Gathering #5

Our February Gathering! (Sunday, February 8, 2015)

Dave, Judy, Lezli B, Barbara, Annie, HeidiSue, Shelley (Susan had not arrived when this picture was taken)

This is Susan.

We did it again! the Intermountain Tanglers had another Gathering, and what a fun time it was! There were eight people there in all, each of us with our favorite pieces to show around and techniques to share. Finally we met Lezli B, a regular participant in the Diva's Challenge, who has been trying to get to one of the Gatherings from the very beginning. What an artist! my word, but she does beautiful work. Her sister Judy was there, too

Lezli on the left; Judy on the right

We had one gal there who we weren't expecting. This is how she found us (HeidiSue LOVES this story): Shelley was clicking around on taglepatterns.com. She is making a notebook with the stepouts for all the patterns, and she came across a certain pattern Hitched! by HeidiSue. And Linda Farmer put such a wonderful blurb in there about Heidi and about the IT Gathering...and Shelley came to visit! What a cool way to find us. I hope it happens again...and again.

This is Shelley, working on a delicate zendala piece.

Annie perusing a book. Barbara was working on some charming little delights

 Seriously, isn't that a cool way to meet?
Zentangle® brings friends together!










Annie, from the second Gathering, was there, and brought her part of the ensemble we started for our Gathering 2 project and now we have three quarters of it together. Sure enough, it was VERY cool to see how it fit in with the others. Now to get Robin back, and her piece will be in place and our ensemble will be complete. 



 

Ensemble projects are such fun. 
They are amazing when assembled. Three sections down, one section to go.

David sought out and found Tiepolo paper online. It is the same paper that Zentangle® tiles are made from, and it just so happens that Dave used to be a printer, and has some equipment for managing large amounts of paper...so he took an order and cut our paper into tiles for us. It is amazing, the difference such fine paper makes. We got to round our own corners...or not...once we got our tiles. They were an inexpensive way of getting some very high quality paper into our hands. Good stuff!

Shelley, Susan, and Dave. What you talking about Dave?

One of the most fun aspects of getting together with other Tanglers, is checking out each others' work. It is inspirational, and we learn from each other about techniques, resources, tools, and equipment. There was a lot of talent in that room, and a lot of creative energy. Which is another wonderful aspect of getting together: we feed each other. Each of us picks up the energy of the room and it comes out through our pens to the paper. Annie created a very cool heart, filled with nothing but circles (and a cute little baby leafy thingy)...and the idea for the circles was something Heidi had been working on all day. (If you make the circles in the center of a shape larger, and at the edges they are smaller, gradually decreasing from the center to the edge...it adds depth and texture, naturally. Try it! here is a link with an example  (Notice all the tangling! Don't you just want to do the same, and give it a try.!)

Visiting over our art

Along with our tiles, David made templates for hearts, for each and every one of us. We have templates and stencils to work with in many sizes and shapes of heart! Fun stuff. Oh! he also created a mandala template with almost unlimited combinations of angles and lines, that will be VERY useful to HeidiSue as she explores zendalas this next few weeks. And he brought the step outs for a few heart patterns for us to play with. (I wonder if anyone will use them for the Diva Challenge this week? Yes someone used Heartfully by Helen Williams from the Pattern Sheet, but his identity shall remain nameless.)

Tile Samples from the Tanglers present...

Susan Vaughn

Judy Shupe

Leslie Burge

Annie Charat

Annie Charat

Barbara Huppe

HeidiSue

HeidiSue

David Hunter

We all had a terrific time meeting each other, and greeting those we have met before (Annie, Barbara, and Susan have all been to previous Gatherings). we left energized and inspired for more wonderful zentangle® play!

Gathering #4

The First IT Gathering for 2015
Jan 11, 2015

Today was the fourth monthly Gathering of the Intermountain Tanglers of Salt Lake Valley. There were five people there: David Hunter, HeidiSue Whitney, Doris Stroup, Barbara Huppe, and Jesse (who is David's grandson, and a very talented young artist in his own right.) Barbara and Doris both are friends of Annie, who came to our second Gathering. (Annie! where are you? We miss you...and Robin!)

We enjoyed each other's company tremendously, starting our time together talking about classes and patterns, and sharing (showing off?) favorite tiles and challenges. We talked about the wonderful online community that centers around Laura Harms' Diva website and the enthusiasm and inspiration that are part of that great crowd of creative spirits.

David brought a little project, where we learned/practiced three patterns: Yin Cut, Si Weed, and Puzzled.

Tiles using the Pattern Study Sheet.

David's tile, so flowing!

Heidi's tile, with a meadow look to it.

We also explored the pattern N'zeppel a little bit. The conversation was wonderful, and the creativity flowed freely. This was our fourth get together, and we discovered something: each time we have met, new people have come, but we haven't had anyone come back a second time. Maybe soon we will have a gathering where everyone who has been once, comes again and we all do art together! ha!

Though HeidiSue brought a camera, she forgot about it until Barbara had already left, but here is a picture of David, Jesse, and Doris. That's Heidi's coat hanging on the chair. Next time, all will be included. Promise!

from left: Jesse, David, and Doris.

Heidi brought an exercise, where a large grid is created, 4x4. In the top row, single patterns are entered, and the same in the first column. Then, using it like a multiplication table,
the patterns are combined. This breaks things out of the box a bit. We didn't do this exercise, but the idea was introduced and we talked about the patterns and their varieties of combination.

Now, for instance, in the second row, third column over, hollibaugh and concert are combined for a pretty cool looking new pattern. Also, the flux/yincut combination is kind of cool looking. It is fun to explore many different patterns this way.

It was a lot of fun, and we met some new people, made new friends. I can hardly wait until the February IT Gathering!

Gathering #2

We had our second Intermountain Tanglers Gathering at the West Jordan library on Nov 8th, 2014.

David Hunter, Annie, and Robin

We were delighted to have two ladies show up, who had gotten word of the Gathering from Marie English CZT here in Salt Lake. There was another gal who tried to find us, but couldn't locate the library where we were.

This was SO much fun! We had a "Show and Tell" session, checking each others sketchbooks and Tiles. We got to know each other and discussed our experiences with the Zentangle® art form.

We started an Ensemble Project. Four blank tiles are arranged in a two by two square, and a string was drawn on the whole thing, like it was one large Tile. They were numbered on the back, and passed out to each person. Each Tangler was free to use any patters they wished, with one caveat, to adhere to the string bounderies, so that the Tiles would match up in the end.

 

Our Ensemble, in progress. The  artists are Upper Left: Annie; 
Upper Right: HeidiSue; Lower Left, Robin; Lower Right, David. 

Annie has a supremely fine hand, and Robin has only been tangling since October of this year. Both of these Gals are doing precise and detailed work, and are fun and enthusiastic Tanglers. 

When we get together in December, the ensemble will be completed, and David is going to scan it for us and post on this blog.

I hope this group grows, and I hope we have as much fun every time, as we have had for the two times we've gotten together up to now. 

                                                                          .....HeidiSue.