December 11, 2024

Frost Patterns

December 11, 2024/ Gwen Morrison

On one of the mornings I had an early Physical Therapy appointment, the temperature was in the teens and sunny. When I parked, I noticed the car parked next to me had frost on all its non-vertical surfaces. I couldn’t resist taking a few pictures with my phone!

A little magnification made the variations in the crystals more visible. Some looked like feathers, others like brittle stars from the sea. In some places the crystals had become so dense that they became an aggregate. The sun was beginning to melt some of the crystals; I thought about why some areas were melting and others were not.

A few seconds of photography and I hurried into the building feeling grateful for the little bit of creative time – one of my favorite ways to start the day.

December 01, 2024

Zentangle® – November 2024

December 01, 2024/ Gwen Morrison

November has 30 days – hence 30 tiles picked for this post. I made slightly more square tiles than rectangular ones…and had almost 60 tiles to choose from. The black card stock is still my favorite, but I did some on recycled cardboard and other colors of cardstock. Each tile is unique…some with favorite patterns and some with new or experimental ones that appealed to me in the end. Tiles are like rivers…never the same twice.

Most of the time I ‘fill the tile’ but I managed to avoid the tendency for a few and they are probably my favorites…I’ll do more of this in December!

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.

November 10, 2024

Pumpkin Art

November 10, 2024/ Gwen Morrison

My son-in-law hosted his annual pumpkin carving event last week for his research group. I am always impressed with the artful carvings the undergraduate/graduate biology students produce – or maybe my son-in-law is an excellent pumpkin carving coach! (click on the image below to see a larger version)

November 03, 2024

Zentangle® – October 2024

November 03, 2024/ Gwen Morrison

I made considerably more tiles in October than I did in September – acclimating to my increased activity level taking two classes (Missouri Master Naturalist training and Identifying Woody plants field class). I enjoyed the usual square and rectangular tiles – skewing somewhat to black tiles.

I did 6 tiles using simple tree leaf/fruit coloring pages for the ‘string.’ I found the pages to include in the educational materials I was collecting about our native trees for younger audiences. It was a fun experiment. I think I will make a version of the pages that has just the outline of the leaves (not the venation) to increase the variety of ways the spaces could be filled.

October 01, 2024

Zentangle® – September 2024

October 01, 2024/ Gwen Morrison

With the two classes requiring more of my time, I didn’t make quite as many Zentangle tiles in September…although more than 30 that I needed for this post. It is a great way to destress…for the time it takes to create the tile!

All the tiles are square this month. I cut plenty of tiles before the month began and just used my supply. I like the variety of the different colors…although I am still drawn to the black tiles and the gel pens. When I find a black tile at the top of my stack, I rejoice. Maybe I’ll do a whole month of black tiles at some point.

September 01, 2024

Zentangle® – August 2024

September 01, 2024/ Gwen Morrison

I created 69 Zentangle tiles in August and chose 31 (one for each day of the month) to share in this post.

I bought some Papermate white ink pens and thoroughly enjoyed creating black paper/cardstock tiles. But – the pens are not going to be ones I will buy again. They either ran out of ink quickly or got clogged because I used up 3 pens in one month! I’ll be experimenting with other colors of gel pins on the black tiles in September.

There were a few tiles that were other colors. I am in the mood for colorful or off-white card stock right now – not the recycled light weigh cardboard.

August 08, 2024

An Experimental Zentangle® Display

August 08, 2024/ Gwen Morrison

When my sisters and I were cleaning out the storage shed at my parents’ old house, I found 4 vertical blind pieces – probably detached from a set long since discarded. They were smooth white on the underside and a patterned white on the other. There was a hole in the top that could be used for hanging. I brought them home thinking perhaps they would work to display Zentangle tiles. It’s been 6 months…but I finally did the experiment; I opted to use a repositionable glue stick to attach tiles made on black paper. It worked relatively well. It’s only been one day so I’m not sure if I used enough glue to keep them in place.

The paper had the advantage of easily curving with the vertical blind piece. I’m not sure if cardstock would be as easy. Maybe I will try using the other side of the blind. I have 3 other pieces to try and, right now, I am thinking of using them separately rather than as a group.

I have other types of blinds that might work even better for Zentangle displays since they are flat…and shorter. It will be good to make displays (maybe seasonal) rather than simply putting the tiles in a box at the end of each month!

