Sandy Steen Bartholomew's Blog, page 30

Interview with Terry Hathaway, CZT

Terry Hathaway, CZT and crafter extrordinaire!Teresa “Terry” Hathaway is a dabbler.
She takes classes, reads and collects craft books, and searches the internet for new art forms and neat things to make. Then, if she really likes the art form, she wants to share it. Right now, her top four passions are Zentangle®, Mini Books, Origami, and small sewing projects.

Tangled garden ©Terry HathawayFor her current mini book projects she is delving into mixed media art and just acquired a whole lot of acrylic paints. Although Terry does not claim to be an expert on all things Origami, or Mini books, she IS a Certified Zentangle Teacher. And she is passionate about sharing the fun of each of these subjects.

Tangled color planets ©Terry HathawayShe teaches the basic methods, gives you some history (she was a history major in college!) shows you several options and then lets you create, get dirty, rip paper, slather the glue, what ever it takes.

Tangled Owl tote bag©Terry HathawayShe likes quick projects so she has a chance of finishing them. Therefore, she prefers to make mini books, tangle in mini books, or use the Zentangle® tiles.

Teeny origami owl ©Terry HathawayAs for Origami, the smaller the better. And although she’s very impressed with the elaborate complex models and has managed to fold some, she’d rather avoid the stress and stay with intermediate models. She is currently working on 60 origami cat pins to trade at the origami convention in New York City.
Origami clock with mini-book in bottom drawer. 10in. tall ©Terry HathawayTerry is originally from Lewis, NY, a small town in the Adirondack Mtns. a mile away from their closest neighbor. She and her four sisters learned early on never to say they were bored or their mother would find something for them to "do". There was always a book to read or a craft to learn. She attended Union College in Schenectady, NY and SUNY at Albany for her Masters In Library Science. For 30 years of her library career she worked for the US Air Force at bases in North Dakota, New Hampshire, England and Massachusetts. Terry now lives in Acton, MA and travels up to Warner, NH fairly often to see relatives (and tangle at my studio!).

Since retiring from a 33 year career as a Librarian, Terry has continued to teach classes at libraries in the Metro-west Boston area and started three Meetup groups for Zentangle®, Mini Books, and Origami. These groups are small but participants have found that if they like one craft that Terry teaches they will like the next one just as well.

She's got crafting in her jeans! Tangled pencil bag ©Terry HathawayI am very pleased to be hosting Terry for two intensive workshops at my studio, The BeeHive, this summer.

If you are intrigued, Terry will be teaching...

Sunday, June 30  •  Art Book Workshop - from 1-4pm
Saturday, July 27  •  Terry's Mini Tangle Retreat - all day, from 8:30am to 5:00pm
Click the workshop titles to get the details.

You can connect with Terry at her blog - Terry's Tangles.

Let's Go Dutch

In this week's category of "It's kind of weird, but also kind of cool..."

Totally Tangled has been translated into Dutch!


Interesting what they chose to put on the front cover...
but it is still a thrill to be published in two languages. The "weird" part is looking through a book that looks very familiar... but I don't understand the words - like a strange dream. The Dutch words - some are similar to English - but others are so colorful. For example, in my bio inside the front cover... "hobbywinkel" jumped out at me. How cute is that word?! I picture some little round artsy-elf named Hobbywinkel. (Hmmm... I have to file that away in my idea bank). Americans would just say "craft shop".

They used a really nice, thick, creamy, matte paper and the drawings and colors look more like the originals. I like that they added a title page so the book doesn't start and end inside the covers, but they also removed a few pages - p. 47 (Sandra Strait's works), and pp. 42-43 with the Lilah Beans and my samples using kids' art.

I want to say "Thank you" to Maria Vennekens, Calligrapher and Certified Zentangle teacher for her help in editing/translating the book. That must have been quite a job!

And speaking of Totally Tangled, my American publisher, Design Originals/Fox Chapel decided not to have me do revisions of it and Yoga for Your Brain. Definitely a relief! I would rather put my energy into starting a NEW book. But don't worry, I will incorporate your requests into the new book. And if you have any ideas, or problem areas, or "my life would be complete if only there were a book that..." requests, please put them in the comments below or email me. I'm still in hunter-gatherer mode. In a few weeks I will revert to my more reclusive, introverted self so I can concentrate and get crackin'.

