creatively Fit Coach), an AMAZING WOMAN to say the least, one who has helped me access my infinite possibilities…

And, secondly, most paint and sip classes are easy and fun (and we certainly want them to be THAT…after all, it’s all about the Socialization, Fun, and Relaxation for a few hours, plus the Wine helps, too!)…BUT, what if you want MORE???

If you want MORE, where do you go???

When I say MORE, I’m talking about:

  • MORE MEANING in your life
  • MORE OPPORTUNITY in your life
  • MORE REJUVENATION in your life
  • MORE ENJOYMENT in your life

We live in such a harried, stressful world nowadays.  Things to do, people to see, places to go…rush, rush, rush.  Everyone clamoring for our time and energy!  The tech world has provided us with so many ways of communication — phones, tablets, computers, watches — that we sometimes don’t even look up to see into the eyes of the person we’re sitting with!!

The eyes are the window to the soul (paraphrasing Shakespeare).

What are their eyes telling you?  Are they happy, sad, lonely?  What do people see when they look into YOUR eyes?

“The whole culture is telling you to hurry, while the art tells you to take your time.  Always listen to the ART (heART)” – Junot Diaz (again, I changed it slightly by using the word heART).

Have you been craving something MORE in your life but don’t know where to start?

Start with the paint and sip classes at VIVA ART & VINO.  Feel the fun of creativity, sense the serenity or sensationalism that comes from creating art, realize the reaction to creating something that isn’t right or wrong.  If you enjoy all that and you want to delve deeper into what ART can offer you, then move into the VIVA ART & LIFE series (link coming soon). This is where you’ll find your Artist Within, where your untapped potential has been sitting and waiting, where your dreams and hopes have been left dormant and are screaming to get out!

Oh, I can hear the excuses now!!

  • “I don’t have time”
  • “I can’t really draw/paint/whatever”
  • “I can’t afford hundreds of dollars to learn all that”

The excuses will always come, trust me.  But, I can show you in one clarity session that you have time; I can show you in one or two lessons that you CAN be an artist (maybe not one who sells their artwork and makes millions of dollars, but you ARE the artist [of your life] nonetheless); and I can show you how to bring out your Artist Within to resurrect your dreams and hopes without spending a fortune.  

You get to decide if and how deep you want to go.  It’s all up to you as to which way your journey’s path will wind. Need someone to walk with you for a while?  Let me know.  We can walk for an hour, a day, a weekend, a week, or a month.  VIVA ART & LIFE – Live It!

With Affection and Gratitude – Bonnie

Zentangle Cases

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For those of you looking for a slim, little case to carry your tiles in, I have the perfect solution.  I recently received a supply of old floppy disk holders that fit your tiles perfectly!  You can carry up to 10-12 tiles in this case that snaps shut.

Zentangle Tile Holder - Open

Zentangle Tile Holder

It easily fits into your purse or pocket and you always have a fresh supply of blank tiles available, as well as a way to carry your completed tiles around without damaging them.  If you are interested, I will have them available for purchase at any of the workshops I’m doing, or you can email me at EmeraldCityTangles@yahoo.com to order.  They are $1.50 each.  Pink only.

Zentangle Tile Holder - Open

Zentangle Tile Holder – Open

Zentangle Tile Holder - Closed

Zentangle Tile Holder – Closed

 

New Pictures

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Here are a few new pictures from some of my recent workshops.  The flowers are from a former student, Stuart, who attended one of our Tangle-and-Talk sessions.  These are from his garden.  Very beautiful and could be drawn and tangled as a ZIA piece.

Hope everyone is having a “Tangling” summer!  B.

Tangle Print Impressions

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I have a new workshop scheduled, entitled “Tangle Print Impressions”.  This is where you’ll learn to carve and print a tangle relief print to create an original work of art.  You can utilize this process for creating cards, stationery, journal papers, wrapping paper, fabric prints and more.  Shown below are some pictures. From three black & white ones are Bunzo, Hollibaugh, and Keeko.  You can see that the Christmas card is two different prints (one black, one green).  I used the tangle “Hollibaugh” and then tangled within the Christmas balls hanging from it.