July 14, 2024

Philbrook Museum of Art

July 14, 2024/ Gwen Morrison

On our way home from Oklahoma City we stopped in Tulsa to see the Philbrook Museum of Art. We started in the gardens before the day got too hot to enjoy them. There were plenty of plants and water features…sculptures and activity areas (like creating poems with word stones).

The garden on one end of the house was probably my favorite because there were swings in the metal arches. My daughter and I sat in one and coordinated our pushing off (no brakes)! There was a zinnia that had been broken and dumped nearby (picture taken when we stopped the swing…just before leaving it).

Inside I enjoyed the Native American themed rooms – particularly the mosaics and pottery. The pottery was a mix of historical and modern pots. I have been sensitized by my visit to the First Americans Museum to think more critically about how some of the historical collections were created.

There were views of the gardens from the museum…a different perspective than walking through the gardens.

I thought about the building as a residence and decided it was too big to be comfortable as a home! The house was built in the 1920s for Waite Phillips and his wife; it was donated to the city of Tulsa in1938 and opened as the museum in 1939. I noted the fireplaces and some of the columns/ceilings that were obviously original to the house. They work well as a museum.

One of my favorite items was titled ‘Texas Seed Pod’ made of porcelain by Janet A. Frankovic in 1990.

We learned that the museum/gardens are decorated for Christmas…and my daughter and I already making tentative plans to visit again in December!

July 07, 2024

Library Adventures – June 2024

July 07, 2024/ Gwen Morrison

My most frequent interactions with my local library are digital…checking out Kindle books. In June, there were 3 interactions that were not digital at all!

The first one was volunteering at one of the branches with the Friends group used book sale. It was a smaller branch and was only a one-day event. I helped with the set-up the day before and then with the first hours of the $3/bag sale. There were quite a few people that stopped by and left with 1 or more bags of books and the Friends netted $295 from the day. My favorite was an elementary school aged boy that came in with his mom and picked out two bags of books; he was very pleased with his haul and shared that he might share some of them with his older brother.

The second interaction was an art class that was announced in the monthly library newsletter. It was free…held in the early evening…2 one-hour sessions over 2 weeks. It was scheduled in the branch library closest to where I live. I signed up. We made a color wheel the first session and then did shades of the same color (by adding white) on the same small canvas in the second.

I took a picture of the plate I used to mix the paint for the shades of ‘red’ in the second class.

The next day I made Zentangle patterns over the white space of the canvas (and into some of the painted areas as well).

The class was a good learning experience. 1) It was my first experience with acrylic paints…and I realized that I enjoy the pens and Zentangle too much to make time for paints! 2) Canvases are not smooth enough for pens. I used a Sharpie Ultra-Fine pen and it was hard to control the tip of the pen over the bumps of the canvas fibers. 3) A free class is a low-risk way to try something new!

The third interaction occurred when we had a form that required notarized signatures. My husband found out that the library had a notary so we took our form there and indeed the person at the desk was a notary – it was very easy!

Positive interactions at the library….it’s more than just a place to check out books!

July 02, 2024

Zentangle® – June 2024

July 02, 2024/ Gwen Morrison

I created 74 tiles in June…and chose 30 to feature in this post. I did less traveling in June; all of these were made in Dallas or my home near Springfield MO. At my home they were made at my computer table rather than in a glide with a clipboard to support the tile as I had been doing in previous months; for some reason, being at the computer table was easier on my back!

Backgrounds were still the theme when I started many tiles. There were a few that carried over the three-hash-line fill from May.

But the majority used what I think of as ‘screen’ fill. Many of the tiles were created on cardboard cut from separators in cat food boxes.

There were also a few that used circle shapes to fill the background. That might be the one I will continue into June.

And the remaining tiles – where the background was not a factor. My favorite was the blue and green inked square…full of the paradox pattern.

June 02, 2024

Zentangle® – May 2024

June 02, 2024/ Gwen Morrison

I created 68 Zentangle tiles in May…plenty to choose the 31 to feature in this post. These tiles were made at home in Nixa…in Dallas…in Hot Springs…in Eureka Springs. Enjoy the results of my ‘islands of calm’!

There were several themes for my tile making in May. Trilliums (flowers with 3 petals) were in 4 tiles.

There were 4 ‘spider’ flower tiles as well.

I seemed to enjoy three-hash-line fill for a lot of tiles. The 11 below are my favorites.

And then there were the 12 more to make the 31 picks for May.

