Some of my finished scribble art. This is the second of two scribbles. Are these finished “art”? Maybe they are, but even if they are not I might use the resulting textures as collage elements or image transfers in other projects in the future. They should look pretty good as is with a nice mat and frame.
The work on this page was inspired by the project “Collaborative scribble drawing” in the Expressive Arts Activity Book that I use a lot for study and inspiration (Darley and Heath 60).
Scribble art is a great icebreaker. No artistic talent or skill is needed so it’s easy to get started. If done as art therapy it can also create a rapport between the facilitator and the client by making it into a collaborative activity (Darley and Heath 60). For example, in a two person exercise each person can make a scribble on a blank piece of paper, then the participants trade papers and finish off each others drawings. The initial scribble can even be made with eyes closed to take all the pressure off of having to show artistic skill. Abstract results can also be a way to encourage conversation about something the scribble might remind the participants about (Darley and Heath 60). Following are several examples of scribble art that I made with my husband Tom and my Dad Don.
If you want to try something like these samples, here is a list for tools and materials.
Tools and Materials
Bristol board or drawing paper
Pencil
Eraser
Stencils
Black markers in various widths
Colored pencils
Found papers for collage – I used the insides of business envelopes
Tracing paper
Tape
Glue stick
Scribble art by me and Tom. I did moths on the left with Tom’s scribble and he used my scribble to add in various textures from stencils on the right.
Tom and I each made a scribble with our eyes closed with black marker on Bristol board. Next we traded papers and used commercial stencils by The Crafter’s Workshop to further develop the designs. Then we finished off our designs by coloring in parts of the image with colored pencils and markers.
Tom’s scribble was a challenge to work with because it was very dense. It did remind me of something – I turned it into moths trapped and tangled to represent trying to overcome some kind of frustration or challenge. This kind of work is not only good for the brain but just from a visual point of view it’s a good way to discover effects you might want to use in other art later on.
Scribble art by my Dad. Texture practice on the left, filling in the scribble on the right.
These examples were made by my Dad. First I gave him an introduction to Zentangle and doodle art which I wrote about in a previous blog post. He practiced making some repeating textures. Then we each made scribbles on two sheets of drawing paper. We kept our favorite of the two sheets then traded the other. Then we filled the sheets in with textures from our samplers. For extra fun we glued cutouts from the insides of business envelopes into some of the areas in the scribbles. I thought they looked cool with the hand-drawn textures. The tape and tracing paper from the materials list were used along with the pencil to get my collaged paper pieces to fit in their spots on the scribble drawing.
This is my first scribble art sheet in progress. I think it’s against the “rules” of Zentangle to pre-draw pencil lines as a guide before rendering the designs in marker. But I did it anyway!My finished scribble art after erasing the pencil lines. Bristol board and robust good quality drawing paper will stand up to a lot of erasing if you need it.I made a scribble version of Faux Postage using a printable template I shared awhile back. Dad had started this sheet awhile ago by making marks with stencils and markers in the upper left. He’d left the sheet unfinished for a year or two so I asked him if I could finish it. I was inspired by blue and black patterned envelope insides to make a monochromatic design on the sheet. When I finished marker drawing, coloring and collaging, I glued on some little pieces of paper printed with rubber stamps to evoke postage stamps. I’m going to get printouts made of this sheet and send it out to other artists when I next do some Mail Art.
I’m grateful to Dad and and Tom for doing art with me from time to time. I sure do feel a lot less lonely when I get to do a project with somebody. It helps us all with our general well-being and is also a great way to spend time together. When you’re working on art that is mostly mindless, once you get started, it’s easy to talk about various things. It’s also a good activity to do alone when you’re stressed and need to get in a better state of mind. The finished product really isn’t the point if you’re doing it for therapeutic reasons, but I also get skills and inspiration for future art work while I practice.
Works Cited andRecommended Reading
Darley, Suzanne and Wende Heath. “The Expressive Arts Activity Book: A Resource for Professionals”. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2008.
On Martin Luther King Jr. day Tom and I attended a meeting for the Victory Garden at St. Catherine Laboure church where we volunteer. The garden serves multiple purposes. One of the primary missions is to raise produce for food pantries. We are going to be growing vegetables and herbs. One topic that came up in the meeting that has been making me think strategically is that different clientele at different food pantries have preferences for certain foods. If the clientele does not know how to prepare the vegetable or herb and is not familiar with it, they might leave it behind. The people at the Victory Garden have been learning what foods are in demand at what food pantry locations and have been adjusting the distribution and growing patterns to suit the local clientele.
In addition to adjusting supply, it was suggested to also adjust demand by distributing recipes. There are lots of reasons why everyone isn’t familiar with every vegetable or knows how to cook it. Some people are from parts of the world where the cuisine is different. Others might have a lack of grocery stores in their area so have less access to a variety of fresh foods. I also have known several people with plenty of access to food who have never learned to cook because they rely mostly on pizza and fast food. I have seen terrible health issues in some of my friends at relatively early ages due to this kind of deficient diet. It doesn’t have to be this way!
I have been blessed to have been taught to cook by my Mom who was not only a home gardener and a multiple culinary contest winner, but also had a very adventurous palette. She passed on knowledge of cooking and diverse food preferences to me and my late brother. When we were younger my brother and I used to get a silver dollar or a silver half-dollar from a great uncle if we finished all the food on our plates when we had dinner at his house. I guess we kind of neglected to admit that we almost always ate all our food, including the vegetables! We liked almost everything and had pretty hearty appetites. That was decent money when our weekly allowances were about that amount or not much more than that!
I am not a professional chef or food writer but I do like to publish recipes from time to time. I know so many people who are intimidated by food preparation. If I publish a simple recipe that I just made I hope that will inspire someone out there to try it. Since I cook a lot with herbs that I grow I also hope I can suggest ways of using them. A lot of people who don’t cook frequently are very intimidated by dried prepared herbs and spices, much less fresh ones. If you’ve been exposed to a wide range of herbs, spices and flavors your whole life you just know what goes together without having to follow a recipe. I don’t know how you teach this without long-term exposure but at least with a recipe I can show examples of combinations that work.
