A Party, and a little Hope.

I was away from home this past weekend. I dutifully printed out the sunflower template and took it with me.
But my pen wanted to do something else:

It was a terrific gathering: all 4 children, 2 of their spouses, 5 of 8 grandchildren, plus my son's fiancee & daughter, and 3 of 3 great-grandchildren!

Dad appeared quite happy with the whole thing, and it was great to have time to visit with family: we're so scattered that we never get enough!

I also had the opportunity to share some Zentangle !

Hope

I did actually complete a tile for the Hope Challenge last week. And I found loads of awesome, inspiring quotations on Hope. I'm not going to include them all here today, but I'll probably use them again sometime.
Of course I worked two 12-hour shifts last weekend, so never got this posted.

Of course, my thoughts began with Emily Dickinson's lovely verse:
         

Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul,

And sings the tune-- without the words,

And never stops at all,

So my tile was very "feathery,"  and of course full of growing things, as well. I used Carole Ohl's "Featherfall,"  Sandra Strait's "Jay" and "Heron,"

and Zentangle's Pendrils, as well my usual Flux variation, and a heart-shaped tangleation of "Pepper"

I want to add a quotation from Robert Kennedy which I thought was quite meaningful for us as artists, bloggers  and Zentangle enthusiasts. 

Each time a person stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, these ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.

We need to remember the power we have, and send it out into the world respectfully and responsibly. Hope, Love, Beauty, Peace. . .  so many ideals that we can influence and give our energy to, quietly but powerfully!

Blessed Be and Joyous Tangling!

Late Again!!

. . . for the Diva's 41st Weekly Challenge! I actually completed 2 tiles while at my son's house last night, but by the time we got home I was too tired to post them.

I just spent a couple of lovely hours looking through this week's entries. It's always fun to see all the different interpretations of the theme. This week the Challenge is a "DuoTangle:" create a tile (or ZIA) using only 2 tangles: thee official Zentangle tangles Jonqal & Opus.

Laura once again managed to come up with two tangles that I generally don't use, so there was a "learning curve." I still want to play around some more with Opus. It does have that luscious curviness, and plenty of ways to vary it.

At any rate: here are my attempts at "Duotangle v II"

"Opus 1"

I feel of like I don't quite have the necessary "looseness" and  flow of Opus yet.

But it's about the PROCESS, right? and my process will involve further practice with this one!!


Blessed Be and Joyous Tangling!

"Opus 2"

Pinwheels for Peace

I missed last week's Challenge from the Diva . It took me Forever to come up with Inspiration for the "Love is all you need" challenge, and then I had to work all weekend. So that piece is still a "work in progress.

That Challenge invited us to express the Love that can change the world, and Laura related that to America's great tragedy of 9/11/2001.
And springing from that, this week's Challenge:Pinwheels for Peace . You can read more about the Pinwheels for Peace project here. It's a worldwide visual celebration of the International Day of Peace (September 21). AND it uses the terrific slogan "Imagine . . . whirled peace!"

So Laura challenged us to draw and tangle, or otherwise create pinwheels. Because Saturday sneaked up on me again, I elected the "flat version," but maybe next year I can get myself, my resources, my friends and family together ahead of time!

I did do three tiles, and then to emulate a cluster of pinwheels in the wind, I put them all on the scanner together.

 In "real life" I really don't like the first one I did, which is in the center above, but the contrast between the patterns shows much better in the scanned version! Sometimes I love my scanner -- and sometimes I don't  ;  ).

For now,
Blessed Be and Joyous Tangling!

More soon!

A most ingenious Paradox

Laura-the-Diva calls this Challenge "Better than a Pair of Ducks". She says the word Paradox makes her think of a pair of ducks. It makes me hum the Gilbert & Sullivan tune from Pirates of Penzance.  ; )

This first tile is one I created last year, before I even did the CZT training. I remember spending most of an afternoon focusing on those lines. It's very rigid, but it has something to offer.

I enjoyed the time and was pleased with the result.

