December 01, 2022

Zentangle® – November 2022

December 01, 2022/ Gwen Morrison

30 Zentangle tiles made in November…or rather 30 chosen from the much larger number of tiles I made during the month. The tiles are all squares this month – a rare occurrence for me. I was trying not jump ahead to December motifs but couldn’t resist a cluster of stylized trees and red dots! Otherwise, I stayed focused on the fading green and orange color pallet for fall…and then using up gel pens from my sister’s teaching career for the tiles I made while I was in Carrollton.

Enjoy the November 2022 mosaic!

The Zentangle® Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. It was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. “Zentangle” is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com.

November 24, 2022

Happy Thanksgiving 2022!

November 24, 2022/ Gwen Morrison

We are at home for Thanksgiving. Our daughter and son-in-law are coming for the midday feast. I started cooking on Wednesday – making rice pudding and pumpkin custard (pecans on top) for the desserts. I hadn’t planned the rice pudding originally, but we had leftover rice from Chinese takeout…and I decided making pudding was a good way to use it! It was a full oven!

The appetizer this year is Impossible Burger meatballs (with a variety of sauces). This is a first – an experiment to see if they are good enough to be one of the “heavy hors d’oeuvres” for my parents’ 70th wedding anniversary later in the year.

The meal with be brisket (our tradition since my husband does not like turkey), sage dressing with added cranberries, Waldorf salad (apples, celery, raisins, walnuts).

There will be mulled cider – to drink and to make the whole house smell wonderful.

I made a mosaic of Zentangle tiles under a clear plastic mat for the center of the table.

There is so much to be thankful for this year….some of the ones I think of immediately are below but there are so many more. 2022 has been a good year.

The addition of a grandnephew to our extended family…the first baby in over 20 years
My elderly parents enjoying some recent changes we made to their garden room and the flower bed just outside --- their health and well-being
Adding more face to face activities with our daughter now that we are living in Missouir
Realizing that we successfully made a long-distance move…enjoying our new house…home
The waning of the pandemic…and our improved understanding of mask wearing for avoid respiratory infections

Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the flurry of celebrations for our family: my birthday, my parents’ 70th wedding anniversary, Christmas, New Years, our 50th wedding anniversary….a lot to look forward too!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

November 01, 2022

Zentangle® – October 2022

November 01, 2022/ Gwen Morrison

31 days in October….31 Zentangle tiles. A lot of the tiles this month have a seasonal palette: orange, muted red, pale green. I had a purple gel pin that I was using up too. Most of the tiles in the mosaic were made in London, Ontario during the hotel room part of my ‘retreat’ from my normal routine. One of the ways I filled the time I gained from not doing online activities or interacting with people was making the tiles. I had taken plenty of supplies.

I also drew 31 tiles that I didn’t color. I’ll probably finish them next month…maybe post the before and after images.

October 02, 2022

Zentangle® – September 2022

October 02, 2022/ Gwen Morrison

“30 days has September…so this post features 30 tiles. I was consciously using a variety of colors (inks and tiles) and patterns. Some of the tiles were made in Texas…I seem to create a lot of tiles during the week I am at my parents’ house while I sit with them as they watch television or work on a jigsaw puzzle. I am still using older pens and tiles from recycled materials although there were a few official Zentangle tiles I found from a class I went to several years ago…rediscovered when I was packing to move from Maryland to Missouri.

September 04, 2022

Zentangle® – August 2022

September 04, 2022/ Gwen Morrison

31 days in August – and 31 tiles selected for this post! There are more since two of the ‘tiles’ are mosaics of 6 triangular tiles!

There is a little skew toward rectangular tiles this month. All of them were made at home in Missouri. I tend to enjoy the slightly larger format. I have a green paint pen that I use to fill some of the larger areas. I’ve been thinking about the trends in the tiles I am making now. There is joy is not preplanning too much…just starting out and letting the tile emerge from the string or a simple initial pattern…enjoying the color application is much as the drawing!

Many of the square tiles were made in Carrollton…enjoying the leftover gel pens from my sister’s teaching career. I deplete a few more every time I am in Carrollton.