I am in terrible shape from recent inactivity so I’ll be using recipes from Weight Watchers and healthy recipe books a lot for inspiration as I try to increase my fitness. I inherited a lot of these books from my late uncle, brother, and grandmother. I often start from there and make modifications. If the results are good, I like to tell people about it!
Before I get to a simple new salad recipe, I’ll post links to my Fun With Food page (old but recipes still good!) and recipes of mine that are on blogs.
For inspiration I used a recipe called “Dilled Beet and White Bean Salad” (Gagliardi 70) from a Weight Watchers cook book, but I made a lot of changes and substitutions. For one thing, we had no dill! It still turned out great. It really woke up my taste buds.
Ingredients
3 TBSP apple cider vinegar 2 tsp brown mustard 2 tsp olive oil 1/2 tsp garlic salt 2 (15 1/2-ounce) cans white beans, rinsed and drained 1/2 bag of mini sweet peppers, chopped 1/2 onion, chopped 3 Roma tomatoes, chopped 1 tsp dried Parsley 1 tsp dried Basil 1 tsp dried celery pieces 1 jar sliced beets 1 can sardines 1 bag fresh mixed salad greens, such as spring mix, spinach/arugula mix, or something similar Nutritional yeast
Directions
Get out a large mixing bowl. Open the can of sardines and empty the juice into the bowl. Set drained sardines aside.
Add to the bowl the vinegar, mustard, olive oil, garlic salt, Parsley, Basil and celery pieces. Mix well with a whisk.
Add the drained beans, chopped peppers, onion and tomatoes. Toss well.
Place greens on plates and spoon about 1/4 of the vegetables over the greens per serving. Sprinkle with nutritional yeast. Arrange about 5 beet slices and 4 sardines on top of each salad. Enjoy!
When I was in grade school in the 1970s, I developed an unquenchable doodling habit early on. I covered almost everything in sight with doodles, including my brown paper textbook covers, folders, notebooks and tops of desks – I used pencil on the Formica tops so it would wash off. I thought my habit was harmless and decidedly my own business because I only doodled on my own property or with media that was washable, and I refrained from doodling on homework. I remember that my third grade teacher didn’t agree with that point of view at first and would try to curb my habit by confiscating my implements whenever she saw me doodling away. I don’t think that lasted long. My Mom complained to her about it and gave me extra pens and pencils so I’d always have another one anyway. I was mostly an obedient child but this is one area where I flat out refused to conform. Before too long I was left alone as long as I washed my desk top periodically. That seemed fair to me and all was peaceful from then on.
A popular item I remember from the 1970s was a DoodleArt kit. These were basically sophisticated coloring posters for older kids, teenagers, and adults. The black and white design was Doodled for you and the consumer was meant to color them in with colored markers. As I recall these were sought after items by myself and my peers in the 70s. While shopping at the toy store and the craft store I would drool over them. If I got one for Christmas or a birthday it was a thrill. Here is a link to a vintage DoodleArt kit for sale on Etsy, and I also found an apparently attempted DoodleArt revival on Facebook.
In the present day, many adults once more enjoy adult coloring, similar to actual DoodleArt. Many people like related activities such as art journaling and bullet journaling. Popular Zentangle is a form of meditative pen and ink art where the artist fills in sections of a design with repeating patterns, usually in black pen or marker. Some people add color to their Zentangle designs. Zentangle results do remind me of DoodleArt in a way, though Zentangle practitioners freehand draw their own designs instead of purchasing pre-made coloring pages.
A lot of my art journal pages are somewhat similar to Zentangle, in that I often like to fill in sections with repeating patterns, sometimes hand-drawn, sometimes traced from a stencil. Whenever I put some of my new art journal pages on Pinterest, in the area where you are shown similar pins to your own, a lot of Zentangle art comes up in my feed. I decided just for fun to try Zentangle for real just to learn a variation on what I already like to do. It really scratches that doodling itch that I still have!
My sampler #1
There are lots of samples online of fill-in textures that you can draw in your Zentangle designs. I’ve linked to a few on a Pinterest board so you can see samples and get inspiration. After viewing some samples I decided to make a few of my own samplers featuring my own textures inspired by art journal pages I’ve already done. Here are some easy instructions for making your own sampler.
Tools and Materials Drawing paper Ruler Pencil Eraser Selection of fine tip black pens and markers of different diameters Optional – circle template
Use a ruler and pencil to divide drawing paper into evenly sized squares or rectangles.Outline areas in one thin line and one slightly thicker line. Fill in each section with a hand-drawn texture of your invention. Erase the pencil lines as you fill in the paper.As a variation, on a second piece of drawing paper I slanted the lines to make more irregularly shaped sections to fill in.Yet another variation made by tracing four different sized openings from a circle template.
Some samplers I’ve seen online are works of art in their own right. The ones you see here are not that refined – they are more for practice and developing a vocabulary of textures that reflect my own taste in design. When I’m ready I’ll have lots of choices I can use to make my own version of Zentangle art.
Coloring Idea #2: Rainbow Effect With Gel Pens and Colored Pencils
Experimenting with different ways to use stenciling as a base for coloring. Commercial stencils that I used to make the letter patterns are by The Crafter’s Workshop.
Sometimes when I do “adult coloring” I have a specific idea that I am trying to explore. At other times, I just want to color without thinking too much – it’s so soothing. Rainbow color gradations are a sure fire way to lift my mood. Here is how to get a fun effect with stencils, gel pens, and colored pencils.
Step 1: Tape a stencil over the design area and outline with a thin, sharp pencil. For this kind of utilitarian marking I really like a mechanical pencil. It’s easy to erase and I don’t have to keep stopping to sharpen it.
