Zentangle: Sharing some Zen

{images of simple zentangles OR inspired art like this by annika sylte via the zentangle blog}

Zentangle, to me means the art of repetitive pattern and self exploration (my words). Everytime I sit to do one, I have a great experience with myself! Zentangle was developed by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas and is now making waves all over the world. For good reason, their presentation and personal connection with pen and paper, understanding the principals of meditation and relaxation, and their great knowledge of art, nature and architecture bring new patterns continuously. The simplicity is amazing. They teach you how to break down each one, so simply. Even the novice and the curious can sit for 15 minutes and emerge with a beautiful piece of art!

This post by Annika Sylte caught my eye on the Zentangle blog recently. She has taken her realistic art and intertwined the familiar patterns taught with Zentangle. You may see these patterns everywhere you go, once you start noticing them, it's kind of amazing ALL the details you start to see. Look at the facade of the buildings you pass, the details in old woodwork, the carved frames in your house, the honeycomb of a bee, the bark of a tree...the list goes on. Traveling is incredible once you start noticing all the old world motifs that you don't see in this "new" land we live in. Patterns and motifs have been around for centuries, Zentangle reminds us of our surroundings, and the beautiful things we are lucky enough to notice.

Creative Black/Tickets now online!

{tim burton fashion photographed by tim walker via harpers bazaar}

{tim burton fashion photographed by tim walker via harpers bazaar and chic dash}

{image via hauntstyle posted by model tara renee}

{image by adriana gerasimova via behance}

From your favorite little black dress to full on Tim Burton haute macabre, Cirque Du Noir is a night of magic for all! Last year's costumes were amazing. We had "Dia De La Muerte" winner, Todd Rawley, Tina Zlody as the "Golden Woodland Nymph", as the first and second place winners. Click here if you want to sneak a peek at the 2009 Cirque Fashion captured by Louie Despres. Todd walked away with two tickets for the men's semi finals at the US Open, sponsored by USTA New England via the wonderful Jeff Waters. Tina earned an Adventure pass donated by Vertical World Adventures. I wonder if she has gotten vertical yet?

Tickets are now available online via www.cirquedunoir.org or directly at eventbrite.com and there will be a kickin' prize for orders placed before the 17th of October, so stay tuned! If you can't make it out and you would still like to donate, you can go directly to the WCFB website. We already have one donation of a ticket for someone that can't attend. Thank you to that anonymous donor! This is what it's all about! Love it!

Artists, if you would like to contribute to the art auction, contact me as soon as possible. I would like to get everyones bio/donation image up on the website for exposure. The WOW factor of the donation is exceptional so I would love everyone to see the goods prior to the event! Previous artists are here. Check out their work. Shoot me or Andreea an email if you are interested.

Sponsors, if you are interested in supporting Cirque Du Noir, please drop a line. I would like to include all sponsors on a banner, the website and chat you up all over the place, so connect and we can make this year incredible! Previous sponsors are here. I would like to give huge thanks to all of you again for your contributions to local art, music and celebrations here in Worcester.

Cirque Du Noir Inspiration

{image via vogue italia and fotografiademoda}

{image via vogue italia and tom and lorenzo}

{image of prada via vogue italia and tom and lorenzo}

{image of mcqueen via vogue italia and tom and lorenzo}

Half the reason Cirque Du Noir came to be was my love for fashion, black clothing and celebrations. Until the event I will be posting images for inspiration here on Festival Creative. The event is special in the way that although it is all black attire and assuming everyone has something black, the space gets filled with either costumes or elegant people rocking their black. Another wonderful thing about the event is that it attracts a very diverse crowd to come and either people watch or indulge in the fascination of the live art fusion, the delicious food, or the ethereal music. Sounds of an elegant deep violin and world rhythms help to invigorate curious appetites. If you have not attended before, I have to say, it is a very different kind of event for Worcester.

Taking the talents of local artists and watching them create amazing works of art in front of you is intimate and really fascinating. Watching their faces, the nuance of how they sketch and watching them complete each piece is pretty incredible. All this while listening to really great music. The different groups that come together all for a night of celebrating together is what energized me and prompted me to really think outside the box and get this started. My house was too small to continue on there.

That really motivated me was the fact that at almost 40 years old, I had been waiting for things like this to happen in Worcester. I wanted to go out in the city and experience something artistic, edgy, captivating that transcended all the barriers. Worcester seems to have pockets of people, places and things. In my mind I wanted to intrigue people...to come out and give them something that would highlight what Worcester has to offer. Since my circle is full of creatives, I really wanted to celebrate the incredible artistic talents here in town. I also did not belong to any artists groups, I was not involved myself in any of the artistic communities here in town. My fault. Without knowing much about anything in event planning and execution, I set out to find out that there were many people willing to make it happen. Especially, Andreea Waters of Kai and Gipsy, a creative herself that could really see where I was going with Cirque Du Noir, and jumped in right away. She is my partner in crime on this. Together we spin crazy ideas into reality. I love when that happens.

That was 3 years ago. Today we look forward to working hard to bring another, bigger more magical event to Worcester. If you think it's not for you, think again. This may be just what you have been waiting for! Museum goers, art admirers, art buyers, voyeurs, lovers, foodies, music lovers, curious, adventurous, zombies, politicians, teachers, lovers of fun...if you want to take a night to experience art and music in a new way, treat yourself to this elegant evening of eye candy, yummy food, creative people, and a fabulous night out in town.

The bonus? All proceeds go to the Worcester County Food Bank, just in time to feed so many Worcester families for the holidays. Tickets will be up online soon. They will be $25 in advance and the same at the door.

Big thanks today to:

Checkerboard Ltd. (the company I design for) in advance for the wonderful invitations they are about to print.