I still love playing with Paradox, and I really loved  Margaret Bremner's recent tutorial!

I spent whatever time I could grab this week, playing around with ideas. I came up with this pentagonal version that I like. But then it insisted on having all this curvy, round, flowing stuff.

So it's not the "monotangle" specified in the challenge. I want to play some more, but I also want to get this posted.

Maybe tomorrow I'll add another. And finish up that other post I've been trying to write all week!

Until then: Blessed Be and Joyous Tangling!

Kiss my Grids!

The latest  Challenge from Laura-the-Diva: create a tile using only grid-based tangles.

Now I DO remember (first-run, not syndication) the TV series Alice and the film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. I Adored Flo and her "Kiss my grits!"  And the grits discussions on Laura's blog this week were almost as much fun as the Challenge!
motherjulie apparently posted a really yummy recipe for pimiento cheese grits, but my computer won't let me see it this evening. I'll try again!

I got one tile done, and had ideas for a second, but the week got away from me (what a surprise!)
At any rate, here's my Challenge Tile for Week 37

And once again, I'm off to bed: up before 0500 tomorrow! I'm planning a just-for-fun post Tuesday, in the meantime

Blessed Be and Joyous Tangling!

It's Still Saturday Night . . .

. . . and I just HAD to try Assunta on a black tile!

Fun! but it's past my bedtime!  

I'm going to link this, then off to bed. Busy day tomorrow, and a Busy Week ahead.

Blessed Be and Joyous Tangling!

Another Class, and Another Challenge

Yes, just FYI, I've posted a class for this coming Thursday, 9/1, 3-6pm. 

And now, to the Really Important Stuff: The Diva's Weekly Challenge #36 !

This week's Challenge, of course, is to use Rick's new tangle, Assunta . This tangle was posted in a Zentangle Newsletter dated August 15. It's a gift from Rick to Maria on the anniversary of her birth. What a lovely gift!
I found myself pretty Challenged getting started with this, despite Rick's great deconstruction & excellent Tips. My little "hash marks" or "take-off & landing lines" were too long, or too close together or too far apart.

I finally got the spacing, and the turning of the tile, and everything figured out, and it began to Flow Beautifully. Each little teardrop nestled next to its partner. Cadent flowed directly off of Assunta. So did Bales.

Then came Photography! Oh, dear! I ALWAYS

just Scan my tiles! But I'm not near my scanner right now. It did take me more attempts than I expected: light, no light? flash, no flash?  Where did that glare come from?

Ah Hah! Got it! 

Now, what was the next project?

Blessed Be and Joyous Tangling!

September classes posted!

I have just posted dates & times for 4 classes in September on the "Learn Zentangle" page above. I've been goofing off for most of July & August. Blaming most of that on my new granddaughter  :  )

But it's time to get back to work, and play. I tend to get more creatively motivated around the Solstices & Equinoxes, so September should be a great month!

Just e-mail me: maggiekattangles@gmail.com if you're interested!

I LOVE sharing Zentangle with new people, so come join us. It'll be fun, at the very least!
Class descriptions, prices, location and so forth are also on the "Learn Zentangle" page.

If I don't have anything that suits your schedule, please get in touch with me.

Blessed Be and Joyous Tangling!

My Tangle Pattern: Abbe Road

Abbeville, SC is a charming, historic little town in South Carolina's "Upstate," near the (current) home of my dear friend, BlueRidgeWoman. The Square has lots of great shops, the Abbeville Opera House, and this Very Tangle-able brick paving:

This is a simple herringbone brickwork pattern. You don't even HAVE to use the pencil grid. The general proportions of the "bricks" is 1 unit wide x 2 units long. It's easiest to draw a line of bricks, each offset by half a brick, then rotate your tile 90 degrees and do the next row.

Enjoy this!

Blessed Be & Joyous Tangling!

Tile-in-a-Tile--3 Versions!