Cheryl & Sandy - A Correspondence

Hi Sandy,
    I LOVE your Zentangle books… they are the best!  And I think it's because your personality shines thru…  My biggest favorite is the     Anyhow, the reason I'm writing is because I purchased your - Cheryl Ferris

Hi Cheryl,   I have that problem a lot (loosing ebooks). ;-) Here is a new link for your download...
I've been rediscovering the patterns in this book and trying them out on the new gray toned paper from Strathmore. I need to do a post about that...
   I'm glad you love Totally Tangled - I'm about to start work on a revised  edition.. and Yoga for Your Brain as well... so if there is anything you'd like to see added or explained better, or...?
   Oh - And welcome back to tangling!
Cheers
- Sandy

Thank you, thank you, and thank you!!  I'm happy again!
   This time I was able to print it out so I won't lose it again!  I printed it on a gray toned cardstock and I love it!   I am touched by your personal and open hearted posts.  I admire your courage to speak from your heart, expressing what I would love to, but don't.  I think that's what I see and love so much in  your artistic expression…it's friendly and happy and brave, and of course soooo cool!   How awesome of you to ask for input, you impress me so. I do have problems with the tangle "Stubs" on page 37 in Totally Tangled… I can't get the final result no matter how I try. I particularly love these tangles …CUdad, Boing, Gust, Hairy, Muzic, Jay, and I love page 22…those borders really delight me.   What I've been doing is tangling around my favorite rubber-stamp images that I've collected over the years.   I think MD's should put your books on their prescription scrips instead of pharmaceuticals to treat depression, anxiety, general cranky and crabbiness.  It sure takes me off the ledge.   For a lark, I've included my sisters tangle pattern that she made. [Editor's Note: this section of the letter and the amazing tangle were deleted because I intend to use it in the book!] ... I thought you might like to use it.  I love faces myself, which is why I adore Lilah Beans! So cool!   So thank you Sandy…and keep those awesome tangles coming... we beezinkstudio fans love you!- Cheryl   oops I should have sent you an example of one of my tangles… the lady vacuuming is the rubber stamp…
"After Enlightenment" by Cheryl Ferris
Cheryl,   OH fabulous!!! Your tile is beautiful AND funny - quite a combo. :-)Could I post it on my blog with your letter? ... My readers really like to see this kind of work - and this one is a hoot!   ... After I revise TT and YFYB, I plan to start working on a book that keeps getting put on the backburner. This one is intended to be used in doctors offices and during chemo or anywhere else that an interactive Zentangle book might be of use. I promised Shelley - who is in Totally Tangled, that I would do a book like that. And it's been a couple of years since she passed away. Cheers
- Sandy
   WoooHooo! That's the best news I've had since… well... i can't remember when!  Thank you sooo much Sandy, you really made us smile.
I'm totally honored that you would share my tile… what a lovely and surprising affirmation, and it was an afterthought to send it!  ... The rubber-stamp used in the tile was from a company called "Remarkable".  I googled it and sadly it is out of business and unreachable.  A shame because she had some really adorable images.   Linda (my sister) let out an irrepressible giggle when I told her about your offer. ...I'm so sorry about Shelley.  I love the idea of a tangle book in doctors' offices and waiting rooms.  Our apartment building suffered major damage from hurricane Sandy.  We were displaced for 3 months until the building was fit to live in again.  During the storm, when the bad news kept coming and during the days that followed, it was tangling that kept me grounded and peaceful.  Zen-tangling is truly divine.     You know how when you've got a special book that you love so much that you find yourself buying copies of it for friends and family? Well Totally Tangled is that book for me. There is such a sense of joy in that book.  Its been awhile since I loved a book in that way… as a matter of fact the last one was The Holy Man by Susan Trott.  If you haven't read it yet, check it out, its lots of fun, I can tell from your work and blog that you would love it.   And thanks again, Sandy…. and best wishes to your sister as well! - Cheryl

Inspirational Art Prints

I have two new art prints up on Zazzle:

Hammer and Forge Print by BumbleBat
See more Confidence Posters
 
rBelong To Yourself print by BumbleBat
Search for another posters online at Zazzle

Through this evening, use code: MEMORIALWK13
to get 50% off 

Click your mouse if you believe in Imagination!

