Art Journal - AWE(some)

It's almost Christmas, 2015. Up until now, I've used this blog mostly for Zentangle dare and challenge entries, but I want to begin writing about the rest of the art and creative journeys I'm experiencing. Who would have thought that at 60+ I would be spending so much time enjoying and exploring various artistic venues? and meeting so many new and wonderful people! First a quick summary. In 2011 I discovered Zentangle inadvertently at a quilting show. Long story short, I fell in love with it and got Certified as a Zentangle Teacher in Rhode Island in 2012. I've taught a bit, mostly small groups or individuals (and friends) who reach out to me. I'm retired and so this for love (and pocket money), not as a business. The best part of being Certified though is that it allows me to join in with other CZT's at meetings, get-togethers, focus groups, and conferences. I've met an amazing number of absolutely wonderful people! This is a truly wonderful, creative, supportive, interesting community. I wish I had been blogging about my experiences much earlier. This year alone, I went to a "Tropical Tangled Garden" workshop in Elora, Ontario, hosted by Brenda Shaver-Shahin, and taught by Cherryl Moote; "CanTangle: in Regina, hosted by Lisa Heron, with numerous teachers including Margaret Bremner, Laura Harms, Bette Abdu, Cris Letourneau, Molly Hollibaugh, Lisa Heron, and Brenda Shaver-Shahin; and "Camerida", hosted by Chris Titus and taught by Patti Shaffner, Sonya Yencer, Cherryl Moote, Chris Titus… This workshops were awesome and inspiring, but the people, the swag, the food and accommodation, the energy… that's what makes these experiences life changing. So in 2016 I'm planning on taking this journey a bit further. To start with, I've joined the FB group "Our Tangled Lives 2016" and will be doing my first art journal. There was a pre-prompt for those of us who are anxious to start, to choose a word as an intention for 2016. My word is AWE(some). Awe is a reverential fear or wonder. It's a word I picked painted on a pebble at CanTangle (that pebble travels with me in my Zentangle kit); it's a word that has applied to this years experiences, and it's a word I'm carrying into next year. I'm in AWE of Rick and Maria and the Zentangle world they have introduced and nurtured. I'm in AWE of all the truly wonderful people in the Zentangle Community who keep sharing and giving encouragement! I'm in AWE of the fabulous Zentangle art I see every day! But most, I am in AWE of what I am able to create and open my heart to!

Zentangle Challenge #246 - Guest, Dilip Patel; Monotangle Trees

This week's Zentangle Challenge (www.iamthedivaczt.blogspot.ca) is a guest challenge from Dilip Patel. We are to use one tangle to depict a tree. I chose Kuziem by Diana Schreur, which is one of most recent favourite finds. This does look like I also used Flux, but I'm justifying it because it's an "embellishment", and is used in her step-outs. I quite like my tree!

Zentangle Challenge #244 - Tripoli

Tripoli is an acquaintance that I admire, and am actively trying to make my friend… But I find it difficult, and I stress when dealing with it - not at all Zen-like! As with some friendships, sometimes you have to work at it more than others, and I will be friends with Tripoli… someday. This week's Diva Challenge from Laura at www.iamthedivaczt.blogspot.com is to use the Tangle Tripoli. I'm glad for this "opportunity" to push myself. My most recent tile, which I quite like, is with the word "Awe", which has become my spirit word in Zentangle. I chose a stone with Awe written on it at CanTangle and it travels with me in my pencil case, and I wrote the word on my arrow project from Camerida. I am in AWE of Rick and Maria and the Zentangle world they have introduced and nurtured. I am in AWE of all the truly wonderful people in the Zentangle Community who just keep on sharing and giving. I am in AWE of the fabulous Zentangle art I see every day. But also, I am in AWE of what I have been able to create and open my heart to! This picture with three tiles on it is of my first three attempts - all have aspects I like, and other aspects… not so much.