The Diva's Challenge this week is from guest host Margaret Bremner of Enthusiastic Artist.  The object is to do your "dots" and "border" "way in from the corners [and sides]" [of the tile] Then draw the string over the Whole Tile. Add tangles & shading to set the small inner tile-shape off from the rest.

Fun! I came up with 2 and started a third before I knew what I was doing! (Then I misplaced the half-finished third tile, and had to start over. Actually,it ran away, and its disappearance had nothing to to with any action of mine!)

I can't really decide which I like best: each has its own charm.

I drew the tile, and the string. Then I needed some little curlicue things. The twisty ribbons just grew from all that. I tried to pick some new tangles, medium-to-dark values, and the usual combination of rounded and straight lines.

Next I thought I'd do something with a darker border and a lighter center:

More organic, but no tangle carry-through to the borders. I need to work more on shading/highlighting the white-on-black, but overall I like this one.

Then I had the idea of using Hollibaugh to tie together the small tile and the border. The use of Hollibaugh to "tie up" the tile, rather than to make string spaces was introduced in our CZT 4 class by Molly.

I seem to recall Sandy Bartholomew posting a truly beautiful example of this. I'd link you to it, but I can't find it right now. Maybe it ran off with my half-finished tile?

Somehow, my original vision didn't have the white- on-black tangles flowing into the borders, but tiles often know better than I do.


The herringbone brick pattern in the lower left section is my own tangle "Abbe Road."
I'll post the steps for this either tonight or Saturday!

Blessed Be, and Joyous Tangling!

Opposites Attract

Another terrific Challenge from Laura Harms' I am the Diva site. This week our "guest host" is again Christina Vandervlist of stART, and she brings us the idea that "Opposites Attract." In this case, combining a straight-line string with curvy tangles,or vice-versa.

Again, this was trickier than I thought it would be. I started with the straight string, thinking that I'm so fond of the curvy, organic tangles, that it would be simpler. Then I could try the curved string/straight tangles one.

I tried a few tangles I hadn't used before, and I had a lot of fun stretching. The first tile was more of a stretch than expected, and I'm pleased with the result.

The second tile was going more smoothly, other than a small "goof" in my Hollibaugh (not a Mistake, of course, just an unintended line).Then I got to one last section, and Could Not figure out how to fill it!

I stared, and sighed, and pondered for (what seemed like) hours. I finally did fill it in, AND as I began to rotate the tile I found another one of those serendipitous heart-sort-of-shapes.









My house is full, so I'm going to post this.

More soon! Until then,
Blessed Be, and Joyous Tangling!

Pendrills-New Tangle, New Challenge!

Last Sunday, Rick & Maria offered us a new tangle, Pendrills, in their Zentangle Newsletter. And of course, on Monday "Laura-the-Diva" presented us with a Challenge (#33 in a series) to Use this new Tangle!

I quickly discovered that Pendrills can very easily slip free of all constraints and take off!

I did some testing in my sketchbook, but it was much too prone to take up entire pages, so I thought I'd try to restrain it within the limits of a tile. I got this far before being called away to a family crisis:

This sat on my table for a day and a half, waiting for me to return. Finally I completed some other projects and responsibilities and got back to it.

By that time I had completely lost whatever vision I had, so the end result is, well, I don't know, just Not Quite.

I want to post this before it gets any later on Saturday, but I may try again.


I'm quite in love with the Blue Ridge Woman's Dream Catchers and I've been playing with this idea.
In her second posted Dream Catcher she uses two lovely feathery tangles: Sandra Strait/molossus's Jay  and Carole Ohl's Featherfall! Sandra's wonderful organic tangles were some of the first ones I tried!

At any rate, I'm going to spend some more time with Pendrills, and some unexpected time with that awesome BlueRidgeWoman!

Until next time, 
Blessed Be and Joyous Tangling!

Zentangle is for Everyone! Weekly Challenge #32

This week's http://iamthedivaczt.blogspot.com/2011/07/weekly-challenge-32.html is brought to us by guest host Carole Ohl. Carole invites us to create a tile using 4 specific tangles, AND to mail these to her for participation in a showing of art to emphasize that "Zentangle is for Everyone."

