COLOR

I know I am not alone when I say I have a phobia about color. I have tried to add color to some of my art work without very satisfying results. So with the purchase of this book:

I have decided to face it full on and get some help using mixed media. Each chapter is a new exercise using color and supplies. So far my work looks very similar to the authors but I figure I need to learn somehow and if copying in the beginning is how I am going to build this muscle, so be it. Hopefully as I work through this book a little more of my artistic genius will come out. The first two exercises:

 COLOR WHEEL

COLOR WORDS

I need to go back (something I have never done before, done is done) and add some tangles and spruce up the first page. I think this challenge is going to be fun.

I am also hoping to finish a complete journal this year. A journal that I will be doing along with about 150 other Certified Zentangle Teachers. I hope to share many of the pages of this exciting experience during the coming year. I will also try to keep up with the Diva's challenges and also Square One Facebook Focuses. It will be a busy year. I might even consider daycare once a week for the dog to free up some time!

One last thing. A word of my intent for the New Year. Last years was Forgive, this years is Wellbeing!

Looking forward to a happy, fulfilling year. Thanks for stopping by.

Simplicity

I know I have been drawing many feathers lately but the challenge from the Diva this week is "keep it simple silly" aka K.I.S.S.

There is nothing so simple as drawing a line. This feather is made up of many single lines that come together to form something the looks much more complicated and beautiful!

Sakura spelled backwards is Arukas

Arukas is a new tangle which Molly Hollibaugh came up with and it is our challenge tangle this week. This will be the first time for me to try this tangle as I haven't found the time to play. It happens that today we are experiencing a Noreaster' here in the eastern states and it has provided me some down time. The weather is nasty (although the dog and I have been out in a lot of it today) and I have rescheduled some things so I could stay home and mostly out of the weather.

I did two tiles, one white, one black. After adding the "bubbles to the black tile I felt it took away a bit from the Arukas so I did not continue with them. I like the results anyway.

Playing with feathers

I have always loved feathers. As a child I would collect all the feathers I found and stick them in around my mirror in my bed room. I don't know what eventually happened to all of them. I'm sure my mother had a field day when I left for college throwing them all out. I still love feathers. Since loosing both my mother and my eldest son in recent years past, I feel a special connection to feathers that happen to be in my path, as I think it is their way of keeping in touch with me.

I had recently been inspired by the talented Linda Barrett of a feather she had photographed with water droplets on it. Linda not only is wonderful photographer but she also is a bookbinder and crafty in many ways. She knows of my attachment to feathers and is generous with her findings along her way.

Here is her picture:

I have drawn feathers in the past but it has been some time and I have never drawn one with a water droplet. So I have been practicing, practicing, practicing. 

Here are some of my attempts:

And then I think I got it:

Thank you Linda for the inspiration. I feel very relaxed when doing these drawings. It might be the beginning os a series!

Challenge #195: "Turning Old into New"

Thank you Sandy Hunter for a creative challenge to look at our tangles in a new way. We are to take a grid based tangle and make it free flowing or take a fee flowing tangle and put it into a grid. I tried one tile with Skein used as a border and Verve put into a grid. Here are the results:

There are so many great examples at iamthedivaczt.blogspot.com you should really take some time and check them all out.

I have not taken up challenges or focus tangles at Square One lately because I have been hooked on my inkblot pictures.

Here is the latest one I have finished.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I am already looking forward to spring!

Larger Scale

I have been experimenting with a bit bigger format.

"Explosion" 6" x10"

Auraknot, Diva Dance, Rain, Printemps, UNME, Cubine, Tripoli

 "Lost in the Garden" 5" x 7"

Auraknot, Mooka, Springle, Fescu, Printemps

Mooka as a String 5" x 7"

Diva Dance, Crescent Moon, Betweed, Bunzo, Camelia

Challenge #191 Betweed Monotangle

Betweed filling some very odd shapes:

Challenge #190 Breast Cancer Awareness

Because October is Breast Cancer Awareness month the challenge this week from the Diva was to use pink in some way.  I color washed my tile with pink watercolors and because I was worried I had used to much water I added salt to soak it up. The result was many "halos" with a center pink spot looking very much like adorable breasts. I decide to just highlight those spots.

