Left & Right

Over on I am the diva blog  there has been a challenge going on for 13 weeks so far.   While I haven't done all of them, I have done some.   I thought you might like to see these.   I did the same Zentangle with my non-dominant and my dominant hand .. Rick and Maria from Zentangle challenged us last year sometime I think to do this ... I hadn't done it for awhile and thought I'd give it another go. 

I really pressed the pen harder with my non-dominant hand and found a lack of smoothness of stroke.   Funnily enough I did find doing the lines with my non-dominant hand for "Patena" (the pattern in the lower centre of the two tiles) easier.   I get a bit cross-eyed when doing the diagonal lines for these type of patterns.

If you haven't already, hop on over to The Diva's blog and have a look ... lots to see.

Happy Tangling for now ... those of you who are doing a two day workshop with me in Sydney ... I'm counting the sleeps ... very exciting.   Cheers Jane x

Bookplates and some colour

 There are lots of things you can do with Zentangle drawings ... this one is destined to be a Book Plate for the front of my books I think ... it has some of my favourite Zentangle patterns ... I especially love Marasu (my variation of it because I add those tendrils so it looks like a sea creature).  Oh and 'Nzeppel ... you can get some really great curves out of that pattern, and of course there is "Zinger" down in the right hand corner ... I use this one a fair bit too.

And here is Marasu again ... about 4 weeks ago I was lucky enough to get a whole set of Derwent pencils in a beautiful wooden case and had been playing with them.

In this drawing I have used Derwent pencils to colour the background squares, used Staedtler Triplus fineliners to draw Zentangles in them with matching colours, used a beautiful Matisse Ink to paint the background of the Marasu pattern (those three Zentangles) and then a Pigma Micron to draw in the Zentangles.   Lots of mediums here ... then one of my friends directed me to this web site where Australian artist Loretta  Grayson does the most amazing art work ... I'm not even sure she knows about Zentangle ... but wow - worth checking it out....http://rettg.blogspot.com/ ... sigh ... mine pales in comparison really.   I need some more vibrancy in the colours, so I think I will get the Derwent Inktense pencils out and give them a workout soon.  I really like the idea of her methods, using pastels and marking the texture in with a stylus...definately food for thought there.

Okay hope you all have  a great tangling weekend ... I'm going to be out of blogland for a few days while I prepare for my three workshops in Sydney ... I can't believe they are next week ... time has snuck up on me once again.    Happy Tangling ... Jane x

Zentangle Meets Origami at Jane Monk Studio

As promised ... I have been making some beautiful Origami boxes and some photo frames.

I had some A3 sheets of paper that I had printed some of my Zentangle drawings onto.  Rather than waste this paper, I decided to use it to make Zentangle Origami Boxes ... they are beautiful and quite useful too!   The thicker white ones with lids at the back are going to be Zentangled too ... I used heavier card stock to make these.   

And some "mini" Zentangles ... these are just wonderful, quick and simple to make.   I made these ones whilst waiting at the doctors yesterday - would you believe for two hours!  Not like I have anything else to do:(   

We are enjoying the last vestiges of Summer today ... even though we are in Autumn and have had a few days of very wintery weather ... I love Tasmania! Happy tangling for now ... Jane

A Tantalising Tease

What wonderful things happen when Origami and Zentangle meet ...  hopefully I will have some pics for you in the next few days ...

I am getting ready to go to New South Wales for my three x two day workshops.

The first is with Sandi in Cambelltown ... Thursday 24 and Friday 25 March - This is a 2 Day drawing intensive workshop ... learn lots of Zentangle patterns, a bit of colour, how to utilise Zentangle patterns in your art and journalling ... fun fun fun.  Sandi may have one or two spaces left ... go to the Zentangle Calendar link above for contact details if you are interested.

Next I will be in Penrith, New South Wales on Saturday 26 and Sundy 27 March 2011
This is a Two Day Zentangle for Quilters workshop ... you will learn how to draw Zentangle patterns and reproduce those drawings in stitch on fabric .... a great workshop for your free motion quilting skills, and you get to create some great art as well.    If you are interested in this class, contact me and I can put you in touch with Michelle who is hosting.


Lucky last on my New South Wales quick trip is off to Orange where I will be doing another 2 day Zentangle drawing intensive.    There might even be a heap of school children that I get to show how to Tangle for an hour or so during this week - Children love to Tangle and are so wonderful at it, so I am hoping this will happen.

Then I am back home getting ready for the Adult Education Zentangle class on the 17th of April,  then off to Melbourne for two days classes at the end of April with Michele's Sewing Basket and also where I will be the guest speaker at the Australian Quilting Guild - looking forward to that.

You can see all my classes up on the top of my blog at Zentangle Workshop Calendar.

I am also planning some Zentangle Retreats in the Highlands of Tasmania towards the end of the year ... so more on that soon also!

until then happy Tangling....Jane

Write a Caption for this piece of Original Art by Jane Monk

Just to make me feel better, I thought I would share one of my Original art drawings ... this one is 21 x 8 inches

and ask you ....  What would you write as a caption for this drawing??

By the way ... all of my Original Fine Art is for sale - contact me through my web site if you are interested. http://janemonkstudio.com/index.php?act=viewDoc&docId=13

Happy tangling for now ... Jane x

A 2 Day Weekend Zentangle Workshop

 A new group of tanglers is born!

On the weekend I was in Hobart (Tasmania) teaching my 2 Day Zentangle Workshop ... what a great weekend.

This is a Zentangle Pre-Strung Ensemble ..the string lines are already done and each person has taken one tile and independently tangled it ... the results when they are brought back together are stunning.

Remember that some of the people who have completed these have NEVER tangled before ... some even said they "COULDN'T DRAW" -  I know, incredulous!

 These are the tangles from the first day ... oh so cool.

 All engrossed in their own Art ... Tangling away.

The youngest member of the group was Rachel ... she has been really creative and has done some lovely tangles .. I love how she has added colour to her piece ... she gave me permission to put it up on my blog ... well done Rachel, I would love to see more of your work.


Thank you to everyone who participated and to Moira who graciously provided her home as a workshop venue ... it was lovely.  

If you would like to book a workshop with me you can contact me at Jane Monk Studio link.

Happy Tangling for now ... Jane x