July 31, 2017

Zentangle® – July 2017

July 31, 2017/ Gwen Morrison

31 days in July and 31 Zentangles. I enjoy the Zen time while I am making each one and then the choosing the tiles for the monthly blog post…it is a pleasure to look at everything I created in the month and marvel at the joy I always feel in the process and the product. Maybe Zentangles are like little celebrations that get better with accumulation and a little savoring. Most of the tiles in July were the square ones…and the golden cardboard from canned Seltzer water.

The business cards were the ‘quick’ ones I did when I just wanted a little break – make a Zentangle – then go back to whatever was dominating the day.

The Zentangle® Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. It was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. "Zentangle" is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com.

July 02, 2017

Zentangle® – June 2017

July 02, 2017/ Gwen Morrison

Somehow, I had a lot of Zentangle time in June. There were 82 tiles to choose 30 to include in this post. I picked 14 of the square tiles – to that shape was the majority. My favorite was a gray and red tile made from a Seltzer water box.

The rest of the square tiles are in the slideshow below.

I picked 8 of the business card tiles. My favorite was one that was the color of after dinner chocolates!

The business card tiles are often a single pattern because of the limited space.

The other 8 tiles were rectangles…but not all the same dimensions. My favorite of the group was red and black and started me thinking about creating Christmas tree decorations in geometric shapes with Zentangle tiles; I’ll have to start experimenting.

June 01, 2017

Zentangle® – May 2017

June 01, 2017/ Gwen Morrison

May was such a busy month (volunteer work and traveling) that I didn’t have didn’t do 2 or 3 Zentangle tiles each day…I did about 45 so had fewer to choose from than the past few months to get the one-per-day for the blog post. There might be more color repetition too since I only took 4 pens with me when I was traveling (limiting the colors for the tiles made during that 15 days). There were eleven tiles made in the typical 3.5 x 3.5 inch squares. I’m still enjoying the color and weight of the tiles made from Seltzer water boxes.

There were ten tiles made on the back of old business cards. Sometimes the smaller size tile is faster to create – but not always.

Nine tiles were odd sizes. There are times I just want to use card stock from other sources that are easier to cut into something not quite square. If I ever get tired of the Seltzer water boxes…I assume I will try more of the different sizes and shapes for tiles.

May 01, 2017

Zentangle® – April 2017

May 01, 2017/ Gwen Morrison

More than half the 30 Zentangle tiles I selected for this month were not square; they were made on old business cards are 4 x 3 inch card stock. Twelve of the thirty tiles are on old business cards. Because of the smaller tile size – they are often faster to make and have fewer patters. I’m still enjoying the color diversity of the Sharpie Ultra-Fine Point markers…not back to using shading very often.

The 4 x 3 inch card stock tiles have a little more area and tend to be more complex looking even if they have only a few patterns. I like experimenting with multiple colors and layering on these tiles.

The 3.5 x 3.5 square tiles were all recycled materials; all except one were from the Seltzer Water boxes. I like the light brown color of the cardboard and the way the ink flows onto it. Because the boxes are larger than others I’ve cut into tiles, it is faster to produce lots of tiles quickly with the paper cutter. I got a new rotary cutter blade in April which made it even easier.

March 07, 2017

Making (Zentangle®) Tiles

March 07, 2017/ Gwen Morrison

I’ve been experimenting with cutting 3.5 x 3.5 inch squares for Zentangle tiles from items I would typically put into the recycle pile. Some packaging is not worth it: boxes of protein bars are too small to be worth the effort (two tiles per box) and some is textured (Lindt dark chocolate bars) and some is a little too dark or heavy (like the quart size food bags). The one I’ve come to like – a lot – is the Wegmans Sparkling Water box. It makes 12 tiles – avoiding the parts that are perforated. Sometimes there is writing on the cardboard which reduces the number of tiles to 11. That is worth it! My old paper cutter is getting workout.

The golden brown on the right in the image below is the color of the box. Note that some of the tiles from the Sparkling Water box have imprints of the can tops…but that just gives me a ‘string’ on the tile before I even start!

2017 02 img985.jpg — I like the way the color of the Ultra Fine Point Sharpie blends into the cardboard too.

March 01, 2017

Zentangle® – February 2017

March 01, 2017/ Gwen Morrison

February is a short month…but a huge one in terms of the number of Zentangle® tiles I made over the course of the month: over 90! I got some new Ultra Fine Point Sharpies and enjoyed having so many colors. I also continued to use recycled materials for tiles as well. My favorite is the boxes from the Seltzer water cans. The light brown seems to go well with many colors of ink.

While most of the tiles were the square 3.5 x 3.5 inches, I did quite a few on the backs of 1970s business cards. They are a good size for bookmarks.

The 4 x 6 inches white cards – cut in half – area a good size for non-square tiles too.

February was a big month for Zentangle production! Hope you enjoyed the 28 our of 90+ that I chose to include in this post.

February 26, 2017

A Morning Tea at the Belmont Carriage House

February 26, 2017/ Gwen Morrison

The Howard County Conservancy held their annual Volunteer Tea yesterday at the Belmont Carriage House in Elkridge, MD.