Pepper in Pink

Challenge #189 YUMA

Yuma, a new tangle by Tina-akua Hunziker. You will see step outs for this tangle on her blog HERE.

As you can see I took it for a ride but, I'm not sure if I don't have enough rice shapes or what, as I ended up having many long lines in each of these tiles. I still like the results. Very simple tangle to get lost in. Thanks Tina!

India Ink and what you may not see!

I have recently taken up india ink "splotches" as a way to spark some creativity that has been lacking lately. The method is simple and has probably been described many times but, simply you transfer some india ink with a straw onto paper (I am using a Fabriano Cold Press watercolor paper 140Lb) and then blow out the drop in any or every direction that it will go. The first one I made I did not take a photo before I started adding Zentangles but, I will tell you, both my husband and I thought that it was a very dark looking thing indeed. I added some red zentangle designs and added aura's here and there and I thought it looked a bit better. My son came to visit the next day and he came out of my room and said "I love your piglet!" I didn't know what he was talking about but, you will now see nothing else!

It is amazing to me that I did not see it before. Sorry for the horrible picture but, you get the idea. The next one my husband was anxious to see what developed because he thought it was much more "delicate." Here is the "splotch" before picture:

Well the lines may be delicate but I managed to make something "sinister" out of it. Yes I have a dark side! I am not sure it is done quite yet but here is a look:

This has been fun and it is a nice way to use India Ink as a string for Zentangle art work. I would encourage you to try it out.

Weekly Challenge #188 Supporting the LGBT ommunity

The Challenge this week from the lovely Diva actually comes from a big hearted 12 year old boy who's name is Daniel. He has a friend who is gay and he thought that the Zentangle community could lend some support to the LGBT community by tangling with color or using tangles that begin with L, G, B, and T.  

I am definitely a supporter. We all share this earth and if we were all the same what a boring place it would be. We should celebrate our differences and learn from them.

I just had to use color as it seems that is a way to identify the community. I was afraid I would cover up to much of the beautiful colors but, I think enough shows through. 

Thank you Daniel for asking us to open our eyes and lend support.

Tombow markers, Aquafleur, Printemps

Challenge #187 Blind String

I love a blind string but, eyes open or closed, my strings always have loops in them! I combined this weeks challenge with Square One's Focus tangle, "Pendrills".  When I was finished with the "Antidots" and "Pendrills" it reminded me of Carole Ohl's "Bridgen" so I added in all the circley
lines.

 Blind String

Pendrills, Antidots 

Weekly Challenge #185: Phicops and DivaDance

This was a fun challenge as I had spirals on the brain. I had been playing with Alaura and had also just spotted Margaret Bremners post on "curvy ING" , she is so amazing, so a spiral or curving Phicops it was to be.

Tan Zendala tile, brown micron, black micron, white and terra cotta prisma colored pencil.

Phicops and Diva Dance

Challenge #184: ING by Molly Hollibaugh

I have been away from challenges for a couple weeks so it is nice to be back. This is the first time I have used ING and I can already see how flexible a tangle it can be. I started this tile one day and finished it over the next two. I was not liking this tile at first but, with persistence and refusing to acknowledge the little voice in my head that said "throw it out" over and over, I am submitting a tile that I think works.

Ing, Mooka, Flux, Printemps

Back to Basics

I was fortunate enough to attend Rick, Maria, Molly and Martha's presentation at Kripalu Yoga Center in the Berkshires of Massachusetts this past weekend. It was open to all, so there was a nice mixture of CZT's who just can't get enough and people very new to the practice. It was refreshing to be instructed on the basic tangles that teach you so much about the Zentangle method and also be reminded that you only need a handful of tangles to reap the benefits.

Many of us have moved from the simplicity of the 3.5 inch square tile, pencil, and pen to boat loads of supplies that overtake our desks and need totes upon totes to lug them around. It is very refreshing to get back to the basics and feel the freedom from pencils, pens, and markers.