The selected tangles are Baton by Carole Ohl,  Keenees by Donna Hornsby, Pais by Mikee Huber, and Zedbra by Margaret Bremner & Laura Harms.
I have tended to limit myself to Official Tangles, not through any bizarre chauvinism, but I think because I become utterly overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of tangle patterns out in the world! So this was a Giant Step outside my comfy box, and I embraced the opportunity. I've also had more tangling time, since I'm taking a couple of weeks off work to be with my Last-Born daughter and new granddaughter KiSSy. (Not that I'm really needed, but it's nice to have a little downtime, and spend time snuggling the baby, and tangling!)

This is actually my 3rd attempt at this Challenge: I wanted to let Pais run wild

I really like Pais, and had a lot of fun with Zedbra. Keenees and Baton are fun, too. Good for me to learn some new stuff!!

So it's only Wednesday, and I've finished 3 tiles!! I'm going to post them all here, and probably send the first two on to Carole. I think it's a  terrific idea to show people that Anyone can create a Zentangle, and that there is no Right or Wrong way to do it!
Given four specific patterns there will be an unlimited variety in the end products, only dependent on the number of artists participating. Very Exciting!!



2nd attempt: the idea for shading Zedbra was one of those early-morning visions!



First try, and my least favorite of the three


BTW: my spell-check doesn't recognize
 "Zedbra,"
but offers Zed bra as a valid option.
 Reminds me of a joke about lingerie sizing
; D.

She's Here!!

Yes, the KiSSy Girl arrived last night @ 20:53 EDT. 

My dear friend the Blue Ridge Woman has posted a Zentangle for her. I haven't had a lot of tangling time, but I will!
But for now, Stuff to be done before my girls come home tomorrow.

Blessed Be, and Joyous Tangling!

String Theory v. V

"Initialize"  Weekly Challenge #30 from "the Diva"  as guest-hosted by Christina Vandervlist, CZT in Ontario. (I hope I spelled your name right!) uses our initials overlaid to create the string.

Now I'm not always too great at following directions, and I couldn't decide which of the many combinations of my own initials I might use, and besides all that I have Baby on the brain! So I used the initials of the name intended for the next grandchild, when she arrives.
But I couldn't just do two: I tried, but I really liked it with the 2 S's doubled up behund the K (I'm going to call her KiSSy)

Then I forgot/failed to scan the string before I tangled it. But it looked a lot like this: 

(from my "string tests" in my sketch book)


All those curly, curvy letters made a lot of Very Tiny Spaces to tangle on a
3 1/2" tile, but I persevered! 




 Now, I must get ready for work!!!

Blessed be, and Joyous Tangling!

The Labyrinth

So when I promised to post the Steps for drawing a labyrinth "tomorrow," I guess I really meant "as soon as I can get to it!"

I did actually get the steps drawn on Monday, but it's taken 'til Thursday to get it scanned and write the post.

I LOVE labyrinths. They are incredible tools for meditation.

A labyrinth is not a maze. A maze has numerous paths, dead ends, blind alleys. A labyrinth has only a single path, twisting & spiralling into the center and back out. You can't make a wrong turn, you can't get lost. You only have to focus your feet on the path, and set your mind free to contemplate . . . whatever.

 There are plenty of on-line resources for more information on Labyrinths. A few of my favorites are:
http://www.lessons4living.com/labyrinth.htm

http://www.angelfire.com/tn/SacredLabyrinth/problem.html

http://www.labyrinthcenter.com/welcome_to_our_labyrinth.html (my favorite local labyrinth walk!)

Labyrinths can be quite tiny representations: I have a pendant with a beautiful laser-cut image. They can be small enough to be traced with a pencil or a finger, or large enough for many people to walk at once, passing easily on the paths.

