Weekly Challenge #41: DuoTangle v. II "Jonqal/Opus"

Sometimes the weekly challenges come easily, sometimes I get so bogged down in the trying that I never get anything done.  I appreciate the challenges, though.  It seems that I usually remember them at a time when I need to think something through.  Or a time when I am feeling particularly vulnerable (and struggling with accepting the vulnerability wholeheartedly).  This is one of those days - inexplicably out of sorts...feeling like I have done (or not done as the case may be) something wrong...maybe just something thoughtless.  I don't know why except I'm exhausted and I haven't been sleeping.  But lo! and behold... a challenge comes along to at least let me clear my head even if I have nothing figured out.  For once I have no opinion about my tile... I neither love nor dislike it.  I offer it as it is unconditionally.  Maybe in the letting go I'll figure out what is bother me.

Jonqal and Opus

Happy tangling.

#40 Pinwheels for Peace

"I am the Diva's" challenge this week reminds us that September 21, 2011 is the International Day of Peace.  The website for Pinwheels for Peace will give you all the information for this year's project.  I hope you will visit.

The zentangle challenge is to create a pinwheel however we are inspired to do so.  I  thought about it for quite awhile.  I looked at the template on Diva's site as well as the pictures on Pinwheels for Peace.  In a moment of bizarre inspiration (I say bizarre because I was between clients at work and it just came to me) I decided to create a pinwheel out of a tangled tile. I used a peace sign string that overlapped the edges of the tile and then tangled the peace sign with Xyp. Pais (a close approximation to Paix) and Inapod (Peas... as in whirled peas) complete the background. I cut the tile on the corners and folded it to create a mini pinwheel.

Thanks for stopping by,  Happy Tangling!

Shalom. Paz. Paix. Frieden. Pace. Pax. Peace.

Love means...

I truly appreciate Diva's challenge this week.  In tribute to the events of 9/11/01 and to advent healing for the world, Challenge #39 is to create a representation of love.  Before I even remembered it was Monday, I had been working on a tile for 9/11.  Another Sunday Sermon tangle that was born out of the emotion I was feeling.

So sometime on Monday I opened Diva's site and realized that she had posted this week's challenge (I think that's when I realized it was really Monday!)  I really loved her "love" tile. Her quotes and verses to illustrate love were spot on. Laura wrote: "So, this week the challenge is Love.  Whatever it sparks in you, however you want to interpret it.   As long as you do so with the spirit of love, because through love we have the ability to change the world."

The first thing that popped in my head was "mother love."  I can think of nothing more precious than mother-love (unless, of course, it's grandmother love!) so here is how the challenge sparked in me.

In the words of the immortal words of Mahatma Ghandi: "Where there is love, there is life." 

Namaste and happy tangling!

A paradox? A paradox, a most ingenious paradox! 
We've quips and quibbles heard in flocks, 
but none to beat this paradox!  (From Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan)

Sort of works with this week's theme of a Pair of Ducks by Laura (I am the Diva) Harms, don't you think?

Using a monotangle - this time Paradox - create a tile or zentangle inspired art.  I love Paradox... actually, I really like paradoxes (paradoces? paradices?) They make for lively twists and turns in most of my favorite novels, plays, and movies.  

I've been drawing this particular pattern long before I had even heard of Zentangle.  I used to "doodle" this little paradox all over my math papers (and got into mega-trouble for it, too! "Martha, you are not focusing!" -- oh, little did she know.  Anyway, I digress...)  I love how straight lines curve and trick the eye.  Well, admittedly, not all of my lines are that straight, but you get the picture.  Here are my offerings this week:

My first attempt.... I see doves' wings

I added little eyes (a la Leeanne's birds)

This one used the mandala pattern from several challenges ago

I love holly leaves, too, so I combined holly and paradox.  Even the berries got a paradox treatment.

 

Last, but not least, Paradox on Paradox (on Paradox)

See - I told you I really like this pattern.  I hope you do, too.

Now off to dinner and a movie with my hubby - a VERY rare occurrence!  Happy Tangling!

Kiss my grids!

This is the 37th challenge from "I am Diva" and it's a doozie: create a tile using only grid patterns.  I jumped right in and thought, "I got this."

First lesson learned - don't make your string so elaborate.

Second lesson learned:  tiles have a way of turning out the way they are supposed to - not how you plan them to (kind of like life).