August 12, 2022

Gothic Ornament eBooks by John Henry Parker

August 12, 2022/ Gwen Morrison

John Henry Parker published archeology/architecture books in the mid-1800s and I am featuring his books on Gothic ornament as the ‘books of the week.’ There are three of them available on Internet Archive.

A manual of gothic mouldings, and continuous ornament (1847)

A manual of gothic stone carving (1855)

A manual of surface ornament (1855)

The images are great prompts for Zentangle tiles!

I also think about the ornaments in terms of history – the people that labored to create them, the places where their work survived, and how the spaces were used…are still used today – or maybe how the wars between the 1850s and today might have destroyed some of them. The ornaments on outer surfaces of buildings could been damaged by the elements or air pollution too. So – these books also represent a snapshot of what was observable at the time Parker wrote.

He also published a series of books about Rome: The Archeology of Rome which are available on Internet Archive…worth browsing.

August 01, 2022

Zentangle® – July 2022

August 01, 2022/ Gwen Morrison

31 days in July….31 Zentangle tiles! I made 100 during the month so had plenty to choose from. The majority were circular or square since those are the ones I tend to make when I am traveling…and I made a lot of tiles on the2 road trips in July: to Maryland/back to Missouri and visiting my parents in Texas. I have a box that holds tiles and a few pens that is easy to pack; the color palette is limited though. In Texas, I use some aging gel pens left over from my sister’s teaching career; more and more of them are dry or out of ink each time I visit. Enjoy my July 2022 Zentangle mosaic!

July 03, 2022

Zentangle® – June 2022

July 03, 2022/ Gwen Morrison

30 Zentangle tiles for June; it was challenging find the time to make tiles in June with the crescendo of activity for our move to Missouri…but very worthwhile to help me decompress.

I found myself enjoying new Sharpie Ultra Fine pens and savoring some newly discovered gel pins; both provided the smooth glide of color onto the variety of tile materials during the month. The paper coasters (round and square) were in the box I carried with me on all my travels. I rediscovered an unopened box of the round ones as I was packing…will return to them in the months ahead.

My favorite tiles are probably the light brown ones made from recycled lightweight cardboard or old file folders. Both square

And rectangular.

There are still a few tiles made from old pocket folders saved my daughter’s K-12 days; I found more of those folders as I packed to move…will cut them into tiles as some point.

I had a few tiles that were a narrower rectangle…the back of pads of paper I used up….and then had the cardboard left to repurpose!

June 01, 2022

Zentangle® – May 2022

June 01, 2022/ Gwen Morrison

31 Zentangle tiles for May. It was a little more challenging to do one a day with the flurry of activity getting ready to move….but I did it (although with fewer extra tiles than usual). There were more rectangular tiles in May because I was at home; the rectangular tiles don’t fit as well as the square tiles in the box is take when I travel as happened in prior months…and will happen in June too.

May 01, 2022

Zentangle® – April 2022

May 01, 2022/ Gwen Morrison

30 tiles – because April has 30 days.

It seemed like there were more tile shapes this month – rectangles of different sizes, foot shaped (created on cardboard that held footies I bought for summer) and round.

Many of the tiles were made while I was travelling. I had a box with blank tiles and a few pens that was easy to pack; the color selection was limited. The box was just barely large enough to provide support for a tile as I drew patterns and finished with colors.

I’ve already planned to only create square tiles for the next month so that I can use my phone rather than a scanner for the May post…I don’t want to delay the post because I am between houses (i.e. without the luxury of my full home office)!

April 03, 2022

Zentangle® – March 2022

April 03, 2022/ Gwen Morrison

March was a busy month with an overlay of trauma (laptop problems, getting sick while I was traveling) but making Zentangle tiles helped me weather the increased stress. The daily routine of creating at least one tile is one of my most reliable methods of coping with whatever is happening otherwise.

I am still using up old pens so there are fewer colors in this set…although while I was in Texas, I had the box of old gel pins to add to the variety. I used more round and square coasters this month – realizing that some of them were yellowing after being unwrapped – perhaps absorbing some moisture from the air and beginning to deteriorate. There were a lot fewer rectangular tiles this month. Overall – I like the patterns and colors in this collection.

