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!!!