Step 2: With the pencil and ruler, draw parallel lines at intervals across the page.
Step 3: Note how the pencil lines you drew divide the design into striped areas. Outline your pencil lines in one gel pen color per stripe in rainbow order. For example, I outlined the first in blue, then blue green, then green, then yellow, continuing through to pink.
Step 4: To make sure the gel pen is dry, lay a clean sheet of scrap paper over your design then burnish with a squeegee or bone folder. Lift the paper and check to see if any of the ink is coming off onto the scrap paper. Repeat if necessary until no ink is transferring.
Step 5: Erase your pencil lines. You probably won’t be able to get all the pencil lines out from under the gel pen ink lines, but the rainbow effect will still come through well enough. If the pencil lines bother you, you could go back in and touch up your work later with opaque gel pen colors, paint markers, permanent markers or the like.
Step 6: Color in gradations in pencil between and around your gel pen lines, maintaining the overall color progression in hues. There is a lot of room for creativity in how to color in this step. I choose to make the pencil colored in areas lighter tints of the hues in the gel pens and keep analagous colors roughly together. Keep experimenting and coloring until you are satisfied with the effect.
The example at the above right is not finished yet. Here are a couple more examples I’m working on of the same idea so you can see the work a little closer.
In progress: art journal page on the left, beard pieces on the right.
This is a time-consuming way to color, but sometimes that is just what I want. It requires just enough concentration to distract me from problems I want to forget for awhile, but it’s not so hard to do that I need a lot of energy. Sometimes when you’re in a crisis great ambition isn’t really there. I may or may not leave some of the background white. We’ll see!
Stenciling and coloring on an art journal page. I used a hand-cut stencil of my own design plus a commercial stencil by Tim Holtz.
Bringing the coloring to Dad in the hospital
I worked on the samples you see in this article and for PART 1 both on the go and at home in order to have samples to show to my Dad. Dad likes to do the #12daysoftomsbeard project and he requested that I bring him some shapes for it to color on at the hospital. I wanted to give him a choice of coloring techniques, so I had samples of each technique ready. I had supplies on hand to cover either choice, but to streamline my supplies I only brought colored pencils as both techniques can be done with colored pencils even though I used colored markers for the first one. Dad chose the stained glass effect from PART 1 – stenciling over patches of background color.
When I brought this project to Dad, he was only a few days past some serious seizures that affected both halves of his body, but especially the left. Dad is left-handed and I was very worried because Dad’s left hand had been in a claw-like position for about a week or more. After the seizures his hand relaxed. I wasn’t sure how much function Dad would have in the hand yet, so I prepared a couple of sheets of shapes in advance for us to color, one for me to demonstrate on and one for him. I taped the shapes to scrap chipboard pieces so they wouldn’t slide around while being colored. I also brought some shapes that still needed to be cut out so that Dad could cut some if he was able.
I brought some pre-cut tags with me taped to a scrap card stock backing and also gave Dad the option to cut some out himself.
I showed Dad an overview of what we were going to do, then I offered him a chance to try cutting some shapes. He did a great job on them – with a right-handed scissors no less! I was overjoyed and a bit teary-eyed to see him doing so well. I told him this is what I want for Christmas – to see you able to do this! It seemed like a miracle compared to how he was just a few days before. For awhile I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to ever talk with him again, much less do art together!
We used some beard shapes and holiday inspired cutouts as backgrounds for colored pencils.
I suggested some color schemes for Dad – primary colors, secondary colors, and analagous colors. It wasn’t critical that the pieces be of any particular color scheme, but when I teach a project, if I can I like to include some useful art information. I’m not a trained art therapist but I am a trained artist so I can legitimately call these activities “educational” even if I can’t officially call them “art therapy” (Darley and Heath).
I got some colored pencils out for him to cover each scheme, and let him pick from among them. Instead of covering the whole background like I did on mine, he mostly drew small shapes all over the background without covering it all the way. And instead of coloring in the negative spaces between stencil markings, he put numbers on his tags, numbers 1-11 to go along with the #12daysoftomsbeard. He was short one tag, so I’ll make a #12 later when we get to that.
In this kind of project, expressive arts for therapeutic purposes, the process is far more important than the finished results (Darley and Heath). There is no reason to try to change what Dad wanted to do if it varied from my samples. Dad has always been creative – I was so glad to see that ability is still there!
Stenciling over colored tags.Commercial stencils used to apply these patterns are by The Crafter’s Workshop.
Here I am drawing stencil lines over the colored in shapes before filling in the negative spaces with black permanent marker. The main difference between coloring over marker vs. colored pencil is that the colored pencil creates a slightly waxy surface which might resist the marker at first. To help with this, I outlined the black areas in gel pen before filling in with a black Sharpie marker. The gel pen sticks better to the colored pencil and once the outlining is done then it’s not hard to fill in with the Sharpie.
Embellishing colored pieces with punched paper shapes and sequins.
I have started embellishing some of the pieces that we colored with punched paper pieces, glued-on sequins and little dots of squeeze paint to go along with the stenciling.
Caption
When #12daysoftomsbeard starts on December 25, we’ll have a good selection of items to display on the beard. Hopefully people will send us more parts as a challenge to incorporate each day. The first year we did this activity, in 2019, I started out by clipping little pieces of paper to Tom’s beard with tiny clothespins. To keep things interesting, we’ve been gradually elaborating by making little garlands, involving Tom’s glasses, adding found objects and props, incorporating parts of the background, using far-out creative filters and more.
What will happen?
Some of my favorite #12daysoftomsbeard pictures from 2019-2022
Above is a commemorative artistamp sheet I made to show off some of my favorite beard pictures from the first three years we did this project.
Works Cited andRecommended Reading
Darley, Suzanne and Wende Heath. “The Expressive Arts Activity Book: A Resource for Professionals”. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2008.
