A little Colour

I thought you might like to see this ... it is easy to add some colour to your life and tangles ... I have made this little bookmark using Derwent Inktense coloured pencils and water - and had a lot of fun!

"M"

This is an "M" I did for my sister in December ... I just love it.


Please respect my copyright ... this is my original work, with my own original font (letter style).   

I have also used a number of my own tangle patterns in this drawing, as well as a number of official Zentangle patterns which you can find on the Zentangle blog.   I especially love "Jetties", it is one of my favourites - can you tell!

Happy tangling for now ... Jane x

More on the Letter "R"

I know this is not a great photograph ... I took it tonight as I thought I would share the progress with you all.

I still have quite a way to go on this ... but it is looking pretty good and that "Mooka" pattern is creeping in everywhere ... also my Mooka Pods with a twist - I have made the pods look like the "Finery" pattern - I love it.

I have also used a pale gray ink to draw more tangle patterns in the background. Lots of shading to go yet.

Enjoy ... Jane x

Happy Easter Holiday

 I have been Tangling (and quilting for my customers - so have been pretty busy) ... here is a sneak peek at something I am working on at the moment for a friend.  You can see here I have used my patterns Tadpegs, Swirly Blossom, Fern and Baby Fern as well as Zentangle patterns Fescu, Jetties, Finery, Printemps as well as Zinger, and I am sure by the time I finish, I will have used a whole heap more.

I am also working on a large project which I will be able to reveal soooon I hope.  I am not very good at keeping exciting stuff to myself.



On Saturday morning I did a short Adult Education Workshop for Beginners Zentangle and it was a great class - everyone enjoyed themselves and we had a fantastic venue with great light.

This is my baby - Jet - he loves to help me tangle and just has to see what I am up to. I'm sure he would hold the pen if he could!

I would like to wish everyone a great Easter holiday break and hope you have time to Tangle.   I will be back on line when I return from Melbourne where I am doing a number of classes as Michelle's Sewing Basket - I am also the guest speaker for the Australian Quilting Guild of Victoria - very excited about that!

Happy Tangling for now ... see you all soon ... Hugs Jane x

A commission

I have spent some time while I have been away on a special commission piece - I do love making these little wonders.

What a wonderful way to spend two days ... I hope all in Australia are enjoying these beautiful Autumn days we are having at the moment. 

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

Taming Tangles with Colour

 Adding colour is something that I love to do.  It gives those tangles more dimension, a playful feel if you will.

I started with "J"

Then came R ... I love how my pattern "Swirly Blossom" looks coloured in with the background of  "Printemps", add in a few "Zingers", "Nouveau", "Tadpegs" and it is done.  Then I thought about just using colour to do the tangles ... so A appeared from the end of my pencils. I used "Tadpegs", "Fern", "Nerfy", "Finery", "Verdigogh" and "Sedgling".  A mix of my own patterns and the official Zentangle patterns.

In these three drawings I have used  Black 005 and 01 Pigma pens, Staedtler Triplus Fineliners and Prismacolor Pencils.  I am still a bit miffed that my box of Prismacolor Pencils have lots of broken lead in them - this is the second box - I figure the postage process must not be very good for them!

Then an "R" with both graphite and colour shading.  I have also used a Black 01 Pigma pen and a pale grey Staedtler Triplus Fineliner with a touch of Blue Prismacolour pencil.

I do love the colour, but I like the simplicity of B&W tangles. 

Happy Tangling everyone ... have a nice weekend ... Jane x

Zentangle Auction Item Drawn & some of my Zentangles

 Well ... a little late but here nevertheless ... I have finished the drawing (A4 size) which is for the QLD Relief Auction...the winning bidder will have their choice of letter drawn into the centre and whether or not they want some colour or gold highlights in the middle border - I am happy with this one and I have used some of my favourite Zentangle patterns.

 I have been playing with shades of gray.  I really love the way it enhances a Zentangle picture - what do you think?

 And my oh my I have loved drawing this one.  I have used black and two shades of gray ... this is my current favourite drawing.

