Monotangle and Geometric Shapes...

The Monotangle.

Week 11 for Laura Harms "I Am The Diva - CZT" Blog challenge.

Here is my Zentangle drawing entry:

Marsha Neal Studio "Monotangle" Challenge Entry.

I started with the four corner dots, lines, then lines back and forth to create a simple string.
Then opened up Totally Tangled and somewhat randomly picked this design to run with…

Click over to Laura's blog to see more about these challenges (you can participate too!)

And from one of our weekly assignments over at the Drawing Lab 2011 Online Course

(it's a paid class - but worth it! Lots of techniques are taught & it's not full of pressure!)

I also really like the way that this drawing came out:

It makes me giggle a bit with delight…

It was inspired by this photo I snapped with my iPhone:

The hair on this boy cracks me up!

It needs a trim, but wants to go in every direction.

With straight hair - that's funny!

I love looking at photos that I am constantly taking of my little ones for inspiration for these drawing lab classes…

I feel complete right now in this moment.

It will change soon I am sure…

As soon as I look over my to do list sitting here…

Sitting right on my peripheral right side - staring at me…

I can feel it reaching out to me...

I'm ignoring it for the moment...

Off to get a cup of tea for some warmth.

Steal a few goldfish crackers from the container.

Then pop back down here into the studio to look at that darn list.

I hope to see you all here on Sunday for the Open Studio Event!

1-4pm EST Live

Giveaways…

Also - a 20% off sale for my Etsy shop.

Details Sunday (maybe Saturday or even later today if I get to it)

Here.

The Space Between and Artoo (Zentangle)

Here is my combination entry for Laura Harm's "I Am The Diva CZT" Blog Challenges for

Week 9 ~ Artoo

Week 10 ~ The Space Between

I have been trying hard to do so many things that I have felt a little out of balance.

The ideas that I had for drawing a tangle for Artoo (the nickname for Laura's tangle dedicated to her son & which is his blog name as well - her other son is Chewie… LOVE IT!)

It took me leaving the house today…

Getting a cup of soup and a beverage to find a moment of peace to draw this out.

A couple of weeks ago my friend Diane wrote a post on her blog and mentioned getting the stink eye…

It has stuck in my head ever since…

I hate getting the stink eye.

I can't stand thinking and feeling guilty that it's coming my way…

And you know when it is because you know you are ignoring things that should be attended to...

Today's issue was a bit more than that, but it walks the line of it.

Which in turn made my whole day sour and anything I did just didn't work out.

Totally miserable…

So I sat in the little coffee shop and ate my lobster bisque and drew this out.

I had difficulties with leaving some blank in between spaces.

I like to fill every nook and cranny…

It was like a breathe of fresh air - sitting and drawing.

Being alone and just thinking about the paper and pen and what was happening…

A change of focus.

Hope for a better day tomorrow...

A Week Ends. Week 8 Challenge. Frosty Goodness...

This is a photo filled post.

So I won't bore you with long details...

My Entry for this week's I Am The Diva Blog Zentangle Challenge.

So relieved that Laura's (she is the above blog's author) baby "Artoo" is out of the hospital and home...

This Top of this "heart" tangle was drawn "blind".

Then I focused on how hard it was not only for him to breathe,

But also the feelings that his parents and others were feeling - wanting him to get better…

How you ache for your child - any child - to not be sick and suffering...

This is a quick snapshot of my week 7 and 8 challenges side by side…

On my way to dropping my little ones off to school this morning I saw this…

I hoped that it would still be there on my way home.

Little ice crystals were clinging to everything in this catch basin. 

I only had my iPhone with me - but I should really start driving with my DSLR…

This area here in Hockessin has a totally different look in summer…

I love living somewhere that we get to experience all the seasons...

Even the trash discarded to the side of the road looked kinda cool with the ice crystals on it.

And this year, the bells stayed out in the garden over winter.

St. John's Wort behind it…

Shadow casting large trees up the hill and into the woods...

Four O'Clock Stem. Picked before the plant totally died. Left on the top of the stone wall. Forgotten about - but not really...

Morning sun peeking over the hill...

Ice in some areas - the snow has been melting, then water freezing…

Pretty when it is out of the walking and car paths...

Yeah. This. Not. So. Pretty…

I despise chewed gum and cigarette butts thrown into my garden or driveway or wherever outside where it can be seen or stepped on… 

Not like the animals can use this…

Although I used to have a dog that would seek out a pack of gum no matter where it was, and would chew and chew and chew it…

Giggling at remembering seeing that happy dog, head tilted sideways, mouth open chewing - big chewing, tail wagging and wagging, just sitting being the happiest of dogs…

Her preference was bubble gum flavor, juicy fruit or a mild mint...