If you have not yet found the facebook page called Square One: Purely Zentangle, check it out! It is a community that only works with the basics of 3.5" square tile, pencil and black pen. There are tangles suggested weekly to get your juices following and it is a place to share your daily black and white tiles. With almost 1000 members, there is a lot to be learned from others work. The photo section is an amazing resource to learn how individuals have used tangles in so many different ways.

Here are some tiles from the retreat:

Tripoli

Munchin

Marasu, Poke Leaf, 'Nzeppel

Remember where it all began!

Random Acts of Zentangle

Random acts of Zentangle are usually tiles that have been lovingly tangled and left on a bench, at a restaurant, on a train or airplane, for someone to find and be surprised. Since where I spend my summers is full of shells I have tangled on shells and returned them to the beach for some one to hopefully find. We had a horrific storm last night and when I went to the beach the tides had been extremely high. I only found one shell that was cleverly hidden by a friend that was in a structure unreachable by the waves. Someday maybe where you least expect it you may find one of my swept away shells. Would that not be cool? Here are a few:

P.S. I had the pleasure of meeting three young ladies who have found my shells! One who actually had participated in a Zentangle class in school in MA! After the huge storm and very high tides, this morning brought a super low tide and the shells had been moved around but, obviously still findable! Lovely.

Weekly Challenge #180: MacDee

The tangle for this week is by Anneke Van Dam and looks like classic Scottish, checkered fabric. You can she her step outs HERE.

As my father is Scottish on his dad's side, his last name being Buchanan, we have a Tartan as all Scottish Clans do. I thought I might try to incorporate some colors in this tangle but, as I am a color phobic and it looked a bit difficult to pull off I decided against it!
                           


            What I did come up with is adding a MacDee background to an existing Bijou tile:

                                                                 

And then a second one I tried intertwining the leaves and Mooka in the fabric:

I think there is a bit too much white space for me so I may go back to the drawing board, so to speak, and try this one again.

Bijou!

New tiles have been introduced from headquarters and they are an adorable 2"x 2" tile. You can read the Zentangle Newsletter for a better introduction HERE.

While waiting for my Bijou tiles to arrive I thought I would cut some from watercolor paper to try it out. They are delightful! I did not realize until my Bijou tiles arrived that I had cut them to 1.5" x 1.5" square, so I have a variety to show you. I also want to show you a calling card that Joyce Crucitti gave me at Tangle U that was only 1" x 1" square! Here are all the sizes:

On the left are the Bijou tiles, upper right a regular 3.5" square tile, just below that two 1.5" and Joyce's 1" tile mounted on a backing. Who know's how small one could go.

Here is my tile for the Bijou challenge today.

This is a Bijou tile displaying Mooka!

Weekly Challenge #178: "Duotangle by the Letter!"

Initials!

Using our initials we are to create a tile. I am involved in a swap going on now which I can't really talk about until the news is released but, it involves using only certain letters of the alphabet for tangles. I found this very liberating because it narrowed the field in which you could work. Too many choices for me sometimes makes my brain hurt. I have a terrible time gong into large department stores to shop for clothes for this same reason. Give me two or three pairs of pants to choose from and I am happy. If you haven't noticed there are so many "named" tangles these days it is sometimes stressful to pick a couple to work with.

So I found this very relaxing. I did two tiles, one for my first and last name DC,

Dyon, Changing

And since I sign my tiles with my middle initial I did a tile that was DMC,

Demi, Maryhill, Chemystery

I really like how Maryhill came out looking like an M (no my middle name is not Mary!). I didn't see it until after I signed it as you can see my initials are in the top left corner!

Less for me is more relaxing.

Challenge #177 "Truffle"

The challenge come to us this week from Carolin Broady the youngest CZT so far! She has come up with a tangle called Truffle which you can see HERE. I commend her on designing a tangle, it is much more difficult then it may seem, at least for some of us (me). I struggled with this one all week to come up with some thing I liked and then just decided to draw. Well, I have not had the drawing bug for a while, I guess I am on the wane right now in the drawing sector so what I ended up with is a weird sort of an underwater, way underwater, creature. A challenge is a challenge, so here it is.

