Still Brook Studios

August! Already! Summer is upon us in full strength. We experienced hurricane Hanna a couple weeks ago. We got just under 3" of rain, a lot of wind and no damage. The shoreline took the brunt of Hanna when water surges brought high tides, tons of debris, and took small structures like piers and roads and sand. We survived. I ordered a couple of new masks and I finally got to wear it...to the dentist office where I received the second half of my root canal. And again I survived! A month ago I gifted a room box to an artist who is doing a series on artists. The room box honors Vincent Van Gogh. I purchased the kit in 2012 at a NAME (National Association of Miniature Enthusiasts) and it was just sitting in the cupboard calling my name. Holly was thrilled to receive this unexpected gift. I spend a couple hours on line with Sig Studios last week. We explored drawing Well. the first tile was divided into 4 parts, each one done differently. The second tile, my favorite, was done in mass....

...stayed inside where it's nice and cool. Thank goodness for air conditioning, I've been busy finishing some Christmas cards, drawing with my friends, teaching and attending meetings on Zoom (everybody's go to for education site) For your viewing pleasure I present the following: I'm learning to draw gold with colored pencils. This lesson was part of Eni Oken's Art Club which I highly recommend if you want some great art lessons. This is from another Art Club class. We are designing a brooch. I have decided to give it another try soon. I'm not feeling my jewelry making vibes just yet. Now this tile was nothing like I expected it to turn out but I am over the moon with the results. I was trying to design a Zendala with 6-8 sections for my Face Book group. I will keep trying. But I do love this one! Each year I make all my Christmas cards. I had this stamp set with the polar bears and fell in love with the little fellas. A little color blending in the background...

Well, hello there! The times they are a changing and is that the understatement of all times. I've been home since March and things are more bleak locally than they were in May when the state started reopening. Our county is a hotspot. 😢. On a brighter note, my huge basket of tiles and artwork is almost overflowing. So many CZT's offered free daily draw-a-longs that after a while I just couldn't keep up. I've taken classes, attended Zoom meetings, taught Zoom classes and plan on doing more of the same in the coming days. So for your viewing pleasure I'll post some of my artwork. The first thing I had to do was get a mask. I wanted something nice so I tangled on the outside. Can you read my expression? Yeah, me neither. One of the CZT's had us draw big and these are big. I used a stained tile and added some colored pencil for a pleasing result. These two lads from 1880 Ireland really needed a nice frame around them. Funny story a...

The journal prompt word is Transition. This is something we all do every day and probably don't think about it as such. I have collected teabags for several years. I started making sheets of teabag paper to use in card making and as background images for my drawing. When I saw this prompt I knew what I wanted to do. I recently found teabag art. And since it is created on teabags, well, the rest is shown below. Start with a new teabag and brew a cup of tea,   Empty the dried spent teabag and create beautiful teabag art. Put it all together and you have a completed art journal. Now I'm off to enjoy another cup of tea or glass of tea as the weather gets warmer as the day wears on and work on my next prompt - Seeds. I wonder what I will come up with...

Way back in 2012 I needed something to do while sitting in a hospital room with a relative. TV was out of the question as I get bored with it. I didn't want to read and be rude so I grabbed a tablet, some colored pens and off we went. This was before I knew what Zentangle was all about so please keep this in mind. The reason I bring this up is because I so many people tell me, "I could never draw like that" or "You just have a natural talent for drawing". This list of excuses goes on forever and the party never ends. Old and new was a recent prompt for my art journal group. What an excellent way to show how far I have come in my drawing journey. The first page shows a drawing from March 2012. There is no shading, no composition, no weight. I had yet to learn of all this. I had taken the first step, the most important step - I started! From March 2012  Since then I have become a Certified Zentangle Teacher (CZT), taught others the Zentangle method, ...

No Excuse! I just haven't been working on the blog. End of story. So I'll try again by showing you some of the things I have been working on. I love to tangle on shoes. Sometimes I will change the pattern up on each shoe jut for fun.  Shoes! I've done several pair of shoes and they are all different. I even have a pair or two for myself. These are all washable . Letters! I found some wooden letters that stand about 18" tall. After I sand them on both sides, I give them several coats of white or black gesso. Then I tangle away. I can add a touch of color on the sides to go with the room decor and once in a while a little touch of gold really makes the tangles popl Black ink on a white background. This letter E hangs in my great nephews bedroom. I sent this as a housewarming gift for a special friend who just build a home. I am in an art journal group on FaceBook. Just a group of CZT's who put out a new prompt each week and the rest of us...

It's been a busy summer, fall and early winter. I am not happy about the time going by so fast! The tree still needs ornaments to be hung. Cards need to be created, envelopes addressed and mailed. I'm in several swaps and need to get those done soon. I have a project sitting on my workbench that needs to be completed today. And I have loads of journals to fill with drawings, pictures and thoughts. And of course, I am taking time to update my blog which has been neglected. Poor thing. I'll try to do much better next year. (Deep breath here) On the brighter side of life, not that I've had a dark side lately, I had a display of my Zentangle art on the walls of Cafe Calypso for about 6 weeks. And I sold some of my work. I was so excited! I still have several pieces, well more than several actually, for sale and will post pictures later. If you are interested in purchasing one of these before I become famous (ahem) let me know. I will pay the postage, too, so that ...