A little badger named Wojer needs our help!


He's the star of a new book, the first in a series, by my friend and favorite author, Jen Carson. Yes, You have seen her name in this blog many times for book signing parties. But this book, and this badger, may not see the light of day - or a bookshelf - without your help.

Jennifer Carson, AuthorThe printing and publishing of this book is being funded by a Kickstarter campaign that ends in FOUR days!! Kickstarter is a fabulous crowd-sourced funding site, but the way it works is that you must have raised the entire amount you set as your goal, by the deadline, or you don't get any of the money. Complicated? A bit. So Wojer needs to raise $3500 in the next few days... or he stays in the imaginary world. Any amount can be pledged, but your money is not a donation, you actually get copies of the books, stuffed characters and other goodies in exchange. And at the higher levels, you get to name a street on the village map! That's cool.

Here's a bit about Wojer's world from a parent/adult perspective:

Settled between two lush, green valleys is the village of Fox Hollow.  But this ideal Regency Era American village is not your typical pre-Victorian town. Each resident of Fox Hollow brings forth the charm and innocence of small town living, reflects their passion to pursue their dreams and adds a touch of magic to ordinary life.

The World of Fox Hollow is based on strong family and community ties and dares to go beyond the “knick-knack” with strong world building behind each character and product. Collectors, parents, children and the young at heart looking for something more timeless than the trendy franchise characters will be drawn to the imaginary world of Fox Hollow and the stories about it’s inhabitants. The characters of Fox Hollow are all North American mammals with big hearts and even bigger dreams.
For me it is all about the characters and the pictures! Jen develops the characters - and even creates stuffies and patterns for each, writes the stories, and Pat Ann Lewis creates the beautiful illustrations.

If you like to sew, Jen has posted the patterns and instructions for two of her creatures from the book, online. You can download Wojer the Badger and Mr. Bear for free.


If you'd like to know more about Jen, her other books and stuffed creatures, take a look at her website: The Dragon Charmer. She's on Facebook too. If you'd like to see more sketches from the Fox Hollow series and find out about Wojer the Badger, head on over to the Kickstarter project page and watch the video. And please spread this news around - maybe we can help Jen get enough pledges in the next few days to bring Wojer to life!
Thanks folks. :-)

Zentangle-y Mural at BeeHive Studio

If you would like to see lots of photos of the fabulous mural we started yesterday, jump over to The BeeHive Studio site. We had folks of all ages working on tangled ladies and and a tangled town as part of our annual Spring Into Warner event.



But the murals are far from finished!
If you would like to add your bit of flair too, we will be working on them some more this coming Friday, May 24th, from 3-5pm and  
Friday, May 31st, also from 3-5pm.
If it rains, we won't be painting. Also, bring bug repellent.

On June 8th, from 11am onward, we'll be finishing up any "loose ends" and you are welcome to join us and take photos, throw money in the tip jar or just "ooh and aah". :-)

My Maine Retreat - Part Two

Where were we?

Ah, yes, my sister went back home and I got to work.
I had done a lot of mermaids during the vacation with the kids, but now I started the actual homework, part of which was constructing a mermaid shaped journal.


I admit that my interest is more towards the mermaids than the circus. I've always found the circus to be kind of creepy... sinister... and I passionately dislike clowns. But then, the mythology of mermaids is also kind of creepy and sinister... even Disney has some evil mermaids. OK. Maybe I like creepy and sinister? That's probably why taking classes is a good thing - it forces you out of your comfort zone.

I drew a vintage style pennant on my cover. Normally, I would do the cover after I had completely filled the book and knew what the true theme or storyline was. But I'm not sure if I will have a chance to go back and do more creatures in here since I am trying to keep up with the fast pace of this class.