Zendala Dare #116

I did two Zendala's for this week's Dare from Erin at www.thebrightowl.blogspot.com. Though it doesn't show, the first one was done on a regular Zendala tile, and the second on an 8.5 inch circle. I like the second better because it gave me the opportunity to showcase some tangles that work well in circular spaces. I wanted something to balance the detail of the central orbs and I think Zplode works well. I'm happy with both of these!

Zentangle Challenge #243

This week's Diva Challenge from Erin at www.iamthedivaczt.blogspot.ca is to leave lots of white space. So hard to do! I really wanted to add more… The first time I did Vega was at my CZT12 training, and it's now one of my favourites. I love to tangle on beer coasters, and found some blank ones for sale on Amazon.com but they won't ship them to Canada (sigh), so luckily Chris Titus allowed me to have some stuff shipped to her address in Wyoming, N.Y. and I picked them up when I went to the wonderful meet-up Camerida! I got a box of the round coasters, and a box of the square ones (which just happen to be 3.5 inches! The material is a sort of cardboard but the microns draw beautifully on them - this challenge was my first opportunity to try them out. I foresee some fun classes and gifts with these coasters!

Zendala Dare #115 + use tangles that start with (all or some) letters: THANKS

I wasn't too fond of this week's Zendala Challenge from Erin at www.thebrightowl.blogspot.com, because I thought there were too many spaces and awkward ones at that…. But I try to do all of the Dares, and I was frankly quite surprised and pleased with my end result with this one. Goes to reinforce that you never know where Zentangle is going to take you! I initially wanted to use tangles for all the letters in the word "THANKS" (which was part of this week's dare), but I decided to stop without using an H or an N, and I'm happy that I left the open space! I'm not sure why it looks like the paper is blue - it's not - it's off-white water-colour paper; but I kind of like it blue!

Zendala Dare #114

Another great template this week from Erin at www.thebrightowl.blogspot.com. Not one of my favourite end products, but I had fun with the colour. And at least it's on time; last weeks entry went in late. I've been busy preparing for a new set of Zentangle classes, and finishing up a few of the many projects from Camerida (a wonderful weekend spent at the studio of Chris Titus in Wyoming, N.Y. with 25 Canadian and American CZT's)! I've been using this blog only for Zentangle challenges and Dares, but I'm thinking that I should be writing about the other wonderful Zentangle adventures I've been on this year: Tropical Tangle Garden with Cherryl Moote in Elora, Ontario, CanTangle in Regina, Saskatchewan, and Camerida in Wyoming, N.Y. Stay tuned ….

Zendala Dare #113

My entry for last week's Zendala Dare from Erin at www.thebrightowl.blogspot.com is late because I've been down with bronchitis, and most of my artistic energy has been used getting ready for a couple of classes, and finishing a couple of the fantastic projects from our weekend in the state of N.Y. at Camerida. Without more chatter, here is my entry:

Zendala Dare #112

This is my tile for Erin's Zendala Dare (www.thebrightowl.blogspot.com). Love the template, but I didn't have much time to play with it. I really like the blue in 'Nzeppel and want to do more with blue… I see some on Renaissance tiles, and I'd love to try that! I'm off to Wyoming, N.Y. tomorrow to attend a CZT get together called Camerida. I'm so excited and nervous!

Zendala Dare #109

This is for this week's Zendala Dare from Erin at www.thebrightowl.blogspot.com. I really like this template, but agree with her that the outside parts seemed a bit awkward, so I added in lines to make leaf-like petals around the edge. I haven't used Ixorus or Braze in a really long time, and I'm glad I re-discovered them! Not liking the way I shaded Braze because it doesn't look like I wanted it to, but then again, it has a very different look and that's one of the great things about Zentangle - NO MISTAKES - and it's ever so forgiving and surprising! This tile is done on white water-colour paper, but looks blue in the photo - I wish it was blue; the photo looks better! I'm off to Glasgow and Belfast for the next week and a bit, so I'm going to miss next week's challenge, and may not have time to view and comment on the entries until I get back. That's the thing about traveling… I love it, but dearly miss the Zentangle time, and of course, my cats….