Again, I don't claim this to be a  true Tangle, although it certainly can be drawn in a limited number of steps, with repeated lines. I also don't claim to have originated it, as I found the same instructions on a number of sites. But here is my version of the Steps for drawing a simple 7-circuit Labyrinth.
The first 3 steps: cross, corners and dots (did I say "dots?") are the "core," "key," or "seed pattern" of the labyrinth. The rest is just point-to-point curves!

I did this on graph paper to make it a little easier to see, but you can easily do without.  My reds scanned a bit dark.  And there is that place where I skipped a block, but I wasn't going to start over AGAIN!

So, think about it:

Drawn with a limited number of repeated lines
No dead ends, wrong turns (or "mistakes")
Facilitates a shift in consciousness, a meditative state

Does any of this sound familiar at all?


Enjoy exploring labyrinths on-line, try drawing your own. Best of all, find a labyrinth near You, and take a walk!

Blessed be, and joyous Tangling!

String Theory Challenge

I know my posts have been catch-as-catch-can recently. I'll be more regular once the new granddaughter arrives. So many things that have to be done!

I'm late again this week, but I liked this Challenge from I am the Diva a lot. Guest Host Sue Jacobs challenges us to use an actual string with a weight on the end to create our String.

As I thought about this one, I knew Exactly what I wanted to use as a weight: and old favorite pendant. I thought of stealing a bit of yarn from the teddy bear I'm knitting, but ended up with a llightweight chain attached to the pendant by one end:

The "Willendorf-style" goddess is a favorite of mine, since our body-styles are so similar   ; D
 My daughter calls her a "fertility goddess," but to me she is a Matriarch: she has borne children, lived life, and is comfortable and powerful in her Self: a beautiful, mature Woman.


I created two Zentangles with strings created this way, and both with just a touch of the Goddess. Of course, all my work has something of her creativity, I just put a little extra thought into my tangle selection.

For the first, the spider-webby look of Betweed, and a quasi-representational use of Tipple (along with Striping, Dex, and Drupe)


For my second, slightly larger than tile-sized, piece, I had a very circular space, that I was deciding what to do with. I put my sketch book away last night, and when I woke up this morning I knew what it needed:

A LABYRINTH!

Now the Labyrinth is not a Tangle, but this one can be drawn in a series of very tangle-like steps. I'll post them for you tomorrow. In the meantime,  you go have a look a the photo at my Friend's blog. This is a photo of a labyrinth we created on a NC beach a couple of years ago. It was Awesome!

More on labyrinths tomorrow.

And to Laura-the-Diva and little Artoo, blessings and Healing Energy! Hope you're all home again soon!

DuoTangles

Another Laura-the-Diva Challenge! Create a tile using ONLY the official tangles Dex and Verdigogh.

Now I use Verdigogh quite a bit, but had never actually used Dex, so this was fun!
It's good for us to try new things.

But of course, I had all the awesome new Black Stuff, so I had to start there!

And then I thought I'd do a black-on-white one, too.

Looking forward to more classes, the next Challenge, a new granddaughter . . .

but now, to sleep, and tomorrow to Work!

I am having a somewhat impromptu class on Tuesday, June 28. If you're in Asheville and interested e-mail me!  maggiekattangles@gmail.com

The Black Stuff is here!!

My new Zentangle supplies, including BLACK Zentangle tiles and ATC's, arrived today! First thing I did was pull out a black tile, and a white Gelly Roll pen and white charcoal pencil. I handed these to my Last Daughter to play with, while I unpacked all the other goodies.

I suggested she try the pen by signing the back, but she chose instead to pen the name of my Next Granddaughter. Then she turned it over, dated the front, and took the charcoal pencil in hand. She drew a little sort of squiggly string-y line, and gave it back to me, pronouncing all materials "fabulous."

Now I could not leave a strung tile un-tangled, so:

I've designed a Sampler Kit of the new Black tiles and white pens and hope to have these available for sale next week.

I had a Great Class yesterday with a group of Tangling Quilters. Unfortunately I failed to get any photos, but we had a lot of fun!!