May 07, 2024

Out and About with Company

May 07, 2024/ Gwen Morrison

When my sister and brother-in-law were visiting – stopping for a few days at a RV park near us before they continued on their month long travels – we enjoyed the botanical gardens and the zoo, then decided on a less active day starting with brunch at my house (I made a ‘full oven’ of food: egg casserole, chunks of seasoned new potatoes, and pumpkin bread) followed by a walk around the Springfield Art Museum and then the Springfield Conservation Nature Center.

The art museum was opening their Art in Bloom event – with the fashion component being the main part available for viewing. My favorite was the creation that was inspired by the hallway long tilted sky – probably my favorite piece in the museum!

Of course, there were plenty of other things to enjoy in the museum – other fashion and art works. I’ve picked some of my favorite views from the pictures it took.

Then we were off to the nature center…not for a hike (one of my guests was having back problems) but for the center itself. The turtle tank was being renovated so there were two large snapping turtles in a tank that was too small for them long term but offered views from two sides. It was a great photographic opportunity.

And then they headed off to prepare for the next leg of their trip.

May 01, 2024

Zentangle® – April 2024

May 01, 2024/ Gwen Morrison

The end of the month and preparing to write this post reminded me that I needed to find the driver for my Epson V600 photo scanner to install on my MacBook Air. I found it easily enough and the install was uneventful…and I was pleased that it worked more reliably that the Windows driver on my old laptop!

As usual I had plenty of tiles to choose the 30 from for this month. It is easy to have a few blank tiles and a pen available all the time. I create most of the tiles in my office at home although this month one was made when I was traveling and eating alone…while I waited for my food. More were made in hotels in Dallas. Creating a Zentangle tile always provides an island of calm!

April 01, 2024

Zentangle® – March 2024

April 01, 2024/ Gwen Morrison

The tile materials for the 31 tiles I selected from my March creations were more varied than usual. The thin cardboard rectangular tiles were the first I made. The unbleached color varies slightly – always warm. I like that this is reused cardboard mostly made from recycled paper/cardboard.

There were two tiles from index cards from my dad’s old office,

Four square tiles that were paperboard coasters,

Five square tiles that were colorful cardstock,

And nine tiles that were round paperboard coasters that were all started with the same string.

It was a good month for savoring tile creation…experiencing the Zen minutes they provided.

March 03, 2024

Zentangle® – February 2024

March 03, 2024/ Gwen Morrison

February was a stressful month. The pile of tiles I selected these 29 from was finished before the death of my mother. At the end of March….I’ll look at what might be different about the before and after tiles. As I write this post, I am still in the stage of being preoccupied and cycling through various stages of grief; when I think I have reached level of acceptance, I find myself thinking ‘oh mom would enjoy hearing/seeing this’ before I consciously remind myself that she is gone; I am realizing that my subconscious is churning away and interfering with my ability to focus too.

The square tiles this month are made on the usual neon colored card stock. Most of the time I can make patterns on both sides of the tile…unless I use the thicker pens and the color bleeds through.

The rectangular tiles are a mix of recycled light weight cardboard from cat food boxes (light brown), the wider tiles that are textured stationery from my dad’s business over 30 years ago that I found in his office when we cleaned it out, and the pale yellow/green 3x5 cards are also from his office (he carried them in his shirt pocket for notes….and then stopped about 5 years ago).

The past few months have re-enforced my self-knowledge that making a Zentangle tile (or two or three…) every day helps me through stressful times.

February 01, 2024

Zentangle® – January 2024

February 01, 2024/ Gwen Morrison

31 days in January – 31 Zentangle tiles selected from 74 created during the month. I split my time between Carrollton TX and home (Missouri) during the month…with plenty of quiet times sandwiched between roller coaster emotions. The islands of calm creating the tiles were little boosts to my emotional resilience. I created two series.

The first was made on pale yellow and green 3x5 index cards that were in unopened packages of my Dad’s office…found when we were cleaning it out. He used to carry a few cards in his shirt pocket for jotting down notes or making lists. I’m not sure when he stopped, but he has. So – I am using the cards for Zentangle tiles…and thinking of him!

The other series is made on round paper coasters. They all started with the same string (four lines intersecting in the center)…and then the variations begin!

And then there were the colorful square tiles.

I am enjoying looking at the mosaics…thinking back on the challenge of the past 3 months and acknowledging the positive impact of including Zentangle tiles in my daily routine.