Inside, I did two pages. The first is a steampunk inspired merman. He's more of an eel... the title came to me as I worked. "Serpent of the Sea" - if I'd given him hands, he'd be holding an apple. His form was inspired by a leather ottoman in a fancy catalog. I had to paint in most of it to connect it to his torso. (I'd love to make some kind of a comment here about what I was thinking, but I have been selectively gagged. Who knew there were blog police? You can have fun speculating. ;-) )

  The second mermaid page was built off of a face I had already drawn. 

To create her scales, I cut all the little swatches from the bathing suit page of a Lands End catalog into scallop shapes. Then glued 'em down. I am LOVING paint pens!! I've always loved the Sharpie oil-based ones for working on walls and furniture, but now I have been using the poster-paint and acrylic ones to work over the acrylic paint and collage. They are wonderful for adding decoration, details and especially, lettering. My favorites so far are the Sharpies, Molotow and Krink. You already know about my intense passion for Inktense pencils. I also love using the big brush markers from Pitt. They have a new one in white. The Pitt markers are India ink based. 

I prefer working in a more standard (un-shaped) journal and I found a fabulous, 11x14 sized hardcover one with thick, mixed-media paper from Strathmore.

Here's a before and after picture so you can see how the collage starts and finishes. Swimsuit models are great for mermaids! I cut the arm off this one and reassembled it, the skirt is part of a chandelier, and her headdress was a lampshade. I painted everything else.


 
This next one, I'm not quite so happy with - it still needs some work. I do like the baby fish though. I fused the lady's torso to the lobster-y tail and painted in all those bubbles!


 This next mermaid was started on black paper - I decided not to start with a collage element, but just draw and see where it went. Hmmm... another vampire mermaid? I guess I need to let this theme work itself out.



I'm still working on her.

I did a few pieces just for myself - based on quotes I stumbled upon while reading. I have pretty boring handwriting, and never really thought much about lettering, but realized that I have been illustrating with letters all my life!  I'll have to post some of my older illustrations sometime, but the cover of Totally Tangled is a good example. The letters seem to be more alive and full of character than the lady with the funny hair.

These aren't great photos, but I wanted to show you the before and after. I'd like to do prints of these, so I'll eventually show you the better, final images.


 I hadn't realized until I posted these that both quotes start with "You cannot..." Weird coincidence.


 And my MOST weirdest, and favorite-est project...

I was sitting in the living room, staring at one of the cemented rock pillars... the wall sconce was throwing a strange mix of light and shadows onto the rocks.


I think I was mesmerized. Images kept appearing and disappearing (no, I don't use drugs!) Then suddenly my left brain chirped "Draw it for goodness sake!"

I was so startled at the idea, that I actually got my sketchbook and drew the strange characters I saw. This is a cleaned up sketch on white paper.


I redid it in my gray sketchbook too. I'm only going to show you a little piece of the final drawing because I want to use it for one of the books. And I'm going to use the sketch for one of my surface design assignments! Most of the other students are posting beautiful patterns based on flowers...  I have freaky monsters I saw in the rocks!


And, finally, I did do a lot of thinking about "real work." I'm working on revising two of the books and planning out a new one. I did do some work on all that. This last picture is just to prove that I did some brainstorming. You know, in case you don't believe me. ;-)


My dad came to visit me the last weekend and I talked non-stop! It is so strange to spend a week by yourself.  I did talk to a few people - stuff like "The dark chocolate ones, please" and "I'd like brown rice with the sweet and sour seafood" and "just leave the towels, that's fine." One evening, I found myself sitting on the floor watching a trail of ants march across the dining room floor. I actually felt guilty after I smashed the whole herd and a little lonely when they were gone. And although I really did miss my kids, and my cat, I find it so much easier to think without all the stuff and drama that seems to be stored in my house. There's a freedom to walking in a different direction every day. Wearing headphones, but smiling at everybody. No one knows your story. It doesn't matter. And everything seems so unimportant when you are standing with the toes of your sneakers in the ocean. Thinking DEEP thoughts... like what kind of crazy person first thought "hey let's stand on boards in freezing cold water and get flipped by deadly crashing waves!?" "Oh, hey, let's try it near those giant rocks!?" It's fun, and a relief, to watch other peoples' drama!

 If I could find a way to bring that kind of calm and focus home with me - gee willikers - I can only imagine the stuff I could create and amazing things I could accomplish!

