Time for the Soul

Sunday mornings are a special, sacred time to me. Over the past few weeks I've developed the habit of watching Super Soul Sunday on the new OWN network. This morning as I watched, I experimented with the new tangelation "Bridgen" that was recently developed by Carole Ohl's better half Daved. It wasn't just the process of Bridgen that intrigued me, but also the quote and thoughts that Carole shares in the blog entry: [Carole] called to mind something Rick Roberts had said during the recent CZT seminar: "To pay attention to what is NOT there: the open space." Very often it is the stillness and not doing, that brings us to see the next step to take. Being present in the midst of that stillness, now that is where and how we connect with our soul and discover the next step to take on our life journey.

Recent ZIA

Here are a couple of my recent tangled pieces.

Simple tangles

Here are three simple tangle patterns. In fact, they are so simple that I imagine someone else has likely used/named them already. If so, let me know and I will give proper credit where it is due. I used them as filler in a ZIA with a lot of flower and leaf patterns.

There really aren't any steps for these simple patterns. For Rayne draw a series of dotted or tiny dashes and end with the drop. The rainfall can come in from any direction. Splash is just the droplets sort of bouncing back up as they hit the ground and Puddle is a series of concentric curved lines that progressively get longer as you work out from the center. These tangles work nicely with the floral and leafy tangles.

String Theory: Version II

This is my response to Weekly Challenge #24. It has been too long since I have participated in the challenge. I've checked in each week, and even sketched out a few tangles, but this one is the first one I have posted in a while. It is nice to have a leisurely day off to tangle.

The challenge is to only use stripes as the string. Now that I am writing about this, I'm wondering if I have accurately followed the directions. In the example, Laura's string is diagonal stripes. I have used horizontal stripes. Hmmmmm, it will be interesting to see if others diverge from the example.

You'll see I've left a good deal of white space. I'm wondering if you think it makes the piece look incomplete. I tend to fill every nook and cranny of the tile and thought I would leave some air in this one. We'll see if I am actually able to leave it alone or if I end up adding more patterns. Oh well, it is what it is!

7:00 PM Here is my second ZIA for this challenge. This time I decided to fill more of the space.

Speaking of stripes....look at the second optical illusion on this page. I would love to see someone replicate the effect in a Zentangle tile.

End of May

It has been too long since I've posted an update. May was a busy month for me. I have managed to find time to Zentangle, thankfully! May, June and July are the most hectic time of the year for me as far as work goes. Finding time to tangle is so helpful in keeping stress at bay. I haven't kept up with the weekly challenges, but I have doodled in my sketch book. Here are a couple of pieces that have helped me find my personal moments of Zen.

Weekly Challenge #18 - EGGZZZZellent

Last week I was traveling and missed the challenge so I was anxious to do this one. I've wanted to do an egg-y Zentangle for a couple of weeks, but held off hoping that Laura a.k.a "I am the Diva" would issue an egg related challenge. This one was a lot of fun for me.

This is my first attempt...the idea was to show the egg in a basket. Remember the Easter egg hunts of your childhood and that feeling when you found your first egg? That is the memory I tried to capture in this ZIA I call "The hunt is on."

I continued to play a bit more and ended up with the next two pieces. Drawing both took me back to memories of Easter Sunday and my grandmother's house. She would already have a big bowl of decorated eggs waiting when we arrived. She was more excited than we were to hide the eggs.

When she issued the challenge, Laura reminded us of the Pysanky tradition (The Ukrainian art of decorating eggs). I'm working on another Zentangle and will put more effort into the egg design than I did on this first piece. I went to the library where I found a few great books with lovely photos of the eggs and patterns for inspiration. Here are a few of them...ENJOY!

Imagine

I'm traveling this week and won't be able to blog, but I scheduled this post to go live in my absence. It is what it is.

Zee

I was playing around with a pattern the other day and came up with what I am calling "Zee" I think it has potential for variation used in combination with other tangles. For an example of it in use see the "Live, Laugh, Love" ZIA in the previous post.

Sweet 16: Mooka

Appropriately, Diva Laura selected the lovely new tangle "Mooka" for the Week 16 challenge. If you haven't seen it yet, Maria and Rick introduced a new, official tangle pattern in their April 3 newsletter.

Mooka looks complicated, but is actually very easy. Interestingly is it created using one, continuous stroke. The result is quite elegant. This was a fun challenge.

This first try is from my sketch journal. I did it Sunday night before I knew what the challenge would be. I was so excited when I read the Zentangle newsletter that I had to use the new tangle as soon as possible.

The next two examples were explorations of Mooka. I wish that I was as skilled as the rest of you had keeping my hand steady and keeping the distance between lines consistent. As I keep saying...practice, practice, practice will hopefully help me improve in those areas.

Now that you are getting to know me you have probably realized that my imagination far outstretches my skill. In this last piece I decided to experiment with my sparkly Sakura gel pens. The result is a bit garish in person, for once I am glad that the camera tones the image down. :-) Oh well, It Is What It Is!

As always, I am learning so much from you expert Zentanglers and welcome any tips/advice. Until next time...

Venntangle Challenge

Double the challenge, double the fun--this week ptrish40 issued the Venntangle Challenge This time the challenge is to merge two or more tangle patterns so they morph into a new pattern. My contributions turned out to be better as ideas than in execution, but still were challenging and fun. :-)

This first attempt is a combination of Adele and Quip. I call the new tangle "Qudele." The new tangle that emerged in this venntangle is my favorite of the three creations that I worked on last night.