Yesterday sitting in the doctors office waiting, waiting, waiting and then needles - oh yucky - but I was very calm and collected when I went in, the Zentangle drawing definately helps (other than everyone in the waiting room looking to see what I am doing - I'm sure they all wished they had a pen and paper - lol!)






And finally .....

 Don't forget the QLD Premiers Flood Appeal ... and all the auctions that are taking place through Toni of Make It Perfect

This is my Quilt Auction

 This is my Jane Monk Studio Zentangle Drawing - Auction 2
The winning bidder gets to choose the letter I draw in the centre.

This is my Jane Monk Studio Zentangle Kit - Auction 1
A full official Zentangle Kit including DVD

Thank you everyone for your support of this greatly needed appeal....Happy Tangling... and bidding .... Jane x

Fabric Postcard Class

 Yesterday I taught a short class at Cranberry Crafts in Ulverstone ... Fabric Postcards.   This is really a techniques class ... but you get to take somthing home that you have made on the day.    I must say these ladies all had lots of fun and bring to the class their own set of fantastic ideas and skills.  Even I learnt something... a great suggestion was to use an overlocker to do the edges of the postcards ... cut and stitch at the same time - what a great idea, especially if you are doing a whole bunch of them like for Christmas cards etc.
Thanks girls for a wonderful day.

I thought I was going to be late as the back highway I take to get there was closed and it was 10km back to the next connecting road ... my dear husband got me there on time - glad he drives me sometimes.

These are a small sample of my own postcards ... I have been having fun combining Zentangle onto the fabric ... there are three here.

 We started our class doing some tea dying - a great start and gives people some time to settle down and put their minds in gear for the class.   I know it helps me to do something short and fun to start a class.

 This is one of my Zentangle inspired fabric postcards.  I have used William Morris as my inspiration for these leafy beauties ... I could wax lyrical about his work ... but I won't, suffice to say I love his style and Michelle Hill for introducing it to the quilting world.

This is another of my Zentangle style postcards ... I am really liking this a lot.

I use just normal fabric (quilters muslin here that I have tea dyed) and a Sakura Pigma Micron pen in 01 size... black and brown (I sell them on my web site http://janemonkstudio.com if you are interested).

Okay that was my day yesterday.    I have been amazed at the bidding on the items I am auctioning and thank you all for your comments and bids ... it is wonderful that Toni from Make It Perfect has attracted so many different auctions - we have a great choice of items to bid on and I think the master list is up tonight ... check out her blog for more information.    Make It Perfect

By the way, I am nearly finished the Zentangle inspired letter that I am auctioning ... I only have to add the winning bidders letter and do some shading ... so will post a pic of this tomorrow.

Happy Tangling for now ... Jane x

Tangling in Tasmania Today

 Now look at all those T's - lol!

I am sitting here at 2.10am - once again because I cannot sleep.  I am glad this doesn't happen every night.

So I thought I would share some of the tangles that I have created over the past few days.

 These two are not shaded ... can you see my pattern Kitties in there ... they make me smile every time I see them sticking their little heads up.

 Creating patterns ... you may recognise the Swirly Blossom pattern that I use in my Decorated Alphabets ... very simple to do and very effective as a repetitive pattern.

Here is a close up.

My next Zentangle for Quilters class is at Cranberry Crafts in Ulverstone on Saturday the 22nd January ... I can't wait but this Saturday I am teaching my Fabric Postcard techniques class ... I did a little tangling for this too ....

Here it is ... Postcards are fun to make and the fabric ones are very tactile ... I love the feel of the stitching on the fabric ... can you tell I am a quilter!

Okay so I'm off the computer soon, draw a couple of tangles perhaps that might be relaxing enough for me to go back to sleep.... Happy Zentangling ZZzzzzzz
Jane x

Welcome to the New Year

I hope you have all had a great break over Christmas and the New Year ... I had the pleasure of spending  a week up at the highland lakes region of Tasmania ... it snowed the day after Boxing Day and we awoke to a white covering all over the camp site .. it was beautiful.   A few days later we had very hot weather, we caught quite a few Brown Trout and enjoyed some lovely meals.  I also relaxed and enjoyed the quietness of this beautiful region of Tasmania.   I Tangled a bit, well actually, a lot!