The 2022-23 Holiday season for many people is probably going to be the closest they’ve had for awhile to normal patterns of celebrating. My Dad and I have made some attempts to join in this year, but to be realistic most of our energy has been absorbed by the effort to get and stay healthy. My Dad has been having some medical issues since mid-October and I’ve been staying with him frequently at his house and visiting him him a lot in the hospital. Except for the past week – I just took a week off because I seem to have been hit by a flu-like illness (not COVID, I took the test!). I’m on the mend now. Dad has been taken care of during this time at a rehab hospital and will be coming home later this week if all goes as planned.
When he’s discharged, I’ll be providing some care he’ll need for about three weeks. I’m not sure how much either of us is going to be able to attend holiday activities in person. We will probably have to sit a lot of it out. But we will try to keep in touch online!
The annual project #12daysoftomsbeard is one that my husband Tom and I have been doing every year at Christmas time. It’s a way of combining crafts, installation art, photography, mail art, digital art and conceptual art into a holiday celebration for us and our friends and family and anyone else who wants to join in. From December 25 through January 6th he poses for me with different items in his beard and I apply wacky filter effects then upload the results to Instagram. We invite people to send in pieces to use in the beard. My Dad in particular really enjoys this activity and he wanted to work on some beard parts while he was in the hospital. I’ll show you how we combined stenciling and coloring to make a bunch of pieces to use in Tom’s beard during the 2022-23 Christmas season. I’m going to try to make an extra big deal out of it this year for my Dad and myself because we are going to miss out on most other holiday activities this year.
If you want more background information on #12daysoftomsbeard before reading on, here are a couple of my earlier blog articles about it.
Tools and Supplies Beard printouts – scroll to bottom of the page for links to 6 graphic files to download and print Cardstock and chipboard Pencil and eraser Ruler Black permanent markers Black gel pens Colored pencils Colored markers Painter’s tape Stencils and/or cookie cutters Scissors Hole punch Scrap paper for covering work surface Glue stick Squeegee tool or bone folder
Optional for Embellishments Sequins Glue Squeeze paint
Coloring Idea #1 – Stenciling Over Colored Markers
Stenciling over colored markers
Instructions
Scribbling some colored backgrounds is an easy way to make vibrant backgrounds for stencil art. By filling in the negative spaces with black marker, you can create an attractive faux stained glass effect.
Step 1 – Color in the background with markers in random patches to make something similar to camouflage patterns
Step 2 – Tape a stencil over part of the work area and outline in black gel pen, black fine tip marker or black fine tip pen.
Step 3 – Repeat with different stencils until the whole design area is filled with outlines.
Step 4 – Color the negative spaces in with black marker.
Step 5 – With a glue stick, paste paper pieces to chipboard or cardstock and cut out.
Step 6 – If needed, touch up the edges with black marker to make a neat edge.
Stay tuned for PART 2: Rainbow Effect With Gel Pens and Colored Pencils.
This is going to be another one of those blog posts of mine that will be updated periodically as I work on and document a project. I have to move and rehome some aquariums that I’ve had set up in my condo for many years. I am donating some of my aquariums to schools and/or nonprofit organizations to make room for me to rehab my condo because it has mold damage from the upstairs neighbor having a serious water leak this past August.
The main way I’ve been using my aquariums over the last few years is to over winter plants and animals from my pond and the small water garden I kept before I had a pond. I need a place for the animals and plants from my aquariums to stay while I’m working on moving them. I’m currently staying with my Dad at his house because last week he had surgery and he needs some extra help for awhile. While I’m here, I’m reviving the aquarium I set up many years ago for my late brother. It’s been empty and dry for awhile, but I’m going to bring it back to life to make space for the plants and animals while I do my moving and setup tasks.
It takes time to set up a new aquarium and make it safe and healthy for aquarium life. If this is something you want to try, follow me as I set up a new aquarium, or two, or three so you can see how it’s done. Allow yourself about 30 days from the time you fill up the tank with water to the day you add the fish. You are almost guaranteed success if you follow my steps – they are based on decades of experience.
While I’m working on documenting my process from beginning to end, you might also enjoy an older article I wrote that includes information that can be applied to all fresh water aquarium keeping. READ: Create an Indoor Water Garden
Also here is an article I wrote about water quality in ponds. Even though the scale is different, concepts about nutrients in the water and types of filtration are basically the same. Reading it should give you a good overview about the topic of water quality. READ: Help – My Pond is Full of Algae!
How to start up a freshwater aquarium
Tools and materials needed: Aquarium Aquarium stand Aquarium gravel Aquarium filter Aquarium lid Filter Filter medium 2 large aquarium safe buckets Thermometer Lava Rock
Options: Aquarium heater Aquarium safe silicone sealer Air pump Air tubing Bubble wall Activated charcoal Ammonia test kit PH test kit
1. Test the aquarium, used or new, for leaks. Place it outside or on a basement floor that can get wet near a drain. Make sure it’s on a hard, level surface. The water will be very heavy when the tank is full so the surface must be level in order not to damage the tank. You can temporarily place it on it’s stand if you’re using one.
Check the aquarium in a day or so to make sure all seams are dry. If it’s free of leaks, empty the water out and proceed to Step 2. DO NOT move the tank with any water in it. If there are leaks, get some aquarium safe silicone sealer to patch the leaks after thoroughly drying the area you are patching. Follow the directions on the silicone sealer packaging about curing times and such.
2. Place the aquarium on the stand in the spot you have chosen. If all goes well, this aquarium will sit in this spot for many months or years so take some care in where you place it. Near an electrical outlet is convenient for running your equipment such as lights and filters. Near a window is usually not recommended because the excess light might cause algae growth. However if you are growing plants with a high light requirement, you might prefer to put it by a window. If you do get algae, it’s annoying but not the end of the world, I’ll tell you how to fight it later.
