Sandy Steen Bartholomew's Blog, page 32

Art Journal Retreat! Yes?

I snitched this whole post from my friend, Jessica Wesolek's blog:

Just Imagine . . . What IF?There were a retreat in Santa Fe this September called 
“Art Journaling in Paradise".

The hotel rooms were all Santa Fe style suites with their own kitchens and tables for midnight journaling, conveniently located in Santa Fe proper, and costing only $55 night plus tax (even for two people if you wanted to team up).

The huge classroom is located in a beautiful building tucked into a row of Santa Fe’s best galleries and within walking distance of everything downtown.

There were five full days of instruction, studio time, and journaling forays in and around Santa Fe, and a 6th full day of studio time in the classroom to wrap up everything and finish your pages.

The workshop cost was only $650 for the whole 6 days.

I got my pal Sandy Bartholomew to fly out here from New Hampshire to help me get you excited about art journaling.

What if all of that could happen? If we built it, would you come?

If you have serious interest, shoot me an email and let me know. Number of students will be limited and great detail will be provided if we see sufficient interest.
instructor@cre8it.com


What do you think? Interested? Email Jessica and let her know!
I sure would love to go to Santa Fe for my birthday. And I can't think of anyone I'd rather spend it with than you folks!!

Whitelines and Samurai

Last weekend, my son and his friend accompanied me to the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, NH to see Lethal Beauty: Samurai Weapons and Armor Exhibit.

It was really interesting and rather puzzling - as any exploration of another culture tends to be. I am still wondering over the absolutely terrifying mask and helmet that featured a rice bowl and chopsticks, in the middle of the forehead...? Perhaps the first lunchbox? (Or Bento box, actually).

In my past, I used to enjoy visiting museums and sketching the cool, ancient artworks. It has been such a long time, I wasn't sure I would get the chance, but these kids wandered off without me... to discuss - gosh, I can't even remember the big words anymore. No matter. I found a very cool, creepy headdress to sketch. Planted myself firmly in front of it as to cause as much annoyance to other viewers as possible. And drew...

... in my new notebook.


I think I may be in love.

But I am already thinking of ways I would improve it...

I had heard about the Whitelines series of notebooks - very cool idea... the paper is very pale gray and the lines are... you guessed it... they are white lines. They don't interfere with your words and drawings the way that black lines do. A few weeks ago, I stumbled across the notebooks on Fab.com and not only can I not resist a great deal when it's on something I actually want, but they had these uber-cool-super-geeky-new-notebooks called Whitelines Link. Same notebooks, but with special little squares on the corners that allow you to use a (free) app to photograph the page on your iPhone. Big Whoop? Mmmhmmm. But it takes the photograph, automatically squares up the page, removes any lines or grids from the background, AND will pop it into your Evernote or whatever account. Yes, of COURSE I ordered one!

I tested it out at the Samurai exhibit. I used a black PaperMate ball-point pen, yes, the cheapy kind - it's my favorite drawing pen, and this Whitelines Link notebook.

Here is my original sketch, as photographed by my iPhone:


And here is what the Whitelines Link app captured and emailed to me:

I was impressed that it picked up many of the finer lines - and eliminated the background. Interesting shift in color, but I remember a science fair project from Middle School that explained how the ink in black ball-point pens, and felt-tip pens, is actually composed of many different ink colors. I should make a color sampler and see how that compares when photographed...

As I was getting the link for the exhibit to paste up above,  I noticed they have the actual mask that I sketched, on the website!


These samurai must have been truly terrifying! Up close, you could see that they actually have razor-like silver teeth. Nowadays, they are tarnished and black, but imagine them new - and flashing ferociously in the sun as this fellow charges straight for you! (I apologize ahead of time for the nightmares...)


Speaking of nightmares. Well, dreams actually. I have a fantasy of a dream calendar, notebook App thingy. If any of you readers are techies,, or know someone who is, please pass them my idea. It will make them rich, and me - very happy in my OCD way.


