I will be teaching classes at the Art Hub in Cambridge, Wisconsin again this coming winter. Come in out of the cold and have some fun. The new schedule will be available soon. Keep an eye out here and on Instagram for updates.
I’m going to be teaching a grid art journaling class on Saturday, February 7th from 1-4, a Zentangle class on Friday, March 20 from 6-8 and how to make paper bag art journals on Saturday, April 25 from 1-4. My last post has an overview of my paper bag journal that I made for all my October activities. I have already made one to get ready for Carve December! I’m really loving this kind of journal.
Last Saturday I had a great Zentangle class at the Art Hub. We explored the tangle pattern crescent moon and played with flower options to create our own unique variations. Here is the mosaic from the class.
I used a paper bag art journal to capture the essence of October. It was a jam packed month! I posted a video (reel) on Instagram that you can see here. I wanted to share some still photos as well with more information about the content of the photos.
The paper bags come from a meal subscription service I use called Isthmus Eats and I get 1-2 meals in them most weeks. All the ingredients come with a recipe and they are very tasty but sometimes challenging to make. It has been great to increase the variety in my regular meal rotation. In any case, I have a growing stack of these paper bags and I knew how I wanted to use them. You can see I decided to make a paper bag book with pockets! It got really chunky!
This first page layout includes a Zendala with the first Inktobertangle (Inktober Zentangles) patterns of festune, toodles, seedways and melvina by Zentangle, Inc (first 2), Carla Jooren and Nadine Roller, respectively. Click on the pattern name to go to the instructions on how to draw that Zentangle pattern. The orange print with the eyes is from the resource I made for my Block Printing Fest handout. The background is papers that I have gelli printed in October and that were laying on my work table.
The list of Inktober Tangles prompts is on the next page with a tan phi tile with some of the patterns. The tan tile includes Star Rite by Nina Dreher-Goddertz, Oyvia by Shie Naritomi, and Adriadna by Tomas Padros. When you flip that pocket over you can see the ogee variations I played with. On the right are 2 ogee blocks I printed during my Repeat Pattern Design Deep Dive class with Ali (@3DottedPenguins). I used the ogee shaped spaces to draw in the pattern Lilife by Barbara Steyer. I liked this pattern so much that I carved a little ogee stamp of it and played with it some more. This is layered over some woven gelli prints.
I continued to play with that little ogee stamp on a blue phi tile shaped piece of paper and a little scrap of the blue paper. The tile is on a background of “quilted” gelli printed papers and book pages. It includes the Inktober tangles cochombros by Tania Ferriol Joyer and Ole Ole by Reyes Galindo. The Zendala on the right side is one of my favorite Zentangle patterns, zenith by Zentangle, Inc. It has some similarities with delwhy, another favorite and one that I have carved a bunch of stamps of and I included 3 of the stamps on the Zendala. You can see the Block Printing Fest label and in this pocket I had some of the prints I used in my Block Printing Fest presentation. I put a copy of the handout from my presentation into another pocket. Here is a photo of the stuff from all of the pockets in the book. It includes some Artist Trading Cards I got from Mel Beach.
The page under that pocket includes a Zentangle tile with the patterns Mrth and Tripoli from Zentangle Inc, and Puffle by Sandy Hunter. I carved 2 little tripoli stamps (the triangles) and added some tangled triangles. The triangular Zentangle tile includes the patterns Ing from Zentangle Inc, letterish by Jody Genovese, and they both also include some other patterns that I use frequently.
The next page layout includes 2 ATCs left over from a batch that I created to trade with Mel Beach for the lovely chicken and lady liberty (seen above). Behind that pocket is a print in yellow green and blue inspired by the Block Printing Fest session with Sarah Matthews. There’s also a few of my stamps included here on more gelli prints.