It’s best to use a designated aquarium stand unless you are placing it on a sturdy piece of furniture that you are certain will hold the weight. In my example I’m using our old buffet which has held 30 gallon aquariums in the past for many years, so I know it will take the weight safely.
The gravel was still in this tank from the last time it was in use – several years ago at least. I’m not worried about whether or not the gravel is clean – any organic matter and dormant beneficial bacteria left in this gravel will actually help the aquarium get started again so at this time there is no benefit to rinsing it. I’ll explain why later in this article. If this was brand new gravel, I’d rinse it once in tap water just to make sure it’s not dusty and likely to cloud the water. Prepared gravel is rarely a problem but I always rinse once just in case.
3. Add aquarium gravel. The safest gravel to use is pre-packaged and intended specifically for aquariums. Rinse the gravel before adding to get any dust particles out.
Add only enough gravel to barely cover the bottom – deeper gravel will be harder to keep clean.
4. Fill the aquarium with tap water.
Once the aquarium is filled with water, we have to take some steps to make it ready for aquatic life.
Remove Chlorine and Chloramines
Add Filtration
Exterior Filters
Interior Filters
Bubbles
It’s important for the water to be agitated a little bit so that gases can exchange at the surface, except for the few special cases where certain plants and animals prefer very still water. Oxygen needs to get into the water, and toxic gases need to get out. If your filter agitates the water enough, you don’t really need to add an additional device for making bubbles. On the other hand, I think bubbles are so beautiful that I’m happy to go through the extra trouble and expense to add them.
If you have chosen a type of filter that uses an air pump, if the pump is strong enough you might be able to add a valve and bleed off some of the air to divert to a bubbler device. You can also just get another small air pump to run the bubbler.
What are some examples of a bubbler, also called an aerator or airstone? There are wands, molded stones, and porous tubing in various sizes and shapes you can choose from. This picture shows a couple of different kinds that I’m using right now. To prevent crumbling, soak air stones in water for 24 hours before running air through them.
Regulate Temperature
Do you need to worry about PH?
It’s far easier to just choose plants and animals that like your water conditions than to try to use chemicals to manipulate the PH. If you get plants and animals from clubs or other hobbyists in the area using the same tap water and they don’t manipulate their PH, then you don’t have to worry about it. I haven’t tested my water for years – because I keep just a few species that I know can live in our water, it isn’t necessary.
Whatever plants and animals you end up adding to your aquarium, find out if they have any special temperature or PH needs before you get them. Then you can be sure to group plants and animals together that like the same conditions. Then if there is a need to alter your PH you’ll be prepared. There are test kits and chemicals available at pet supply stores to help you monitor and change the PH if necessary.
TO BE CONTINUED…
I made two kinds of little stoneware planters for aquarium plants in Continuing Ed ceramics classes. On the left are examples I made without bottoms specifically for anchoring aquatic plants. To use them I pull some plants through the base and wrap with aquarium plant anchors. In this photo, I didn’t have any on hand so I wrapped the base of the plants with cord to keep them together. In the right photo are mini planters that I can fill with aquarium gravel to help anchor the plants.The plant on the left is Coontail, Ceratophyllum demersum. The plant on the right is Brazilian Waterweed, Egeria densa.
AquariumPlant Species Profiles
SubmergedAquarium Plants
Anubias – Araceae I have a few of these that I got from an aquarium store in the 2010s. They have very low light requirements and grow slowly.
Coontail – Ceratophyllum demersum This grows well for me in both my pond and in aquariums with good lighting. I left some in my pond over last winter and it survived with a small heater keeping a hole in the ice and keeping the water from freezing over completely.
Egeria, Elodea and Hydrilla look very similar. They live mostly submerged but flower just above the water surface.
Brazilian Waterweed – Egeria densa This grows well for me in both my pond and in aquariums with good lighting. I left some in my pond over last winter and it survived with a small heater keeping a hole in the ice and keeping the water from freezing over completely. I found my original specimens in Missouri in the Current River.
Canadian Pondweed – Elodea canadensis Native to North America but has been introduced to other continents (Perry 85). A perennial commonly sold in pet stores for aquariums, also known as Anachris. Needs a lot of sun. (Atkinson and Mathison 53).
Hydrilla verticillata – looks very similar to and is related to Elodea (Perry 88). I don’t think it’s as pretty as Elodea and Egeria, because the leaves are more sparse making it look more leggy.
Java Fern
Java Moss
FloatingAquarium Plants
Duckweed – Lemna I grow two sizes in my ponds and aquariums, Lemna minor and Lemna major. They are very beautiful grown separately, together, or with other floating water plants such as Azolla. The different sizes, colors and textures can be stunning when allowed to grow naturally in a patchwork fashion. If grown you must take care not to let it blanket the water surface completely or it might interfere with the gas exchange at the surface and cause a damaging lack of oxygen in the water. If you need to remove excess duckweed, that is a bit of extra maintenance you have to do, but there is a bonus – the tiny plants make excellent feed for vegetable-eating animals, or it could be a very nutritious addition to your compost or worm bin.
LEFT: Azolla with Water Hyacinth at the top of the photo. CENTER: Graveyard moss growing in my pond waterfall at the left, a mosaic of Azolla and Duckweed in the water. RIGHT: Mosaic of Duckweed (Lemna major and Lemna Minor) with a little Creeping Jenny emerging. In my experience Duckweed prefers lower light conditions than some other floating plants such as Azolla and Water Hyacinth. In my water gardens and aquariums I put a little of each everywhere I can to see what thrives in which spots. If you have extra it’s worth experimenting even if you think you know what it will do – sometimes the plants surprise you.
Water Fern – Azolla
Water Hyacinth – Eichhornia crassipes
LEFT: Watercress in planters in the “stream” area of my pond when I was first building it. The terra cotta pot is a temporary planter doubling as a temporary filter. Water flowing through lava rock is one of the best filters you can have for an aquarium or a pond. CENTER: Creeping Jenny and Watercress while it’s flowering. A beautiful combination! RIGHT: The Creeping Jenny growing in among rocks and in the temporary filter. Adds beauty and biological filtration.
