Tangle Club Notes
Note: Most of the Tool links are to Amazon. I'm not affiliated with them nor do I proclaim that you should buy the item from there. The items are simply easiest for me to find on their site for the purposes of getting you to the exact tool we were discussing. Feel free to take that knowledge and check out other websites like Blick, or preferably shop local and head out to your favorite art store.
September 2023
Discussions and Enabling
We talked about a few tangles: Lissa by Jessica Davies and Tasicope by Lissette Valera - I couldn't find the step-outs for Lissa, so I'll update later if I find it.
We also discussed that one tangler thinks about artists that she likes and the reasons why she might like them. She then uses those little things she picked out about the artists and adds them to her tiles. In doing this, she can get closer to finding her own style.
Another discussion was how recently ZTHQ has been creating content that is moving away from the core zen of Zentangle, that uses tangles on tiles in abstract. HQ has been posting more content using Zentangle Inspired Art that is more representational, which can be less zen for some folks. Great discussion!
One of our tanglers recently traveled to Quebec City and used some of the patterns she found there to create an Opus tile. I think this is a fantastic idea to do for all of our travels. Imagine having a binder full of tangled art that represents your trips!
For monochromatic tangling, another tangler will put a color cartridge in her pen and use it until it's gone. On those tiles, she will choose a similarly color chalk pencil for the shading.
Books mentioned:
Other links:
- We talked about Alice Hendon and her FB Group ’Tangle All Around’. September is all about Borders.
- Bell Mills was mentioned for a Mono Printing class that was held in August. Check out the following sites for more classes: Scrap Paper Circus and Gentle Penman
- ZenStitching class from Ali Manning
- We talked about marbling paper and there are tons of kits available. I have this one from Marabu.
- Nancy Dawes has a Celtic Challenge coming up.
- One tangler showed a folded Christmas Tree and talked about tangling it. I found some steps that resemble hers, here.
- There is a monthly subscription tangle club called Serene by Sandhya Manne.
- Kelly Barone has a Lettering Series coming up based on her Letter class she recently held.
August 2023
Discussions and Enabling
We talked about a few tangles: Scarabou, La-La-Lavendel, and Just Hearts by Alena Light (I could not find step outs).
Tools mentioned:
- A nice thick Hexagon stencil was shared.
- One of our tanglers showed us the plastic circles that were cut in different sizes that she had on a ring. Very nice for drawing quick circles.
- A really cool tile was shared that is part of an impromptu Traveling Tile experience. It's based on a stencil by Marieke Sanchez called Alhambra Star.
- Another off the wall (literally) enabling from a tangler is a drywall repair grid. This one is 8”x8” and comes with a string, LOL. Trust me, you had to be there!
Other links and discussions:
- Bubble Prints were shared, along with some tips
- Create bubbles with Dawn, a little bit of water and a straw
- Use a less absorbent paper (Bristol/Yupo)
- Bubbles First - Make bubbles on the paper and then drip either water color paint or ink
- Bubbles Last - Put some watercolor ink in with the soap/water and blow bubbles. Get them on the paper and then let them pop on their own.
- We talked about the botanical book with ink drawings that Maria and Rick showed in this months Project Pack: "A field Guide to Wildflowers of Northeastern & North-central North America" by Roger Tory Peterson (Illustrator) and Margaret McKenny(Author). It seems as though there are many editions of this book. The one we were talking about is the 1968 edition, but there are many more recent and less expensive, like this one from 1974.
- One of our tanglers showed off some very cool strings that she created, calling them ‘Accidentally Escher’. They are really fabulous and hopefully, in the future, we will get a chance to try them out!
- I bought Mary Rose Feldman’s ‘Antiqued Compass Rose’ class that is on her teachable site. I can’t wait to do it cause the little teaser looks fantastic!
- I also mentioned the class Kelli and took to make our own ’Travel Kits’. It was from Leslie Rottner and it’s an online class. She also makes FABULOUS mark making brushes (Kelli is a collector).
July 2023
Discussions and Enabling
We talked about a few tangles: E-Ivy, Seedwayz, PDA, Ubud
Tools mentioned:
Other links:
- We talked about Alice Hendon and her FB Group ’Tangle All Around’. June/July are Steampunk months!
- Sacred Geometry meets Zentangle - Dr. Melanie Barsch - Anstifter
- Book: The Art of Stone Painting by F. Sehnaz Bac. Instead of linking right to the book, here is a link to the Author on Amazon as she has a few books.