You could hear that dog chewing and salivating from rooms away and would run to get it out of her mouth…

And with that, I am off to the studio to glaze for the rest of the day…

Happy Friday!

Oh, and remember, you have until tomorrow for my silk bundle giveaway on previous post from Wednesday.

Have a great weekend - Do Something FUN!!!

Breathe Challenge...

Here is my entry for Laura's weekly challenge over at I Am The Diva, CZT Blog.

This week the theme is Breathe…

Look below the drawing here on this post if you want to read more about my inspirations...

Marsha Neal Studio Breathe Drawing Challenge

Breathing being usually an unconscious thing that we take for granted on a daily basis.But the thought of breathing holds a lot of meaning for me…
During 2 childbirths, Dave often had to remind me to Breathe…I provided a safe place for both of my children to grow and develop inside of my body and took in air for them…I was present (in more than just a physical sense) when they took their first breathe…
I was with my mom when she took her last breath…I was with her when they had her hooked up to a machine to help her breathe…My sister stayed with her when they took the tubes out so she could breathe on her own until she could breathe no more…And when that last breathe escaped her - I felt peace.No longer to watch her struggle through dealing with the pains of Leukemia, or rather - the attempts at treatment of her rare form…Knowing that the baby I held inside my body at that exact moment, never meeting her, would get to know her - through every breath she will take, because my mother decided to have me - to allow me to breathe...

Marsha, Remember Form… Copyright Issues Part 3 - Zentangle®

Do you Know what this pretty little Red Square means?

Have you heard about Zentangle®?

I have. I had some questions…

A photo I took of my Christmas Present (the ZT kit)

So I find myself arriving at a place that is a bit more clear, still slightly uneasy, about Copyrights. I still have questions as to how copyrights work in Jewelry designing (my original part 3 topic). But I have stumbled into an area closer to my heart and my work - specifically my drawings and a newly found obsession: Zentangle®


I am almost certain to say that I am not alone in my initial reactions to Zentangle®. Delighted, Interested, Confused, Addicted, still a little confused (I have been drawing patterns for a long time like this! How I am just hearing about this)…


Now to keep this post somewhat short and to the point, I think that with all my looking (links are listed below) around, experimenting with drawings & techniques, I feel confident to say that an actual Zentangle® is done in a short period of time, on a small piece of paper, using a string (in pencil) to begin your design, and by filling in the areas (with a black ink pen) within that string by using patterns and lines with each stroke having a direct intent, then use a pencil to shade in the drawing to make the piece "pop" of the page. The main point is to find relaxation and a state of meditation within those said small drawings - the Zentangles®. 


It is a wonderful way to meditate - really… And very addictive if you are into doodling, drawing, coloring, shading, and the like.

I am no lawyer, law maker, law writer, or professional when it comes to Copyright, Trademark, Patent, etc. But I feel safe again, continuing to draw as I always have done in margins, sketchbooks, napkins, placemats, sugar packets, matchbooks (you get the point right?) and using those items, images, drawings as I want. Here are some pictures of some of my very first clay texture plates (2002) that I carved into clay. 

Marsha Neal Studio Carved Clay Texture Plates

As long as you are not out there trying to re-create what Rick and Maria have created with Zentangle® (they were clever enough to give us parameters, utensils, directions, advice, inspiration, materials - all bundled up in a beautiful green box with a red square on it) then you should feel no animosity towards them for coming up with this wonderful business idea. I thank them for giving me another direction and a purpose (to meditate) through these small drawings.


And as far as I can tell with the coming up with a pattern and naming it - that has got to be for communication purposes. If you were going to teach patterns or reproduce the patterns (in a profitable way) in the method and steps you would probably have to get permission from the Artist or Zentangle® first. It is always best to ask if you are uncertain.


I personally am happy to have a name other than "doodles" to refer to the drawings and patterns that fill my sketchbook and texture plates. And names to be able to call them when I talk to other people interested in drawing like this. 

Marsha Neal Studio Texture Plate and Clay Pendants.

Brings back memories from a business class I took once where they talked about being careful with  branding: Like BandAid® Bandages - there is a brand thing there - the name is BandAid - not the product. Do you ask for a bandage or BandAid®? Do you Zentangle® or Tangle or Draw or Doodle?


Here are some links that I found helpful:
Zentangle's website - legal page.
Zentangle Flickr discussion.
From Sandra's Blog (which has lots of helpful links there).
From Sandy's Blog.
3/5/11 Additon: TanglePatterns.com Copyright 

Join in on the fun! Lots of challenges out there and websites with patterns (I personally had to get some books in hand to be able to sit and obsessively draw out as many as possible to get my head focused).


