Learning the lessons I teach: LISTEN!

I tell people that I never learn more than when I have to teach other people, and I know that I learn the most when I LISTEN to the people in my classes.

So, how great it was to hear this paraphrase of the Zentangle concept of "the elegance of limits," from one of my students (Nancy, you know who you are!):

"... so it's like Freedom through Focus..."

YES! EXACTLY!

Learning the lessons I teach, part 2

Simple one, really: keep at it.

So, in that spirit... the new schedule is up on the Class Schedule page!

Learning the lessons I teach

A summer and fall of very, very busy travel and work... home for a time and enjoying a cup of Earl Grey while sitting in my comfy chair. Musing on the recent travel days of mine and the uproar of elections and hurricanes and so, so much spinning around today.

It's easy to get caught up in the whirl of the world. It's easy to forget to remember the lessons I teach in all my classes.

Take your time: faster doesn't automatically equal better.

Pause to collect yourself, your thoughts, your intentions before beginning. Invoke the rituat of beginning.

Let some air in there. Breathe.

Summer slid away!

and Autumn has pounced on me! At least, the nights are Autumn cool, and that's delightful. I've been traveling all over the place and hardly home at all. I drop one bag, pick up another, and head right back out the door.

These cool evenings remind me that it's time to list the upcoming classes, so here's the 411:

September 29 - Dorchester Center for the Arts, Cambridge MD
October 5 - Manayunk Roxborough Art Center, Philadelphia PA
October 6 - Main Line School Night, Radnor PA
October 17 - Mount Airy Learning Tree, Philadelphia PA
November 2 - Community Art Center, Wallingford PA
November 3 - Cheltenham Township Adult School, Cheltenham PA
November 7 - Souderton Community Education, Souderton PA

November 8 - Main Line School Night, Berwyn PA
November 10 - Morris Arboretum, Philadelphia PA
November 14 - Middletown Township Park and Rec, Langhorne PA
November 17 - Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia PA
November 27 - Mount Airy Learning Tree, Philadelphia PA

WOW! We're going to be busy!

Details on the class schedule page (links to registration and whatnot!)

Color My World

Just a quickie note... the TeeZeeTee Travel Portfolio elves have been in production mode and there are LOTS of new color options!

A Travel Portfolio is a great way to take your Zentangle work on the road. The fabric portfolio is large enough for two pens, one pencil, and a baker's dozen of standard tiles. Check out the "Travel Portfolio Options" page for the newest colors and patterns.

Genius on a train track

When I take the train into "Center City" (Philadelphia, for those who might be reading outside the tri-state Delaware Valley area), I frequently press my camera lens against the car window and snap frantically trying to capture the dynamic, fleeting, powerful urban art that I pass by. The pictures are never good.

I've harbored fantasies of slipping down through the urban obstacles to take good shots, but realize that if I did, the next post you would read would be a request for bail money!

So, how cool was it for me to discover Oliver Wright at a local street art fair in Ambler, PA this past weekend? VERY COOL. Oliver said, "I used to work on real trains..." and he sighed a wistful sigh. "Then," he said, "I grew up."

I don't want to send him bail money, but I was more than happy to plunk down my dinero for a table-sized piece of art:

Oliver Write - Revilo 215

Is this genius, or what? Now I can take my camera lens away from the train car window!

Here's Oliver's contact info. Pay him a visit, and tell him you heard about him from me.

http://www.revilo215.bigcartel.com/
on Facebook Revilo 215

A little bit Floo, a little bit Mooka...

gets us to Flooka! I've been playing around with this pattern for a while now. Some have even seen it show up in my classes. Traditional wordless instructions can be found on the "Tangle Patterns" page.

Flooka wildness!

What I've learned is that the curvier you make the initial stroke, the more Flooka looks like a curled up "pill bug." I've also learned that Flooka is ambidextrous, that is to say, you can curve the initial stroke to the left or the right.

I call it "Flooka" because the shape reminds me a little of the shape of "Floo" pods and because the second stroke reminds me of the "outside line creates the inside shape" nature of "Mooka." Strangely, the people to whom I've taught it (and I, myself) are reminded of caterpillars. We think, particularly, of the caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland, although we don't exactly know why.