See this beautiful decorated letter Q ... I have used coloured ink and Derwent Inktense pencils to add colour.  I have nearly finished this whole alphabet ... and have enjoyed it immensely.

 On Saturday just gone I taught a One Day Zentangle Workshop in Hobart (Tasmania).   Just a small group of three, but it was a lot of fun and they created quite a few Zentangles.

Everyone had the same instruction and it is amazing how different their tangles turned out ....

 Then we shaded them - wow what a difference.
It is amazing to see everyone has a different style and approach.

 A second tile almost completed

This is one of the decorated alphabets that we created.  Mica who is a high school art teacher, drew this fantastic M and used the basic tangles that I had taught them in the morning.   When I teach the decorated alphabets we talk about flowing design through the background of the work,  you can see here that Mica has used this in his creation - beautiful.

I thought we had lost him for awhile ... he was in the Zen!

So, welcome to 2011 and another year of fantastic tangling ... I have a number of workshops coming up and more to come.

Happy Tangling for now ... Jane x

An Illuminated Zentangle Letter & Merry Christmas to you all

This is Pamela's "P"

A Zentangle Inspired Illuminated Letter P hand drawn by Jane Monk of Jane Monk Studio....

I hope you like it Pamela.

A big thankyou to everyone who participated in this giveaway .... who knows I may have another one early next year sometime.

I would also like to say thankyou to all the people who visit my blog and leave me lovely comments ... it gives me the warm fuzzies - thankyou.

Also a very happy Christmas to those who celebrate at this time of year, keep safe and I will be back in the New Year to share more of my Zentangle journey with you all.

Hugs Jane xx

100th Follower Winner

Awhile ago I decided to do a surprise gift for the 100th Follower ... nobody knew about it ... until the day they joined up to follow my blog ... I am happy to say that the recipient was most surprised and her name began with the letter A ...

I have finished her gift now ... it is an A5 sized Zentangle Styled Illuminated Letter ... I really really hope she likes it ... I do and it will be sad for it to go to a new home - lol!


Okay ... remember tomorrow is the draw for my big Giveaway ... the A4 sized Zentangle Styled Illuminated Letter ... I only have to draw the letter in ... see my last post.


Hope you are all enjoying your weekend ... Happy tangling ... Jane x

Introducing the Letter "J"

The Letter "J" is a very difficult letter to make look nice ... there are so many ways you can draw it but it still seems to be restricted - know what I mean?

Anyway .. this is my letter J, with 44 Zentangle patterns around the outside border.   The inside border is my own pattern/design - not published yet, and of course I have used my Tadpegs pattern inside the J.

The Illuminated letter setting (that is the way the page is set out) is from William Morris Designs.   I like how he made the outside borders different widths ... I will have to check out my Fibonacci numbers to see if this fits within it ... it does look pretty good.

I have shaded only some of the Zentangle patterns ... the difference is quite remarkable I think.

Enjoy!

By the way ... I am posting over at my quilting blog - http://purrfectlyquilted.blogspot.com about the Zentangle for Quilters worskhop at Esmes last weekend - it was a blast.

Jane x

Inspired by Zentangle Masterclass

 I have been reading with interest the Zentangle blog and the recent Masterclass that was held in Newport.   Oh my goodness - how I wish I had been there.  Well ... I wasn't but I have spent a little time making my own Illuminated Letter (M for Monk of course)

What do you think?   I used watercolour for the colouring and i really like how it looks.

 Now it looks even more different with tangles using the Sepia pen.

And some more added zentangles ... it still has a way to go yet...but while I am having some very off days ... this keeps me going.

This is a little zentangle that I completed the other night ... very 3D ... and can you see "Bronx Cheer" where I stuffed up thougt it would look nice! LOL!

Happy tangling for now ... Jane x