Category Archives: Zentangle

40+ Students Last Week

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What a week!  As you know, I consider all of my beginner tanglers as my “tangling babies”!  Well, this week I helped over 40 people become tanglers!  It is really quite exciting for me to be able to share the Art of Zentangle with so many people.

Newton Mosaic

Newton Mosaic

Here is a mosaic of the work that we did in the Beginner Workshop at The Carriage Factory Art Gallery in Newton.  I am always amazed at how wonderful these turn out.  Most people who take this workshop have not created a Zentangle before.  It’s so empowering to create these and realize that everyone has the talent and capability to create art.

After the Beginner Workshop, we also had a Tangled Ink & Watercolor Workshop.  I always have fun with this class, too.  Everyone seems to especially enjoy working with the pearlized and metallic watercolors.

Playing with Watercolor

Playing with Watercolor

Here’s a tip…when I tangle over the watercolor, I use one of the Apprentice pens (Pigma 05).  This is not to be confused with the Micron 05 pen.  The Apprentice pen has a hard, plastic nib.  Using a Micron pen on top of watercolor eats away at the nib.  But the Apprentice pen holds up quite nicely.  I am not sure where you can buy these types of pens.  As a CZT, I am able to get mine from Zentangle.  If you are interested, just call or email me; I’d be happy to sell them to you ($2.99 + tax + S/H).

Happy Tangling!

Bonnie 🙂

What??????

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I have a friend who blogs just about every day and I’m looking at my site and it’s been two months!  I’m thinking I must be the slowest blogger on the planet.  So she says to me, “you need to blog more, just put in a tip or two if you can’t think of anything.”  Well, it’s not that I can’t think of anything, I have plenty going on in my life, it’s just that I can’t seem to find the time with everything else that I do.  You’d think with me being unemployed now for four months that I’d have plenty of time, but alas, I’m busier than ever.  In fact, I don’t know how I ever had time for a J.O.B.!  I am sure that some of you can empathize with me on that score.  It seems that many people I talk to who are “retired”, whether of their own accord or through circumstances like mine, are busier than a hen on a hot tin roof.  This is as close of a picture of a hen on a hot tin roof as I could find (actually, Foghorn Leghorn is a rooster and he’s laying in the sun on the ground, not on the roof, but beggars can’t be choosers, as the saying goes).  If you don’t know who Foghorn Leghorn is, check out this Foghorn Leghorn link to watch these great classic Warner Bros. cartoons.

FoghornSo, here’s my small, very small tip for the day.  When my micron pen begins skipping, as if the ink is running out, I don’t like using it to create my Zentangles.  So what I do is, I wrap a small piece of masking tape around it so that I can use it for fill in.  There’s still plenty of ink left in it for fill in so I don’t like throwing them away, and the tape keeps me from picking it up and thinking it’s a good pen to start tangling with.  Hope that’s of help.

With that being said, I’m way behind on reporting what I’ve been doing, so my goal is to put up a couple of posts a week to try to catch up.  As Chief Cook and Bottle Washer my time seems limited, but I do enjoy writing and sharing, so let’s see if I can keep this up.

Thanks to my friend, Gail Foley, for giving me the push!

Happy Tangling!  Bonnie 🙂

Dallas Divas

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Suzanne, me, and Angie

Suzanne, me, and Angie

I spent almost five whole days with some of the most talented and amazing CZTs in Dallas this week!  Suzanne McNeill (author and artist extrordinaire), Angie Vangalis (calligrapher, graphic artist, CZT Marketing Diva), Marney Makridakis

4' x 3' Floor Cloth We Tangled

4′ x 3′ Floor Cloth We Tangled

(author and ArtellaLand inventor) and a group of the most fabulous, ZENTABULOUS CZTs in the world!  We gathered for a Business Promotion program for Certified Zentangle Teachers to help us better understand the world of promoting our Zentangle businesses.  We discussed so much my head hurts!  Getting started, marketing tools, getting ready for class, classroom environment, running a class, email marketing, social media and more.  Added to that were different projects we had to complete.  It was so much fun sharing and learning from everyone else.  There was also a bonus workshop where we learned lettering with various pens, colors, and markers.  It has provided me with a whole new level to add to my Zentangles.

I’ll be posting some of the things I learned in the near future.  Right now, I’m still recuperating from staying up past 1:00 a.m. and driving to and from Dallas (six hours each way)!  Until then…

Happy Tangling, Bonnie

Workshops Posted

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Watercolor

Watercolor

You asked for it, you got it!  The Tangled Ink and Watercolor Workshop will be offered again in September, along with my advanced workshop – Zentangle Too!