My Maine Retreat

Alex on the RocksIf you read my last post about all the classes I am taking in my self-induced Masters program and felt like fainting... well, I apologize, but I am really enjoying them. I get so excited when I can learn something new. The part I find most difficult is having to read and watch all the videos before I can get to the creating part. There were a few comments and emails with expressions of concern and caution and hopes that I am also taking care of myself. I appreciate the concern, and I know you all are right - I do need to focus on repair and remedy too. Is there a class for that? (hee hee).

Actually there is, and I took it. I did the entire 28 day program and I learned a lot about nutrition and how sucky I had been eating. I am also completely hooked on Kris Carr and reading her book Crazy Sexy Diet: Eat Your Veggies, Ignite Your Spark, and Live Like You Mean It! Yes, my eyes glaze over too when a new diet book is mentioned. BUT, Kris was interviewed on Marie Forleo and she got my attention. She is wicked funny and her story snapped my head around. She was a famous TV starlet, eating atrociously, drinking, sleeping with too much variety (if you know what I mean), drugs, all the typical Hollywood stuff. Then in her early thirties she got that out of a blue wake up call - super rare, non-treatable, non-survivable, unpronounceable... cancer. Basically, she completely changed her lifestyle and her diet. She's still alive and she is my age (over 40). Wow. And she's gorgeous and healthy. I figure if I can survive Prozac, I can probably survive eating vegetables more often. ESPECIALLY if it means never taking those drugs again! And I lost a little weight. That never hurts as incentive.

That book was one of many that accompanied me on my Maine Retreat. Yes, I got home from it last week, but it took me a few days to recuperate and readjust to the real world. I decided to do my retreat to Ogunquit alone this time. I'm sorry I didn't invite you all like I did last year, but don't take it personally, I'd be happy to have you join me in Santa Fe this Sept.. :-)

Happy kidlet. Happy teenager. Yes. That is "happy."I started it out by taking my kids to Ogunquit for a few days. I got to show my daughter the ocean and that was such a fabulous experience for us both. (Do they make water-proof mittens for digging in the sand?)

On the really wet, gray day, we watched this beautiful view out our window and...


 ... we drew lots of Mermaids!


 I drew this lady and colored her with Inktense pencils (have I mentioned how much I love 'em?)
Then Lilah decided to improve on my mermaid and she drew this one in pencil (note the starfish in her hair too)...

And then she drew this amazing picture and we decided she was a vampire mermaid princess (see crown falling off her head)...

And I loved it SO much, I decided to do my own vampire mermaid...


Now I seem to be kind of hooked on Vampire mermaids. I've never really liked circuses, so my Mermaid Circus is .... dead. (I'm working on yet another Vampire Mermaid at this very moment here at home!)

Then Lilah's "babies" all wanted their portraits done - they can be a rather insistent group. And they smell like cookies. I can't resist them. I gave in and had Clara sit for her portrait since she is the calmest of the babies. I just realized I wrote about the babies, years ago, on the Wingdoodle blog.

One evening, I had a visit from Suzanne McNeill as she headed back to Texas after visiting her daughter. It was nice to chat with a "big person" for a few hours. :-)

The kids got along great. Seriously, they never fought. We walked a lot and saw The Croods... twice. And Alex even gave Lilah a ride back to the hotel on his shoulders when she got tired. It was like one of those credit card ads. "Priceless".

When our little bit of bliss ended, on a beautiful sunny day, of course, I drove the kids home to their dad, reloaded my car with everything I MIGHT want to work on... and headed back to Maine.

This time I had a studio apartment with my own woodland garden.


Since I was there for two weeks, I got to watch the garden spring into bloom. 


 These were my neighbors....


 My sister came down from Bar Harbor for a few days. Not only did I have her complete attention - no competing with her husband or her kids - but Jen can't speak more than a sentence before she has a coughing fit, so I got to chatter on endlessly! It was awesome. Every little sister's dream come true.

She may not be able to breath, but my sister, Jennifer Steen Booher, is a freaking amazing photographer! And she has a seriously big-ass camera hanging around her neck. (That might be why she has trouble breathing?) ;-) She has an Etsy shop with her prints HERE and her blog, which is kind of a travel/nature blog, is HERE. She did a post last week, with adorable photos of baby foxes playing in her friend's backyard.