I’m always a little surprised when I choose the tiles for the month….enjoy again what I created during the month.

March 02, 2022

Zentangle® – February 2022

March 02, 2022/ Gwen Morrison

Even without the Valentine tiles I posted about on 2/14, I still had plenty of tiles to choose from to make the 28 for the February Zentangle post! The square tiles include 2 made from a purple folder I found while cleaning out my office; the color is very dark…requires gel pens for the patterns. There is a square coaster (rounded corners) in the group as well; I found a stack of them that I had forgotten about so there will be more in March.

The rectangular tiles are probably my favorite shape/size. The color of the lightweight cardboard varies slightly. I like the more golden color (the one with cut corners) the best.

The last 4 tiles are on black paper (it is a pad that my daughter bought back in in high school…well over 10 years old)! I’m savoring the black background and the different weight of these tiles…still have more than half the pad left!

February 18, 2022

J. Walter Fewkes eBooks

February 18, 2022/ Gwen Morrison

I browsed the books by Jesse Walter Fewkes available on Internet Archive recently. His work in the late 1800s - early 1900s is an early record of the archeology and anthropology in the American Southwest. He was one of the first to advocate for government preservation of the ancient sites. I’ve chosen three of his books to feature in this post.

Designs on Prehistoric Hopi Pottery (1919) – When I browse books like this, I am always gleaning ideas for Zentangle tiles. This one also brought back memories of participating in Camp Fire Girls when I was growing up; they included native symbols and geometric designs as part of the program which I enjoyed; it made the arts/crafts were appealing someone like me that was disappointed in any attempts at realistic drawing.

Hopi Katcinas Drawn by Native Artists (1904) – I wonder if Fewkes was one of the first to encourage these artists to document their own culture…emphasizing the aspects that were most important to them rather than using other artists from outside the culture or photographs that might be realistic but subtly emphasizing the aspects important from their own cultural perspective.

Tusayan Katcinas and Snake Ceremonies (1897) – The close of the katcina mask shows how elaborate they could be.

The views of the Altar of the Antelope Priests in 3 different locations were interesting. It’s an opportunity to see similarities and differences…wondering if it was difference in the progress of the ceremony or variance due to location that caused the altars to look different. Are the parts that are the same the most important?

February 14, 2022

Valentines!

February 14, 2022/ Gwen Morrison

I used Valentines Day as a prompt for some Zentangle® tiles. At first it was all about heart shaped patterns and red coloring.

My fascination did not last long with the shape…but I did like the red coloring. I started another project with everything the same except for the ‘string’…keeping the red coloring for Valentines Day. It is surprising how different the tiles look with that one change in the frame – string – patterns + coloring - appreciate process.

February 01, 2022

Zentangle® – January 2022

February 01, 2022/ Gwen Morrison

31 days in January…31 Zentangle tiles selected from the ones I created during the month.

I made a commemorative Zentangle tile on the back of the card stock rectangle that was my name plate from the door of my hospital room. The nurse handed it to me just before we headed down to the area where my husband was waiting to take me home….and I covered the back with my patterns a few days later.

There were various types of card stock and cardboard for the square tiles…all reused materials that would have otherwise been recycled. The lighter ones are from decades old file folders from my sister’s clearing out old files from my parents’ storage; some of them were over 50 years old! The darker one was more recent…from boxes of canned soft drinks. In both cases – I use a paper cutter to create the 3.5-inch squares. The limited color palette is caused by me trying to use up older Ultra Fine Sharpies before I open a new package.

The rectangular tiles are all made from light weight cardboard inserted as dividers in boxes of small cans of cat food. There are several kinds…varying shades of light brown. The texture also varies. I used the paper cutter to make them 3.5 x 4.75 inches tiles. Most of the time I prefer the rectangles over the squares – not sure whether it is the larger size or the textures or the colors that are the greatest appeal (probably it is all three!).

January 02, 2022

Zentangle® – December 2021

January 02, 2022/ Gwen Morrison

31 tiles for the 31 days of December….

