Challenge 31 - Fairyland

Carol Bailey Floyd is hosting the Diva's challenge this week and she asks us to create a Zentangle environment where fairies would feel at home.

Well that's right up my fairy alley! I love Zentangles and fairies and all their magical powers to influence our lives.

As a child, The Giant Golden Book of Elves and Fairies was my favorite book. My mother read it to us almost every day. It's was a wonderful anthology of stories collected by Jane Werner and beautifully illustrated by Garth Williams. It was magical, and began my creative experience. There was a story about a mermaid that made me want to learn to swim and never cut my hair, so someday I could be a mermaid too.

My mother was not one of those "cherish the memories" sorts of moms. She didn't try to preserve our childhood clothes, toys, books, etc. She would throw out "old crap" as she so gingerly put it. She was great, and I loved her dearly, but she definitely wasn't into those soft and fuzzy types. Anyway... I remembered that book (long gone from our house) and looked for it for most of my adult life. It's one of those books that many of us baby boomers remember fondly, and I discovered that it went out of print in the 60's. I ran across old original copies online, rarely, and very expensive (minimum of $100). So I kept looking...

One day, I was helping my dear friend Shirley doing some organizing. She's one of those who does cherish and preserve family memorabilia and items from the past. We were going through her treasure of children's books and ran across an original Elves and Fairies book. It was beautiful, and I sat down and leafed through those wonderful old pages and it was just as I remembered it. She saw how enamored I was. It had been her children's book, and unbeknown to me, she called them, and they all agreed I should have it. A few days later surprised me with the book. It was one of the loveliest gifts I have ever received. I cherish it and still leaf through it often.

So, to make a long story long, fairies have always been a favorite of mine. I'm illustrating a children's book for a friend of mine. She has written a collection of fairy poems that she asked me to illustrate. What a joy and honor!

Here is my fairy garden interpretation, hope the fairies enjoy it. This seems like a perfect challenge this week since Rick and Maria's daughter Molly just had a baby girl. What more do little girls love than fairies? They are there to inspire, watch over, and bring magic to the lives of all little baby girls. Welcome Mazzy Martha Hollibaugh!

A Good Time Was Had by All!

I had a class at 212 Art Center in Saline last night, and it was great. There were only 3 people, which made for a lovely intimate group. We were able to combine a Basics and a Beyond Basics class that suited everyone. Two of the women were new to the process and the other is a Zentangle veteran. They all did a fabulous job and the time flew by.

The 212 is a wonderful site for classes, nestled in downtown Saline in a lovely old Craftsmen Bungalow with all the character and details that give it such a great feel . It lends itself beautifully to the "Zen" feeling we're all looking for in the Zentangle process; calmness, and serenity, just Breathe, Relax, Smile and, of course, Tangle!

This image shows the fruits of their labor... three beautiful little jewels created from the same basic tangles and all 3 having such different looks and feels. I always find it amazing. Great job ladies!

I brought some wonderful quilted Zentangle kits that Sandy, friend of mine from up north, had created. She is a wonderful fabric artist and quilter and the ladies purchased 3 of her pieces. I don't sew, but I do appreciate the work and the detail. She takes an idea and fabricates the perfect solution. What she creates is phenominal.

Weekly Challenge #30: "String Theory V.V :Initialize"





My Intial ZIA

My Initial String

This week's Diva challenge is hosted Christina Vanderlist and she asks us to bring a little of ourself into the artwork! We are asked to use our Initials as the string, oh, what fun! It's always fun to do something that's all about ME! Just kidding.

This does make it look like a big old party is happening. I used some of my favorites... Printemps, Knightsbridge, Crescent Moon, Lupine, Tripoli, Mooka, and of course some little bead pods! Curves gallore, that's me.  It seemed a little redundant to put my signature on my initials....

I'm going to do a few more. I have some friends wirh birthdays coming up, so I need to play with their initials. This is the perfect opportunity to work on my lettering. Letterforms are the perfect accompaniment for tangles... I do want to work on my tangled alphabet so I have my little stockpile of jewels to pick from for any occasion.

Testing 1, 2, 3

Yesterday was a long day, I was monitoring a teacher's exam all day. The process consists of sitting and watching the examinees as they participate in their testing; 12 hours of vigilance, strolling the isles, monitoring, and for concentration purposes, during my break times, tangling. The brown texture is from the paper towels I used at lunch time, the white stickers are leftover from labels we adhered to the tables, the imprints are my finger print tests on my own fingers to make sure it worked, and the touch of blue is from the leftover stickers we used. Viola, the art piece eeeze formed!

Fun to combine some multi-mediums (since no CDs were involved!) from my day into my Zentangle process. Junk is now a memory that I can put into an album and remember. People often say things like, I'll never get those xx hours back, but if  I'm mindful, and take the  time to be in the moment and be creative, it's not a mind-numbing experience or lost hours, it's just an experience, a texture, a time to be, and remember.

Up North Play

Zentangle tile packets

Metallic Jewels

This past weekend was the 4th of July weekend and I was invited up north by my sister and brother in law. It's so nice to get away and enjoy their lovely surroundings on the AuSable River, being with nature, friends, and wonderful family. We, of course, had a Zentangle gathering with lot's of sharing, creativity, and laughter. I hadn't seen my sister since my wonderful CZT experience in Whittinsville, so I was able to share experiences and fun things from that wonderful weekend which she, and my other sister, and niece made possible.

I made up kits for the gals with their initials done with the Sakura metallic gel pens that we had received at the training. I gave each of them 5 official Zentangle tiles in the packets (their first), so they could experience the joys of this fabulous paper. I had gotten some black pastel paper which I cut up to create a little folder and "wrapped" the tiles with a lovely little bow.

We played with the black paper I brought and metallic gel pens and created some lovely little jewels. Friends Sandy and Vicky were part of the original Zentangle class I had done with my sister last fall. They shared the artwork they have created since then, and it was phenomenal. Sandy also showed us a Zentangle purse she was in the process of creating. It was beautiful. I will post pictures of this lovely completed purse when I get them. It's so much fun to know so many talented women - Women rule! It was a wonderful weekend.