Want to see some of my tangle drawings? Click HERE.
I would love feedback - what do you think? How do you feel about this? Am I on the right track?


My 2011 Motto: Draw Every Day...

Zentangle Challenge #6: IXORUS

So this week's challenge hosted by Laura over at I AM THE DIVA CZT Blog is to use the new tangle IXORUS.

Here is my drawing:

Which now that I am looking at it, by me wanting to enclose the ends of it, has it become Crescent Moon - or at least is is pretty darn similar… Hrmph…

 I was in a bit of an angular mood when I drew this out… I may end up doing another one this week sometime.

Head Is A Bit Tangled...

Ok, so you have heard of Zentangle? If not, check out that link to get started… I am warning you now - it is very addictive… For me - add it to the Online Drawing Lab I am taking in 2011 - and you have stuff like this coming out:

Marsha Neal Studio Cat Drawing from DL2011 - Tangled...

Basically it comes down to drawings. Little repeat drawings. Ooodles of doodles…

I have been doodling forever. A lot of people have (our poor mothers - we came out with some sort of drawing utensil in hand at birth I'm almost certain of it…).

So I came across Zentangle through a blog somewhere (those links - they will get you every time!). Sent the link to Dave as a "check this out, looks cool - maybe a good Christmas present idea if you are looking for one"…

Marsha Neal Studio Sampler Variations from Zentangle Books

Now I'm not so sure he is happy about getting it for me. I'm addicted. Well, I guess you could say - I'm inspired and a bit obsessed. Ok - addicted is right…

I feel like I am on a mission of sorts, then I can relax a bit…
I blame this almost fully on the fact that
1. I am currently dealing with federal lawsuits of copyright infringement issues with my porcelain pendants and
2. my general way of being brought up as "do something right from the beginning".

What makes a drawing or doodle a Zentangle (insert Registered Trademark here).
Why does it seem like there is this huge rush to put a title to a drawing and your name on a doodle and say you created it (or am I just overwhelmed - and making up the "rushed" part - because I am just discovering this official business of Zentangle drawing)?
And really - other than categorization for teaching and communication (I totally dig the scientific method of naming things: KPGOFGS) and becoming known, why do this?

One thing I have come full circle to realize after cruising blogs, websites, videos, and at least 4 Zentangle books is that Zentangles - the actual drawing in the mindset of Zentangle is to use a small piece of paper. They have super sweet 3.5" squares of really nice paper (repeat - really nice - it has such a feel to it!) that are perfect for little masterpieces.

Because I feel that using a full size sketchbook page takes away from the "zen" of the "tangling"… It can take HOURS that may lead into days to complete a full sheet of paper.

Then there is the shading… (Oh, what shading can do for your drawing! It pops right off the page at you if it is well done). And add in the graphite finger prints on things (or the hurdling over toddlers to get to the sink to wash before wiping a running nose or making lunch).

I'm not saying that is a bad thing to be into drawing like this…
But when you have other things to do in life, sitting drawing obsessively will raise a few eyebrows (I had no idea the cat could do that too!) when other things are being pushed off to the side.

I just wanted to share with you a little about my mental state right now with my obsession with Zentangle and questions I have.

I want to take it to the next level too. Well, technically, full circle in a way because I want to be inspired to make new clay pieces, with textures from my drawings and carvings… But need to walk carefully because of all this business stuff. Would love feedback on this one. If you have discussed this on your blog and want to share it, maybe I'll create an inlinkz for this post…

For now I am admitting to my obsession, I have put the Zentangle books down. Put the sketch book and black gel roller pens down. And will be pulling out the 3.5" Zentangle kit I got for Christmas next week when Laura posts her next challenge and getting back to the zen of tangling again, and try to not get too obsessed until I have gotten my studio office, jewelry making area, and clay studio organized.

I put it in writing…

Circles. A Constant Theme In My Life. And An Orb Zentangle Challenge.

Do you ever feel like things in your life run in circles, through cycles, sometimes spiraling out of your grasp? I do. Quite often. Maybe even daily…

Detail of Circle Challenge - with shading!

I think it has a bit to do with having this slightly obsessive personality - more controlling than anything…

I have lists, with lists for those lists.
My brain gets overwhelmed and nada gets accomplished.
I become the excuse queen...
This is one of my circles.
I am a professional non-finisher (can't there be income for that sort of thing - darn!)
A perpetual idea person...