Zentangle Challenge #235 - String Theory - Stripes

I've coloured a number of tiles with inks, and this one had some nice but irregular "stripes" that I followed as a string. This is my entry for this week's challenge from Laura at www.iamthedivaczt.blogspot.ca I had fun doing it, love the yellow and purple background, and have a love/hate feeling about the Meer which is awkward, but very different.

Zentangle Challenge #234 UMT - CanT

This week's challenge from Laura at www.iamthedivaczt.blogspot.ca is a UMT (Use My Tangle). The tangle is CanT and was created by Chris Titus at CanTangle, which was a fabulous weekend this summer in Regina, Saskatchewan. Full of amazing workshops, wonderful people, and lots of fun. I almost didn't do the challenge this week, even though I'm quite familiar with this terrific tangle, because I'm off to Scotland in a few days and am busy, busy, busy… But this idea has been percolating in my mind all week and the only way to let it go was to sit down and put pen to paper. It didn't come out quite like I envisioned, but I think I like this better anyway. My husband says it's not finished and I should fill in all the pieces with the shell like lines, but I disagree - I like being able to see how I got to the shell shapes using "CanT". Whoops, I just noticed - I might add a bit of graphite around the outer edge to give it more dimension but I don't think I'll bother changing the photo - you get the point. Sometimes it's just guessing when to stop! Let me know what you think?

Zendala Dare #108

I LOVE Zendala's! and here is this week's from Erin at www.thebrightowl.blogspot.com I changed this one a bit - took out two circles. This was done on an ink stained tile.

Zentangle Challenge #232 - Guest Blogger Holly Atwater with audio instructions

Wow, this was a very different sort of challenge from guest blogger Holly Atwater who is sitting in for Laura at www.iamthedivaczt.blogspot.com this week. I was fortunate to be at CanTangle earlier this summer and experienced an audio meditative instruction done by Molly Hollibaugh, and it was an awesome experience. These audios are somewhat similar but it's a bit different listening on my computer and being able to pause and replay. I did all three audio's. The first one is for Tripoli, and I have to say that I find this one of the most challenging tangles, but with the audio, I think I did a pretty good job! Thanks Holly! The next one is a tangle that Holly called Meatballs, but I think it's on the Zentangle website and Tanglepatterns.com as Nipa? The third I had more trouble following the instructions, but maybe I'd lost some concentration by that point. Oh well, I improvised. Fun challenge, and I'm quite happy!

Zendala Dare #107

I had fun with this week's Zendala Dare from Erin at www.thebrightowl.blogspot.com. I had a tile that was coloured with inks I'm experimenting with; and I wanted to try unbalance a Zendala yet keep to the template. PorFin didn't turn out quite the way it's supposed to, or the way I wanted it to… but the strokes are all there :)

Zendala Dare #106

I love Copada and this is what happened when I saw this week's Zendala from Erin at www.thebrightowl.blogspot.com. I used black, blue and sepia microns, a pencil, and blue and sepia chalk pencils for shading.

Zentangle Challenge #231 - Guest Sharla Hicks; Undulating tangles in C and S minor

Guest blogger Sharla Hicks has asked us to use undulating tangles that use the strokes "C" and/or "S" in this week's challenge (see www.iamthedivaczt.blogspot.com). I chose two tangles I really like: Roscoe and Meringue. My hand got a bit quivery when I was adding the second line to Meringue, sigh. Otherwise, I'm pretty happy with this one. I love Roscoe!

Zentangle Challenge #230 - Guest Blogger Erin Olson

This week's guest blogger for the challenge (iamthedivaczt.blogspot.com)is Erin Olson of The Bright Owl (www.thebrightowl.blogspot.com). Erin has posted a Zendala, and I LOVE her Zendala's. This one, once I started working on it, morphed into a ZIA! That's one of the many things I love about Zentangle - you are often surprised at where your tangling leads you. I may very well do another and try to keep it as a Zendala… Thanks Erin! (and good to see you here, and back with new Zendala's on your blog!)