January 29, 2024

Patterns in the Snow

January 29, 2024/ Gwen Morrison

A few days after photographing the snow activity around the patio, it was a little warmer (in the teens) and the sun was out. I ventured out at mid-morning to look around the yard and neighborhood. I noticed tracks in the snow. Squirrel?

My real objective was to walk patterns on the untracked snow of the tennis courts. It was my first attempt…and a learning experience.

I had chosen 2 simple patterns from my Zentangle experiences. The free form curves worked better than the “straight” lines.

The contrast between shadows and bright sunlight played havoc with my line of sight. The poles at the ends of the net worked well but the other corners were more nebulous.

Even though I tried to retrace each line at least twice, additional retracing would have made the lines more solid. Maybe wearing snowshoes would make that easier although I am not quite ready to make the purchase (yet).

The tennis courts are an optimal surface to walk patterns in the snow – flat and with ‘posts’ for orientation.

The snow was a good depth…2-3 inches.
It was cold enough (teens) that there had been no melting.

After I finished on the tennis courts I walked along the path a bit – made arches away from tracks made by others. Some had melted through to the asphalt. On the bridge over the channel into the ponds, there had been more traffic and the snow had fallen between the planks.

My winter gear kept me warm enough (down filled coat with hood, tube scarf over my head under the hood, mask, snow pants, hiking boots with wool socks, battery powered heat in my gloves). But I was ready to head indoors!

January 11, 2024

Glad to be Home

January 11, 2024/ Gwen Morrison

As I write this, I have been home again for a week after being away almost 7 weeks. It had taken this long to get settle back into an at-home routine….to relax enough to feel truly rested! At first, I felt so exhausted that I took naps – which didn’t seem to help. It took me 5 days to fully empty my car. I needed the alone time after being so engaged with people all the time; I didn’t want to talk on the phone at all…had to force myself to check my text message. My emotions were still volatile, and I consciously started trying to unwind. Cutting back on caffeine, getting more exercise and quick neighborhood hikes (even though it was cold outside) finally worked.

It’s such a joy to just be home. I’ve enjoyed returning to spending more time just being in my house…cooking, reading, writing, making Zentangle tiles, and planning one or two vacation travels for the next 6 months. I pampered myself included burning a scented candle I’ve had for years, a facial (using supplies from a Christmas gift), hot apple cider rooibos tea, big red peppermint stick, and pumpkin oatmeal cookie bars.

As the days passed, I fell myself recovering…although there are some aspects of the past 7 weeks that might be a permanent change. I’ve learned more about how I deal with stress --- holding off its effects until the crisis is ‘over’ --- and then requiring time to recover. It is a strategy and provided enough resilience, but I might need to bolster by stress reduction techniques in preparation for the next crisis; more self-care during a crisis might make recovery easier (or unneeded).

I’ll be taking off for another trip to Carrollton TX soon, but the trip will be only 6 days this time! Much easier!

January 02, 2024

My Favorite Photographs from 2023

January 02, 2024/ Gwen Morrison

Photography is something I enjoy frequently (one of those hobbies that pop up almost daily!). I’ve picked 2 photos from each month of 2023 for this post. Picking favorites is always a bit of a challenge; looking at the collection as I write this post I realize some were chosen for the light

A heron in morning light
A backlit dandelion
High key image of iris…and then a turkey using the same technique

…some for the subject

The busy fox squirrel
Two insects in one flower
The egret struggling to control a fish
The feet of the American Coot

…some because they prompted a strong memory of the place.

Driftwood at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge
Sculpture in the Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House Garden in St. Louis
Metal iris and sunrise at my parents’ house
Geese on the snow and ice in my neighborhood in Missouri
Cairn as the Mizumoto Japanese Stroll Garden in Springfield, MO
A flower blooming in December at Josey Ranch Park in Carrollton, TX

Enjoy the mosaic of images (click to see a larger version).

January 01, 2024

Zentangle® – December 2023

January 01, 2024/ Gwen Morrison

Happy New Year 2024!

31 days in December –31 Zentangle tiles selected from the 75 created during the month. I was in Carrollton for the whole month so these were made in the quiet times during, sometimes intense, elder care; their create were welcomed islands of calm. I found myself reverting to ‘thickets’ again and again!

I left my scanner at home so the images were created with photos made with my phone…not as tidy as the scanned images of prior months but it was the best I could do when it came time to do this post!