Tangle Print Impressions

Tangle Print Impressions

Here’s the link if you are interested in reading more and/or registering

Tangle Print Impressions

Yellow Zen Christmas Card

Yellow Zen Christmas Card

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve also been meaning to share some information one of my tanglers shared with me recently regarding white pens.  I know some of you may not have worked with white pens on the black tiles, but they make for interesting pieces.  I’ve also seen somewhere in the Facebook posts comments about white pens, so you might want to try a search there if you have questions (as well as using Google).  I just thought Stuart’s thoughts might be helpful, plus if any of you have additional thoughts to share, please feel free to comment.

Stuart writes: “I have been searching for a white pen, basically since I took your class last winter. I just can’t seem to find anything that works for me. I have tried a couple of different ball point gel ink pens. They all seem to have the same problem, the ink just seems to pour out of them. It is real hard to control the flow and impossible to get a fine line. I’d all but given up on ever being able to do fine detail work in white. Then I happened to try a dip pen and a bottle of white ink. Walla! I think I am on to something. First I tried a Speedball B6. Still too wide but at least the ink doesn’t pour off it. Then I tried a Crow Quill and I think I finally found what I am looking for. A nice crisp fine line. I definitely need to practice with it but I am liking what I am seeing so far. It is a hassle to have to clean it CONSTANTLY to make it work right. And there is the possibility of spilling an ink well all over. But it is better than the alternative. I really wish someone made a nib style pen in white. I can’t understand why none of the pen manufacturers do.”

Happy Tangling!  B.

White on Black

White on Black

 

A Few Changes…

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The “Tangle & Talk” that is normally hosted at my studio on the last Saturday of the month will have a slight change to it for April (the 26th).  Instead of meeting at my studio, we are gathering at 10 am at Scrapfunatic in Andover to enjoy their “garage sale”.  And after shopping we’ll head out for enjoy lunch together.  If you’d like to participate in that outing, please register at http://www.tangle-and-talk.eventbrite.com so we know who plans on coming.  That will help us better decide where we might be able to go for lunch and if we’ll need a larger-than- normal seating arrangement.

Also, because of this outing, the regularly scheduled Begin Zentangle workshop will have a time change.  Instead of meeting from 1:00 pm – 3:30 pm as usually scheduled, we’ll be meeting from 2:30 pm – 5:00 pm.  You can register for that workshop at http://www.beginzentangle.eventbrite.com.

HAPPY TANGLING!

Classes

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Hi one and all…

It’s been quite a 2014 already!  I was away on a cruise for a couple of weeks in January, returning home the last day plagued by a sore throat and congestion.  After checking with the doctor it was determined I did not have strep throat, but just a virus which would keep it’s hold on me for another two weeks before basically allowing me to return to normal.  Today is Day 17 of that illness and I still have a residual cough, some congestion and up to a couple of days ago a sore throat.  I haven’t been sick in over 15 YEARS, so it was a real shocker to me!!  In any event, that hasn’t slowed me down any – LOL.  I have taught several classes and also picked up a part-time job during that time frame.  Needless to say, the day I started my job the boss was kind enough to tell me to go home and not come in the next day…I guess he could see how crummy I felt and he didn’t need me infecting his other employees.

So now that I’m kind of back in the saddle.  I have a few classes coming up in case you are interested or know of someone who might be.  You can click the “Workshops and Demos” tab or you can go directly to these links to sign up for a Beginner Workshop on March 8 in the morning or on March 29 in the afternoon.  Both are being held on Saturday.  The other workshop is the Tangled Ink & Watercolor class, which I’m holding on Thursday, February 27.  These classes will be held at my home studio.

Here are a couple of pictures from my cruise…don’t you just feel those warm, balmy breezes on your face???  The one in the middle is from a curtain panel that I thought might make for good tangling.  I’m anxious for Spring to come forth and bring it’s fresh green color to the world.

Happy Tangling…B.

Cruise 2014Cruise 2014IMG_1074