Zendala Dare #105

I admit that I didn't like this template for the Zendala Dare (www.thebrightowl.blogspot.com)

this week when I first saw it, sorry Erin. However, as with a lot of Zentangle, once I got going and things started looking so very different as I let the pen and, in this case the pencil shading, take over, well, I started to enjoy it! Thanks Erin, again, for making me step outside my comfort zone!

Zentangle Challenge #229 - Guest, Sandy Hunter "+/-"

This week's Zentangle challenge at www.iamthedivaczt.blogspot.ca, by guest blogger Sandy Hunter is to leave some white space. I used to be good at this, but as I find more and more tangles I love, I find I'm filling everything in, so this is a good exercise for me. I used a flame template, but didn't think it showed well, so I echo'd it…. Does that count as white space? And I had to shade it, so maybe not so white anymore. Anyway, great challenge!

Zendala Dare #104

I'm so glad Erin is back with her Zendala Dares (see more at www.thebrightowl.blogspot.com). I've missed a couple before this one, but have them set aside for when I have a spare moment. I recently went to CanTangle in Regina, Saskatchewan - AMAZING time - and am working on several projects started there (see my previous blog entry for two examples)! Ok, so this Zendala isn't one of my favourites, so I'll be particularly interested in seeing what others have done with it. I messed up one of the outer bands… but there are no mistakes, so I adapted. Again, so glad to see Erin back with these Zendalas!

CanTangle 2015

In mid-July I journeyed to Regina, Saskatchewan to CanTangle 2015. It was an AWESOME experience and I learned so much and met many wonderful people. These two ZIA's are the finished pieces from 1. a workshop by Brenda Shaver-Shahin on tangling with "differently abled", and 2. Margaret Bremner's whimsical houses. They are both way out of my comfort zone and I had to keep telling myself to just go with my impulses and not try to plan too much, not be concerned about things like perspective, not worry about which tangles go with…. It's funny - just like tangling a small tile, it seems to come alive and look all right when its done - even though sometimes I'm ready to start over because I'm not liking it. I'm happy with both of these, learned a lot and have a lot more to learn… because of course I'm going to do several more of the Margaret Bremner inspired whimsical houses!

Zentangle Challenge #228 - Guest Blogger, Cari Sultanik: Organic Tile

This week's Zentangle Challenge is by guest blogger Cari Sultanik, and it is to do a tile using organic or natural tangles. This is what I came up with. Summer is always busy, but it's been super busy and spectacular this year! I got back from CanTangle in Regina just over a week ago, and am still buzzing from adrenalin because of meeting wonderful CZT's, the amazing workshops, and learning so much! So HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY!

Zentangle Challenge #226 - Simplicity - Guest Blogger Katie Crommett

This week's Zentangle Challenge is from a guest blogger on Laura's blog (www.iamthedivaczt.blogspot.ca), Katie Crommett, CZT. The theme for this week is "Simplicity". A great choice! I used to be much better at leaving white space and only doing 2-4 tangles on a tile, but I suspect that with the huge number of new to me tangles, I'm crowding in too many new and familiar tangles. It's so good to go back to simple! But of course, I couldn't keep it totally simple and decided it was time again to try a tangle I really struggle with - Tripoli. I'm getting a bit better with the help of Suzanne Wilka's Tripoli tutorial, but I need to practice, practice, practice, and take more time and mindfulness in the drawing. Thanks for bringing me back to a simpler tile, and also to step out of my comfort zone by concentrating on a troubling tangle!