And I post pictures of my kid's doll. Sigh. Jen's always been the more sophisticated, classy one. She's Martha Stewart. I'm Mary Engelbreit.

 We got our kicks "shooting" each other on the beach. I think this beach is so amazing and bizarre! I'm standing on sand, but there is ocean between us, then more ocean behind Jen, then land again. A beach sandwich? Huh, maybe it's just a sand - wich?

Oh, dear. It's 1:32am. The rest will have to wait for another post. I had planned to show you a bunch of the artwork I worked on over the rest of the retreat, but it has been pointed out to me that many of you have actually signed up for some of the classes I mentioned! And, that I might influence your artwork if I show you what I did for my homework. Should I show you anyway? :-)

Life - the Ultimate Learning Experience

Two weeks! Yes, I have been away for two weeks. I went to Maine for a fabulous art retreat... by myself. I will do another post to tell you about that, but for this post, I want to tell you about learning experiences.

Every few years, I get an overwhelming urge to go get my Masters... in something. Something artsy. And I start scouring the internet reading descriptions from schools in Vermont, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. But I can't seem to find the right curriculum. The fact that I can't really leave my kids, and I can't afford the tuition... I could find ways to argue those away - after all, there are some schools with low-residency requirements and scholarships... but I have no interest in writing a thesis or discussing art theory. I even looked into the cartooning school in Vermont which is supposed to be top drawer - but it didn't have the old-school style classes I wanted.

So I decided to create my own program. After all, it's not really the degree that matters, but the info and experience right? And thanks to the internet, I now have access to some fabulous people I have always wanted to study with. Here's my program so far...

Inktense pencil sampler by Sandy BartholomewClass #1 - You all know about the Inktense- from Soup to Nuts class with Jessica Wesolek, I've posted some of my art from there in past blog posts. That class finished up and I am proud to say it is one of the few that I was able to keep up with and actually finished all the projects. I adore Inktense pencils and have used them for ages, but I am now armed with some freaking cool tricks and color confidence I did not have before. Plus - it was fun! If you are intrigued by these amazing watercolor-like colored pencils that turn into super bright, permanent inks when wet... good news! Jessica is just about to start up a new session. You don't need to have fabulous drawing talent and this class would also be great for stampers and scrapbookers. So run over to the Inktense info page and sign up! Tell Jessica I sent you. :-) And while you are there, sign up for the Art Journaling in Paradise retreat! There are only a few spots left... I'll write more about that another time.

Making Waves by Sandy BartholomewClass #2 - The Mermaid Circus with Teesha Moore and Jane Davenport. I had always wanted, and intended, to go to ArtFest in Port Townsend, WA. Alas, I never made it and last year was the end of it all. Teesha is the mother of "art journaling" as we know it... layers of paint and collage, text, lettering, stripey dunce hats, creepy people... love it. This is the first time she has done an online class - so I jumped on it. Jane is a bubbly mermaid from Australia who has a ton of intriguing online classes. If you have been wanting to really learn to draw faces and figures and all that - Jane has classes that make it easy. This class is awesome fun - but has a lot of videos and homework. And the materials are not very portable. Those aren't complaints, just my minor excuses why I keep falling behind! I did a lot of Mermaid work on my retreat and I will show you more in a later post.

Class #3 - The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design with Rachael Taylor. This one is the serious, OMG-I'm-back-in-school-class. It runs in three trimesters throughout the year. There is homework and reading every day. Yep. I have fallen behind. If I can carve out some time to concentrate, I think I will be fascinated by the pattern design! My mistake? It overlaps with the Mermaid Circus class, and when that ends, my next class will start. What was I thinking! This segment deals with sketching and creating patterns, so I'm kind of OK. But then it will move on to using Photoshop and Illustrator more intensely. Then the business stuff...