The Challenge of String Theory

This week, Laura-the-Diva provided us a string, to be filled with tangles of our choice. As usual, I had a little struggle with "over-thinking," but managed to get beyond it pretty quickly.

The next challenge was to translate Her String to My This took several tries, since I sometimes fight with my technology. Eventually I managed to copy the picture, and resize it appropriately. I actually did this in a Word document! Then I printed it on regular printer paper, and colored the back with pencil: the old "poor-woman's carbon paper." Laid it on a tile and drew over the string lines, and Voila!

As you may have noticed, I'm currently very enamored of  PokeRoot.

I Really want to try it with some color. The color of the Poke berry is a deep rich purple.

Medicinally, they are very detoxifying to the lymphatic system (but must be used Only under the advice of a qualified professional! They can be toxic if not taken properly)

In the garden, the poke weed is extremely invasive and has an amazing root, which can be all but impossible to eradicate. Trust me~ I've tried!

It's Late: I have to go to work!! Looking forward to Saturday, when I can look at all the Challenge entries.
and a visit from the Blue Ridge Woman on Sunday!

Oh, How Young!!

Recently Maria Thomas wrote in the Zentangle Blog:

  "One benefit of a 40 year-old studio is instant access to

all sorts of artist "toys" I've collected over decades--"

I have to agree: years of trying different media, gathering supplies, and generally having a wonderful time!

Not long ago, I was wandering through a local Big Box Craft Store, when a couple of young women passed me in the aisle. They were probably college-age, and I heard one of them say to the other in pride and amazement: "I have an entire drawer in my desk, absolutely FULL of craft supplies!"

I chuckled quietly and thought to myself, "Oh, they are So Young! I have entire Rooms!!"
(and being far less organized than Maria, I generally can't find ANYTHING)
My goal is to clear out and organize all my supplies. Maybe then I'll have a Big Yard Sale! Anyone want to come?

Oh, goodness! I just recalled: somewhere in storage I have the contents of my late sister-in-law's craft room, too. Guess I'd better get to work!

But FIRST, to the Diva's Challenge #23 "String Theory!" She has provided a string, we get to add tangles. Looks like loads of fun! See you later this week.

Elegance of Limits

In Zentangle, we speak of the Elegance of Limits: the small 3.5x3.5 inch tile, the string defining the limits of our drawing, the black-on-white freeing us from color decisions. . .

Of course, we also recognize our ability to "color outside the lines." We can Tangle on a larger page. We can extend our tangles beyond our string to the edges of the tile, or even spill over onto the back! We can create Zentangle Inspired Art on other surfaces, either 2-or 3-dimensional. We can choose to add  Color. The possibilities inspired by Zentangle are endless!

Yesterday I sat down with my Large (9x12 inch) sketch book, to begin thinking on a project. A local micro-brewery is sponsoring a "Beer Coaster Art Contest!" What fun! A beer coaster (or beer mat) is about 4 inches square, and has a lovely, slightly porous surface. How perfect for ZIA!!

But at this point, I was "just thinking" with a pen and paper. As often happens my tangling got beyond my control, and took on a life of its own. I did not draw a string, just began making tangles.

I'm going to call this "The Lushness of Lack of Limits." It reminds me of the overblown opulence of High Summer!
Now I'm thinking of adding Color!

But I'm supposed to be at work, so I'd better get moving   : ). I'd MUCH rather stay home and Tangle.

Out of Focus (OoF)

In the recent Zentangle newsletter Rick gave us a new tangle, OoF, inspired by a window at The Cloisters, a NY museum I've always wanted to see! (also influenced by Rick's lack of visual acuity without his glasses:thus the name: Out of Focus)

And of course, Laura-the-Diva challenges us to USE this new tangle in Challenge #21 at her I am the Diva blog.

I skipped last week's Royal Wedding Challenge: time constraints, AND I was completely overwhelmed by the opulence of it all!