Zentangle Challenge #225 - Color (Guest Post - Jen Crutchfield)

Wow, I managed 4 tiles for this week's Diva Challenge presented by guest Jen Crutchfield, CZT. We were asked to introduce colour… something I'm not comfortable with, but LOVE! I started with a grey tile and used blue and sepia ink and chalk pencils. I actually drew out this tile last week for the Square One Challenge to use Meer, but didn't like the tile so set it aside. I love it with colour!) My two pinkish tiles were background dyed using watered down Tombow markers and have been sitting around for a while - this was the perfect chance to play with them. I used Tombow markers to colour and shade the two more colourful tiles. What fun I've had using colour, and also trying a few new to me tangles! Great challenge!

Zentangle Challenge #224 - Monotangle: Tipple

This week's Zentangle Challenge from Laura at www.iamthedivaczt.blogspot.ca is to do a monotangle of Tipple. Her demo tile is amazing and I was intimidated… so I decided to just get over it - keep it simple - and voila, here is my Canada Day (July 1) contribution. Happy Canada Day to everyone!

Zentangle Challenge #223 - Official Tangle - Umble

This week's Zentangle Challenge from Laura at www.iamthedivaczt.blogspot.ca is to use the official tangle: Umble. I don't think I've used it before, but now I want to play with it a bit more and experiment with the spaces between the bands the way I often do with Hollibaugh. Anyway, this is my first tile using this tangle, and I used a tile I'd inked but didn't end up liking the colour - too khaki! This picture doesn't show well - I like the actual tile better; Umble is actually done in green ink. You know when you have one of those tiles that just says "stop now"? I did, but every time I look at it, I'm tempted to pick up the pen and go over uneven lines, or fill in (to cover) the centre of Umble…. but I'll leave it as it is and move on….

Zentangle Challenge #221 - Beads of Courage

This week's Zentangle Challenge from Laura at www.iamthedivaczt.blogspot.ca is to incorporate beads. Read more about this cause on Laura's blog. Brenda Shaver Shahin posted a cute little "meander/maze" booklet she and her granddaughter made and tangled, and of course I had to make one "right away". The only appropriate paper I had was this rusty colour so I went ahead anyway, and am having fun trying out different pens, chalk, water-colour… Not terribly successful, but I'm learning a lot. (I've made 5 more of these booklets with fancy new paper, some of which will be tangled on, some will be sort of scrap-booked with notes and sayings, one is a birthday card for a 50th.) So, double inspiration this week!

Zentangle Challenge #220 - UMT (Use My Tangle): All Boxed Up

This week's challenge from Laura at www.iamthedivaczt.blogspot.ca is to "use my tangle" (UMT), and the tangle chosen is from Alice Hendon called All Boxed Up. I didn't love this tangle at first glance, but once I started playing with it, I had lots of fun - hence the three tiles (smile). My scanner is not great, so I apologize for the quality… really, they all look better in person, I think. I'm looking for good tangles to do on black tiles because I really think I need to start investigating those a bit more, and get more experience with them (and Renaissance too). I think All Boxed Up has potential - and while I like the black tile I did here, I think it could be better if I knew how to bring out the white a bit better. I'd love to take a course just on the black tiles… anyone? (in or near Toronto) Thank you for looking and I know it's very time consuming, but I appreciate it when people take the time to leave comments.

Zentangle Challenge #219 - Straight lines - tile #3

This is my third tile done for this week's Zentangle Challenge from Laura at www.iamthedivaczt.blogspot.com. In my first submission I used Hollibaugh as a string and filled in the bands with tangles; this time I've left the bands empty and filled in the spaces behind. I also used two tangles I've never attempted before - Zuan Shi and Juke. I'm having fun with this challenge!

Zentangle Challenge #219 - Straight Lines

This week's challenge from Laura at www.iamthedivaczt.blogspot.ca is to use only straight lines. FUN! It's been ages since I've made the time on a Monday to do the challenge, and I'm hoping to get back in the habit. The first tile I'm calling "Two Hurry'd" (ha, ha). And I did do it in a bit of a hurry so some of the lines weren't very straight so I thickened them… Still, I had fun.