EmergingAquarium Plants
Arrowhead – Sagittaria
Creeping Jenny – Lysimachia nummularia I have the gold leaved variety ‘Aurea’ which is a gorgeous lime green color. This is a truly amazing plant. It will grow in regular garden soil as long as it gets enough moisture. I first bought it because I saw it being used a lot as ground cover when I went on a house tour. I fell in love and got some. It makes an excellent aquarium plant too if you can give it enough light and grow it in an emerging situation such as on a waterfall or in a refugium or bog setup. It does fabulously well in the shallow, rocky, “stream” portion of my outdoor water garden too. It looks beautiful trailing out of containers.
Graveyard Moss
Lucky Bamboo
Papyrus – Cyperus papyrus I bought two Papyrus plants at the beginning of this past summer to put in the “river” portion of my pond. The grower calls one “Prince Tut” and the larger one “King Tut”.
Parrot Feather – Myriophyllum
Pondweed – Potamogeton
Watercress
Aquarium Animals
Works Cited and Further Reading on Indoor Freshwater Aquariumsand Other Indoor Growing Situations
Bailey, Tom and Nevin. “Pet Fish Talk.” Pet Fish Talk, 2002-2022, web.archive.org/web/20220522003017/https://petfishtalk.com/. Accessed 28 October 2022.
Boruchowitz, David E. The Simple Guide to Freshwater Aquariums. T.F.H. Publications, Inc., 2001.
Brackney, Susan M. The Insatiable Gardener’s Guide: How to Grow Anything & Everything Indoors, Year ‘Round. Five Hearts Press. 2003.
“Field Guide.” Missouri Department of Conservation, 2022, mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide. Accessed 27 October 2022.
Julian, T.W. The Dell Encyclopedia of Tropical Fish. Dell Publishing Co., Inc. 1974.
“Plant Directory.” University of Florida / IFAS / Center for Aquatic & Invasive Plants, 2022, plants.ifas.ufl.edu/plant-directory/. Accessed 27 October 2022.
Sakurai, Atsushi, Yohei Sakamoto and Fumitoshi Mori. Aquarium Fish Of The World: The Comprehensive Guide to 650 Species. Chronicle Books. 1993.
Van Patten, George. Gardening Indoors: the Indoor Gardener’s Bible. Van Patten Publishing. 2002.
Windelov, Holder and Jiri Stodola. Aquarium Plants: A Complete Introduction. T.F.H. Publications, Inc. 1987.
Works Cited and Further Reading on Outdoor Water Features and Water Gardening
“Aquatic Plants.” Chalily, 2022, www.chalily.com/product-category/aquatic-plants/. Accessed 28 October 2022.
Art, Henry W. A Garden of Wildflowers: 10 Native Species and How to Grow Them. Storey Communications, Inc., 1986.
Atkinson, Susan and Suzanne Normand Mathison, Editors. Garden Pools Fountains & Waterfalls. Sunset Publishing Corp. 1989, 1974, 1965.
As far back as I can remember, I’ve been creatively inspired to make things out of scraps. When I work on hand-stitched fabric projects, I often have several going at one time which means I switch thread colors often. Although there are many needles in my sewing tool stash, I have two or three that are my consistent favorites. Re-threading needles is easy for me since I do it constantly, but it’s a task that still takes time and care and I don’t enjoy doing it more often than necessary. Once I have a needle threaded, I want to use the color all up until the thread is too short to be of any use, even to me!
If I don’t have a project in progress at hand that can use odds and ends of threads, I will often sew semi-random scraps of fabric to scrap pieces of backing fabric to run off the extra thread so that I can quickly switch back to sewing with one of my favorite needles. Over time, I periodically accumulate enough of this new “textile” to make something else with it. Since these types of scrap textiles have a lot of raw edges in them, I won’t use them in something that gets a lot of wear or has to be washed because they would not survive for long. Even with that restriction, I have found good uses for the scrap textiles. Here are some examples!
What will my rainbow piece turn into? I’m not sure, but I have some crazy images in my head involving that piece and some pale yellow, lime green, and electric blue tulle. What will happen?
“Today I am Dazzle Yellow and I have a lot to say!”
I appear to be in-between crises today so I’ll take a moment to write a little about art!
This past Saturday, October 1, 2022, was the opening reception for the Art Saint Louis show, “Declaration”. Above is my contribution to the show. It’s made of found papers, paint sample cards and image transfers from found papers made with packing tape. My artist statement reads as follows:
“When I started, I was inspired by some found images of rug designs from a catalog combined with some of my own mini postage stamp inspired collages juxtaposed with paint sample cards in tints of yellow. I work part time in a hardware store where exciting possibilities are everywhere. Bright paint sample cards, caution signs and caution tape and anything in the store that is colorful are parts of life I greatly enjoy. One of the colors on the sample cards was named Dazzle Yellow. I made some image transfers on packing tape out of sign images from a catalog and pieces of found papers that incorporate yellow, basically making my own version of caution tape. The purpose of such a bright yellow is to get attention. Once you have it, how do you use it? Yellow could mean stop and be careful, stop and enjoy, or “Look at me, I’m full of possibilities today!”
This was not an easy art show to look at, because as you might expect, a show with the theme “Declaration” is heavy on political themes. I had my share of political ideas for art pieces I considered making for this show but I decided to go in a different direction – I desperately need a break from politics and I figured art show patrons might like a little break as well! Whatever the subject matter, it’s always an honor to exhibit among a group of artists as talented as these.
I’m on the left posing with my collage and Dad is on the right next to a panel outside on the sidewalk that we were all allowed to add to with chalk markers. I’m very grateful to my Dad for coming with me – my husband Tom was busy at a homecoming event at his high school at the time of the opening and I certainly don’t begrudge him that! My Dad has been coming to my art events for decades and I’m eternally grateful for his support!