I packed up two books to swap, some Zentangle tiles to give away as book marks, and Dark Chocolate Pudding (made with an avocado, 1/4 cup cocoa powder, 1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla) as a sweet indulgence among the scones and egg salad sandwiches. I have a picture of one table at the set up….and then about half way through. There was a lot of friendly conversation and enjoyment of food. I intended to come home with fewer books that I took…but there were so many books (many people brought more than 2!) that I came home with three…and have already read the one about Montezuma Castle (I got it because I enjoyed walking around the place during an Arizona visit – see the post here).

On the short walk back to my car, I took a picture of the barn built from stone found in the area; it could be used for a geology lecture!

I’d forgotten about the crocus bulbs that seem to have planted in the lawn around Belmont. They’ll done by the time the grounds need to be mowed.

The front of the Manor House still seems too open without the large English Elm that had to be removed because of Dutch Elm disease.

I’m still savoring the look of my new car (the red Prius Prime!).

February 23, 2017

Ten Little Celebrations – February 2017

February 23, 2017/ Gwen Morrison

Usually February has been a low-key month with weather dampening activity. This year – the weather has been mild – and my celebrations have been more active than usual for February.

I celebrated outings to 1) Conowingo (for Bald Eagles), 2) Brookside (for witch hazel and snow drops), 3) Mt. Pleasant (skunk cabbage), and

4) State College (to see my daughter and son-in-law.

There were also learning experiences to celebrate: 5) the TED dialog with Yuval Harari (I enjoyed his “A Brief History of Humankind” via Coursera back August 2013) and 6) The Changing Global Order course on Coursera (from Universiteit Leiden).

There were new (big) purchases to celebrate: 7) a Samsung Galaxy S7 and

8) a new Honda CR-V for my husband (I am celebrated more room for me in the front passenger seat than in his previous car…and I am still celebrating my Prius Prime every time I drive it).

Two things for myself that I celebrated this month: 9) a short haircut that maximizes the little bit of natural curl my hair has and 10) lots of lots of Zentangle tiles (new pens and more time than usual to create tiles).

I had a lot of celebrate in February 2017!

February 01, 2017

Zentangle® – January 2017

February 01, 2017/ Gwen Morrison

I averaged almost 2 tiles a day in January and have come to realize that I do more of them when I need to create a Zen interlude for myself. Creating a Zentangle is the fastest way for me to do that. I’m anticipating that February will be similar because of the political climate…and my daughter’s search for the ‘what next’ after she gets her PhD this spring.

I discovered a box of very old business cards – the very first ones of my career. They are over 40 years old and I’m using the backs as small tiles. Sometimes I am surprised what will fit in that small space!

When I scanned the 60 tiles I created in January, I discovered some odd sizes. I try to use card stock from odd sources. This one might have started out as a note card.

And then there are the bulk of the tiles that are the typical 3.5 x 3.5 inches. They are from different sources too: the blank back of lightweight cardboard packaging (canned drinks, Stevia, spiral notebook covers) and purchased card stock that is probably over 15 years old – all cut to size. I did more fill color than shading in January.

January 04, 2017

Zentangle® – December 2016 – part 2

January 04, 2017/ Gwen Morrison

I continued making owls out of toilet paper rolls in December. I lined them up on the window ledge of my office. I always start out with the eyes and try to make them different than the day before. I like the Sharpie Ultra Fine Point marker because it overcomes the brown of the cardboard.

I try to vary the patterns as well although minor changes in a pattern make it look different enough. When I am creating them – I don’t think about gender…but afterwards I sometimes get an impression. The one in the middle below looks feminine to me!

The spiral highlight in the eyes was an idea I got from an owl on a ceiling fan pull chain that my sister bought for me as a gift.

I was looking at a book about algae, diatoms, and water plants and used one (upside down) as the starting point for the body of the middle owl.

The owls are in the order that I created them….it was well into the month before I used a color other than black!

Once I started using colors – I continued…. although the purple looks very close to black.

The last one was ‘Christmas’ inks (on Christmas) but the red looks too orangey to me. That’s the last owl for December! I like them on the window sill!

January 02, 2017

Zentangle® – December 2016 – part 1

January 02, 2017/ Gwen Morrison

I did so many Zentangle® sessions in December that I’ve divided then into 2 posts; this first one is the ‘tiles’ only.

The first group is normal square tiles. The ones that look light brown are cut from boxes of canned drinks. Sometimes the indentions from the cans make circular shapes that I use as strings. I like the light weight cardboard; it absorbed ink well and is easy to handle. It’s a little harder on the paper cutter than card stock. As usual – some of the designs are patterns from Zentangle sites…others are derived from botanical structures, portions of modern art paintings, or stylizing a landscape. Sometimes everything I look at seems to have potential for a Zentangle tile.

The next group is not square…and not all the same size. I found a package of 4 x 6 inches note cards that I cut into 4x3 tiles but there are some that are other sizes too – not sure how I created them.