Zentangle Challenge #218 - White on black or found

wI haven't posted for a while, nor have I tangled very much. But just this past week I was preparing a Zentangle display board for a Holistic Health Fair and had done several different tiles using 4 tangles on each with different strings, just to demonstrate how different, yet similar they could be. I was happy with all the tiles I did, except the white on black. I don't have a lot of experience with these and frankly avoid them. This week's challenge motivated me to really step out of my comfort zone!! I still don't love white on black, and would dearly love to have some lessons on them, but once I got started, I didn't want to stop. So here are the 5 tiles I did today ...

Zendala Dare #100 !! Wow, 100 Zendala's - so wonderful!

This is my celebratory contribution to the 100th zendala template from Erin at www.thebrightowl.blogspot.com. I haven't done every zendala, but pretty close, and many I've used several times. I love playing with the templates. Sometimes Erin adds in a twist, and she was subtle about this one - encouraging us to celebrate. So with Easter coming up next weekend, I decided that this template was great for easter eggs, and jelly beans in a sort of basket. I had intended to do something more with the 5 Copada-like things on the outside, but they weren't speaking to me so I left them as is… Happy Easter everyone, and happy spring!

Zentangle Challenge #210 - Spiralstring - that's the thing

This week's Zentangle Challenge from Laura at www.iamthedivaczt.blogspot.ca is to use a spiral as our string. Challenging! I used Michelle Beauchamp's spiral guide to do the string for the second tile. Love it, and want to play around with her way of doing it a bit more! I started both of these tiles while waiting in the hospital for a family member's minor procedure. Hospitals are stressful, and I can't think of a better way to change focus, keep relatively calm, and pass the time while waiting there! Thanks again Laura for another wonderful challenge!

Zendala Dare #99

My entry for this week's Zendala Dare from Erin at www.thebrightowl.blogspot.com. I'm down with a cold after spending a fabulous week in Cuba, but really wanted to participate in this week's Dare. Why is it that I often get sick after a week in the sun? Could it be coming back to colder weather? Or maybe airport germs? Oh well. So I decided to keep it simple, and to choose tangles that are in my comfort zone. I think it needs a bit of something else… maybe colour? I'm going to leave it as it is because I don't have the energy right now to carry on, but maybe I'll look at it again tomorrow.

Zentangle Challenge #205 - Year of the Goat

Happy Chinese New Year! This week's Diva challenge from Laura at www.iamthedivaczt.blogspot.ca is to bring some Chinese New Year to our tile. It's the year of the goat - no one in my immediate family is a goat according to the Chinese Horoscope, so I decided to use tangles that represented other Chinese symbols typical of this celebration - part of a dragon, lanterns, and firecrackers! On another note - here in Toronto it is frustratingly cold! This is looking to possibly be the coldest month of Feb. ever! I've been able to get out and do a bit of walking - totally bundled up - and we have had a lot of sun, but I'm really looking forward to spring now! I'm off to Vancouver (White Rock) for a few days and it's considerably warmer and spring-like there. Then back to Toronto for 4 days, and off to Cuba for a week! Oh, I'm so looking forward to being able to go outside without boots, hats, several layers, mega gloves…. I'm blessed to have a wonderful step-daughter who will come stay and care for our house and kitties while we're gone. It will likely be at least a couple of weeks before I post again, but I'm going to tangle while in cafe's and on beaches!

Zendala Dare #97

This is my Zendala for this week's Zendala Dare from Erin at www.thebrightowl.blogspot.com. Another challenging zendala… what to do with all those tear-drop shapes? Take a look at her blog to see the template. I'm really trying hard not to pre-plan to use certain tangles, and trying not to anticipate which tangle "goes with" another tangle. I also trying to get back to leaving white space - I used to be more comfortable with it, but seem to be getting into the habit of trying to fill everything in… In this Zendala I used the first and next tangles that crossed my mind, stopped before I really wanted to, but am glad I did, - and so, here you go!