This week's Challenge was a little more manageable for me: I've done 2 tiles and could do more with this, but I'm out of time (again, as usual). This one is fun: you have to pay some attention to get the arcs right, so it's not SuperSimple, but it's not so complex that I had trouble wrapping my brain around it!

I like the way it works with Bales.

I want to play with this some more: try a little more relaxed approach. I feel that I'm still a little too "stiff" with it.
Ahhh well, another excuse to tangle. As if I needed one!

William Morris~Zentangle-style!

I've Finally gotten back into the "swing" of  The Diva's Weekly Challenges! This week's challenge  is inspired by Maria's Blog post  regarding William Morris and the subtle background images in his art. Maria introduced a "zenhancement" using black background behind our tangles.then drawing in fine patterns in white Sakura Gelly Roll pen.

I was inspired by the technique itself, and thrilled that Laura Harms Challenged me to try it! I was also inspired by the botanical motifs of William Morris.

This is my first attempt. I felt that Sampson really lent itself to this.














I like this second one better. I'll definitely be playing with my white pens some more!! I have more ideas.

Zentangle 101

Our April Zentangle class was terrific, but I've been SLOW getting the photos posted!

                                                 Mosaic of our First Tile

I always love studying the Differences each person brings to the creation!!

 Our Second Tile

Hollibaugh seems to lend itself especially well to allowing everyone to take their own directions!









Next classes: Zentangle 101, morning of Saturday, May 14. And my first Zentangle 102 (8 more Tangles) class, afternoon of May 14. (see the Learn Zentangle tab above for more info)

And here's a photo of my studio/storefront with my new awesome banner:

Let me know what YOU would like in a Zentangle class and I'll see what we can come up with!

Where the heck have I been?!

LIFE sort of picked me up and slammed me! I've been Completely Overwhelmed the last couple of weeks. Opted out of Laura-the-Diva's  last two Challenges: Mooka because I needed more time to work/play with this tangle, and 15 Minutes of Fame because I couldn't find 15 consecutive minutes that I could actually time.

I held in mind Laura's reminder that this is supposed to be Fun, not Stressful, and I released the Challenges for those two weeks! Good For Me!

I did get a tile done for theEggZZZZellent challenge, but didn't get in scanned and posted!

So here's a basket of Eggs.  And now to try a little Color! Do I use my old reliable watercolor pencils? or my new Tombow markers?

                                                                                                       

Tombow Watercolor Markers!

I still need some practice with both the marker techniques and my scanner!

And the Diva's Challenge # 19  is to use Zentangle's (Maria's) "William Morris" background technique using Sakura's white Gelly Roll pen to create "subtle background images" behind your main tangles.

I've been looking forward to trying this technique "when I have time." So good of Laura to shove me in a direction I wanted to go anyway!

A Story

Two months ago, Sandra Strait at Life Imitates Doodles posted a challenge to take a just finished tile, give it a title, and tell its story. And then to invite YOU to share what this tile says to you.
I'm putting that statement both BEFORE and AFTER my version of the story, to give you the opportunity to react without reading my Stuff.

OK, TWO MONTHS?!? Sometimes I'm slow, but this is a little ridiculous. AND I actually completed this over two weeks ago (only a little less ridiculous). AND I didn't exactly follow the instructions. BUT here's my tile:

And here's my Story:
I was sitting and visiting with my parents recently, and tangling almost continuously (it helps, Really)  As I worked on this one, somewhere in the midst of the process,  I saw that I had used a lot of tangles that I haven't used recently, but they're tangles I used more a year ago, when I was first discovering Zentangle: my Zentangle "roots."

I kinda liked this thought, especially considering that I was in my parents home, talking of "family matters."
So I added the growing Flux in that empty space I still had in the middle, to symbolize both my Zentangle growth and my "daughter-growth." And I gave it some roots, because that WAS the original thought: roots of Zentangle, roots of Family.

You cannot grow well: strong, healthy, grounded in the past and reaching for the Light, if your roots are not deep!

The last part of the Challenge is to invite YOU to share what this tile says to you! So let's hear from  you.