In the first few days of the month, I continued to use my old pens…but then switched to red (with black…sometimes white) and some Christmas themed patterns. There was a skew toward square tiles rather than rectangular this month…just as there was in November.

I enjoyed the red pen…will return to it for February (valentines). Maybe in January I will pick another color to feature in most tiles….and strive for some very different patterns.

December 21, 2021

Cancer Diary – Entry 6

December 21, 2021/ Gwen Morrison

A month of waiting for surgery and almost another month to go….assuming that the hospital does not become overwhelmed with treatment of COVID-19 patients and the surgery is cancelled/postponed. I am not anxious about the possibility….yet; my concern has been ramping up over the past few days with the hospitalizations in Maryland increasing and the indicators that the Omicron variant’s being more contagious than the Delta variant….and knowing that a lot of people are gathering for the holidays (more than last year….with vaccinations available, a lot of people made big plans for this year prior to Omicron emergence). By early January – the medical system could be very stressed. There is little I can do to improve the situation aside from staying healthy myself; I am trying to keep myself busy and focused on other things.

There was little in my activities this month on the critical path toward my surgery other than continuing to take the medication. The surgery date was moved forward by a couple of days and an appointment made for a pre-surgery COVID-19 test. I was glad there was a lull; I thoroughly enjoyed my daughter’s whirlwind visit (road trip for her) for Thanksgiving and then had time to focus on supporting my sisters’ from afar as my mother was hospitalized. Fortunately, the hospitalization was short, and the follow-up seems to be improving her condition rapidly; her quality of life is improving beyond what it was a month ago! And I am relieved that I didn’t need to make an unplanned road trip to Texas.

We ventured out for a walk around Druid Hill Park and through the Christmas lights at Brookside Gardens. Both were enjoyable outdoor experiences…good for our mental health. There are other outdoor activities we’ve planned…but on our own in uncrowded settings rather than organized events. The more we learn about Omicron, the more cautious we are becoming.

It’s cold enough that I have ramped up indoor activities… another effort to avoid thinking too much about my cancer. I am spending considerable time on a Coursera course: Anatomy of the Upper and Lower Extremities (from Yale University). During the holidays, I spend more time cooking…making more complicated recipes and trying new things. And there are the regular things like Zentangle tiles and book browsing that I can ‘do more’ too. I’ve started buying flowers every time I got to the grocery store since the view from my window now is bare trees; on the plus side, the birds are easier to see.

Overall – this month of waiting has not been hard at all. At this point, my mental perspective is about the same as it was a month ago although I find myself bracing for the possibility of the increases in hospitalizations from the pandemic causing a postponement of my surgery…an event that would be a major setback from my perspective.

December 01, 2021

Zentangle® – November 2021

December 01, 2021/ Gwen Morrison

30 days in November…so 30 Zentangle® tiles to showcase.

There are a few ‘special’ tiles this month:

This one was started as I was leaving Texas and I took the glittery orange gel pen with me to finish it since it was about out of ink. It ran out before I finished all the fill I had intended….but I still like the tile.

Another special tile is one of the first tiles I made after one of my aunts died suddenly. I acknowledged my preoccupation with her death by using the first letter of her name (L) as the string. There were many other tiles made this month that provided me quiet time to grieve…and remember happy times with her.

And now the 28 other tiles for November 2021!

November 01, 2021

Zentangle® – October 2021

November 01, 2021/ Gwen Morrison

31 days in October…picking 31 tiles. They are all rectangular ones this month and all done with old pens…saving my new ones and the square tiles for my road tip. I found myself in so many varying moods during the month and the variable density of the patterns reflects that. There is one tile done entirely in white highlighting pen! Enjoy the Zentangle tile mosaic for October!

October 01, 2021

Zentangle® – September 2021

October 01, 2021/ Gwen Morrison

In recently months I have produced a lot of Zentangle tiles….not in September. I needed 30 to meet normal the one-a-day goal; there were only 39 to choose from rather than averaging 2+ tiles per day as in previous months. I put away my white highlight pen for the month as a challenge and discovered that I miss it too much; I’ll be using it again in the October tiles!

The September tiles were dominated by rectangles…only two squares during the entire month!