Zendala Dare #96

This week's Zendala Dare was a challenging one, I thought. Love these dares and challenges though - they make me a bit uncomfortable, yet stimulated. I did the outside bits first, got stuck and was just about to set this particular dare aside when an inspiration came to me during a yoga class (yeah, I know I'm not supposed to let my mind wander…). And so again I'm reminded that it is best to just let the tangles just happen rather to try to plan it all out and try to find new or perfectly complimentary tangles… It doesn't show well in the scan, but the colours are a bit more intense, the printemps has a sepia tone, and there is blue between the flowers and the border. I'm quite happy with this one, and to me it feels like a bit of a rock garden….

Zentangle Challenge #204 - Valentangle

This week's Zentangle Challenge from Laura at www.iamthedivaczt.blogspot.ca is to incorporate a valentine theme. I started out with a heart string in the middle… then picked up a red micron and drew a grid with some hearts in corners, then randomly selected 4 tangles from my workbooks. Like it, yes, but am not feeling the "love". So, maybe I'll have to do another!

Zendala Dare #95

Yeah! Erin of www.thebrightowl.blogspot.com is back with her wonderful Zendala templates! I'm so, so, very happy! These take me longer than other challenges or practices it seems, but I enjoy them so much! My first look at this week's template I saw beehives and well, not much else. But after a bit of thought, and playing around by using the template as a "guideline", this is what I came up with. Yup, I'm happy with it and would love to hear your thoughts. Now to go check out the other entries! So glad to see Erin back!!

Zentangle Challenge #203 - UMT Athitzi

This week's Zentangle Challenge by Laura at www.iamthedivaczt.blogspot.ca is to "Use My Tangle" - this one is by Eleanor Holt and is called Athitzi. Well, I'll certainly be looking to see what others have done, and I love her circles in the example given, but this is one tangle that just doesn't make me feel Zen. There is that part of me that, though I'm not a perfectionist, I still want to feel tidy and somewhat in control. This tangle stressed me because to me it looks so untidy! I decided to try to let go and play with it as a monotangle and shading around the areas that were the most irregular and uneven… My finished tile looks somewhat better in person than the scan, but I'm truly not happy with it. But there you go - I tried it, and am looking forward to seeing if I get more inspiration from the other entries!

Zentangle Challenge #201 - Moebus strip

This week's Zentangle Challenge #201 is to tangle a Moebus strip - you can read all about it at www.iamthedivaczt.blogspot.ca. I hand drew the moebus strip and in hindsight should have traced it, because the proportions are all out… but that's the way it goes. I love these two tangles… but together on the moebus strip - doesn't particularly work. Ah well, I had fun doing it for this worthy cause, and that is the Zen of Zentangle!

Zentangle Challenge #200 - Zonked

This is my second submission to this week's Zentangle Challenge. Zonked is a tangle I've used a lot recently if I have a nice square portion to fill in. For my own personal challenge, I thought I'd try it on the Renaissance tile, and try different sizes. As with all the tiles I do that start out with an expectation - this didn't even come close. I rather like it, but think Zonked is more dynamic done in a simple uncomplicated grid. There are so many wonderful entries to this challenge, and I may do another because I have a couple more "Mac'N'Cheese" tangles that haven't yet been used and they are calling out to me… Many, many thanks to Laura for giving us these challenges every week!

Zentangle Challenge #200 - Bi-Zen-Tennial Celebration! Use your Mac'N'Cheese in a mono tangle

In this week's Zentangle Challenge we are to use our go-to or Mac'N'Cheese tangle - something that we keep going back to, and use it in a mono tangle, and somewhere put in the number 200. Well, I have lots of favourite tangles that I use a lot, but Inapod is one of my first and favourites. I like it because of the flow - the way it's drawn out -, and I like the the way each segment is a bit off-kilter and not exactly like another. I'm not sure that I love it as a mono tangle. This is a deceptively easy challenge - deceptive because I'd think using one tangle would make it easier… but I find it's actually quite difficult to fill a whole tile with one tangle and keep it interesting. I'm really interested to see what the rest of you have done with this challenge!