Take two is a blending of Cadent and Quiltz into the new tangle "Quildent." In the end, the new tangle just gets a little muddy.

At the end of the night I was either punchy or bold and decided to go for a 3-fer with this combination of Claire, Finny's Florets and Pinho into "Hoclrets." Rather brassy for a newbie, don't cha' think?

More curves...I can't help myself!

I can't stop sketching curves! Here are a few more pieces of ZIA inspired by the weekly challenge. Since I had problems with my scanner I've been photographing my work. Unfortunately, I am unable to get out of my own way...thus explaining the shadow. Perhaps I could have let you think it was a skillful shading, but I'm not that good! Ha Ha

This one looks futeristic to me so I named it "Space Odyssey." What do you think if the use of wiggly lines with the Nipa tangle?

I named this next one "More curves" it is another piece that I played with early on right after the challenge topic was announced.

Finally, I call this last one "Tossed at sea" because when it was done it reminded me of an old wooden ship with sails. What do you see in this one?

I'm lovin' my curves, baby!

Diva Laura has done it again, this week's challenge: "Love your curves, baby," called on us to use only curved lines...a curved string paired with curved tangles and curved lines...WHEW! what a relief after the previous challenge to only use straight lines. I found this much easier--my pen seemed to flow across the tile (or page in some cases). Here are a few examples of the fun I'm having this week. As always, I would appreciate your feedback.

I am very pleased with how this piece turned out. I did not use a string; however all of the tangles are constructed of curved lines. Even the shapes in the center--they may look like they are made of straight lines, but I tried to make each line concave or convex. I do not have a title for this one yet.

I call this one "Going in circles." It is my first response to the challenge. I was really just playing around and I think that the lack of seriousness shines through. I drew this in my sketchbook, so the other edge (the only straight-ish lines) are the ones that I drew ti mimic the edges of a 3.5 x. 3.5 tile.

I have a few more that I have created in response to the challenge and will try to post them later.

Experiment

I have noticed that some of my fellow tanglers have created tile ensembles. One type is created by framing tiles created in workshops in 3x3, 4x4, 5x5 etc arrangements. The result is quite lovely. Another type of ensemble is created by laying blank tiles side-by-side, drawing a string over all of the tiles in the set, then drawing the tangles on each (without referring to any of the other tiles in the set). After all of the designs are complete the set is reassembled. I experimented with this second type of ensemble and the result is shown here. What do you think?

Star Gazing Part Deaux

When I got home from work this evening I was anxious to re-do the "Star Gazing" piece. (See first attempt in previous entry.) I think this one is better, but again I have spots that I do not care for. Using a straight-edge definately made a difference with the border. What do you think? I added color to version 1 and will also color this one at some point. This time, instead of using colored pencils I might give this one a watercolor wash. Hmmmm, that might be interesting.

Star Gazing

This is the result of doodling while watching American Idol last night. Perhaps I was influenced by the notion that I was watching the creation of a future star. There are parts of this that I really like, and other parts not so much. When I began, the intention was to fill the entire star space with big flowers such as you see on the points, somehow I lost that plan along the way. If I had a do-over I think I would stick to the original plan. I'm trying to hold true to working freehand as suggested by Rick and Maria; at the same time, I know this piece in particular would have benefited from the use of a ruler. I was working in my sketchbook and did use a stencil to create the initial string. I think I want to add color to this one, so I took this black and white photo so I can later compare the before and after. As always, I welcome your critique:

UPDATE

Here is the same piece with a touch of color. I used Prismacolor pencils.

I walk the line

Here are my initial attempts at the Diva's challenge. The challenge is to draw only using straight lines. As you can see, my work is rather primitive. I think that I work too quickly. If I can develop the habit of drawing in a slow, methodical way I think my stokes will be cleaner and the overall design more cohesive. Well, that is my personal critique--as a newbie to Zentangle I welcome your feedback.

I titled this first one "Constrained" as in constrained by the straight lines. The idea was for the focal point image to be tied down (held back) by the outer lines.

I elected to go very simple in the second attempt titled "Lightning Strike."

Finally, with "I walk the line" I decided to stick with straight edge tangle patterns.

A Name is just a name

I'm beginning to think that coming up with names for my ZIA is more difficult than drawing the tangles. Ha Ha here is an example of a recent creation:

"The sun also rises"? What was I thinking?

One hot mess...a.k.a Diva's Challenge #13

Oh lucky me, I picked last week to plunge in and begin participating in the the Diva's weekly challenge. Turned out that my attempts were one big ole hot mess!

For challenge #13 she pushed us to create Zentangle inspired art using our non-dominant hand, for me that meant using my left hand. WHAT?!?!?! it is difficult enough for me to draw with my RIGHT hand! Ha Ha! I was not looking forward to diving in to this piece--I doubt my attitude helped the outcome. Regardless, I'm not making any of my attempts public.

This week the new challenge is to create the design only using straight line tangles. I tend to use more curvy tangles as they can hide a multitude of sins. This is another daunting challenge for a newbie, but I WILL post something to share.

Until then....it is what it is!

Whimsical

Here are two new Zentangles from the weekend.

This first piece is called "Whimsy." It is the first time I did not feel compelled to fill the entire page. I think all of the white space sets it off nicely. There is also quite a bit of shading in this one--a technique which, of course, is lost in the scan.

I titled this second piece "Open Net." I did not set out to have the ragged edge to the netting, it just sort of happened. Once it did I thought having the fun elements floating out added a new dimension.

B's Border

Here is another tangle that I came up with last night. My scanner is not of a high quality so the example loses quite a lot of detail. The shading is lost.