This is my calendar. I use a Moleskine journal that has a weekly calendar on the left page and a notebook page on the right. This works for me - I have to be able to write things out and make sketches, etc. with an actual pen on paper. But I am also a tech-geek. I want an app that will take a picture of this... mess... and auto-magically put the events and times in my Mac calendar, and the notes into Evernote and the people and phone numbers into Address Book. OMG. And I use the little stickers to keep track of when and how long I exercise. I want that on my computer and iPhone too!
OK - let me know when it's ready to download. ;-)

Right Brain Biz Plan, the prequel

I have been sitting here in The BeeHive putting together 60 "kits" for the workshop I am teaching at TangleU next week. And making notes. And staring at the wall thinking.

I don't think I will include that last part in my actual class even though it is a vital part of the process. (The staring part.) One learns a lot about oneself just by assembling a Right Brain Business Plan, but I realized that I have learned even MORE about myself by trying to think of how to TEACH it to others!

I am a licensed facilitator, so it should be easy... Just follow the instructions in the manual, right? But one thing I have learned through this RBBP process, is that I actually hate teaching. Yes, you heard that right. I hate teaching. And secondly, I can't stand in front of a huge group of people and teach something that is based on someone else's experiences, values or philosophy.

But I CAN talk to a group of people about my OWN ideas and experiences. I am still very introverted and the effort takes an enormous toll on me emotionally and energetically - but I really enjoy connecting with people, finding common ground, and discovering how what I have learned can help them in some way. And best of all, helping them "make it their own."

Customizing Creativity!

In preparing for this upcoming workshop, I have been examining my RBBP that I created over a year ago. Some things haven't changed - my Big Vision, Values, and Passions. But just about everything else needs some serious updating and clarification!

I'm going to try to start a new plan from scratch and see what happens. I'll be working on it tomorrow in my studio and invite anyone to come work along with me, on your own plan. So, the challenge, or business meeting, if you prefer - will be here at The BeeHive, Friday, March 15th between 3 and 9pm. You don't have to come for the whole time, and it is usually calmer after 5:30 when the kids are gone. I think I'll get the kids to make collages too.... Hmmmm.....

If you'd like to play, I have a few extra accordion book kits, or you could bring an altered book or journal to work in, or do a big vision board on fome board or cardboard. Bring some magazines to cut up, glue sticks, colorful envelopes, tape, washi tape, index cards.... Snacks! ( we always seem to forget to plan for dinner!).

Oh! And this is a fun project even if you aren't running your own biz. A Big Vision is useful even if you are retired or a stay at home mom. Everyone needs a purpose. ;-)

Last Friday Night...

 What happened in The BeeHive on Friday?

The kids took over the main room with Lilah leading a class on Lilah Beans - of course. She started everyone out using Crayola Model Magic. It's a rather amazing air-dry clay that is surprisingly light and paper-y-like. By the time they had sculpted their LBs (Lilah Beans), drawn an army of LBs (Lilah Beans), and then run around the studio like LBs (Lunatic Banshees, :-) )... the clay was dry enough to decorate using markers.


Lilah loved being the teacher in the front room because she could pounce on any new visitors entering the front door! She is becoming an excellent teacher and I keep reinforcing the two most important art teacher rules, ever:

1. Never, ever, ever... EVER... draw on someone else's work, unless they invite you to.
      and
2. Show your students the basics, and then encourage them to add their own style.

The second rule led to some amazing new characters! When I see Lilah's drawings, I have an urge to use them as inspiration for a series of paintings. And rubber stamps. And a kids' clothing line...


Meanwhile, in classroom number 2...

Us big kids were playing with sharp objects! Well, sort-of-sharp. The gouges we use for eraser-carving, or rubber stamp carving, were originally intended for use on linoleum blocks.

The stamp making class was originally scheduled for the week before, but you know what happens? Only one or two people are brave enough to "take the class" but as the evening wears on, others mosey in to the room to see what we are doing and "just watch". By 9 o'clock they are asking, "will you be doing this next week too?" Sure. And this time we had a full table with two seatings. :-)


Carving is actually as easy as learning Zentangle®. There are a few tricks that can save you pounds of trouble and I keep a bucket of scrap material on the table to practice the strokes. Once everyone gets the feel of how the gauges cut through the soft material, carving an actual stamp is more like tracing a design. Simple.


