Monday, April 30, 2012

Monday oddities

These Zentangle tiles strike me as a bit unusual. The first is inspired by a quilt I saw a few months ago at a quilt show. The pattern, or maybe the quilt, was called Island Sunrise. I did a quick sketch of it on a Zentangle tile, then finished it at home later. I don't remember the colors of the quilt, but this black and white version makes me think of fireworks.


I had a different idea when I began this next one, then it went in its own direction. The large circle overlaps two string sections, and I'm not sure why I left it very white, with no shading.
Tangles: Black Pearlz, Boss, Crossview, Lacing, Zapateado,
a Knightsbridge Aura and some Rounding

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Bright Owl's zendala dare

(I'm off in Vancouver for a week, seeing patterns everywhere, so the blog upkeep may be irregular!)

Erin Koetz Olsen, a CZT and the Bright Owl blogger, has started a zendala dare every Friday. She'll provide a template to begin from, then you tangle it to your heart's content. I didn't do the first dare but here's the template she provided this week:


Here are my two contributions for the second. For the first tile, the outside shape reminded me of the tangle Allium, but the shape was a bit large so I subdivided it. I've been rather entranced with the new tangle Mi2 so I had to try that on the next tile!
Tangles: Alliium, Hurakan, Perfs, Tortuca
Tangles: Black Pearlz, Mi2

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

House tiles

Not as in 'tiles that you put in a house', rather 'Zentangle tiles with houses on them'.

Houses and buildings have been a recurring theme in my art for many, many years. I decided to try some ZIA (zentangle-inspired art) pieces with house shapes, on zentangle tiles. As an extra incentive, I have a sale and show coming up at the end of May and these will make some nice, small, inexpensive pieces to have available. :-)

At the end of a recent post I showed one of these 'house tiles'. Here are some more.
Tangles: Coaster, Dex, Emingle, Florz, Prestwood, Tidings, Xyp,
  stripes with highlights and a Tripoli
Tangles: Black Pearlz, Casella, Emingle variation, Finery, Knightsbridge Aura,
Paradox, Shades, Tagh, Tipple
Tangles: Flux, Fracas, Opus, Phuds, Tagh and a
new one I haven't named yet.
Tangles: Amaze, Ambler, Dust Bunny, Flukes, Sanibelle

I'm also trying some other Sakura pens that I acquired recently: Stardust, Glaze and Metallic, as well as the regular variety. So I've added color and some effects to some of these house tiles.
Tangles: Dex, Florz, Flux, Knightsbridge Aura, Phuds,
Ragz, Shades, and a single Croon
Tangles: Afterglo, Black Pearlz, Boss, D'Uni, Knase,
Knightsbridge Aura, Opus, Tagh
Tangles: Beadlines, Paradox, Posh (almost), stripes with highlights,
dots and an (I think) unnamed one

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Just my tangles

I've come up with quite a few tangle patterns and decided to do some tiles using only my own tangles. I've tried this before, and usually get to a point where some other tangle is appropriate, and it's always best to go with inspiration. However, these times my plan worked!
Tangles: Bevia, Chebucto, Dansk, Ninja Stars, Prestwood, Yuan
Tangles: Dancet, Diamond Panes, Dutch Hourglass,
Gingham, Tridots, Yale, Yoga

The next two tiles began with a blind border and string, thus the off-center rectangle. They fit nicely in a series I seem to have on the go: Tiles on a Tile.
Tangles: Boss, Croon, Dust Bunny, Ionic, Lotus Pods, Screen,
Seljuk, Yabbut and a solitary Ninja Star
Tangles: Cockles'n'Mussels, D'Uni, Lilypads, Magma,
Moving Day, Parch, Shades, Zedbra
This is not quite all my tangles. To see drawing instructions for any of these press the "My tangles" bar just under the blog's name. The page is under construction and is still messy. Working on that. Press the name of the tangle, not the image. I haven't yet posted drawing instructions for Yoga.

Tagged

Terrie at Creative Explorer has tagged me and I'm finally getting around to responding! The tag involves answering some questions from the tagger, then tagging others and asking them some questions of your own. It's a "getting to know you better" activity, and a good idea. Thanks Terrie!

The Rules
  1. You must post the rules.
  2. Answer 11 questions the tagger has posted for you.
  3. Create 11 questions for those you tag.
  4. Tag 11 people and let them know.