Beginner workshops are offered every last Saturday of each month unless noted.

Register by clicking the link.

Come on out to enjoy the fun and learn some new tangles and techniques!

Happy Tangling!  Bonnie

Tangled Ink - still needs tangling!

Tangled Ink – still needs tangling!

The Beauty of Zentangle

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Beauty of Zentangle by Suzanne McNeill, CZT and Cindy Shepard, CZT

Beauty of Zentangle by Suzanne McNeill, CZT and Cindy Shepard, CZT

The Beauty of Zentangle, by Suzanne McNeill, CZT, and Cindy Shepard, CZT, is in the process of printing and will be available around mid-September.  This book has “Inspirational Examples from 137 Tangle Artists Worldwide”, of WHICH I AM ONE!  It is so exciting for me to be included in this book (although I must admit, I have no idea what my page looks like).  Suzanne and Cindy contacted me to be included in this book while I was out of town in Massachusetts last May.  I had no access to my computer at that time so I was unable to provide photos.  They did their best by trying to recapture pictures from my website which were apparently minuscule when they tried to retrieve them (as most of you know, I am technically challenged!!).  I’m not sure how they performed their wizardry, but they must have managed something, because I’m on Page 94!  So, it will be a surprise for you and a surprise for me 🙂

I will have books in stock if any of you are interested in purchasing.  Once they are in, you can stop by to pick your book up.

The publishing price is $24.99; however, if you order through me BY SEPTEMBER 1, 2013, and pick up from me once they are in, I am offering my students and followers a Special Price of $18.99.  Contact me if you are interested and I will put you on the list – payment can be made at time of pickup.

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Thank you for your response. ✨

Sandy’s Blog

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One of the blogs that I keep up with is from Sandy Bartholomew, CZT, who has written a number of books and who has provided great inspiration to many people interested in Zentangle.  Her most recent post was quite interesting!  The part that I found to be most interesting was that she re-posted a blog from 2009, way before I even knew what Zentangle was. It just reaffirmed my belief in Zentangle, and why I create them and want to share the process with people.  I hope you enjoy the post as much as I did.

Sandy Bartholomew’s post can be found here.  You may want to bookmark her blog to read…she’s quite the gal!

Happy Tangling!

Bonnie

Prairie Quilt Guild, Wichita, KS

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Lecture Hall

Lecture Hall

Over a year ago I contracted with the Prairie Quilt Guild to present a lecture and workshop on Zentangle.  Who would have known that a year later, when it was time to do the presenting, that I wouldn’t have to take off from work to complete this?? Things happen for a reason, no?  I was able to do my presentations and workshops without worrying about using my PTO (paid time off).  Plus, it was a paid lecture/workshop event, so I even made a little money (good thing…bills have to be paid)!!!  The morning lecture had about 200+ people and the evening lecture had about 100+ people, so I was quite excited to expose Zentangle to this group of quilters!  A few of them had already experimented with Zentangle on their quilting and were looking forward to taking the workshops – they were very excited about translating Zentangle to their quilting craft!!

The new document camera!!  Ain't it sweet??

The new document camera!! Ain’t it sweet??

The program was a wonderful two-day event where I met many of the members, had the fun of enjoying the “Show and Share” – seeing quilts different members had completed and were showing off on stage, and just being in awe of the beautiful work and amazing talent I was surrounded by!  I gave a 45-minute lecture presentation about Zentangle in the morning and evening sessions on the first day, and then on the following day we held a Zentangle 101 (Beginner) workshop and, following that, Zentangle Too – the advanced workshop.  I was quite excited about presenting the workshops because I finally purchased a document camera and projector, so now my students can see me working on a tangle on the “big screen” in real time.  It is so much more fun than the whiteboard or the chalkboard!!  A picture on the left…

Beginner Tiles Mosaic

Beginner Tiles Mosaic

Advanced Black Tiles Mosiac

Advanced Black Tiles Mosiac

The workshops were well received.  I had 16 participants who attended both workshops.  For the beginner workshop we learned the basics and completed a tile which is shown in the mosaic on the left.  In the advanced workshop we worked on black tiles.  All I can say is ZENTABULOUS!!  The black tile mosaic is shown on the right.