Drives me nuts…

So I am super grateful to parameters. To deadlines. To structure.
Without those things I flounder all over the place.
This is not so good for a person that works at home for oneself.
Well, actually I work for my customers…
I make stuff for myself, then sell it.
I am really bad making stuff custom for people. I don't know why - I just stink at that…
I would say it is too much like work, but I like work.
I think I just don't do anything without parameters. When people say: just do what you like…
That is when I get to the point of too many ideas, and I don't do anything.
Those are the ways I make too much work for myself.

So being grateful for structure, I give you my drawings for this week's challenge for Laura over at "I Am The Diva CZT". Week #5 Circles (known also as orbs)…

Circles Beginning Parameters (thank goodness for parameters!)

Laura talked about how circles kept coming to her this week, and some of the meanings for her behind using them in her drawing… As I worked on this today, I had my immediate little family of four on my mind. Me being the center circle, my two little ones to my lower left and right sides, and above all of us, Dave (he is our provider, our protector… such a great person - really…).

Circles In Black & White

I kept thinking about a conversation that Dave and I keep having. It is kind of depressing, but truthful. This circle conversation about what is the monetary point to what I am doing. Did I mention that I get a bit obsessive about things that are new and I am getting into (a non-finisher). Not that everything I do has to be a source of eventual money, but having an income is quite helpful to paying bills. And with having two kids now there are more things to think about rather than just paying bills.

Circles Finished with Shading...

So as I'm drawing, as I am typing, my brain is racing. Ideas abound, but are they ideas worth pursuing? Is where I have been in my life with making porcelain pendants still going to work out? Not the way it has, that is for sure… But on a smaller scale? Maybe...

Here is a side view of the drawing...

For now I am going to keep at it. Keep drawing (this is where my inspiration starts to go from mental to actual)… Try to make some new things and actually list them on Etsy. Why does my brain always go to production mode - drives me nuts.

So that is it for now…

If you want to check out some of my other drawings Zentangle and the like: Click HERE.

And if you want to view this blog in whole, click the picture header and the entire thing will refresh (that is a cool thing about a lot of blog headers if you arrive on a blog from a direct url link - did you know that? Probably, I just figured I'd share if not)…

Have a great week all! I plan on spending the next couple of days actually working on some drawings that will give a lot of my pendants some cool tangle inspired edge looks… M.J. I am SO with you on how that back of the pendant looks - those edges are yummy!

Weekly (#4) Zentangle Challenge: Starry Eyed Surprise…

I think by finding challenges and keeping up with them - motivation and inspiration comes about a bit more easily…

Over on the "I Am The Diva CZT Blog" Laura hosts a weekly Zentangle type challenge.

This week was using a star in your design. Click HERE for more details.

This is my drawing which I am submitting to the challenge via blog link up...

I too am a taurus, so there in the bottom left of the drawing are some bull horns…

I have been trying to texture the outer line of the drawings recently… Something I think I am quite drawn to when looking at drawings on the Zentangle Flickr group. One day I'll get some pics posted to that group…

This star shape is something I draw a lot. I always have...

This string (the starting line to any Zentangle) was drawn to pass under the star so I could draw on the inner part of the star.

I also want to bring drawing these tangles into my clay work. I already create my textures for my clay pieces by carving out designs and drawings into leather hard clay (then after that is fired, I have a texture plate to be used).

So the other day I used my Wacom tablet to draw this out on the computer (not quite "Zentangle" because it goes outside of the drawing parameters - the feel of the pen on paper where your mistakes can be made into more). The computer takes a bit of that away (love "command - Z") - but not much with that tablet pen to use:

Marsha Neal Studio Jan 10 Tangle Drawing 

Inspired by the star challenge, but drawn into more of a spiral (who me - draw spirals???)

Then I printed it out on my laser printer water decal paper and transferred it onto one of my porcelain pendants and fired it in my kiln to over 2000 degrees F (I like quality - that image will not be coming off of that piece - the iron from the ink is now fused within the glass that makes up the glaze).

MNS Jan 10 Front of Porcelain Pendant after decal firing.

MNS Back of Porcelain Pendant after decal firing.

I am rather fond of this particular piece…

There is just something about the edges of the drawing that really make me think about micro-organisms (SEM images: Scanning Electron Microscope images), cellular structures, and the like (here comes that scientist part again)…

Now I'm thinking about form which takes these drawing past just Zentangles of the doodling layers, but into the next level of working with drawings and images to transform them into something more than just a drawing on paper...