I used a yellow micron on the tan tile this week as an experiment.Not sure I love it but, it was worth the try. Truffle, Verve, Black Pearlz and Zinger

Weekly Challenge #176: "B.Y.O.B"

I really like to use stains on tiles. Maria has been doing it for some time using tea or wine for shading. Amy Broady CZT challenges us this week to "Bring Your Own Beverage" to stain a tile or tangle with the beverage of choice, or simply sit in a beverage house and create a tile. I used many different staining mediums but settled on this tile that was stained with coffee and turmeric.

Mooka in black micron, Verve in blue micron

Tomorrow would have been my son's 28th birthday and of course, he has been heavy on my mind. His ashes were set free off the coast of Maine "so he could travel the world." I always feel that he is around us in Maine especially but, we are also surrounded by water in Boston too. I didn't see this while tangling but upon reflection I see the three of us, myself, my husband and my son, Dylan in the Mookas, surrounded by the swirling ocean (Verve) that is Austin and then by the shining world. Somethings just come out on their own without a conscious thought.

Weekly Challenge #175: Crux

It took me a while to get to this challenge and I don't like to see any of the other entries before I complete my tiles so that I will not be influenced in my drawing but, Henrike Bratz has done a lovely job of illustrating this tangle and the many variations possible that it is hard to know if I was influenced or not.  I figured this would be a mono - tangle since the space is not that big, so I experimented with all of those tools that I complained about last week.

This tile was started with a Zenstone "wash" followed by drawing the pattern with a black glaze Gelly Roll pen. Once the first layer was dry I went over the lines of the flower to make it a bit more raised. Then I used both black and white Prismacolor pencils to lighten and darken certain areas.

This tile was simply brown and black micron and black Prismacolor pencil.

Weekly Challenge #174: Superimposing Strings

As I sit at my "art table" and look around me I see two pencil cases with 36 - 90 pencils each, three good sized pencil boxes filled with microns and other inky pens, a large box of water colors and a desk set of Tombow markers not to mention all the different types of paper I have on hand.  I have been thinking for a while that I need to get back to the basics.

There is something that frees up the mind when you only consider a 3.5 X 3.5 square of fabulous paper, a pencil, and a black micron. This is what this challenge reminded me, go back to the basics. It seemed so easy and I finished without much thought. It came to fruition in about twenty minutes. With all the tools I have available to me comes chaos, skepticism, and frustration. I think it is time to clear the table and make things peaceful again.

I chose two strings at random from the tangle pattern web site without looking first, #7 and #24. Together they looked like this:

Even though there were so many strings I could not possibly use them all, I chose what felt pleasing to me and  ended up with this tile which I like very much.

Quabog, Onamoto, Diva Dance, Windfarm, Garlic

It is the simple things that make one happy. I need to remember that!

Weekly Challenge #173: Redux, Remix, Revisit Your Comfort Tangle

The challenge this week is brought to us by fellow CZT Sharla Hicks and she challenges us to revisit our comfort tangles and do something different. I am not feeling all that creative today so I kept it simple.  I used a pink micron pen, which is not usually part of my color scheme and also Tombow markers for shading. I do like the depth it gave the Printemps.  If interested you can find Sharla's tutorials on using different methods for shading HERE.

Printemps in Pick micron pen shaded with Tombow marker 761

Mooka in black micron pen shaded with Tombow marker N75

On Renaissance Tile

Auraknot and Mooka Intertwined

I am posting these step outs with the understanding that you already know how to draw both tangles. If you do not know these tangles, follow the links AURAKNOT and MOOKA to see how they are done.

These four tiles were drawn free hand so they are not exact from step to step. I numbered the Mooka so you could keep track if they look a bit different from the one before.

1.To start, I draw one full round of Auraknot followed then by two Mooka.

2. Again, draw a round of Auraknot followed by two (or as many as you would like) Mooka

3. Now I switch and draw the Mooka first and then another round of Auraknot

4. You can stop at any time with this. I have added two more Mooka and then several more rounds of Auraknot. I feel the added Auraknot lines add to the "inter-twininess"

Have fun with this. I is also fun to add some Mooka curling out!