A card for my wonderful neighbors...

A recently family health emergency landed my husband Steve in the hospital for 4 days and resulted in back surgery.  As you can imagine this type of event can quickly change the dynamics of your household. As usual my next door neighbors stepped right up to help. They took care of my daughter and took care of my yard/house and made sure I didn't have any of those things to worry about. Seriously, I have the best neighbors.  

Tonight I made an original piece of art for them on a card as a thank you for their generousity. The flower in the center I painted on my iPad while I was sitting with Steve in the emergency room.  I used ArtRage and my wonderful Sensu paint brush stylus. Love that brush!  The rest is mixed media with acrylic, Neocolor II, washi tape, Mister Huey and white out pen.

The Haul and a Personal Goal

I love the Re-Store! It's fun to just go in and look around at what's been brought in and to find things you can use to make into something else.  I found some cool stuff the last time I went. I've set a goal to make something with each of the items I bought on my last hall. Some things were for projects I've wanted to work on and some I just knew I could find a purpose for! Here is my haul...

I'll blog about my projects as I do them.  The first thing I've done with my haul is to use the gutter guard as a mask/stencil for some of my mixed media stuff.  I cut off a square and tried it out. Worked so well! Yay!

 

This will be fun to use and cost me next to nothing to make.  I saved the rest of it for a larger mask to use when I paint the linoleum I also bought on this trip to the Re-Store. I have more to share in my next post.  Until then, be creative everyday!



A Quick Project

A recent goal of mine has been to just do the things I keep saying I'll do. So this little ottoman was first on my list and I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I grabbed one of the burlap coffee sacks I got at the Front Porch in Manteo, recently used as part of the set for our dinner theater. In thirty minutes with a pair of scissors and a staple gun I have a brand new ottoman for the armchair in my studio/sunroom. I love the way it turned out!

 

 

Robotics=Art

So we recently headed down to Raleigh NC for a First Robotics competition with Team 2363 (Go Triple Helix!) and found a great city full of arty experiences.  One of our stops was the NC Museum of Art.  Wow! Just the outside of the building was amazing. I fell in love with this life size silver tree as soon as I saw it.

The inside structure of the building was just beautiful and the art work amazing.  We took our time browsing. My favorite piece was this Mona Lisa done entirely from spools of thread. It was installed upside down and then you used this sphere to view it right side up. Meghan Garrity took this awesome picture. 

In downtown Raleigh we visited the City Market and hit the jackpot with ArtSpace and Amplified Art. The ArtSpace is a restored building with working artist studios. You can go into the individual studios and speak with the artists as well as view artwork displayed in various places throughout the building.  We really enjoyed Keith Norval's whimsical style and the very interesting paper art by Scott Hazard. Meghan and I each contributed a piece for an exhibit that was being put together out of coaster type cards with art from the visitors to the art studios.  Fun to think we left a little piece of our art in NC.

Amplified Art is an art gallery, concert hall, art poster selling, really cool store! We made friends with this funny store resident who was sound asleep and very comfortable.

We were competing in the Dorton Area located on the NC State Fairgrounds. And it just so happened that Saturday is Flea Market day! Heaven! I picked up a few things, but my favorite is this old wrought iron hand. I think it looks great in my studio/sunroom. I love the rusty patena. 

We had a great time in Raleigh and would definitely go there again if we had the chance.  I just love a city with nice people, beautiful scenery and fun art!

Pinterest---Love ya!

Wow! I think I have found the perfect tool for surfing the web and saving trees (because I will never buy another magazine).  It's name is Pinterest (pinterest.com).  You create boards for different topics of interest.  Just about everyone I know has a food board...funny how we all gravitate towards food.  Anyhow, you create your boards and download the PinMarklet which is a button on your browser bar.  So now as you are surfing the web and find an beautiful photograph or a great recipe you can "pin" it to your board.  What's even more fun?  Looking at other people's boards and pin stuff from those. You can follow people or just certain boards you like. 

It's so much fun to see all the amazing things out there.  The fabulously creative and inspiring people. And when I'm down and feeling blue I go to the humor category and it never fails before long I'm busting out laughing at the ridulous and hilarious things people have posted.  I've noticed many from the Zentangle community are on Pinterest so it's another great way to stay connected to fellow tanglers. 

What's really amazing it that it allows you to connect with people you would never have met in person or may have even met and had no idea you had so much in common.  I have come across people with the exact same sense of humor, it sounds so minor but that feeling of "Hey someone out there really gets me...and they don't even know me!" is pretty amazing.  Especially, when sadly we probably all have people who have been in our lives a very long time that never really get us. 

I will warn you that Pinterest is very addictive and you can possibly lose hours of time to pinning.  So you may want to set limits for yourself! But I can also tell you that you will be inspired by the art you see and the community you will build. And if you're like me you will save a bundle on magazines because it's all out there on the web! When you get on look me up, I'll follow you!

Jumping on and jumping off

I know I need to spend more time with my blog.  But unfortunately life has tripped me up lately.  I have worked on a few things and I'm always tangling.  Here is a journal cover I did for a friend. 

I look with longing at my studio some days, wishing I could while away the hours. I'm working two jobs, looking after a teenager who can't drive yet, and doing stuff with the volunteer organization I belong to...busy life. I have spent time in my studio putting things back where they belong after a water leak and repair.  But that's about it, no paint covered hands or glue on my elbows. Someday soon, I promise myself.

Back to Zentangle

Wow, it has been a hectic couple of months in our household! Lots of time on the road since the FIRST Robotics team (2363) that my kids are on won the Palmetto regional! Next was a flurry of fundraising so we could go to the National Championship in St. Louis. What an experience!  Then there was the grad class in order to keep my teaching license. Then soccer finals and championship games.  Then before I know it, my "baby" boy Chris is moving his tassle to the other side of his cap and walking across the stage to become a high school graduate! Deep breath! 

Through it all Zentangle has been my constant companion.  The mini kit Rick and Maria gave us at the October CZT training is tattered and worn but I can't bring myself to change it to a new box...it's like an old friend. On every plane ride (four weekends in a row in a plane or in a car!), waiting in lines, even sitting in the stands between matches I had my kit with me tangling at every opportunity.  I've been catching up on reading the blogs and looking at all the lovely work from the challenges.  I'm so excited to be scheduling classes for this summer and next fall.  I can't wait to order some of the new things...those black tiles look amazing. 

I just wanted to share with you a piece of art my daughter did for an art assignment at the end of this school year. They were asked to make a mandala.  She incorporated several tangle like patterns in some of the spaces in the piece.  I really love the inverted Betweed that looks like bananas. I think she did a great job so I thought I'd share it with you.