Sketches of a Rustic Town

March 30, 2015 Suzanne McNeill

View a YouTube , learn some fast and easy ways to incorporate journaling into your everyday life, create calender pages and discover how to pack light for travel journals.

Sketching and drawing is one of my favortie pastimes. My husband James (he likes to sketch also) took me to an almost-ghost town in Texas, Patillo.

The old store with the cow skull, buckets, soda bottles, ice chest, old windows, feed signs and rustic demeanor was my favorite. I borrowed a stool to sit and sketch. I loved the door with the OPEN sign… tape and chalkboard for messages. Definitely it was not open on this day, and since no hours were posted, I’m not sure just when it might be open.

It all added to the ambiance of horses grazing in the field and birds singing in the trees. Speaking of bird watching… a beautiful red cardinal was busy watching all that was going on.

I have been keeping journals for over 15 years. My book ‘Art Journals and Sketchbooks’ tells my philosophy of keeping a sketch journal and gives dozens of sample ideas.

Zentangle pattern, enjoy and create!!

Zentangle #149

Suzanne McNeill CZT

Manholes

The Zentangle® art form and method was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas and is copyrighted. Zentangle® is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. and is used with permission. Learn more at zentangle.com.

Heavy Metal – Reactive Paints

March 13, 2015 Suzanne McNeill

View a YouTube, Cindy Shepard CZT creates a tangled bird using gesso, Inktense pencils and an old book page. Fun!!

My classes for ‘Heavy Metal’ – also called Reactive Metal paints – are always popular. We experiment with turning almost everything… from Art Journals to hearts, and from canvas to jewelry into surfaces covered with genuine metals.

I use four VerDay reactive metal paints: iron, copper, bronze, and brass. An old paintbrush works well to apply the initial coat. Next I apply Patina (special reactive solution) with a spray bottle. The solution reacts to make the genuine metal particles ‘bloom’ into amazing colors… iron turns a rusty orange, brass to green, bronze to blue, copper to verdgris in only a few minutes.

I was honored to be invited to demonstrate the techniques to the Mid-Cities Art Club. Enthusiastic members were fascinated by the outcome. My favorite VerDay reactive paints come from TENSecondsstudio.com . My book ‘Rust and Patina’ tells all about using the paints, and gives dozens of sample ideas of what you can do with the metal paints.

Zentangle Pattern, enjoy and create!!

Zentangle #148

Suzy Allen CZT

Pinball

Printmaking with GelliArts®

February 14, 2015 Suzanne McNeill

View a YouTube, explore the possibilities of Gelli Printing on black paper with opaque, transparent and metallic paints.

Printmaking and all the creative ideas and techniques for making art is inspiring to me. My current passion is Gelli Arts® printing.

I love designing one-of-a-kind stamps and stencils. With sticky foam and foam plates, it is simple to create a dozen original mark-making tools in a day. And then I can use these with my Gelli Arts® printing plate.

I am happy printing on paper for collage fodder, printing on fabric for a quilt, printing a quickie t-shirt, or just enjoying being creative.

I am so lucky. Near my home, I have a teaching studio and gallery… SparksStudioArt.com. When I am in a creative mood, I can spread out all my art supplies and be creative to my heart’s content. Also, we teach classes and create art together… I love making art with my friends.

Zentangle Pattern enjoy and create!!

Zentangle #147

Sue Jacobs CZT

Eyeballs

Creative Time in the Studio

January 25, 2015 Suzanne McNeill

View a YouTube, make your own mask and stencil from Post-it notes to create beautiful Zentangle® inspired bird tags using pan pastels and Dylusions ink sprays.

I love being creative … almost anything will do – painting, sculpting, sketchbooks, drawing, Zentangle, and well just almost everything. And attached to that love, some of my favorite passions are designing art books for FoxChapel Publishing Co. and teaching art classes.

Paula Pillow and I belong to the American Penwomen Association. Every year, our chapter hosts two invitational art shows. This year I exhibited Zentangle and Intuitive paintings, and Paula displayed her large paintings of layered gears.

In 2012 I opened an art studio. We offer open classes and art events, and participate in Gallery night here in Texas. Barbara Buechley is a wonderful artist and has taken several classes in the studio, here she is painting. Our teaching studio and art gallery – SparksStudioArt.com is located close to my home.

Check out Barbara’s wonderful Zentangle drawings above. While she was recovering from surgery, she had days on end to tangle away. Her colorful cards and bookmarks are always appreciated as token gifts of friendship.

Zentangle Pattern, enjoy and create!!

Zentangle #146

Margaret Bremner CZT

Blooms

On My Way to CHA

January 6, 2015 Suzanne McNeill

View a YouTube, follow this easy process to weave a beautiful Zentangle® card.

Being creative and developing new patterns and projects is my passion… nearly anything is inspiring. CHA (Craft and Hobby Association) comes once a year. This is where art and craft shops find out all about new products and techniques.

At the January 2015 convention in California, I love meeting up with long-time friends, taking classes, seeing everything new, and demonstrating new ideas. This year I will do demos and make&take projects on four of my favorite things… Zentangle® tags and accordions, Gelli Arts® printing, handmade Visual Journal books, and Reactive metal paints.

If you come to CHA, please come visit me at the Design Originals – Fox Chapel Publishing booth #1421. My demos are on Sunday 12:00-1:30 and on Monday 9:00-12:00. The dates for CHA this year are January 10th thru the 13th.

In 2014, I authored a few NEW books. I love designing books and am fascinated by new techniques. Come and see these books… as always, I like to pack my books with tons of information and inspiration. I’ll have them with me in California – or you can check them out on Amazon.com.

Zentangle Pattern, enjoy and create!!