I custom made the frame for this piece at the last minute – I hadn’t done any woodworking since making a memorial box for the funeral of my uncle last year. Due to tragic events of last year I had been in such a brain fog that I didn’t trust myself with saws, mat knives and things until I was kind of forced into making this frame. That’s part of my motivation for entering these shows – it’s therapy for me both because of the opportunity for expression and because the deadlines force me to get things finished.
I have made so many picture frames in a similar style that even though it had been awhile, I had little trouble and was vastly relieved when it turned out ok! I had been intending to buy a frame because I thought I didn’t have enough time to work up to making one, but in the checkout line after looking in three stores for one the right size and shape I discovered that I had forgotten to pay my credit card bill and the charge would not go through. I immediately made a payment over the phone but it took a couple of days to re-activate so I was forced to hurry up and make the frame. I’m now glad that happened because now I have a lot more confidence and the next frame or wood project will be much easier.
Here are some helpful links with more information about the “Declaration” show:
August 29, 2022:Another entry from the #whydidntyouwarnme desk
This summer we had historic levels of rainfall in the St. Louis metro area which have resulted in a lot of heartbreaking damage and costly repairs for many people. My husband owns a house and I own one house and one condo. We were fortunate to escape the ravages of water damage on our three properties until last week – and it wasn’t from any natural disaster.
I own a condo at 1544 High School Drive in Brentwood Forest Condominiums, of Brentwood, Missouri. It’s a long story how I came to own this, which I’ll get into later. I lived there as my full time residence from November of 2004 until August of 2018 when I got married to Tom Winkelmann.
Since our marriage, we have used the condo to store some of our extra stuff while I have used it on occasion as a crash pad and a studio for art and writing when I need some quiet time away to get some creative work done. Until recently Tom had a cat who liked to pee on everything so I avoided moving things over there like my favorite furniture, pillows, and blankets until he was gone. The cat Leo was ancient when we got married and he passed away this summer. Eventually I plan to rehab the condo and get it ready to rent out. Over the last four years I’ve encountered a number of obstacles which have made it hard to get this done (if anyone wants to know more about these obstacles I’ll get into that but it’s not critical to know for this first section). This is going to turn out to be one of those blog posts I’m going to keep adding onto as I go through an unexpected problem caused by a water leak from the condo above mine, 1542 High School Drive owned by William and Laurel Mahon of St. Charles, Missouri. My unit is on the first floor of a two-story building.
Last Monday (August 22, 2022) I entered the condo to do some cleaning and moving to get ready for rehabbing. I broke my foot last year and was grieving over the loss of my uncle and the suicide death of my brother which happened at this time last year. I haven’t really been able to function close to normally until a couple of weeks ago. When I walked by the closet where the water heater is, I stepped in water. I opened the closet door to see if it was leaking, and saw that that the inside of the closet was full of mold and when I looked up I saw the ceiling of the closet was moldy, and the ceiling near the closet spreading into the living room and the room I use as an office was also moldy. Part of the wall on the outside of the closet had mold. So did part of the kitchen ceiling and the pantry. The last time I’d been at the condo was about two weeks before that and none of that mold was there then.
My water heater was brand new as of 2017, and it seemed unlikely to me that it would have leaked and leaked into the ceiling above it even if it did. I asked my Dad to come over and diagnose the problem. Was the leak from my level or upstairs? He diagnosed the leak as being from upstairs, and later that week he met with the son of the owner of the unit above me to show him the damage and let him know that there was likely going to be a claim made on his insurance for the damage to my unit.
My Dad told me he was under the impression that the son was going to try to deny responsibility, even though he had a plumber to his unit to shut off the leak upstairs, which had apparently originated with the air conditioning unit in 1542. The leak not only caused the mold growth, but ruined my water heater, which will have to be replaced. I’m sure the upstairs owners would rather my insurance pay it than theirs. But since the leak was upstairs, their insurance should pay. I will keep a log here on this blog of what happens because I’m probably going to have to explain this several times, perhaps in court if it comes to that, and it’s easier to just have it written out and documented as it happens. I will add photos and updates as I go.
My Dad met with the plumber hired by the owners of 1542 along with the property manager of Brentwood Forest this morning, August 29, 2022. The plumber confirmed that my water heater was ruined because the box with the electronics was completely flooded. The property manager appeared to be there not to help me, the victim, but to blame the presence of mold on two aquariums that I have near the damaged area. Those aquariums have been there since 2005. They don’t leak and until last week I didn’t have mold in any of those spots. I don’t understand why the property manager wants to railroad me. Whatever the reason, I will not let myself be financially abused for damage I didn’t cause.
Instead of helping the wronged party, me, with the giant inconvenience and time suck this is going to be, the property manager was more interested in threatening to have the city condemn my unit for having mold in it. If I ever want to sell my condo, I’m not really doing myself any favors by telling anecdotes about what the condo association here is like. But I care more about warning people, and I’m sure there are other places on the web where you can read similar accounts. If you must live here, rent, don’t own. And don’t make a long commitment.
You can read some of the reviews of the Brentwood Forest Condominium Association on Yelp. I’ll likely be adding mine soon.
So here is my warning to people who own units in Brentwood Forest. If your unit is on a lower floor, before you go out of town, or leave the condo for awhile, such as on vacation or for the winter or whatever, take pictures or video of your ceilings to show they are clear of damage. Then if you get back and find a problem, it will be harder to pin the damage on you. Even though they admit the leak started upstairs, and common sense says water doesn’t flow upwards, it appears I’m going to have to fight for fair treatment. So there is a bit of advice to help you avoid a similar situation.
Stay tuned! I hope this doesn’t get as ugly as it looks like it might. But if it does, you’ll get the news here as it happens.