I love how these Zentangled papers turned out! The big grey one includes Middleton by YuRu Chen, Kangular by Tomas Padros, and butria by Ute Andresen. The one on the right on blue paper includes owlpeek by Susan Yeo, Yeed by Midori Furuhashi, quandry by Zentangle Inc, and bownus by Angie Gittles. The page under the pocket is some block printing I did for my presentation for Block Printing Fest and from some block play that Ali Baedecker did during one of the zoom sessions.
As you can see, there was a lot of inspiration and art making in October! I want to thank Stephanie Jennifer for again organizing the collection of patterns for the month. She provides the links to the step outs for all the patterns and it makes it very fun and easy to participate.
A collection of mixed media index cards created for ICAD (Index Card a Day) 2025.
I used a compass to draw some circles to expand my usual torus mandala to create spaces in between the patterned block prints. Then I added some Zentangle patterns that would unify the piece. After that I cut off an index card sized piece each day or so and worked on it as it’s own discrete entity. Here are some examples of the cards. My last two posts (June and July) also have more examples.
I am so happy to have explored all these possibilities! It demonstrates the value of diversity and inclusion and will hopefully improve the next piece I plan to create. It will be a version of this with my favorite components of these. Which one do you like best? Great news, you don’t have to choose just one.
I gave some background information and beginning samples of my Index Card a Day art in my last blog post. I did decide to use the technique of cutting a larger piece into index card sized (3×5 inches) pieces and working on them as individual pieces. I’m very happy with the results.
I also dropped off 5 pieces for the EcoSquared show at Hatch Art House. EcoSquared will run July 1st – August 31st, with an opening reception Friday July 11th from 5-8pm. It would be lovely to see you there. The address is 1248 Williamson Street in Madison, WI.
The exhibition is geared towards Hatch’s emphasis on using upcycled materials and will feature only square works of art. Here are my pieces.
I worked on the 100 day project again this year. It’s an Instagram challenge intended to support a daily art practice and is frequently used to dive deeply into something an artist wants to explore. It starts in February and runs for 100 consecutive days, ideally. I had a lot of health challenges since last December and wasn’t able to make art at all or much for a couple months. It really set me back in my art practice so I did a very gentle version of the challenge.
Spring Metta Meditation
This piece was one of the main things I worked on and I was so happy to be able to finish it in time to get it framed for the Madison Art Guild Summer Salon. It is currently on exhibit in the surgical waiting area of UW Hospital at 600 Highland Dr. in Madison, WI. It will be up until the end of July. Seeing my art when I go to appointments at the hospital (usually at least twice a month) is amazing. It makes me happy and I think it makes me more 3 dimensional to the health professionals I encounter during these appointments. Having my art in medical facilities that I go to has been on my art bucket list and I’m grateful for each opportunity.
This piece started with some collage and gesso on mixed media paper. Then I wrote out a long version of a Buddhist Metta (loving kindness) Meditation. I found I really needed this at the beginning of this year and I hope people stop and notice that it’s in the background. We need all the loving kindness we can get.
Some days I wasn’t able to make much progress and I took a lot of breaks to participate in a few free Instagram workshops: Sketchbook Revival, Mastering Mixed Media and Workshop Week. These free classes offer me projects that can subtly or significantly impact my art process or remind me of tools/techniques I haven’t used in a while. I really think it’s a big part of keeping my art practice fresh. Usually free access is only for a limited time but you can pay for unlimited access at any point during the workshop. So I prioritize the workshops I want to try and can let the rest go. I did get long term access to Sketchbook Revival so I haven’t yet done as many of those projects yet.
Here are the results of some of these fun workshops. As you can see they are very different from my usual work and maybe you will see the influence of them on the index cards I’m currently playing with. The index cards are for the #ICAD index card a day challenge hosted by Tammy at Daisy Yellow. Check out her website to learn about the guidelines, prompts, history, and community related to this wonderful Instagram challenge. I am starting a new large piece and wanted to play around with the design and techniques I use and I’m cutting it up into index card sized pieces and trying different things on them. I am actually really liking the effect and might to this for the entire piece. Stay tuned.
