zendala dare #38

At first I thought this design was rather complicated, but the thing with tangling is its ONE STROKE AT A TIME. So thats what I did, or rather, one shape at a time. I am amazed and grateful that Erin is able to continue to post the challenges during this busy season plus go to work!!Thanks Erin.

I might try a coloured one tonight. Be interesting to see how different it would be. Just noticed I put my initials upside down. Duh.I have been selecting the tangles as I go through the 2012 selection. Am looking forward to the 2013 one!!

Kittens and flower colour

Today I just wanted to do a human interest blog about some beautiful things...

Two weeks ago this family member "Blackie"had to be put to sleep. She was such a darling. Cat lovers will know what I'm talking about. She was 21 years old and almost blind plus her legs were failing her. So the big decision was made. Not so bad for me as I choofed off to Tassie. My darling hubby took her to the vet. When I returned 5 days later, I wondered how Christmas might be affected, but didnt want to rush into buying another cat. Two days later our friend across the road told us of 3 kittens wanting a home. Next day we check them out.."Oh we only want to look" Famous last words. Once we saw these tabbies we were smitten. What a fun time Christmas was being entertained by these two delightful little ones.

Welcome to Maxi and Millie (both girls!!)

Flowers have been blooming so wonderfully now its our summer I just had to share these. We even had a neighbour congratulate us on our colourful garden. 



Looking forward to seeing this Jacaranda tree grow really BIG!



I just loved this combination in one pot! 



First time I have planted this amazing Petunia!

zendala dare #37(2)

Thought I'd try another colour scheme for Zendala Dare 37, again using coloured .005 pens and prismacolour Verithin pencils.

zendala dare 37

At first I was stumped with all the straight lines, but as I got into this challenge I quite enjoyed it, especially using the new tangle Diva Dance.



Media used coloured .005 fineliners and Prismacolour Verithin pencils.



continuing the 100th Diva Challenge....

Told you I liked this latest tangle. I did get the name mixed up though, it is called Diva Dance. I think that's great!.Thought I'd journey into colour and a zendala. The first one is brown on Favini cream paper tile. The second is a zendala using one of Zentangles prestrung zendalas. I used Sue Jacobs method of using the tombow markers to do the background, laying the water on the area first, then applying secondary colour (scribble on plastic then using a brush dab into the scribble then apply to wet card). So thats FIVE  I have done using this tangle. I wonder if I will do any more???

Have a delightful Christmas.

"Jesus is the reason for the season"

100th Diva Challenge

A landmark challenge this week! For such an auspicious occasion it is certainly fitting for Rick and Maria (creators of Zentangle) to provide the challenge. This challenge is met with a brand new tangle for us. "Let's Dance". Yay! Celebrate!! I got so into the tangle I did three straight off!





My four days in Tasmania seemed like two weeks we fitted so much into it. Its taking a while to recover but was worth it.



To prove we have arrived in Hobart!!



The hotel we stayed in on 17th floor



A third of the view from the hotel!



Could be Europe? No, its Hobart!



Jan and I out for a nice fish meal.



The view from the restaurant





Another night we had Prawn Caesar Salad. One serve was enough for the two of us!!

A19th century church

Zendala Dare #28 revisited and Diva #99 coloured

This will be my last post before I hit the road (and plane) to the wild south of Tassie!! My first jaunt as a 'retiree' da da. Not for long though, just four days yippee. As Arno says 'I'll be back'

Managed to do a coloured DC 99

I'll just pop anotherie on here. I so liked Zendala Dare #28 that I keep doing it!! I decided to copy the design before I shaded it or coloured it, as I plan to do both!! Never know, someone else may like to as well.

Diva Challenge #99

This week we are challenged by Margaret Bremner to create a string from four looped sides. I had to practice this a few times until I had a selection of loops I felt happy to place tangles in. i think the result is ok, but a bit "tight". so I shall try a colour one today and post tomorrow.

Let stalk strine in art and Coloured zendala dare #35

Managed to complete a coloured z d 35 last night. See below. I used Gelly Rolls again, but shaded with Verithin Prismacolour pencils and not applying shading with watered down gelly roll colour as I did previously.

I finally finished cleaning and packing up at school today. Phew! What a relief. I was surprised I actually finished it all! While I was going through my work and pictures from years past students had done, made me quite enthusiastic about writing my "art book". Not too sure which audience but will put it together first and then see which direction it takes itself.