- Someone brought up Habitat for Humanity ReStores. I hadn’t heard of them before, so wanted to link their location page for you guys.
- Scrap Paper Circus was mentioned. Get ready for a rabbit hole!
June 2023
Discussions and Enabling
We talked about a few tangles: Ravel and Walk the Line
Tools mentioned:
- For a Circular Grid sketchbook (think mandalas), try the Koala Circular Grid (Polar Coordinate) sketchbook. Then be careful, because they have a lot of other really interesting sketchbooks! I also found a Circular (Polar Coordinates) Grid Transparency Sheet, that you can put on your light table to use under your paper! This site is getting my “$$ WARNING $$” label. LOL
- Tom’s Studio was mentioned for the refillable pens and ‘choose your own nibs’ style. Here’s a video to show you how it works. Super cool idea, but a hefty price tag.
- Check out the .28 Uni-bal StyleFit Retractable Gel Ink Pen, 16 color set
- A nice idea for changing the art on your phone case is to get a clear case. Trace the outside of the case, then make adjustments for inside measurements and camera location, to create a template. Use the template to cut out some paper and start tangling. Change your art whenever you feel like it! Just go to Amazon and search for ‘Clear Case’ for your specific phone make/model.
- We talked a little about rotary trimmers as Rosy was trying out a Carl. I have an 18” Dahle that has worked for years and is still super sharp. The only issue I have with it is that the ’table’ is only 6” deep. So if you are cutting something like an 8x8, you have to use the ruler lines to mark out 8” before turning it around to cut it.
- I found a single 3.5” photo cube, a 12 pack of cubes, and a single 3.5" spinning cube. But I did not find the deal for multiple spinning cubes that was discussed.
Other links:
- We talked about the SF Pen Show that will be August 25-27th. If you intend on going, you can reply all to this email and hook up with each other to carpool.
- ReCreate Craft Thrift Store and Studio: Located at 6827 Lonetree Blvd #105, in Rocklin, The ReCreate Craft Thrift (Creative Reuse) Store and Studio are open to the public Tuesdays - Saturdays. By working with individuals and businesses, Each year, ReCreate diverts approximately 65 tons of unwanted but perfectly usable items from entering the landfill. These items are sold far below current market prices, helping to make creative expression accessible to all. Additionally, proceeds from our store and studio help us bring programs to more schools in the region.
- Some of us were talking about getting comfortable with Water Color Techniques and mentioned the following learning opportunities:
May 2023
Discussions and Enabling
There are still a few spots left for Tahoe Tangle Reunion retreat on June 15-17 in beautiful Truckee CA! I will be teaching along with Kim VanZyll, Romi Marks and Mo Lockey. There will be 6 classes with lunch and dinners included. If you are interested or want more info, click HERE.
My review of the Paintbrush Rinser in last months club is in, and it works great! It looks a little cheap and I didn't have great expectations, but I used it recently to prep my tiles with watercolor for a class. It was so easy to use and I did not have to keep running to the kitchen for a fresh glass of rinse water. Result: Buy it!
We talked a little about bookmaking and more about Celtic Knots. I recently got a refresher from one of our tanglers and now I'm all in. I may have been seen working some celtic knots while getting a pedicure recently...
While sharing recent works, we talked about a few tangles: Verbana, Plot, Playful Flower, Moon Tear, Medi-Eight. Arboreal was mentioned but I could not find step-outs, so I'm not sure I captured the name correctly.
Tools mentioned:
- Matte Black Faber Pitt Graphite pencils saying they are soft and don’t shine as much.
- 4x4 magnetic frame from the Dollar Store. Apprentice tiles can be trimmed to fit them.
- Retractable Fountain Pen - Tested by two of our tanglers who say they are great!
- Archival Binder sleeves for CD’s work for Zendalas.
- Archival binder sleeves for 3.5 tiles
- Archival Binder sleeves for Bijou's
- I also shared my new little printer, Poooli L1 pro. It's a thermal printer and you can buy sticker paper for it. I have already used it to print out break line suggestions for Celtic Knots for on the go work. So I can see myself printing out some hard to find tangle step-outs and sticking them in a book for a 'little' travel book.
- An odd mention, but I happen to eat both of these yogurts, so I loved it. You can purchase lids for two really good Yogurts. La Fermiere (clay container) and Oui (glass container). I have also used the Oui containers for rinsing out brushes, but no more! (See last months link for the Paintbrush Rinser.)
