by Nysha | Aug 11, 2015 | Uncategorized
Remember the days when the mailbox held a funny card? A thoughtful note? Or a letter catching up over the miles? Today we stay so connected electronically that there are rarely cards and notes to keep in the boxes and trunks of our lives. No mementos or keepsakes to treasure as time passes… I recently went to the mail and retrieved an unexpected thank you card, a beautiful, tiny fan with peach blossoms on one side and a hand written note on the other. It was beautiful. It was thoughtful. The whole gesture really made me feel special and appreciated. I’d like to get back to the place where we express our appreciation to those that matter to us. It seems society has a mindset now that everything is disposable, and not worthy of value. Let’s challenge that trend. Until next time… Get...
by Nysha | Jul 28, 2015 | Uncategorized
For the longest time I thought that sketchbooks were something sacred that needed to be beautiful from beginning to end. Then I went for years having several sketchbooks — one for continuous line quilting patterns, one for play, one for geometric and/or piecing designs, and one I carried with me to museums to sketch and jot notes in… and that was a mess. Many artists use just one sketchbook at a time and work from front to back until it is filled — then they move on to the next sketchbook. This is more the idea I am going with now, except I keep two — one is for Zentangle and the other is for everything else. I keep my tangles separate because these I actively use as a reference. Referring to them for tangles as I work, either in a book or on a tile, etc. The other sketchbook is for anything else. If I am trying to figure out something, I pull out that sketchbook and work there. If there is a tangle I am unsure about, I work there. If I am jotting notes about an artist or a quote, that is where I put it. It is far less messy; and because it is in one place, I can find things easier than when I had five sketchbooks going at once. That’s the beauty of being an artist, I guess. Finding your pattern in the chaos, where you fit and can express your vision the best. I want to help get you to a place that increases your focus and creativity, helping you create some...
by Nysha | Jul 14, 2015 | Uncategorized
How often do you think things are boring? Visually, something isn’t interesting, doesn’t captivate your attention. An event fails to wow? You can’t relate to what a speaker is saying because there is too much technical jargon and not enough life… Drawings can be like that. Great contrasts of values, black and white that pop from a distance yet don’t hold the eye longer than the few seconds it takes to disseminate the image. One way I have seen that adds interest to hold the viewer is shading to add depth. A tile tangled with good value contrast can be nice. That same tile with shading can be truly stunning. If we can add interest to a tile with a little graphite — what can we add to life with a little grey by way of inclusion, acceptance,...
by Nysha | Jun 23, 2015 | Uncategorized
Hanging out with like-minded people is something that is always worthwhile. Realizing Santa Fe, New Mexico is a favorite destination spot for many people, I never had a desire to go. In 2013, Studio Art Quilt Associates had their annual conference in Santa Fe. The conference was great — hanging out with like-minded people, listening to speakers who engaged and inspired. When I heard that Tangle U, a conference for Certified Zentangle Teachers, was going to Santa Fe in 2015 I knew I would be going too! The high desert holds little appeal aesthetically to me; brown earth, adobe, terra-cotta, few trees… The mountains in the distance are pretty. The shopping, the art, the whole spirit is amazing. I loved wandering the section of Old Town near the hotel and conference center. Shops of the handmade or artisan made each spectacular versions of its kind. The conference held equal attention. [Classes about products, teaching methods, new approaches to projects. Each class sparked ideas and stimulated the creative monster.] One class took the traditional idea of tangles and talked about refining lines and adding shading in a unique way that creates even more dimensionality. I also was introduced to the idea that tiles can be ‘intimate’ or have less value contrast (less to look at from a distance) and yet have smaller detail or more change in sheen (using a clear pen with white glitter on white paper) that you can only see as you move around the tile. More a sense of wonder than wow. Another class introduced me to TomBow markers. A product I knew of and had...
by Nysha | Apr 4, 2015 | Uncategorized
If you have seen the recent issue of Quilting Arts Magazine you will have seen the article on my Zentangle Book in a Box. (April/May 2015) It was quite an experience to submit, write, ship, wait and wait for the whole process. The whole thing came about because of Margarita Korioth. She moved to the Memphis area almost two years ago and we became friends. She has written many articles for Quilting Arts Magazine (including an article in the same issue!) and other publications and encouraged me to submit. Last May I finally got it all together and submitted proposals for articles. In September they asked me to do the Artist Spotlight featuring my Zentangle Book in a Box. I wrote the article. In November I shipped my book and waited. Finally a few weeks ago the issue was released and almost a year of waiting was over. Meanwhile — in November Susan Brubaker Knapp was the national teacher for Uncommon Threads Quilt Guild. I took some classes from her and got a chance to chat with her. We talked about her job hosting Quilting Arts TV and what it was like to be on the show. Bolstered by my article success I submitted a proposal and was asked to join the team in Solon, Ohio to tape three segments for Quilting Arts TV. The first segment was about applying colour after quilting. I love this topic! I started first with paint atop quilting when I first started quilting in 2006. A class with Lura Schwarz Smith opened the world of ink. Then I discovered using coloured pencil set...
