" Spiral vs Paradox " - Weekly Challenge #62

Tangle 'Paradox' within a 'Spiral' string.  This week's theme has been suggested by Marizaan van Beek, CZT.  The Diva says:   "The challenge is to use spiral together with paradox.  Your basic string should be a spiral and tangled with paradox. More than one spiral string can be used.  LUCKILY FOR ME (and for you!) this week's challenge will be brought to you by Certified Zentangle Teacher, Marizaan van Beek, all the way from South Africa!" 

 It took a bit of planning for me to figure out how to tangle Paradox within the Spiral string, while, at the same time, leaving each Paradox pattern to stand on its own.  Final results were a surprise to me.  Each step seemed to lead me in a different direction.  Sorta like the path of life.  And in the end, there is something to share.

Traditional Zentangle - Sakura Micron Black #01; graphite shading.

Happy tangling.....
... and thank you for visiting.

" Golven " aka " Waves " - Weekly Challenge #61

The theme for the first Monday of the month is reserved for us... [we tangling humans who are creatively enthralled with the art of Zentangle (R)].  The first Monday of each month will feature a home-made tangle, chosen at random.  The Diva says:  "This week's tangle, called GOLVEN, comes to us from Mariët.  GOLVEN is the Dutch word for waves.  You can find instructions for her tangle here."

I often visit Mariet's blog.  Her flair for the artistic is quite evident.  She does such lovely work.

When Mariet first demonstrated her new tangle called Waves/Golven, I diligently gave it a try.  I gave it several tries.  Although I did not expect it to look exactly like hers, I did expect a reasonable facsimile.  Didn't happen.  So, I sorta pushed Waves/Golven over to the "Tangles that Frustrate Me" list.

After this challenge was posted, I knew I would give it another try.  Then I read Margaret Bremmer's post  "Two New Tangles Attempted.....".  This was my 'ahh-haa' moment.  And as Margaret said, "Then I realized that I hadn't exactly followed the directions!"

I had not exactly followed Mariet's directions!

I was omitting Step 4, which was to heavily shade the corners.  So, the secret is to follow the directions, huh?  Yep!  I love, love, love the way Waves/Golven looks when it's finished and shaded.  It's a very lovely and versatile tangle.  Thank you, Mariet.  Wonderful tangle.

Traditional Zentangle - Sakura Micron Black #01, graphite shading.

And thank you, Margaret, for pointing out the obvious.

Happy tangling.....
... and thank you for visiting.

March - in Tangle-a-Day Calendar

Today is March 1, 2012..... the 61st day of this year.

March 1 is (usually) the 60th day of the year, except in leap year, in the Gregorian calendar.  There are 305 days remaining until the end of the year.

A Pisces born on March 1 has strong views on morality yet does not confuse them with deeper, spiritual truths. Their need to understand their motivations is strong, and it defines their character. They are competitive and give their best at every opportunity, always believing that attitude, more than ability, promises success.

Here is my interpretation of March 1st, 2nd & 3rd in the Tangle-a-Day 2012 Calendar....

Sakura Micron Black #'s 005, 01, 03; #005 Brown; graphite shading

On this day in history:
     1961 President of the United States John F. Kennedy establishes the Peace Corps.
     1936 The Hoover Dam is completed.
     1912  Albert Berry makes the first parachute jump from a moving airplane.

Specials on this day:
     Beer Day, marked the end of beer prohibition in 1989 in Iceland
     Self Injury Awareness Day

Happy tangling.....
...and thank you for visiting.

" Duo Challenge - Cirquital & Munchin " - Weekly Challenge #60

Oh, goodie!!  DuoTangle week!!!  I love this. 

The Diva says:  "This week, try to PUSH yourself out of your comfort zones.  Your challenge, should you chose to accept it, is to create a tile or ZIA (Zentangle Inspired Art) using ONLY TWO TANGLES - Cirquital & Munchin - and nothing else.   It's trickier than it seems. "

Like I said, I really love the DuoTangle theme.  Zen time..... 1-2-3...... dots, border, string.... GO! 

I wanted to make this a loosy-goosy, free-flowing, non-conforming type of design duo, so I may have given Cirquital and Munchin a bit of variation......, but that is allowed, isn't it?  Lol.  This was fun.

Traditional Zentangle - Sakura Micron Black #'s 01, 03; graphite shading

Thank you, Laura!

And congratulations to the newest group of  CZTs in Class #8!!  Welcome to the family.

Happy tangling.....
... and thank you for visiting.

" Mardi Gras " - Challenge #59

A week of celebration....... Mardi Gras!  This weekly challenge is the closest I have ever come to celebrating this festival..... and it was, indeed, fun to do the Mardi Gras research!  The Diva's challenge goes like this:  "Mardi Gras translates to Fat Tuesday - which traditionally was a day to eat rich/fatty foods - to INDULGE... one last Hurrah before Lent began the next day on Ash Wednesday.  This week's challenge - create a tile or ZIA using the prompt: Mardi Gras."  

I have always been fascinated by "jester" characters in movies.  Why?  Perhaps because they represented humor and brought a sense of reality to even the darkest of medieval plots.  (... and I really hate movies with a dark, morbid storyline.)  Maybe 'reality' is not the politically correct word here, but for me, humor & reality are a match made in heaven.

Zentangle Tile 3.5" sq. - Sakura Micron Black #01, 005; Sakura Micron Colors #05; PrismaColor Pencils; graphite shading.