Niche Hospitality and the staff at The Citizen/Speakeasy for their incredible and accomodating support.

Cathy Walsh from Sprout, who always brings the fun on!

I also want to thank in advance the artists and musicians who make the event really super cool. Worcester is overflowing with outrageous talent. Come see what they can do!

Anyone new artists would like to be a part of the art auction, please contact me pronto! If anyone would like to donate a piece of art, please include a little bio piece with your donation, so our curator can tell the buyers about you and your work.

You can reach me at mlhiggs2{at}yahoo.com.

Expose yourself...

Take a peek... {click}

Listen to Your Inner Queen

{image via ffffound}

Hipstmatic Images

{my littlest girl having a quick sink before bed. yay summertime!}

I love this app for the iphone. Fun 70's style images today. This one is taken with John S lens and Ina's 69 film and a standard flash. Get the app, have some fun!

Unveiled: another sneak peek

{ Unveiled images courtesy of Checkerboard}

Just released and currently available nationwide, Unveiled is an exciting line of new wedding invitations from Checkerboard. We are based in West Boylston, Massachusetts where all of our invitations are handcrafted, actually all of our manufacturing is done locally. Images above also feature a vintage map and hot air balloon envelope liners, called Mediterranean and Montisi. These envelope liners are imported from one of the finest paper mills in the world, Magnani on the Pescia River in Italy. Our paper merchant had just returned from a European trip and brought in these amazing papers.

If you would like more information about Unveiled, contact your local stationer or you can call Checkerboard customer service {1.800.735.2475 or e-mail at info@checkernet.com} to find a vendor in your community that carries Unveiled.

If you happened upon the previous post, I was designing this book as Laura Niemi Young was preparing for her show in Salem. This last invitation suite is called "Cirque", which is inspired by many things in my life. I was "uplifted" and surprised to walk into the Gulu-Gulu Cafe and see Laura's painting. You see, Laura is a former colleague and worked off site. She was not familiar with the work I was doing day to day...this just took me up, up and away!

Gladiator FitFlop Envy

{fitflop gladiator sandals that i must have and can't find}

I am so in love with these and can't find them anywhere. I must have been under a rock not to have been on top of this one. I desperately need them. sigh. Of course they are an old model, and are not currently sold ANYWHERE. her feet look so cute in them, don't they?

Scripted dark belief in love...

{via ffffound}

{mabuse via ffffound. i love ffffound}

{my new mantra, "believe" via ffffound}

{via sandra juto and ffffound}

{amour de pierrot via ffffound}

Inspired by black and white for obvious reasons, this weekend should be full of hallowed moments of festivities. I learned something today, about Samhain, the Celtic root of Halloween. It's the celebration of summer's end and the new year, a Celtic festival of the harvest and of the dead.

Today started out with a strange vibe, as sometimes I can feel things a little before they happen. I woke with memories of a far off dream and soon after imagery of spilled milk. When my little Soleil did spill her milk, I knew the day would be interesting and it was. It came full circle touching down many times throughout the day. My mother used to get freaked out when I was a kid, saying things before they happened. Oh the thin lines between days. Let's see if it continues throughout the weekend!

Happy Birthday to Vladutz!

Cirque Du Noir 09

{me, having a little fun}

{contest winners}

{Michael Adams and Chad Sirois}

{sarah brueck and j.stuart esty aka dr. gonzo}

{esthema of boston}

{watching the art fusion}

{ghost rider, scott boilard in this handmade paper mache skull mask}

{derek ring signing the guestbook}

{aaron white and todd rawley looking skully}

{andreea waters, co host - of kai and gipsy, mowhawk flora by sprout}

{incredibly wonderful candy du noir by sprout flowers}

{john "scissorhands" comeau}

{cute face amylynn chase of punkystyle and the haberdash}

{tina zlody and scott zoback}

{alia abaid and megan mcintosh of bocado}

{scott zoback}

ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF LOUIE DESPRES,
who donated his time and talent!

HOSPITALITY AND TAPAS DONATED BY BOCADO

a night of celebration and giving for the worcester county food bank, thank you to all!
{for more images click here}

A "Rare Bird" flies into Salem

{image of Iris Apfel via wicked local}

Iris Apfel is having an exhibit at the Peabody Essex museum in Salem. This morning driving into work I happened to catch a plug for it on the radio. Immediately my interest was peaked as Iris's personal style is so ecclectic and without any sense of convention.

Visit the Peabody Essex Museum for a taste of fashion, enjoy Salem during this wonderful month of All Hallow's Eve and maybe you will even spot Isaac Mizrahi himself as he stops by PEM on November 3rd for a sold out talk with Iris Apfel. The platform of the chat is personal style. Or catch Unzipped, a film featuring Isaac Mizrahi at work, showing at PEM on Saturday, December 5.

Happy Friday!

{kiss someone special}

{see with new eyes}

{images above via ffffound}

{image by Alex Styrrock also via ffffound}

so excited
about Cirque du Noir this weekend.
so excited to celebrate
with friends.

happy weekend.
xo,
m

artistic inspiration

{andrea del sarto/john the baptist via Worcester Art Museum}

Found in a church attic in Worcester Massachusetts, almost sold for 25 dollars at a yard sale, now hanging. So inspired by Slow Art yesterday, my mind is open and voraciously consuming imagery today. With brilliant foliage and a snowy downfall, today in Worcester is surreal. Visit the Worcester Art Museum soon. We have such brilliant art so close to home. If you are reading The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown, you may want to see the Albrecht Dürer's woodcut print hanging there. A little tid bit below:

{klimt via filmplus}

{redon via spamula}

{klimt medicine via artchive}

{tariq design via behance}