Another interesting find was the picture below. I wrote this out to both encourage my students (years 11 and 12) to work a bit harder and have a laught at the same time. I don't actually thought it was funny, they were too young. There was a book written quite a few decades ago called " Let Stalk Strine" written by Afferbec Lauder. (You have to say the words to get the joke) It was a take off (making fun of) the Australian language. Often you wouldn't understand anything until you actually read it out aloud. There were funny pictures to go with it. Very drole. ocassionally I will email a friend in this way of talking and get a similar reply. Its quite funny because you wont have a clue what its about until you say it aloud! Sooooo.. see if you can understand this ...(you may need to print it out first)

Zendala Dare #35 first finished piece.

Finally finished the template Erin encouraged us to create, working from a 'paper snowflake'. This was the template below.

I did a small piece, 4" x 4", using a  black .05 Micron. Might be a bit crowded.

Zendala Dare #35 and last day

I had my final lesson with students last Monday. They weren't my normal class, they had already left. At the end of each year our school have a week called "Service week". During this week the Year 9 and volunteers from other classes provide 'service' for other people. Some go to special campgrounds where they do gardening for 3 days, some help clean the school, some do cooking and sing for retirement villages. Those who cook and sing also make  Christmas cards which will go with the goodies they have made, which get bundled into a present for the residents. What a special day it is for them when the students visit. I had the task of  guiding the students in making the cards. There were 7 students and 1 1/2 hours in which to make 80 cards!!!! Understandably some were simply a hint of a card, but some were quite artistic. I don't have any cards to show but here are some of the students.

For Zendala Dare this week, Erin is making us work hard and create our own zendala from a paper snowflake. The idea is really good, and it is good to be challenged. But I am already geometrically challenged thank you. Anyway, I did what I was shown to do. Uh oh. First attempt was hopeless. Second go a bit better and the small snowflake for a tile was ridiculous! As some are doing this with me, I thought I'd put on my design to share here. Those who aren't 'Zendala Dare"-ing might be interested and have a go too.



This is the second 'snowflake'

The snowflake is then traced around and tidied up and anything added if you wish to. My  final drawing is below and any flaws will be covered with tangles. I think it will be quite interesting to see if the shape remains when completed. Actually it looks a bit better on the screen than in real life....

ZENDALA DARE # 34 and PPF

This week is flying by and nearly gone!! One week left of my "Art teacher" identity! Had that now for 50 years!! I should have enough info to write a book about ideas for art hey? I have certainly collected enough "stuff" over the 14 years in current job, but then I guess art teachers are involved with 'stuff' every day and always think 'old stuff' is sure to come  in handy one day in the future.

This weeks zendala dare had me labouring over which and what patterns to use. I tried out a few and left things till the next day. I have been hankering to use my Gelly roll pens for a while, so used them for the zendala. I was quite pleased with the result.

The little piece underneath was worked using Derwent Inktense watercolour pencils and white paint. Looks a bit juvenile but here's hoping I will improve with practice in 2013! Life is a journey of improvements.

diva's challenge #98

I counted the days I have left at school..seven!! It's hard to believe that's the end of an era and one identity. I've been an art teacher for so long, I can't imagine not being one. I'm sure I will keep on teaching in some way or another, just not in a secondary class room. It's both daunting and exciting at the same time as who knows what I will end up doing or going to............................

This week's challenge fron the Diva is to use the tangle called "keenies". A simple design, I saw the challenge as using it in a variety of ways.

diva's#97 again

I have been playing with  watercolour pencils to see if I could get a "painterly" effect. Not wonderful but first effort. What to do on top..why not a stringless tangle?



My painty attempt .......

I found the pens didnt take too kindly to the surface on which I worked, so I had to use three or four of them to get the job done. Unwilling to leave it at that I touched it up a bit with my Verithins and a white gell pen. I'm not too pleased with the result but I did enjoy the process which I believe is the important thing. But I do think the process has potential





AEDM#30

The month has certainly gone quickly. Last day for Art Every Day Month. I have enjoyed visiting new blogs and seeing the creativity of others, which always inspires. My last piece is a zentangle inspired art piece. This is diferent from zentangle because it has colour. For this one I decided to use one colour for the shading rather than use lead pencil (graphite). For the string I used my initial in cursive. I like to try something new when I can, not that this is new but I haven't done it for a while, usually I do more than one colour, and simply abstract strings.