Thanks, Laura.

Happy tangling.....

... and thank you for visiting.

" Diamonds " - Weekly Challenge #58

The theme for drawing this week's Zentangle or ZIA (Zentangle Inspired Art) challenge has been offered by Diana Hirsch, CZT.  Diana says:  "The Four Diamonds Fund was started by Charles and Irma Millard after their son, Christopher, lost his 3 year battle with cancer in 1972.   Symbolic of the traits Christopher felt were needed to defeat cancer, he wrote a story in which the knight Sir Millard overcomes obstacles to achieve the four diamonds of Courage, Wisdom, Honesty and Strength."

While meditating over this tile, I found my peripheral thoughts very open and allowing apprehension to enter.  Hmmm.  What's going on? 

I was so concerned with "doing justice" to the diamond that I lost track of the Zentangle methodology.  The outcome was a bit of a surprise.

Traditional Zentangle Tile - Sakura Micron Black #'s 005, 01, 08;graphite shading; Prismacolor pencils



Thank you Laura and Diana.

Happy tangling...
... and thank you for visiting.

Happy Birthday Auntie Doris!  Love you!!

"UMT v. 1"- Sanibelle - Weekly Challenge #57

On the first Monday of each month, the Diva will announce a challenge which features a tangle that has been created by one of us human inhabitant of earth.

"UMT"..... "Use My Tangle" 

Laura says:  "I came up with this feature because so many of you have created fabulous patterns, but I never seem to get around to trying them.  So this week, I used a random number generator do choose the lucky winner!  And this week's challenge is: Tricia Faraone!  Nice!!  I have been eyeing up her tangle Sanibelle for quite some time.  I was happy to dive in and play with it!  To find the directions for this tangle, please follow this link to her site .  It's such a fun and delicate pattern, and i can see this finding it's way into my repertoire! "

Well, was I surprised??  OMG, yes.

This week, I spent most of my computer time surfing and viewing the Challenge entries as tanglers used Sanibelle in their Zentangle or ZIA.  Wow.  I'm overwhelmed at the creative talents of my fellow tanglers.  I've seen so many  gorgeous and lovely and beautiful works of art... and learned so many different tanglations!  

Thank you to everyone who has penned my tangle, Sanibelle - and especially appreciated are the kind words and comments.  Thank you so much.

I started this ZIA a few weeks ago and filed it away because.... I didn't like it.  Today I finished it.

ZIA - 6" sq. Bristol; Sakura Micron Black #'s 01, 08, 005; graphite shading.

Thank you for this challenge, Laura.

Thank you for visiting...

 .... and happy tangling.

" Non Dominatrix " - Weekly Challenge #56

This week, we are challenged to draw our Zentangle (or ZIA) while holding the pen in our non-dominant hand.  This is truly a lesson in concentration.  First of all, just holding the pen between the fingers of my left (non-dominant) hand was a giggle.  (A child in pre-school would probably conquer that challenge much more gracefully than I did.)  Then, as I tried to stabilize the pen between my fingers, it was funny to watch it glide above the surface of the paper, seemingly mocking each stroke, but no ink appeared on the tile!   OMG, the pen is too short!  It doesn't reach the paper!

The pen finally did manage to reach the surface of the paper and leave its mark.  More giggles.  The black ink is twitching and squirming right before my eyes.  No straight/crisp lines here!! 

Well, this process continued until I was finished with my quirky creation.  And the zen-time passed so quickly.  What an accomplishment!  The muscles in my face kinda hurt 'cuz I must have been smiling during the entire 50 minute process! 

Oh, this was, for sure, a challenging challenge! 

Traditional Zentangle - 3.5" sq. tile; Sakura Micron Black #01, Brown #01; graphite shading.  (Brown ink was used for part of this tangle because I picked-up the wrong pen.  Intended for the whole tangle to be done in black ink.)

Thanks, Ms. Diva, for a fun challenge.

Happy tangling.....

.....and thanks for stopping by.

Tangle-a-Day - Finishing January

This Tangle-a-Day calendar is one of the best Zentangle-related items in my Zentangle toy box!  It's a fabulous journal, and I (used to) hate journaling!  But Zenatangle-journaling is my new passion.  (Would that be called Zent-ournaling?)   More information here . 

January tangles are finished.....

 

.....and tangling on February's pages has begun.

You'll find Carole Ohl's 'Tangle-a-Day' 2012 Calendar here.

Happy tangling....

... and thank you for visiting.

" Moebius Trip " - Weekly Challenge #55

For this challenge, the Diva has once again delved into her 'string theory' bag-o-tricks. 

Her youngest son was born with a disorder called Moebius Syndrome, a congenital nerve disorder affecting cranial nerves VI and VII, which control lateral movement of the face.  Laura says:  "To raise awareness of this disorder, use the Moebius Syndrome Foundation's logo as your string, or create a moebius strip out of paper and tangle that... or some other awesome creative thing that i haven't thought of."

The logo is a very lovely, flowing design that can confuse the heck out of you if you try to "follow" the surface lines and create a 'flowing-in-the-right-direction' tangle!  (You will understand what I mean if you have participated in this challenge......)

 

ZIA - 6" sq. Bristol - Sakura Micron Black #01, #005; graphite for shading; Prismacolor Colored Pencils

Really did like this challenge.  Fun to do.

Happy tangling....

... and thanks for stopping by.

PS:  Happy Birthday, Mia.  Love you!