I also worked on some pieces just because I felt like block printing and because I am getting some smaller pieces ready for the Eco Squared show at Hatch Art House. I will do a post on that show when I finish my final piece and submit them to the show.
I started the year with a slightly larger work in progress on gessoboard (16″x16″) and a Zentangle challenge on Instagram. The WIP has a lot of pieces that I am using to cover up an old piece of work that never quite worked for me. The Instagram challenge was A Fragment of Your Imagination hosted by 7F5R (7 forests 5 rivers) using Zentangle Fragments – specially curated by Debbie New, Ildica Boyd and Nina Dreher-goeddertz. They are all Certified Zentangle Teachers and put together a great collection of patterns.
I am still on my 100 mandala journey and compiled the fragments into a few small and one large mandala. They are numbers 57/100, 58/100, and the large one is 59/100.
The floral mandala that I am working on is going over an old piece that didn’t work. I sanded it and covered it with gold gesso. Then I used my torus mandala blocks to print an offset mandala that I’m using as a guide and background. I added a layer of leaves gelli printed on tissue paper and some stenciling and writing. Now I am playing with different arrangements of the leaves and flowers and adding depth and texture to the individually stamped and cut out images.
This will be part of my solo exhibit at the Art Hub in Cambridge in April. There will be a reception on the First Friday in April and I hope to see you there. Come see the finished version of this piece and so many others.
Today I was notified that a piece of mine was accepted in the juried show “Midwest Seasons” at the Center for the Visual Arts in Wausau, WI. It’s a piece I just finished called “Olbrich Summer Dreams.” The orchid stamps are inspired by the orchids at Olbrich Gardens and there is a map that includes the gardens in the background. It’s a combination of block printed flowers, stencils, Zentangles and a lot of different kinds of paper.
Next week I’m going to be demonstrating gelli printing at Crestwood Elementary (5930 Old Sauk Rd in Madison, WI) from 6-7 pm. It is part of their Explore Arts Night and I’m curious about how it will go. It looks like there will be eight other artists doing demonstrations at different stations. It seems like such a great idea. That same night is the first open studio at Kindling Community Art at my neighborhood community center and I hope to stop in there for a few minutes.
On Thursday, December 12, I will be participating in a holiday art shop at Weichart Realtors at 2045 Atwood Avenue in Madison, WI from 5-8. I will have a selection of handmade books and little coloring books as well as some smaller pieces of art that would make wonderful gifts. There will be 5 other artist there and I believe their work includes jewelry and ceramics in addition to wall art, prints and cards.
Then on Saturday, Dec. 14 I’m teaching an Introduction to Zentangle class at the Art Hub in Cambridge, WI. It costs less than forty dollars and you will leave with your own Zentangle kit. It’s not too late to register here. We will learn some introductory patterns and then play with them in some festive ways. The circles of paper are called Zendalas and you will go home with your own finished Zendala.
After all that in one week I will be ready to rest. However it is Carve December on Instagram and I’m trying to carve a block/stamp every day. I think I may need to take a few days off next week. I’m also still working on my 100 mandalas challenge and I’m trying to use my new blocks to make mandalas. I have been taking a class from Clarissa Grande on Golden Geometry and it is fascinating. I will have a lot more to post about that class when I get caught up, but in the meantime I’m carving blocks to create golden spiral mandalas. The bottom 3 prints are the beginning of that and I have so many ideas of how to use them!
This is my most recent big piece and I call it Blue Skies. It’s kind of ironic because my sun sensitivity this summer was really bad so I stayed inside and worked on this off and on since June. The central picture is very early in the process and is mostly the original block print. I added Zentangles and watercolor and acrylics and colored pencils and I am calling it a mixed media monoprint. I think I’m going to submit it for an exhibit at the University of Wisconsin Hospital in January. At least every other week I walk past the place that local art is exhibited. Seeing my own art in medical facilities I go to was one of my main goals when I started making art again 10 years ago. It makes me so happy to share it with the nurses and medical professionals and they love it too. It makes us all more three dimensional to each other.