I spent the first stamp-carving Friday working on this fish. I decided to keep its body solid so I could draw the details on later. This picture (above) shows the test prints I made.



I made a new print in my sketchbook using the Inktense blocks (I learned this technique in the Inktense class I am taking online!) The bottom fish was the first stamping - nice and dark. I spritzed the stamp with water and did the second stamp - which didn't print as well... but ended up looking nicer after adding some more pencil work. I used a white gel pen to add the scales to the darker fish. And then I added swirls and waves until I could no longer see straight and went to bed.

This past Friday, I carved a mustache stamp and then a flower because Lilah was NOT impressed with the mustache. :-/ I am so addicted to this idea of using Inktense blocks to "ink-up" the stamps!!! You just spritz the stamp with water and use the side of the block to spread color over the stamp surface, then print. When the color is dry... it's permanent.

I'm not quite sure what I will do with this flower page. I can color in each petal with a different color and they won't bleed with the previous colors. It's just SO exciting isn't it?

Much Needed Stress Relief

Reading this email made my heart race and my palms sweaty! All that radiation and fear in my own past... but I can't imagine it from a mother's point of view - and all your kids, too. Oh-what a year! Ok, breathe deeply and read this letter from Bobbe. I promise you'll be cheering by the end. You go girl! (Well, "girl" is the wrong word, but you get the idea.)

Hi, Sandy ... a couple of years ago I received my first Zentangle.  It was a postcard from Nina Owens.  I loved it but didn't pursue it until ...

(I'll try to be brief.)

My youngest child had Stage 1V metastic melanoma, origin on his lower right eyelid.  Many surgeries, and ultimately, an acceptance into a clinical trial at NCI in Bethesda, MD, beginning at the first of the year 2012.  There were months of angst, of course. He is miraculously cancer free.
The middle kid has an elevated PSA (non-cancerous?) and has had to have radiation for a 'cyst' on his forehead.  What's with that?
His sister, the first born, and a free spirit, almost exactly a year later, had a diagnosis of Stage IV breast cancer metastasized to her lung. She has responded well to chemo .... prognosis?  who knows?

At that point, I was pretty much distraught, as you can imagine.  I started playing with Zentangle and found it truly relaxing.  Which brings me (finally) to you, through Jessica, whose Cre8it blog I had been reading for several years.  I followed her link to you and ...

So.... Life is amazing!!!!

I will never be really good at it... He!!, I'm 86 ... macular degeneration and shaky hands .... but thanks to you and Jessica, I'm getting better and enjoying.

Bobbe

Here's what I did today.  It will go to  Operation Write Home: Helping heroes keep in touch with home, so is regulation quarter fold size and has used 2 rubber stamps. 


Editor's Note: My favorite-est part of Bobbe's Zentangle is the bottom right with the diamond shapes. For some reason, it reminds me of a chenille bedspread my Gramma X had. Maybe it's the lines and the texture? And the little dots make me think of the puff-ball trim too. :-)
 

I'm on Whatever... Whenever!

According to my friend Jessica Wesolek, I'm an amazing and talented person! Cool. She sent me an email today warning me "don't blush TOO much." Read what she wrote on her blog and then guess... did I blush too much?

It's always strange to read about yourself from someone else's point of view, but I admit, it feels pretty good too! She posted a bunch of my artwork from her various classes. I keep thinking... I wonder if I should do an ebook version of my past art journals? Would that be of interest to folks? Tell me what you think.

Also, if you want to hang out and carve stamps with me tomorrow at The BeeHive, all the info is HERE. If you don't want to take a class and already have your own materials, then come and hang out anyway.

The BeeHive is open from 3-9pm and you can work on whatever you like. I've been focusing on needle-felting. Needle-felting Lilah Beans, actually! Yes, yes, I know I need to take a picture! I get so into stuff when I'm teaching, or even just hosting, that I don't think of taking photos until too late. I need to get my paparazzi, Laurie on the case.