Class #4 - Starts in a few weeks. It's Make Art That Sells! with Lilla Rogers. Lilla Rogers is an illustrator and an artist's rep and she really knows the biz. This class also has multiple segments and it covers everything from illustrating for the giftware market to fabric to kids clothes to childrens' books... and it has the added excitement and stress of trying to get her attention. She only reviews a small handful of work and she has a lot of important contacts. A few of these folks will be doing interviews in the class. She has a book out too called "I Just Like to Make Things" - I love the title because it's just so true for us artists.

As if I weren't overloading my plate as it is - she just announced she'll be doing a Global Talent Search, starting on May 14th! There will be assignments and challenges and the winner gets a two year artist's rep contract with her! OMG! OMG! I'd be absolutely insane to sign up for that right? Right? Insane. Ok, I'm on the wait list to hear when the sign ups open. Sleep is over-rated anyway.

I should probably count the iPad Studio workshop as well... Class #5. This one is waiting for me to come back and finish. I got so terribly distracted by multiple lawyer issues this winter... but now, with all the computer design things in the Surface Design class... and the horror of buying Illustrator for $500 (!?)... I am seeing the appeal of design apps for the iPad that cost less than $30 bucks! The iPad Studio class not only teaches you HOW to create art on the iPad, it gives you step by step instructions for using the best apps. Plus I just bought this really cool stylus that has a paintbrush on one end... I am such a geek, I know.

This last one (so far!) doesn't really count, but I have to tell you anyway. I'll be at the upcoming Zentangle Certification Training in Providence, RI in June. I've lost track of what number it is... I've been to quite a few of them, starting with #1! But this one will be the best training EVER! Why, you ask? Because my son ALEX is getting certified!!! Whooo-hee! Amy Broady's daughter, who is the same age as Alex will also be attending - they may be the youngest CZTs yet. My daughter, Lilah wanted to go too... but 6 seems a bit young and she'd never sit still. ;-) I get to roam around Providence with Amy and schmooze with the ZT innocents.
Heaven.

And speaking of Amy Broady... she made the mistake of telling me that she was retiring from teaching art and trying to decide what to do next... ooooooo! An art teacher and CZT searching for meaning in life... I convinced her to kind-of-sort-of take on the Zentangle for Kids blog!

Be sure to take a look at her amazing series of Earth Day tangled postcards here (strings) and here (pre-shading). And another adorable post about kids' interpretations of Lilah Beans, by CZT Katy Abbott... here.

And the very last thing I want to mention before I finally keel over and crawl into bed... this has to do with the title of this blog post. I decided NOT to rant on and on about something I discovered that upset me really REALLY badly. I'll just say that I learned that my art and ideas from my books were "borrowed"... extensively... in a book that was recently released by another artist (this has nothing to do with my own publisher). My horoscope last week warned me that these very upsetting incidents (that keep happening!) are an indication that "there is something I need to learn." I am desperately hoping that I do indeed LEARN something in one of the above classes that will make this crazy-making stop. There's just so much exciting STUFF going on I don't want to waste any more of my dwindling brain cells gnawing away at anything yucky!

Jen's Book Party

Once again - I realized too late... "I should have taken pictures!?" Doh.

The book party for Jen Carson was a blast! Just the right sized mini-mob showed up so we could all work on our own mini-bear head pin. Jen is an excellent teacher and coaxed us all into not only designing our own patterns, but cutting fabric and stitching up our little creatures. She started us with a very basic bear head pattern, but we all ended up morphing our creatures into everything from tiny white rats, to a made up, reversible creature, to my badger-bear.

My badger bear ended up a lot bigger than I had intended because of a little piece known as the gusset. He's the one on top of the water bottle... he is still thinking if he wants to be on a stick, like a jester's puppet, or maybe attached to a badger body. He definitely will NOT be a pin!


The workshop was a great example of why we all need Jen's book - Beyond Bears - How to draw, design and sew your own stuffed animals . I love to make stuff - but I always want to make it my OWN. I hate using other peoples' patterns. This workshop was very "Zentangle-y" in that we all started with the same basic instructions and very similar patterns, but the results were so totally personalized and distinct. Love it.


Oh, yes - and there were bear head cupcakes too!

Thanks to everyone who showed up and was willing to go with the flow and try something new. It was great fun and I hope to see you all back at the BeeHive in May for more fun. :-)