Z-tile adventures giving me great ideas!

Wire woman is doing some great stuff on the yahoo group z-tile adventures. Her group is based on the original Zentangles site and designs. Check out Maria & Rick's work at Zentangle.com. I've done a couple z-tiles but not in the official size of 3 1/2 inches square. I've gotta dig out my cool handmade papers and cut up a couple to do tiles. Zentangle site suggests using cold press 110# paper - I think (not referencing site offhand...) - and Pigma Micron pens. I use black rollerballs alot for just regular writing and doodling. But like the z-tile adventures site notes, Zentangling is NOT simply doodling. There are specific patterns - what they refer to as "tangles" - that you learn. Then, as you are decorating a tile, often with a string originally created on your tile, you enter a "meditative state" as you create your Zentangle. Cool stuff.
Here's an old piece I made while listening to a lecture, before I even knew Zentangles existed. I like the piece. I had to cut it off the paper I originally drew it on, and I scanned it against a sheet of lavendar cardstock. The repetitive patterns are what make it Zentangle-ish.

"OLD" art to post

Well, since I'm a bit "blank" at the moment, I am going to post a piece of art that I created a couple years ago, for an exhibition that was held at the Washington Museum in Kansas (I think I am remembering that right...). It was by invitation, and was a punch-card exhibit. You remember the old punch cards that we used to use when we first began doing computer stuff? You had to punch holes in the cards in order to run your program?

Well, these became obsolete, obviously, and this institution found a huge box of these old, unused punch cards, and they sent out a call for artists to participate in creating something with these cards. You had to send an SASE and they sent two punch cards for you to create your art with. Your piece had to fit into a standard #10 envelope. Anyway, here is the inside and outside of the piece I created, which I called ABCXYZ ROYGBV (the second set of letters being the colors in a rainbow - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet). I created a sort of mini-book, with a corded and beaded binding.

Hope you like it! I'd love to hear comments about this piece. I loved making it, for sure!

New creations

Doing some polymer clay work, making beads - not finished yet but will photograph when done. Posting a magnet, envelope & card made recently for a Creative Junction friend. Comments or questions welcome!

More alcohol ink backgrounds...scanned -

I have to admit, these Tim Holtz alcohol inks are pretty cool. The purple one I am posting here will be changed - I want to add more ink/colors to it - but I think the yellow/gold/purple/blue one is pretty much ready to be used. Now I just need to decide HOW to use it!

Second sheet of polished stone technique

I am posting here the second sheet of the Tim Holtz alcohol inks polished stone technique that I experimented with today. This is very close in design/finish/style to the first sheet I did, and uses the same palette. You can see the first sheet in my previous post.

I really enjoyed working with this technique. I also used the inks on a small glass vase. That still needs some more work, because the copper ink went on quite thickly on one of the three sides (it is a triangular vase) and it looks uneven. I will post that another time.

Some alcohol ink backgrounds

I took the time today to do some "art retreating" but at HOME rather than at an official art retreat, as per a new Yahoo group I belong to - HomeArtRetreats. Pretty obvious name, I guess!

Anyway, I thought I would post the two pieces of background paper I am so far most happy with. The other two pieces need more work, so they are not finished. I may decide to scan them before going further, though - for interest. The one to the left is version A.

Basically what I did with this was follow the instructions on the back of the Tim Holtz Adirondack Alcohol inks set I purchased recently. The technique was called polished stone, or the polished stone effect. I used a non-porous craft sheet as my "palette" and used the bottles of ink themselves as the primary way to spread the color around.

I used wild plum, pearl, copper, and stream (the blue) for my colors. After I put them on the craft sheet, I kind of moved them around a bit with a cotton ball saturated with rubbing alcohol. Then I laid a 4.25 x5.5 inch sheet of glossy card stock over the ink, twisted the paper, and lifted it. I returned it to the ink until the whole sheet was covered, and used the cotton ball as a dabber to finish up the edges if I felt I needed more ink there.

The second sheet I finished is pretty close to being a matching sheet, so I am sending the set to a Yahoo group buddy (the Creative Junction group) who should enjoy using them to make cards.

PurpleOrchardArts - my business

PurpleOrchardArts became official - with a tax identification code and all - in March of 2008, even though I filed papers with the county (Steuben, NY) way back in November of 1999.

Here is my official - current - business card. I'm actually surprised that it can be read here! I have been working with my polymer clay, and hope to have at least a dozen pieces of OOAK (one of a kind) jewelry to exhibit/sell at 171 Cedar Street, an art center in Corning, New York. They are having a holiday show and sale from late November to late December, so that would be cool. I'm thinking if I provided them with some beads as well, those might also go for sale.

I am also planning to produce some sets of calligraphed notecards, both for the church bazaar on November 15th and for the 171 display. So...lots of work for me!

In the beginning...

Another new beginning for me! A business-related blog!! An art-related blog! A place to post my work, and my play. And a place to reach out to other art-minded friends, acquaintances, and potential art buddies...!!

The only impact we received here from Hurricane Ike was some miserable weather, wind, grey day (I HATE grey Mondays...) and some rain. Not as much as I would have expected. We had more the three days before Ike came through.

I do empathize with many of my art friends, though, who were much more impacted by the storm. Hope all can emerge more or less unscathed!