Anyway - Friday is rubber stamp carving playday.

The Right-Brain Biz Plan

Two years ago, I stumbled across the book The Right-Brain Business Plan: A Creative, Visual Map for Success by Jennifer Lee. I loved the concept - that there was a way for someone who thought in images, to survive - and thrive- in the left-brain business world.

My kids will tell you that I only read books with pictures. And as far as business books go - this one is loaded. Even so, I find it hard to get motivated simply by reading a book. But when something is really important, the Universe moves in and starts poking, shoving, or using the ole whack to the side of the head to get our attention. While procrastinating on my own plan, I went to the Squam Art camp (NH) and ended up taking a mini-workshop with Jennifer Lee. I was swept up in her contagious enthusiasm and immediately signed up for her RBBP workshop online.

And ordered her accordian book kit. And then signed up for licensed facilitator training. But I'm getting ahead of myself! The kit had stickers! And the class had fun videos and worksheets and colorful teeny post-it notes and I found myself making trading cards depicting my values and collages of my ideal customers, and vision boards filled with all the ads and brands that I admire. I found myself yelling "I LOVE money! I DESERVE money! I'm NOT afraid of money!" And because this was an online class, I didn't humiliate myself no matter what I yelled. Although I did frighten the cat...

A few people have told me that they haven't gotten themselves to crack open the book, even with all the pictures. A few people have taken the video class with Jen and still haven't actually done the work. Because cutting and pasting magazine pictures is scary. I get it. And we all learn in different ways. I need the book, the video AND hands-on attention. Maybe you are like that too? So far-right-brained that you tilt when you walk? Nothing to be ashamed of. But I have finally started to understand WHY the whole "planning it out" is so terrifying to us. Well, one reason anyway! It's because - even if we have a pretty good idea WHAT we want to do (like teach or open a store or blog...) we aren't clear on the WHY.

One of the projects in the Right-Brain Business Plan Book that I most enjoyed was making a deck of Values Trading Cards. Make a list of individual values that are important to you. Then find pictures that express those concepts and glue 'em onto a piece of cardstock. Then, whenever you need to evaluate a new opportunity or idea or purchase, you flip through your deck and see if it is in line with your values. Genius. Here's what I learned about myself:


 1. Creativity.    No-brainer, right? (Hmmm... how about a No-Brainer Biz Plan?) If something doesn't have some aspect of creativity involved... I could care less. This includes problem solving in general. If there is nothing to be solved, no challenge to overcome, no mystery to reveal - let someone else deal with it.


2. AWE.    Magic, mystery, spiritual stuff, super-powers! Whatever you call it, I need a sense of "Wowwwww....."

3. ENERGY.   Inspiration, passion and a reason to get out of bed in the morning. I'd put good health in here too.


4. FAIRNESS. Oh yeah. Maybe it's the middle-child in me, but I do spend a lot of time kicking things and yelling "That's not FAIR!!" But it's also the part that pushes me to try and make things right with others no matter what. Sometimes this one really sucks.


5. KNOWLEDGE.   I just really need to know how stuff works. How it's made. Did you know that polar bears don't have white fur? It's actually transparent to let the sun through to their skin... which is actually black to retain the heat. Don't worry, the Universe had it's little joke by sending me a son who is even MORE like... that. [Alex at around 6 years old, early, early one Saturday morning...."Mom, wake up! I wrote you a paper about Angkar Watt because you really need to know this. Don't worry, there are pictures."] He was right. I really DID need to know. Angkar Watt is like Atlantis. It was a lost, mythical city/temple. Except... it's real.


6. RESPONSIBILITY. A bit like fairness, but I see it as - everyone needs to take responsibility for themselves. You broke it, you fix it. (or - I broke it, I have to fix it). I don't mind helping, but everyone needs to fess up and then cooperate.