I usually don’t have back pain, but I have it today just from the emotional stress, so after I shut this laptop down I’m going to go swim in the excellent Brentwood Forest pool – probably the main reason I haven’t sold this place yet.
08/30/22
I’m going to be keeping a time log each day it’s applicable of how much time I’ve spent cleaning this up and managing and mitigating the repairs.
Time spent as of 08/30/22: 33 minutes
I sent the following email to Kent Allen, the BFCA general manager:
“I just want to let you know that as I make repairs on my condo, I’m going to be keeping track off all the expenses and time involved. I’m on the bottom level, and the water originated above me. That makes me the wronged party in this case. Since I’m the one who received the leaking water into my unit, I’m going to have to remove a lot of stuff so the walls can be fixed. This is going to be a lot of time for me, and the people upstairs are going to be charged for it. I’m going to be documenting all my time and expenses.
If you try to make things harder for me by making me spend extra time and extra fees to get this work done, say by trying to get the County to condemn my unit because of damage they caused, the extra time and expenses it’s going to take to reverse that will be charged to the insurance of the people in 1542, not me. So I hope you don’t try to hurt me that way because it will just end up hurting them in the end.
I’m not eager to cost the people upstairs more than is necessary because until now I have had no problems with them. They offered to pay for a leak from the bathroom up above mine before, but since I’ve been planning to rehab that whole bathroom anyway I told them not to worry about it. If they try to say the new damage is actually old, they are going to get a very different response. There is damage in several spots that came from above. I know what came from above and what did not. I have let the minor damage go in the past, because I’ve been planning to rehab and repaint everything, and it wouldn’t matter. But this damage is a lot more serious and it does matter. So please don’t hurt them by trying to hurt me.
Thank you for your time.”
Response from Kent.
“I’m not calling anyone. “
09/04/22
My expense tally so far:
08/24/22 – 64 OZ Air Dehumidifier Q=2 21.69
08/31/22 – 42 OZ Damprid Refill 4.86
1PT Concern Neem Oil 16.31
35 PT Dehumidifier 246.26
Subtotal: 289.12
09/09/22
Time spent as of 09/09/22: 142 minutes
Photos and videos of damage visible in this online album:
Here are is a photo and some videos that help show the mold did not come from my aquariums as your clients claim. I’ve had these aquariums since 2005. I never had mold around them until after 08/08/22. A photo from 2010: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=2262798733710&set=a.1176293771765
Those aquariums had been there for 7 years at that point with no sign of mold. I think if you take all the evidence together you can see that the idea that the mold just happened to come from my aquariums at the time when they admit that water was coming in from upstairs is not credible and is an attempt at fraud.
Art Saint Louis is having a virtual exhibition on their web site, from July 1 – September 1, 2022. I have had one piece selected for this show so I’ll be in it along with 25 other artists.
(all the) Feels show at Art Saint Louis
I’m also in an upcoming gallery show at Art St. Louis called “(all the) Feels”. It runs from July 30 – September 8, 2022. The opening reception is August 6 from 5-7 pm. One of my collages was selected for this show.
For several years I had pretty much given up on producing “fine art” pieces, even though I still had lots of ideas. The main reason was that my time seemed better spent making more craft-oriented things that helped promote my Etsy shop, the blog posts I was writing for Schnarr’s Hardware, or the teaching I was doing at the time. By then, life had taught me several times over not to put all my eggs in one basket when it comes to making a living. I was trying lots of things to see what worked and what didn’t.
In the fall of 2019 I started working on a Master’s Degree at Webster University in Advertising and Marketing Communications. My reasoning for studying communications is that art is a form of communication, and in addition picking up more knowledge about communications can make any of my activities more successful.
My communications classes are fascinating, absorbing, and creatively satisfying, but I cannot help but be jealous of the art majors. Many of the topics I study in communications are serious, and although art can also be serious it also can be pure play and I need some of that! My undergraduate degree is in fine art. Shortly after starting my studies at Webster University, every now and then I would walk over to the art building to see what the students were up to and to find out if there were any art shows that were open to all students and not just art majors. I found two in quick succession and to my great joy made new work and was accepted into both shows. One show was meant to be one night only, and the other show, “Back To Our Roots” was intended to be up for some time but was shut down early twice, the second time due to the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
I’m about halfway finished with the Master’s degree right now. I’m using the skills as I go, so I’m not putting undue pressure on myself to hurry to finish. Also I have taken a break due to tragedies in my family at the end of last summer that caused severe grief and trauma that are still greatly affecting my productivity. I’m going to resume taking classes again when I’m sure I can handle the course work. I’m getting there, but there are setbacks along the way that cause me a lot of frustration, as well as to other people who want or need something from me. I feel really guilty when I turn down any work that people want, or set any kind of boundaries. This inappropriate guilt causes me a great deal of distress that I’m trying to work through, but boundaries are necessary sometimes so that I can get my trauma symptoms under control. The art piece of mine that the judges selected for the “(all the) Feels” show is about this discomfort and guilt. It contains parts that I began earlier for a different reason, but that is what the final result is about.
One of the best ways I know to process difficult and complex feelings is to make art. So this spring I joined Art Saint Louis and have been making more art to enter into their shows. I’ve been in a few of their shows in the past but was never a member before. A friend asked me a few weeks ago why I was doing this – we were at a party, so I didn’t want to explain at that time and place that I was kind of doing it as therapy. Yes, entering shows is good for promotional purposes for myself and my work, I can practice and improve my communication skills, I might get a sale, I might even win a prize which would be good for my show history. But much more important to me is motivation to finish some pieces so that I process what is going on inside me. I’ve been through some life-changing events and personal turmoil, as many of us have. Yes the resulting feelings and symptoms are unwelcome and difficult, but I can’t just wish them away. I have to process them, and art is one of the great gifts from God that I’ve been blessed with that helps me do that. I am very grateful for the opportunity to express and exhibit.