This tile (behind the writing block) is my "Lick" texture which is copyrighted by me (my texture plates are copyrighted). Is one of my oldest texture plates that I carved years ago and still use if for making pendants. Check out my textured pendants on my Marsha Neal Studio website to see more of what I mean…

I am so inspired to draw and carve out new texture plates by all this tangling and drawing…

These circles that life seems to run in are quite remarkable.

Stay with me - much more to come (let's hope!)

January Second Saturday State Of Your Studio...

So I'm a bit late on the state of your studio post for the monthly Beads-of-Clay Blog post…

My creative studio space has been all over the place.

I have been photographing again out in the garden.

I am taking a Drawing class this year (Drawing Lab 2011).

I was not "allowed" to take "art" classes in High School, and was not allowed to take any "foundations" art classes during college because they were "reserved for the art concentration students". Bummer...

So this is something for me. And so far I really like it and it has inspired me to draw on a regular basis as well as to put images into the computer and fiddle with my wacom tablet that I've had for almost 2 years now…

Really I haven't been in my clay studio since sometime in November…

And I want to, but not so bad that I "have" to get in there right now. Soon, but just not right now…

And this area of new shelving and a place to photograph work - well,  after all that crazy jewelry making for the home shows in Dec - all that stuff got packed up and brought back down here and shoved into anywhere there was space. Yes - I NEED that jewelry making area in the back of the studio done ASAP so I can avoid this piling and stacking thing I keep doing - Ugh!

And I've been on the computer a lot. Fiddling with my photographs, Zentangles, and drawings trying to see how to layer them on my clay pieces. It's fun actually having my computer and printer right there next to the studio so I can go back and forth with my notes and resize things and reprint, then go into the studio and use the decals. What gratification!!! Doesn't happen enough, but potential is there!

And here are some of the decal pieces in progress on some glazed pieces that I had sitting around. One of my tangle drawings (I did that on the computer today using the Wacom tablet - yay me!) is to the left and my drawing lab cat is on the tube beads and to the right. I have more on pendants as well…

Thanks for stopping by to see the state of my studio.

Hope to have some new work done soon, and a more organized space next time… 

Make sure to swing by the Beads-of-Clay Blog to see the state of other artists creative spaces (you can add your own link too! Doesn't have to be a clay studio…)

And if you do, grab that BOC button and add it to your blog with a link back to the BOC blog…

Hope you are finding your creative self (even amongst total mess and chaos)!

Sketchbook Tangle...

I was working on some smaller 4" square Zentangles (paper from my Christmas Zentangle kit gift) and broke out my sketchbook and worked on a larger scale "sketch tangle"...

I was in the mood to scratch draw, scribble in the details... Not a time for me to break out the obsessive shader in me (although I do want to go back in and pencil shade this one a bit).

Then I went in and filled in a bit more detail & darker areas over the last 2 days. Then tonight added a bit around the edges along with the swirls in the margins...

Here is the before string:

I feel excited to be drawing again!
Now to work it into my clay... Yippee!!!

-- Pictures Taken With & Posted From My iPhone

New Addictions...

One thing I often discovered through meeting a lot of people at bead shows is that a huge percentage of "us beaders" are also somewhat easily addicted to new and exciting things. We don't finish or follow through with things until the end, because something new has our attention…

So as I haven't even touched my "studio reorganization" since October, and I am really hoping that in the next two weeks I will just get back to it…

So here are my new addictions and distractions from getting the studio into order where I can be at my prime super easily workable flowiness… (you know - where I can find everything I need, when I need it and just float around the place making wonderful art all the time). A girl can daydream right?

Ok - here they are in today's order in the hopes to also get you addicted or at least interested for a moment while you are blog cruising...

1. Instagram App for the iPhone (Thanks for the introduction Heather!)

See more of my garden pics on my garden blog: MarshasGardenBlog.Blogspot.com

2. Zentangle for direction for getting me drawing doodle designs again.

3. BTW (Bead Table Wednesday) from Heather Powers (Humble Beads).

Bead Table Wednesday - Add your photos of your bead table mess (or non-mess) to the flickr group...

4. Drawing Lab 2011

These things may seem at a glance a bit of a distraction from what I am "supposed" to be doing, but I think that as I sit and figure out what it is that I want to be doing, then these will all play a big role.

Fingers crossed that I get into thes DE Master Gardeners program for this spring… If so, I'll be heading back down to the University of DE again for classes 2x a week from March - May. It will feel a little like being back in the 1990's again being at the UD College of Agriculture - but this time with some experience and a desire for want of knowledge instead of just the thing you do after High School… I find out if I get in around early February…

Oh, and over at the Beads-of-Clay blog, we're throwing the idea around of a "Zentangle Inspired" challenges…

I love how drawings can be put into another medium and enhanced upon…