7. OPTIMISM.  I'm actually more of an Optimistic-pessimist. Or maybe it's a pessimistic-optimist? "Cheer up," she said, "things could always be worse." So I cheered up, and sure enough, things got worse. Or maybe you prefer "When going through Hell, keep going."


8. RESOURCEFULNESS. Yes, we can figure this out! There must be a solution. If I just keep trying things, something is sure to be successful...


9. SATISFACTION. Well, does it make you feel good? :-) Doesn't that cat just say it all?

I think it's time to redo my RBBPlan, but these cards will always be my values. I encourage you to make a set too.

I'll be doing a Right-Brain Business Plan workshop at TangleU in Massachusetts next month. If you are attending, you'll get a copy of the RBBP book and we'll do lots of cutting and pasting (bring scissors, gluesticks and some magazines). If you have done any RBBP projects or vision boards or such things, please bring them along too.

If you aren't able to attend, or even if you are... Jennifer Lee is doing a weeklong Right-Brainers in Business Summit starting on Monday (February 25th-March 8th). There's no fee, it's only about an hour each day and it might be a good way to kickstart yourself into getting something down on paper. Jen will have a bunch of other amazing people such as Jill Badonsky and Kelly Rae Roberts. And when you sign up, you get to listen to an interview with Marney Makridakis who runs Artella.

Heart Zenflake by M.W.

Hi Sandy,

I just wanted to take a minute and thank you for your awesome Zentangle books.  A little bit about me-- I have always loved art and like to dabble in it some (mainly coloring, paint by numbers, etc.) but have never been very good at creating my own stuff.  I have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and the last few years have been really hard.  I have needed a creative outlet and began doing some art therapy as part of my treatment.  I am a musician but oftentimes music becomes too stressful-- I'm too much of a perfectionist, and, plus, it's kind of my job.

I randomly discovered Zentangle a few months ago and shared it with my therapist.  She was excited and we began incorporating it in my therapy as well as in a group I attend.  I was recently in the hospital (I go there for treatment from time to time) and shared it with the recreating therapist there--she also has begun to use it.

ANYWAY, your books in particular have been very inspirational to me.  I bought "Yoga for Your Brain" a few months ago and then was given "Totally Tangled" for Christmas.  I love the way you organize your books--showing techniques and designs so clearly and then using them as a springboard for inspiring creativity.  It gives me just enough guidance to make me confident in creating my own zentangles.

The last few days have been really rough for me.  It's a snowy day today in Utah.... I decided to cuddle up in my electric blanket and work on some art--and came up with this heart zenflake (maybe "heartflake"or "melting heart" ?).  I'm so surprised at what I came up with.  I feel so much calmer and am ready to face the new year. 
So...thank you!

M.W. 
Heart Zenflake by M.W.
 [Note: M.W. used tangles from Totally Tangled:  
Bleeding Hearts, Btl Joos, Heartline, and Alice.
Just beautiful!]

Inktense Tangle

I won't explain this piece. But I did it as homework for the Inktense class I have been taking online with Jessica Wesolek. It is a wonderful class - if you are intrigued by Inktense pencils - Jessica is starting up a new session of this class on March 15. Visit her website for all the details and to sign up.

I almost forgot to add that the tangles used are from my ebook, The Tangles of Kells.

A Tip on Tips

"How are you going to make money?" a common question when I tell people about my BeeHive studio idea. I don't really have a good answer except "It's more of a networking opportunity..." But some of my regular bees, and a few random visitors as well, have suggested I have a "tip jar" so people can toss in some contribution for using my studio, materials and gray matter.


I actually did some google research on tip jars and was underwhelmed at the options available. So I created my own...

I found a charity-type box at Staples and then customized it with Legos, of course. I think it has a nice serene feel to it, don't you? Very GREEN. (Subliminal thought: "Green. Think GREEN.")


Ah, a calm, lovely, pond-side park...


 You have to look a little closer to see the "story"...




And this guy here is IN the tip box! I wonder where he got that bone... ?

Anyway, come see the amazing tip jar in person! And put some green stuff in it. (No, Lilah, not boogers!? eeew.)