And speaking of Challenges, check out ptrish40's VennTangle Challenge: what fun!

Lovin' my Curves

The Diva's 15th Weekly Challenge: after last week's  all-straight-lines challenge is to create a tile (or other ZIA) with all curvy lines!

This was a little trickier than I expected: I DO love curves, but I tend to try to balance straight or grid-based tangles with curvy ones in my tiles. So I paid more attention to dark/light, filled/open. I had a lot of fun with this one!!

 This one I started in one doctor's waiting room on Wednesday, and finished in another.

Wednesday was a very doctor-y day!





"Love Your Curves: aka Waiting at the Doctor's Office"

The second on was just for fun, to try some different tangles, and because I had a little extra time.

"Lovin' My Curves!"

So I DO love my curves, and my daughters' curves, and Every Body's unique and special curves!!!

Walk the Line

Another Challenge from the Diva: This is #14! This means we have been Challenged for a quarter of a year: the first Challenge was 12/20/2010, just at the Winter Solstice, and now the Spring Equinox has come.

This week's challenge is to create a Zentangle (or ZIA) using only straight lines! Pretty tricky for those of us who love lush curvy forms. I know I wasn't nearly as creative as some: I didn't create "tangleations" of traditionally round tangles, using straight lines.

But it's not a competition, it's a challenge. And I felt challenged, and had fun! Which is the point. In the future, I may try some of those tangleations. Another thing to add to the "someday, when I have time" pile! That pile just keeps getting higher!

I Swear, every line is as straight as I could make it : )

We know about the illusion of curve in Rick's Paradox, but I hadn't seen the illusion in Cadent, because I usually draw it with curvy lines. These were done straight, corner to corner, and they still look curved to me!

I LOVE spending time every week looking at what others have done with Laura's challenges. Soooo inspiring! This awesome Zentangle community inspires me in so many ways, and I'm so glad I'm here!

Last Class--Next Class

As I mentioned previously, we had a great time at last week's Zentangle 101 class!

Here's the mosaic of the first tile:

We didn't manage to photograph the second mosaic: folks were getting in a rush to to leave for other commitments.  Everyone was fascinated, even as we worked on the tiles, at how differently people interpreted!

Please check the Learn Zentangle tab for future classes. I'm still trying to juggle my "real job" with class schedules, but I'll get better at it! Also still working with Tech Support on online registration, but drop me an e-mail if you want to come to a class.

NON-Dominatrix

I have a friend who has told me for years that my voice could make me good money as a dominatrix on the phone.
This Challenge, however has nothing to do with that! The challenge is to create a Zentangle with our non-dominant hand. For me that's my left. I won't call it useless: the strength is good, and right now it's giving me less pain than the right, but as far as dexterity and fine-motor function . . .
(Isn't that some sort of oxymoron: dexterous left hand? Obviously the word was created by anti-leftists!)

My first attempt was, to my eye, even worse than expected:

So shaky and uncontrolled that, in order to comfort myself, I recreated it with my right hand:

just to prove that it still worked, I think.

My second attempt, I concentrated much harder on keeping my strokes steady & deliberate. I know others have mentioned their dominant hand trying to seize control of the pen. I didn't have this problem, because I was using it to clench the sketch pad! I kept telling myself to Relax and Breathe, but my right hand clutched the sketch pad in a death grip, and my left hand clutched the pen in the same fashion. I kept trying to relax my grip  on the pen,  but it would only work for seconds before tightening up again.

At any rate, I did finally complete a tile (really, without any hidden discarded tiles!) that I felt was as good as I was likely to get in the allotted time.

I can see this as something I should continue to attempt now and then, as a growth experience.

I notice that I didn't actually sign any of these : )  Freudian, no?

I have a LOT of things to post this week, so I'll try to spread them out a bit.

But be sure to check out Rick and Maria's post from Friday!  All 3 masks are just beautiful, but my favorite is the third one. I'll post more photos of that here later.