Tile for October 10

Here's last night's tile    

And here are the tangles I used:
     Kuzek  posted by Laura Harms - a Cadent variation by one of her students
     Renda by Girasole Gialio
     Featherfall by Carole Ohl
     Class-ee by Sandra Strait - with a little "Tipple" in the background
     Travertine by Sandra Strait - this is a herringbone pattern like my Abbe Road, but she steps it out differently. I did it "her way" here.
     Scrolled Feather by Helen Williams - this one appealed to me because the little spirals are almost the only thing I've been able to draw in recent months!

I Really must be off to work! More Later.

Blessed Be and Joyous Tangling!
maggie

It's Here!

My copy of The Book of Zentangle arrived today! It's so beautiful I want to cry! (I mean that in the best possible way). I haven't had time to READ all the way through it yet,and I'm sure I really will be crying when I've done that. Just the bits I've read as I flipped through are as beautiful in language as in visual art.
Please go to this newsletter and this blog post to read more, or to order your own copy!

As much as I'm dying to dive deeply into this book, really want to do another tile tonight, so: eat, feed the animals, tangle a bit, THEN I can read my Zentangle book!

Blessed Be and Joyous Tangling!
maggie

Flux

I haven't done a new tile yet today. But I have completed a "step card" for Flux, as promised. I've also reviewed and worked at several new-to-me or rarely used tangles that I want to work with this week.

I'm selecting my "tangles for the week" from Genevieve Crabe's first Weekly Round-up of December 10, 2012, and from her most recent one.
I really love Genevieve's weekly "digest" of links. She does a lot of work for people like me who want to keep up but have limited time. Thanks, Genevieve! (and I just posted that as a comment on her Blog!)

If someone else has published the steps for Flux somewhere, please share. I did a very cursory search and didn't find anything. I know that every tangler has a slightly different take on this one, and probably a different Way of drawing it.
I tried Very Hard to show the steps as they are drawn in my CZT  "manual," for demo purposes.

When I do this tangle, I usually pencil a "center line" or "stem"  through the section of my string that I plan to fill. I almost always treat these a "leaves" and draw a vein down the middle.
Maybe I should try some other ways of doing it?!







And here is a post I did using Flux as the only tangle on a tile.

I think that counts as my Zentangle for today. Now to do some more research for tomorrow!


Blessed Be and Joyous Tangling!
 maggie

October 8 Tile

Here's the tile I did last night after work (I challenged myself to DO one a day, not to POST one every day):

Flux (again): I like Flux, and I'll draw out the steps a little later.
Shattuck: Vicki Murray's tutorial really helped me with this one!
Beeline
Striping
Drupe

All of these are Official Zentangle tangles. Also check Linda Farmer's tanglepatterns.com for additional links for these patterns.

I DON'T want to step on anyone's toes, or appropriate anyone's piece of the Zentangle pie. I'm certainly not trying to re-invent any wheels.

I gratefully acknowledge Rick and Maria's Zentangle Newsletters; Sandy Bartholomew's Beez in the Belfry blog, her "Tangle Patterns of the Week," and her numerous awesome books;  Linda Farmer's tanglepatterns.com; Laura Harms' I am the Diva and her inspiring Weekly Challenges; Genevieve Crabe's Weekly Roundup of tangle patterns and related publications, and so many other inspiring artists and students.
Hopefully this weekend I'll have time to update my "Favorite Blogs" list, to share some of those inspirations with you.

My intention is to challenge MY artistic self, and to share my Process and my Journey with anyone who is interested.


Blessed Be and Joyous Tangling!
maggie

Challenging Myself

I'm thinking of setting Myself a Challenge.
The premise is:
      I need to get back to the regular practice of Zentangle
      I need to learn New tangles and step out of My Box
      I want to create a visual Tangle Library that I can share with my students and others who    might be interested.

So my Challenge to Myself is:
     1) To create a tile or other artwork Every Day.
           Here's today's:

Tangles used: 'Nzeppel, Crescent Moon, Cubine,
Flux, W2, Ennies, and some of those "little zingers"
All Official Zentangle tangles

                   
(Do those "little zingers" have an official name?)

2) To learn several new tangles each week. As a Primary Resource I'm going to use Genevieve Crabe's Weekly Tangle Roundups . She's been publishing these regularly since December of 2010, and she pulls together links to new tangle patterns, as well as ZT related articles and products.

3) To draw "Step-out Cards" for every Tangle I use or learn in the course of the week.



I Have already created a printable template for 4 x 6"  (about 10 x 15 cm for my metric friends) cards, which can be stored in photo boxes or displayed in albums. Sorted and rearranged ad lib.

I will, of course, share my art, and links to the tangles I've used.
For today:
     'Nzeppel and "revisited"  here, W2,  Cubine, Crescent Moon, Ennies.
     Suzanne McNeill and Sandy Bartholomew, whose links are included here, are both CZT's, from the First Class (I think)

I am not quickly finding an online source for the steps for Flux. Maybe I'll have to do that one first ;-)


Blessed Be and Joyous Tangling!
maggie

New Class, New Friends!

So, last Saturday I taught a Terrific class to a group of Zentangle enthusiasts in Greenwood,SC.

It was a large class, with terrific energy. It included folks of all ages and genders, and I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did! I'm hearing interest in future classes, and hope we can arrange this soon.

Mosaic of our First Tile

The Second Mosaic

Focused!

Blessed Be and Joyous Tangling!
maggie

Where Have I Been?

This is maggie, trying to blow the cobwebs off this blog. At some point, my header has gone awry. I'll have to work on that.
I can't exactly tell you where I've been for the last year. Sometime in October I just slipped away: from Zentangle, and from many other aspects of my life. 

I'm sure many people have wondered at my failure to respond, and I apologize.

I kept thinking I'd get back to it. After the Sun turned back toward the North in December. After the  Holiday Chaos was over. After Spring finally arrived in earnest. After, After AFTER.

My loved ones have been very patient. Probably more patient and less judgmental than I've been with myself. I was away so long, that I began to be very anxious when I thought of returning to the Blog. or anything else. 

Recently, just as I made the difficult decision to close my studio space, a new opportunity arose. A chance to participate in a show of Zentangle-inspired Art, and to offer a class to a new group of people. This opportunity came "out of the blue" so to speak, through my oldest and dearest friend, who is also a Zentangle student.

Last Friday we hung a display of work by three of my students, as well as myself (they seriously outnumber me in volume of work displayed). Martha Moore and Lee Robirds of Greenwood, SC and Savannah Willingham of Asheville, NC (as photographed by Sandra Miller).

3 by 3
Martha, Maggie, Lee

The show is at Howard's on Main Delicatessen in Greenwood, SC,and will hang through the month of October, so if you're nearby drop in!

Savannah: Tangled

Many thanks to Dohnna Boyajian, herself a Greenwood artist, who coordinated the show and the class.
And to Howard Corley (of Howard's on Main) for his support, for offering a wonderful space for display, and for his Fine Food!

For some reason, I'm having a dreadful time getting my photos "right-side-up."

I'm going to quit fighting it, and post this as is.

More tomorrow.

Blessed be, and Joyous Tangling!