Other links:
- Nancy Dawes - ITeachTangling for the class, ‘A Knotted Adventure - 50 Knots in 50 Days’, which is $85 and has lots of handouts to help as well as prerecorded videos. Nancy has tangling and knot classes.
- Local affairs -
- ’The MACC’ where one of our tanglers' art will be featured in a Members Show from July 10-16. All money from the sale goes to art teachers. It’s located in Rancho Cordova.
- The ‘Carmichael Cactus & Succulent Show & Sale’. Dates are 5/20-5/21, 9-4, at Carmichael Park.
- A Tulip ‘Cliff’ was visited recently called 'Crystal Hermitage’ and got very high reviews from our tangler. They are open until May 14th, so don’t dilly dally!
Analisa Bevan - our very own celebrity!!
- She launched a YouTube channel to share her tangling with all of us.
- She already has 249 subscribers and one of her videos has 10k views!
- After you subscribe to the channel, watch all the videos so a sister can get PAID... and tell all your friends.
April 2023
Discussions and Enabling
Tahoe Tangle Reunion retreat is June 15-17 in beautiful Truckee CA! I will be teaching along with Kim VanZyll, Romi Marks and Mo Lockey. There will be 6 classes with lunch and dinners included. If you are interested or want more info, click HERE.
We talked about a few tangles: Boulder Builder and Dariso. I could not find ‘Dariso’ but I did find Daviso… is that what we talked about? Do I need hearing aids??
I talked about some classes I took:
That lead to a discussion about watercolor tools:
Another marvelous White Gel Pen is made my Misulove. It's a very nice addition to your pen collection (or is it pen hoard?).
The biggest, coolest, best feeling Dot Grid book you've every seen is Littfun Bullet Dog Grid Journal, 320 sheets of awesome.
A cool tip was shared for blending Watercolor Pencils - After using the pencils on your paper, put odorless paint thinner on a tortillon and lightly run across the colored pencil to blend it.
Another cool tip to get your art on a ceramic tile - Go to a place like ‘Color Me Mine’ where you can choose a tile and paint on your tangles, then they will fire it. You now have a lovely ceramic tile with your art on it!
We had a discussion on handmade books, where the technique of adding rivets to the spine was mentioned. This led to a few folks bringing out their rivet tools - Baby Crop-A-Dile, and Crop-A-Dile Big Bite!
Of course we talked about Celtic Knots and the following folks were mentioned: Nancy Dawes classes & David Nichols Celtic Playlist on Youtube.
There was another mention of Vintage Page Designs on FB by Ali Manning, and here is her website. This is the Hand Made Book club subscription person. Another mention was Sketchbook revival on Karen Abend’s website which is free!
March 2023
Discussions and Enabling
Watch out for information on the Tahoe Tangle Reunion retreat! I will be teaching along with Kim VanZyll, Romi Marks and Mo Lockey in Truckee. The dates are June 16-18, there will be 6 classes and all meals are included. I’ll send out more information, like price, when it’s settled. If you are thinking about going, let me know and I’ll put you down on the list. I have 4 definites and 3 maybes so far. I have 10 spots that I can reserve and any open spots after that will be open for the masses.
For info on all of Brian’s undertakings, please visit him at: symmetrychaos.com & on instagram at @ATCElkGrove. And watch his etsy shop for a drop of the Cross templates!
We talked about a few tangles: Braided Wheat, Ra-on and Tri-po.
Enabling links:
- Handmade Book Club subscription. Vintage Page Designs on FB by Ali Manning, and here is her website.
- ’Tangle Journeys’ FB group, but I could not find it, so no link. :(
- In this shocking update, one member flashed up a book that a specific member did not have yet! That’s right ‘A Treasury of Celtic Knots’ is probably already on its way to their house. But if it’s not….Amazon.
Tools mentioned:
There was a big recommendation for fiveBelow stores where you can find canvas panels and stretch canvas for fantastic prices. That link is to an 8”x8” 4 pack of canvas panels for $3.25!
We also talked about the Re-Create store in Rocklin and Creative Re-use in Virginia area, and basically said to google 'art supply up cycle’ for a store like this in your area. Looking up the link for the Virginia store, I decided that we should all move there! Look what I found:
Amy Maricle was mentioned again along with her book, ‘Draw Yourself Calm’. Her techniques are much simpler than Zentangle, and I kind of like that for when I really want to disengage while drawing.
Stay tuned as we add more tools and creative links each month!