Life's little lessons

I am a Zentangle addict!   I do it anywhere and everywhere.  I have been tangling for about 6 months now and recently became a CZT.  I believe in this technique 100%, but even with all this confidence I sometimes feel myself shying away when people ask about it because I am trying to avoid the dreaded "doodling" comment that I know is coming.  As anybody who tangles knows, tangling is best explained by doing, not by telling.

I had to attend a conference yesterday about neuro science, not the most stimulating topic.  I wanted to test out the theory that I would retain more by tangling during the conference so I grabbed one of my Zentangle kits and headed out.  I was concerned that others at the conference would think I was not paying attention and that my fellow firefighters and paramedics would not "get it" but I decided to sit down and jump in.

I managed to complete 5 tiles in 7 hours:

Tangles:  Cubine, Crescent Moon, Static,
Dragonair, Socc, Antidot

My first tile was very traditional since I was getting a lot of questions about "How do you start?"  I decided to do the type of tile I would do in a class with the addition of some borders.

Tangle:  Rick's Paradox

My second tile turned into a monotangle.  Originally I had planned to add some other tangles to this tile, but Rick's Paradox is so much fun that it just took over.  This tile has a boo boo (it may not be obvious but I know it's there, lol) but that error made me pay closer attention and now I have some hints and tricks for my students.

Tangles:  Florz, Flux, Tripoli, Printemps,
Huggins, Baton

You may notice that all my other images are scanned and this one is photographed (with my iphone, no less!).  Thats because my friend Sue was so intrigued by this tile that I gave it to her.  She was really impressed with how the tangles are "layered" which is achieved by the Zentangle "draw behind" method.

Tangles:  Munchin, Tagh, Tripoli, Tipple

 Another traditional Zentangle.

Tangles:  Hollibaugh, Bales, Printemps, Bault

For tile number 5 I decided to play with my new tangle Bault (directions coming soon, I promise!).

When the day was over I did feel like I had retained more information from the conference.  The only downside is that while I felt like it was easier to concentrate on the speaker, I was also acutely aware of any background noise that was going on.  As for my anxiety about explaining myself and worrying what others would think of my tangling, it was all for nothing.  No one seemed to have an issue with it and a few of my friends even asked if I would be interested in teaching Zentangle to their children's classes.  From now on, I'm going to give up on the worrying.

Punzel

I was very excited to see that this weeks Diva Challenge was to use the new tangle Punzel.  Maria and Rick had introduced this tangle while I was at the CZT training in Providence, so I had the privilege of watching Maria draw it first hand.  Punzel is a tangleation of Chainging.  This tangle gives a great affect because it looks so complicated but is actually pretty easy one you get the hang of it.  It has become one of my new favorites!

Tangles:  Punzel, Tipple, Flux, Barberpole

Playing catch up

Spending an awesome week in Providence at the CZT training put me a little behind on my Diva Challenges so I thought I would post them today.

Diva Challenge # 42

The challenge was to create a tile that symbolized hope in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness.

Tangles:  Jonqal, Huggins, Locar

Diva Challenge #43

The challenge was to create a tile using the sunflower logo of The Sunflower Fund, an organization in South Africa that supports a bone marrow registry.

Tangles:  Ramy, Printemps, Beadlines

I have a GREAT excuse!

I know I have been neglecting my blogging responsibilities for the last few weeks but I have a GREAT excuse!!!!!

This seminar was an amazing experience.  I know it sounds cliche, but I can't even put most of it into words.  I came away with new friends, amazing art, a renewed sense of artistic confidence, and the ability to take an art form that I love and believe in and teach it to others.  The experience was overwhelming in the best possible way.  I am truly thankful to Rick and Maria, their amazing family and staff, and to all the new friends I made  who showed such amazing mutual respect and admiration for each others work  as we all took the Certified Zentangle Teacher journey together.  Of course, I also have to thank my husband who agreed to a vacation in Providence, RI for my mostly selfish reasons (even though I know he had a great time regardless!).

Over the next few weeks I will be sharing some of new and exciting things I learned and people I met, but even if I recounted every bit of the experience in intimate detail I would not be able to do it justice.  It was a truly amazing event.


And lets not forget another important event, this weeks Diva Challenge!

This week the Diva challenged us to make a large version of a single tangle and fill it with other tangles.  It just so happens that I was at one of my favorite lunch spots, Willowood Market and Cafe, and saw that they had recently hung an employee art show.  I quickly noticed this painting:

The artist, Mike, is the chef at Willowood.  I told him what a great tangle pattern this would make and he agreed to let me copy it so I could come up with the steps which I will be posting later this week.  I told Mike that I thought it appropriate that he name it and he settled on Bault (pronounced Bo) which is a variation of his last name.  I plan on working with this tangle on a smaller scale and will post some additional tiles with the directions, but for now here is my completed challenge tile:

Tangles:  Bault, Keeko, Hollibaugh, Printemps, Huggins
W2, Socc, Knightsbridge, Munchin, Yincut, Shattuck,
Chemystery, Tipple, Msst, Tagh

A whole lot of firsts

This piece represents a whole bunch of firsts for me.  It's my first piece large piece, 8 inches x 8 inches.  It's my first done with sepia pens, first colored paper, and the first time I have colored a piece using Prismacolor pencils.  I also made the Zendala template myself from scratich using only a compass so I'm pretty proud of it.  Now that I have the knack of it, I think I will be making a lot more of these.  The Mi Teinte paper is perfect for this type of work,  I love how the coloring came out, and there is something very satisfying about creating a larger piece.  Plus, they make great gifts.

Tangles:  Printemps, Buttercup, Onamato, Socc

Better late than never

This is the latest that I have ever been posting a challenge and I wish I could come up with a good reason, but I can't.  Plain laziness is my excuse this week but I guess we all have those kind of weeks once in a while, right?

This weeks challenge from the Diva was a duo tangle.  We were to use the tangles Opus and Jonqal to create a tile.  The first time I did a duo tangle for a challenge we used Verdigogh and Dex which was a real challenge, and quite frankly, not one that I enjoyed.  I was quite vocal about my dislike and heard about it from several people.  I tried to take a more positive approach to this one, maybe its the attitude, maybe its the tangles, but in the end this one was much less stressful.  I'm quite pleased with the result.

Tangles:  Opus, Jonqal