AEDM#29 and PPF2 &w/c pencils

Hi all in Paint Party Friday! Although my pic is using watercolour pencils, I did finish off with a wee bit of white paint. I plan to make my next piece a painting but don't hold your breath! I have just received a large batch of Inktense pencils chosen one by one, so will be itching to use them all!! Praps I should make more of a "painterly" picture as opposed to just colouring-in something. Wait and see. Thing is there is competition for my time. I have just purchased a Samsung Galaxy 10.1 Note. All it seems to want from me is passwords galore, all of which I insert are "incorrect". Does anyone else get that stuff??? I must be a bimbo or something. At least I have printed out the user manual!

Nearly at the end of Art Everyday Month. Thanks to Leah for giving us a push to explore our creative side a bit more, and to those who have visited my blog, I hope you'll come back!

AEDM#28 Double pencil

Reading one of Margaret Bremner's posts this week about using double pencils for zentangle strings, thought I'd " 'ava go"!

AEDM#27 & Diva's challenge #97

This week the Diva asked us to design a zentangle without using a string, and record how we felt whilst creating it. I began by doing a Verdigogh variation but did leaves only on one side, then placed crescent moon on the other side of the line. By now the design took on a life of its own, and I quite enjoyed the process.

oops..crooked..!

AEDM#26 & zendala dare #33

I am a bit pedantic about being committed to posting daily when its part of a challenge, but sometimes life just takes over and suddenly a day has passed without fulfilling what I wanted. Never mind I say, that's life.

Erin posted a lovely zendala dare on the weekend which I have at last completed. A new thing I did with this one was to use a large area of black in a two colour piece. I think it added a bit of drama through the strong contrast of tone..



I used coloured .005 pens and Prisma Verithins.



AEDM#24

As I am about 'over' split complementary colour schemes at the moment, thought I would do an analogous scheme. That is 3 adjacent colours on the colour wheel. Sometimes it is called 'harmonious' colour scheme. Well named as there is always a related colour within it, in this case each colour has blue in it. I use this type of colour scheme quite a bit, as it rarely fails. Used Derwent Artists pencils for this one.

AEDM#23 and watercolour pencil technique

As I worked on this ZIA, I though there may be someone who is a bit unsure about watercolour pencils, so I took some photos of the process. I worked on watercolour paper 300gsm..quite heavy. It was a medium texture, almost smooth. I used Derwent Inktense pencils to colour initially. The thing with wc pencils is you dont have to colour everything in, but gradually move away from oplace of origin and lighten the coloour if you wish, which is a nice effect. A problem I found was the pecil would not spread evenly on the wc paper.
Here is my picture after the first colouring.


It looks rather rough and sketchy but thats ok...




Next step to apply water with a no2 brush to dissolve the pencil and sometimes blend it. However, it still looked a bit ragged, so....




I used my Prisma Verithin pencils to touch it up, I think it needed that.



AEDM#22 and diva challenge 96

I was a bit naughty with this weeks tangle challenge. I drew a picture !! I couldnt resist turning the Zingers (this weeks tangle to use) into chimneys!!! and fence posts! As long as Maria doesn't see it I will be ok!!  I wouldn't like something I designed to be mangulated by somebody. But then there are no mistakes hey?
Oh well, it takes all sorts doesn't it.

oh yes..grass too..

AEDM#22

Would you believe I'm writing a post in front of a double classroom of students doing exams? Thing is I have been writing reports for an hour and my brain has nearly dried up, or whatever happens on overload!!
I scanned my picture last night so can pop it in here right now. I have presented it before half done and asking advice about my use of colour. I had some very helpful resposes and here is my final effort. The exercise really was to try out watercolour on ordinary canvas with no primer. You can work out the results yourself! Admittedly, it did require a few layers of paint.


NB the white lines around the shapes are canvas left, on the shapes, white paint.



AEDM #21

One really good thing about Art Every Day Month, it gets you to finish off half done art or tangle pieces. I began this one over a year ago, and came across it yesterday. Phew! I was stressing about having time to do a whole new piece so it was a relief. Glad its finished now, not that I'm over the moon about it, I think I've changed a bit since starting this piece, but hey, its done! Thanks to Leah for her part in the process too.

I worked on a colourwash background on watercolour paper.

AEDM#20 and Zendare#32

At first I had no idea how to work on this zendala pattern. However once I got into it, I found myself "in the 'zone' and thoroughly enjoyed it! Thanks Erin.


I used .005 pen and Prismacolour Verithin blue pencil.