This one was sort of a tile-in-tile look - not exactly what I was going for... but oh well.

Then I had a vision of a cracked wall with a pattern peeking out from underneath.  Yeah... well... I guess it looks sort of like peeled back wallpaper but I was a little happier with this one.

So - then I decided to try simplifying my string AND just letting the patterns find their own place... Still not very satisfied but I like this one better:

Of course - the true challenge is to take a risk, put something out there, and have fun doing it. - to unconditionally accept the effort without judgment.  Another metaphor for life, maybe?

Oh.... one more thing.  a couple of posts ago I wrote that I did challenge #35 but that I wasn't going to beat myself up for not getting it posted in time.  I figured this was as good a place/time as any to post it:

#35 Tile in a Tile

Now I need to rest up.  My little bug is here for the weekend.  I'm going to need all of the energy I can get!

Worn out from playing with Poppa!

Happy tangling - and happy Labor Day!

Dish it up...

This has been a weekend for projects.  I worked on my dissertation topic some more and am in another waiting phase for feedback from my mentor.  So what do I do while I'm waiting?  I tangle, of course!

I am not sure how I ended up with so many projects at one time, though.  Well... yes I do, too.  I started one several weeks (months?) ago and found a spurt of inspiration last week with some new tangles to try.  And then, a friend approached me today about donating a couple of "art" plates to a local silent auction/fund raiser for our local AIDs awareness and treatment non-profit organization. (By the way, it's called Upper-Savannah-Care-Services-Dishing-It-Out-In-Greenwood if anyone wants to take a look).  He said, "Your Zentangle (R) stuff would be really cool.  So - after running around to a few stores for white plates and a paint pen, I sat down this afternoon and whipped up a couple of plates.

First of all, tangling with a paint pen can be frustrating.  I could not find an ultra fine pen so I had to settle for fine.  Also, the tip dries pretty quickly so you have to keep shaking and priming it. However, the quick dry part is good for larger pieces so you don't run your hands through it.

One of the plates I chose was a Corelle pattern that already had a "string" on it!  I didn't add any additional strings to this one... I just tangled where I felt like it - letting on pattern melt into another.  Another issue with paint on a surface like corelle or china is that shading is not really an option.  So the depth I might get  by shading didn't happen.  Here's a shot of my progress about 1/2 way through...

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And here's the finished product:

That one was so much fun that I decided to do another.  This was a square salad size plate with an inch border:  I used a Tombow gray marker to create my string then tangled it like the first one:

This one is oriented correctly

This one flipped clockwise when I uploaded it!

And here are both plates ready for the auction!  Well - almost.  I have to spray them with a poly coat first...

Another project that is nearly completed is my "envisioning" piece.  I took the 3" tiles and traced them randomly on a large 16x20 cotton fiber paper.  I drew a string behind all of the tiles and tangled the spaces as I felt led.  Some tangles were chosen because of their "elemental" meaning - droplets and waves for water, florz, and knightsbridge for their foundation/earth feel - others were chosen because they represent something important to me - the scrolls represent my degree completion, jetties always look like bouncy-balls so they represent my grandson, etc. And Abbe Road (among others) reminds me of my anam cara, MaggieKat.  All of these things are important in my life and in my vision of my future life of abundant joy and well-being.  Now I need to search for the right words or images to add in the tile spaces.  I hope someone else will take a chance on some Z.I.A. (zentangle inspired art) and envision their own perfect self.

Initial draft from my sketchbook

Just need to add my visions now!

OK... one more.  I wanted to try the new tangle Tuftid on Linda Farmer's Tangle Patterns site. I tend to tangle at times when I have to be quiet or still - neither of which are easy for me.  So - I typically start a tangle during church (I know people wonder what on earth I'm doing, but I think I'm less distracting when I tangle than when I fidget!).  Here's Tuftid and friends:

Happy Tangling!

Challenge #36 Assunta

This week's challenge is definitely challenging!  Assunta is a tangle created to celebrate Zentangle co-creator, Maria's, 60th birthday. (Happy belated birthday, Maria!) To add to my stress (wait - this isn't supposed to be stressful!) - uh - challenge I added MaggieKat's AbbeRoad - well - I tried to.  I am going to work on both of these some more.  I like them but I am a little daunted by them.  To "round" things off I added Fricle - another newer offering by Julie Evans, CZT plus a couple of tried and true favorites.

Happy Tangling!