Where do I begin?!

It's been a while since I've been able to get a post up! I tried earlier this week, but the internet access at the New York Hilton has been very spotty, and I couldn't stay connected long enough to do anything.

I am currently enjoying a few days in NYC at the National Art Education Association Convention...along with thousands of other art teachers from across the country and beyond. It's the best professional development opportunity I can imagine; there are hours and hours of sessions to inform and inspire us, and we get to network and spend time with such a wide range of art educators, not to mention visit the museums here if we can fit them in. So far I have only fit in MOMA, but I hope to go to the Met or Guggenheim tomorrow after the last few sessions of the convention. Tomorrow night, I'll fly back home. I will be exhausted, but so happy to see my husband and kids!

So, why the pinwheel tangle? I post this tile in honor of a presentation I made on Friday about the potential of pinwheels as a subject or object in the art curriculum. I shared a number of projects that I've done with my elementary students, inspired by Pinwheels for Peace. If you are visiting Tanglefish Blog as an educator from the NAEA convention, welcome! I'd love it ever so much if you would leave me a comment to let me know you stopped by my blog!

I created this pinwheel tile to compare and contrast four squarish/cube-ish tangles: Beeline (lower right), Cubine (upper left), Flukes (lower left), and Dex (I think...I will have to check on the name of that one). It's a bit geometric than most of the tiles I do...in fact, I find it to be stiff. I'm not sure it's complete yet.I have another one to post when I get home; I do not have a photo of it on my laptop to be able to share it now. Oddly, the shading of this one reflected the flash and looks almost white or silver instead of shadow-y. Pencil graphite sometimes does that, especially on top of black.

But wait--there's more! One of the highlights of my trip was brought to me by Sakura, the manufacturer of those wonderful pens we use for tangling, the Microns, as well as a number of other great pens with distinct personalities. Thank you, Sakura, for bringing Maria Thomas and Rick Roberts to New York to demonstrate the Zentangle(R) concept for all the teachers here! It was such a joy to see them again! They taught at the Sakura Booth for hour after hour, 3 days straight, guiding who-knows-how-many teachers through their first Zentangle experience. There is definitely a buzz about Zentangle among my fellow art teachers now! I was so proud to tell people I met that I am a Certified Zentangle Teacher, and encourage them to check it out.

It's very late, and I must get some sleep. I will probably update this entry in a day or two...I still have lots more to write about!

Happy March!