Zentangle #145

T.J. Johnmartin CZT

Cross Section

Gourds and Zentangle® in New Mexico

December 10, 2014 Suzanne McNeill

View a YouTube, draw and tangle a fanciful rooster on Clayboard. A wonderful, smooth surface that needs no frame.

October in New Mexico is filled with leaves turning yellow, gold and red. Beautiful colors filled the mountain valleys….especially close to the streams and rivers where statuesque Cottonwood trees prepare for winter.

Albuquerque, NM hosted the Gourd Festival and I was lucky enough to attend. A wonderful show of gourds featured spectacular new gourd designs by artist Robert Rivera.

My sister Amy and I took classes with marvelous teachers – Tono-Spirit-Drum with Karen Phillips, Desert Dweller Masks with Kitty Riordan, Spirits and Sprites with Dar Stone, and artwork by Lona Warne.

Gourds are really inspiring to me. They have a natural shape and can have a wonderful smooth surface which is perfect for painting, decorating and Zentangle®.

Zentangle Pattern, create and enjoy!!

Zentangle #144

Blades

Holiday Zentangle® and Gelli print T-shirts.

November 25, 2014 Suzanne McNeill

View a YouTube, add touches of the holidays all through the house with these easy-to-do Zentangle Trees.

Gelli Printing is one of my favorite painting techniques and it is so much FUN! I love to demo and teach with my Gelli Arts® plate.

Teresa Shanahan and her fabulous gelli t-shirt

Recently I was doing a short demo to a group of friends at an art retreat and got a BIG SURPRISE! When I mentioned that Gelli printing worked equally well on paper and fabric, Teresa’s eyes lit up. “Could I do it on my plain t-shirt?”, she asked. With my answer of “sure” – Teresa took off her shirt (it was an all women’s retreat), chose her colors and textures, positioned her shirt on the Gelli plate and Walla! – we printed her shirt. Look for Teresa around San Diego, CA. You’ll recognize her by the shirt!

I love to print colorful textures and pages as the ‘starts’ for pages in my Art Journal. Then I add favorite quotes with a bit of simple collage or stencil illustrations. See some of my favorite quotes above.

Check out my book on ‘Gelli Printing’. Half of the book is how-to-do-it and the other half is what-to-do-with-your-prints.

Zentangle Pattern, enjoy and create!!

Zentangle #143

Helix

Painting Trip to Ghost Ranch

November 21, 2014 Suzanne McNeill

View a YouTube, easy to make – perfect for the season, wooden Zentangle® ornaments.

Recently I returned from a special trip to Ghost Ranch, a magical place which inspires artists, writers and other visitors year long. It was Georgia Okeefe’s favorite place to paint… how joyful to be able to trace her footsteps and surround myself with fellow artists, visions of majestic mountains, cliffs, wildflowers and nature.

The rustic setting took me back in time to camps I attended as a child, and camp counseling in Colorado when I was in college. It was the second time I had the opportunity to participate in Darla Bostick’s Art Workshop, held each year at Ghost Ranch.

I spent the entire week painting, my palette is filled with my favorite watercolors… QoR from Golden paints. I LOVE these paints. They stay moist and re-wet with just a quick spray of water. Best of all, the colors are luscious and keep their vibrancy even when dry (unlike many other brands which lighten as they dry). I loved recording the vision of cottonwood tree leaves turning yellow gold, the purple and blue hues that appear on the mountains, and the colorful gardens of nature.

If you are yearning to spend time in the great outdoors I recommend a trip to Ghost Ranch. It is a safe and welcoming atmosphere, helps you get back to basics and realize how little you really need to be happy.

Zentangle Pattern, enjoy and create!!

Zentangle #142

BEST Craft Book of 2014

October 24, 2014 Suzanne McNeill

View a YouTube video, a fabulous and original way to use the Zentangle® Bijou tiles to tangle a colorful butterfly.

NEWS BULLETIN by Cindy Shepard CZT…

“The top-selling book ‘Zentangle 1 – Basics’ has been nominated for The Best Craft Book of 2014. The Craft Awards are in their tenth year, a very prestigious award within the craft industry. ‘Zentangle 1 – Basics’ the expanded workbook addition by Suzanne McNeill CZT is currently in the running.

Zentangle books have been translated and published in countries around the world. It is so much fun to look through the books authored by Suzanne McNeill, Sandy Steen Bartholomew and Marie Browning that have been translated into other languages. It is certainly the first time I have seen a craft book published in Lithuanian. These popular books have also been translated into Dutch, Chinese, Japanese and German.”

Zentangle pattern, enjoy and create!!

Zentangle # 141

Wild Lettuce

Stamping with a Gelli Arts® Plate

September 27, 2014 Suzanne McNeill

View a YouTube, discover fun ways to produce beautiful one-of-a-kind artwork with color and texture using the amazing new gel printing plate by Gelli Arts™as a stamp.

In the book ‘Gelli Printing’ there are many projects from talented and innovative guest artists. They show how to create bags, boxes, quilts, journals, and art works on canvas and paper. You can use many types of acrylic paint, dozens of tools (many from your home), all types of paper and fabric. Gelli prints are fabulous for creating papers for journals, collage and mixed media projects… you can add layer after layer using stencils, masks and mark making tools.

One of my favorite ways to use my Gelli plate is as a stamp on watercolor paper. First I stamp, then I draw an image, such as the women pictured below, and glaze over the rest of the piece with transparent colors using Golden fluid acrylic paint colors. I have done several pieces using a similar process, including ‘Elephant Walk’.

First layer – use a Gelli plate as a stamp on watercolor paper, 22″ x 30″.

Second layer – I drew Women of the World’, then painted a transparent glaze over and around the figures.

‘Elephant Walk’ – inspired by Gelli printing patterns as the first layer.

Zentangle pattern, enjoy and create!!

Zentangle #140

Rolo Chain