Okay, so I’m getting a little better at posting these pictures, but still need to learn more about it.  I finally went to the help section on WordPress to see if I could figure out anything and I learned a teeny, tiny, little bit as evidenced in this post – the pictures are at least are synchronized with the paragraphs.  I’m still trying to figure out how to get the pictures to go across the face of the page in a row…eventually I’ll take better pictures, too, so y’all just gotta be patient with me 🙂

Tween Tangler, Holly, and Grandmom

Tween Tangler, Holly, and Grandmom

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI have to tell you a story, too!  While we were in the workshop, one of the quilt members stopped by to introduce us to her granddaughter, Holly (to show us what Holly had created).  Holly had recently attended quilt camp and had come to the meeting the day before with her grandmother to sit in on the lecture I gave about Zentangle.  After the lecture she and grandma purchased a couple of Zentangle books I had for sale.  Holly promptly went home and created a Zentangle even before she opened the books.  She had seen the pictures on the screen during the lecture and enjoyed it so much that she just stated tangling!!   This is one of the reasons I love sharing and teaching Zentangle!  You just never know who will catch the fever!

Me and Susan

Me and Susan

AND, I would be remiss if I didn’t give a shout out to those who helped make this program possible for me – Evelyn Gernaat, PQG President; Susan McMillan, VP of Programs; Donna Loehr, Workshops; Shirley Prouse, Publicity; and Mary Ann Smith for being my helper in the workshops! Without your incredible efforts and coordination this would not have been possible! ZENTABULOUS!!!

Happy Tangling (in the Land of OZ),
Bonnie

Silk Scarf Workshop

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At the end of June I headed to Irving, Texas, to visit with Angie Vangalis.  Angie is quite a gal!!  She works with the Texas Lettering Arts Council and puts on amazing workshops with Zentangle.  I was fortunate enough last year to attend the CZT (Certified Zentangle Teacher) Marketing program she offered.  This time she offered a silk scarf painting workshop and it was great!!  It was a small class, which was nice because we received more individualized attention.  Plus we had an opportunity to get to know her better.  I find it amazing that some people can accomplish so much in their busy lives.  I must be time challenged because I can’t seem to find the time to complete all the projects I want to complete, even now that I’m not “working”.  “Oy vey” (as they say in my country of NY)…where did I go wrong?? Here are some pictures from the workshop.  I have to tell you, I will never look at a handmade, painted scarf in the same way again.  Now I know how much time and effort goes into making such a piece.  And the samples that Angie had of work she and some others have done was extraordinary!! Again, sorry my pictures are always out of skew…I’m working on it! Happy Tangling…B.

Color Wheel

Color Wheel

Beginning to Paint

Beginning to Paint

Drying

Drying

Angie's Scarf

Angie’s Scarf

Angie's Scarf

Angie’s Scarf

Dragonfly Scarf
Dragonfly Scarf

 

Catch My Breath!

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It has been quite a whirlwind on my end of the world.  But, if you know anything about Wichita, it is quite windy here and those pesky little funnels show up all the time.  No, we didn’t get a tornado, but my life sure feels like it sometimes!

It’s been about a month now since my job at Via Christi Hospital was eliminated.  To say I am enjoying my time off is an understatement; however, I do know that I will have to go back to work eventually because the bills will not magically disappear.  And, unfortunately, I haven’t won the lottery yet!

In the meantime, I’ve been keeping myself busy with learning new things (I took several workshops regarding WordPress, Taxes, and Business) and I’ve done several workshops myself sharing Zentangle.

Zentangle a la carte was a success!  A number of workshops were offered in this grouping – Beginner, Advanced, Framing on the Cheap, Tangled Ink & Watercolor, and a paperweight making workshop.

Pictures are below – we ran out of time to actually tangle the Tangled Ink piece, so the students took them home for homework.  The watercolor ones dried quickly and we were able to tangle those.

Art of ZentangleFraming on the Cheap
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Tangled Ink
Watercolor

The gentleman taking my workshop is Stuart and I haveIMG_0428 to show you what lovely work he does. He is a pyrographer (the art of woodburning) and he carved and tangled the most lovely cane!! Check it out!!

Stuart Countryman and Cane
Stuart's cane

Well, it appears that even with those classes I took, I STILL cannot get WordPress to put the pictures in for me the way I want them — it is sooooo frustrating! If any of you have WordPress experience and feel the urge to share with me, I’m willing and able to listen!!

More to follow….until then, Happy Tangling!!!