In the past I have done my own challenges during which I aspired to make mandalas (almost) every day for 100 days. I have been able to work on a mandala almost every day but a lot of my work takes more energy than I have on a given day. Frequently when I try to make a simple one it becomes complicated. So I once again am aspiring to make 100 mandalas by the end of the year, or make a whole lot and finish up a lot of works in progress. I started the project when there was a little more than 100 days left in the year.
Here’s an overview of week 1. I’m off to a good start! I did make 7 mandalas, but one is in the same sketchbook as the art supplies inventory rainbow so it’s not in the overall photo. Another one also appears twice as I combined a completed mandala with one that was in progress and not going well.
Sketchbook Revival class on art supply inventory taught by Janine Vangool of Uppercase MagazineCombination of dragonfly mandala and zendala featuring a pattern by Debbie Huntington.This zendala is from a class in the Tangle Talez workshop taught by Shie Naritomi.This zendala is a combination of one of my handcarved stamps and some Zentangle patterns.A collection of my handcarved stamps with some mixed media Zentangles and enhancements.Another Tangle Talez zendala. This one was taught by Anica Gabrovec (Zen.linea).The central portion of this mandala is another tile that was taught at Tangle Talez by Anica. I incorporated it into a collage that uses my stamps, zentangles and mixed media.
The EcoSquared Exhibit is going on right now at Hatch Art House. There will be a reception Friday July 12, from 5-8. I plan to be there and I hope to see you there. There is a lot of detail in these pieces that you can only see in person. What is EcoSquared?
“EcoSquared (eco for eco-friendly, squared for square art) focuses entirely on square works of art made with upcycled materials by local artists. This year will be a massive show of upcycled artworks with nearly 120 pieces made by over 40 Wisconsin artists.”
Hatch Art House is located at 1248 Williamson Street in Madison, WI. Their hours are M-F: 11am – 6pm, Sat: 11pm-5pm, Sunday: 11-4.
I have started working with a new gallery, The Art Hub in Cambridge. I will have 2 pieces in the general exhibit for the next six months. I will have more in the August show 100 and Under. There will be a fantastic selection of affordable art, as the title implies they will all be $100 or less. (photos coming soon).
The Art Hub is located at 145 W. Main in Cambridge, WI. Their hours are Tuesday -Saturday 10AM-5PM. Closed Sunday and Monday.
Mixed Media Collage Oct. 19, 1-4Altered Book Art Journal Nov. 22, 6-9Introduction to Zentangle Dec 14, 1-3:30
This fall I will also be teaching at the Art Hub. The fall 2024 schedule will be available soon here.
October 19th from 1-4 I will be teaching a mixed media collage workshop. “Create your own floral collage. This class is an introduction to gelli printing and mixed media collage. It is for both beginning and intermediate artists. In this class we will use acrylic paint and a gelli plate to paint a variety of papers to use in a 5×7 floral still life collage.”
November 22 from 6-9 I will be teaching an altered book art journal workshop with a focus on gratitude. Food and beverages will be available for purchase. “Learn how to repurpose a hardcover book using gesso, acrylic paint, writing tools and stencils. We will explore using what you find in the book for inspiration. An art journal is a great place to experiment with art supplies and different techniques. We will do a simple art journal page layout using mostly just acrylic paints. We will explore layering transparent and opaque acrylic paint to create a harmonious composition. You will leave with an art journal that doesn’t have blank pages, ready for you to keep making art.”
December 14 from 1-3:30 I will teach an introduction to Zentangle® class. “In this workshop you will get the tools and skills needed to create beautiful, small works of art using the Zentangle® Method of drawing. This meditative art form uses quality art supplies and simple instructions to create patterns to explore non-representational art. You will be using a Zentangle® kit that includes a professional grade Micron pen, pencil, tortillion, and 5 Zentangle® tiles. You will have 2 small abstract pieces of art completed by the end of the class and the kit is yours to keep.”
Jeanette Clawson Art 