Linda & Opie's Burnt Offerings

A Perfect Get-A-Way...

Opie and I took a little trip to the Eastern Townships in Canada two weeks ago. We wanted to do something fun before his knee surgery and the PT which would come afterwards. We had a fantastic time and stayed in a wonderful B&B. Each town we visited was charming and I will do a proper blog post in the next few weeks with pictures. But I wanted to say that one of our best moments was a visit to the Abbaye de St - Benoit du Lac where we bought silver rosary rings and renewed our commitment to each other.
We did this in our first year together before we married at the Cloisters in N.Y. We bought rings at Tibet West in the Village, dipped them in Holy Water at the Cloisters, and made our lifetime commitment to each other. It was beautiful then... and now. I'm so blessed to be spending my life with my Soulmate.

Zentangle Inspired Gourdart & Aha Moments!

Have you ever been drawn to something but didn’t quite understand why? Well that’s what happened when we recently discovered Zentangle and even more importantly (for us) Zentangle Inspired Art (ZIA) which we find absolutely mind-blowing. It just felt as if we were already connected to it in some way … and as it turns out … we were. Can you see a connection in the artwork below.............?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the late 1970’s I discovered woodburning and immediately and completely immersed myself in it and have been a pyrographic artist ever since. Not a single piece of wood was safe when left in the vicinity of my hot little tool!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the 80’s I introduced Opie to it, and it had the exact same effect on him. Then simultaneously we discovered gourds and realized that they were the perfect complement to woodburning - and that’s how Burnt Offerings got its name.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We became very well known for our original and unique interpretations of this artform which over the years has won numerous awards and has been published in several books and magazines. A visit to our website www.burntofferings.com will take you into different galleries dedicated to gourdart (where our artistic journey together began) and while you’re there, we also invite you to visit the other galleries which showcase all of our mixed-media interests (although at the moment, a few of them are under construction awaiting updates).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Aha moment happened yesterday while reading the zentangle blog about a man who used his woodburning tool instead of the traditional ink pen – and suddenly our instant attraction to, and familiarity with, this discipline became crystal clear. We were already very old friends – and realized we've been doing ZIA for over 30 years – except back then, there were no official patterns and it didn’t have a name!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since Opie and I are known for pushing the envelope, we’re really looking forward to exploring both the traditional and non-traditional directions our new found passion for Zentangle and Zentangle Inspired Art may lead us – although truth be told – I already have a strong gut feeling that ZIA will take precedence in the end since it’s so very open-ended ... a quality to appreciate in any medium.