Terrie's questions to me (and my answers):
1. Favorite season - why?
Summer and winter inside. Spring and autumn outside. Winter here can be amazingly beautiful with blankets of white, brilliant sunshine and glittering frost, but it can also be amazingly cold. I love to look at it through a window. And summer, while better, is sometimes blisteringly hot.

2.  What do you need to have on before venturing out in public?
Clothes. And my glasses. 

3.  What do you collect?
As little as possible, but I do like some glassware (bottles, vases, bowls, jugs). I think it's the way the light passes through it. I also buy paper. Drawing paper, painting paper, origami paper, scrapbooking paper, marbled paper, sheets of paper, pads of paper, flimsy paper, stiff paper.  
(I will not buy more paper. I will not buy more paper. I will not... oh yes I will.)

4.  Favorite style of art?
There's no specific movement or style that I like above all others, but I do prefer contemporary/modern to historical. I like art nouveau and art deco. In general I love bright color, detail, craftsmanship, profundity of some sort. And sparkle. Hate the stuff whose main purpose is to shock or annoy.  

5.  Symmetrical or asymmetrical?
Actually... both, but moving toward asymmetrical. I focused on symmetrical mandalas for 15 years. I think that help cut through an OCD need to have things lined up and organized. Now I'm liking things with asymmetry. 

6.  What do you find difficult to learn or work with in your chosen medium?
To zoom out and look at the big picture, and not get too caught up in all the lovely little details. That's not the medium, but it is a difficulty for me with any medium! 

7.  Vacation in 'cold and snow' or 'hot and sunshine'?
Mmm... let's say 'warm and sunshine', not big on hot, especially hot and humid (yuck). I'm looking to live somewhere with 'warm and sunshine' for most of the year. See number 1. 

8.  How do you relax?
Mainly I do art, zentangle drawing! or maybe painting. I also read. I remind myself to breathe. I force myself to relax my shoulders. I stand in a hot shower. I swim and use the hot tub at the pool. I love to walk and cycle but rarely do it. Ultimately, I need time alone to recharge. Oh, and board games. 

9.  What's one of your guilty pleasures?
 Candy. Darn it all. (But it's my only one.) 

10.  What wakes up your muse?  (or, where do you find your creative inspiration?)
She's always perched on my shoulder, pointing and saying, "Look at that! Oh wow, look at that!" 

11.  What food do you crave most often?
Sugar. See number nine.

And here are my questions for those I'm tagging
  1. What is one of your favorite quotations?
  2. Name one book you would take to a desert island. (Name more if you want, I'm always up for suggestions.)
  3. When do you work best? (in other words, are you a morning person or an evening person?)
  4. Are you happy?
  5. What would you like more of in your life?
  6. What would you like less of in your life?
  7. Favorite salsa? (super-wimp, mild, medium, hot, volcanic, blow-me-to-Pluto)
  8. What's your national/ethnic/cultural ancestry?
  9. If you could live somewhere else, where would you be?
  10. What's your favorite way to spend free time?
  11. Think up a question you'd like to answer, and answer it.

That's a lot of text with no pictures! 
Here's a teaser about something I've been doing lately. More on it soon.
Tangles: Black Pearlz, Knightsbridge, Tagh, Tortuca

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

L'aura's

The DivaCZT's challenge this week is Auras, those additional lines that go around the edge of a pattern. I started a couple, and got some very interesting tiles, but they didn't want Auras much. Then I thought it might go better if I just used tangles that have auras already as part of the pattern. I searched my binder of tangles and found more than I expected.
Tangles: Dansk, Magma, Mi2, Miranda, Sez, Tidings, Triangle
Tangles: Afterglo, Crescent Moon, Featherfall

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Mi2 - a beautiful new tangle!

I recently came across Mimi Lempart's new tangle Mi2 ('me too'). What a beautiful and elegant pattern!
Tangles: Black Pearlz, Fengle, Flex, Fohbraid, Not-a-Knot,
Mi2, Moon Rocks, Perfs, Tidings
Tangles: Black Pearlz, Chartz, Knase, Mi2, Pearlz, Tidings
Tangles: Ambler, Black Pearlz, Borb, Crescent Moon,
Fohbraid, Knightsbridge Aura, Mi2, Seljuk

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Monday tiles

Here's another tile where I began blind: no dots, but blind border and blind string. A few things went "wrong" but I kept going anyway and I quite like the result. What went haywire? Well, Not-a-Knot is truly not a knot and the black triangles of Daggerly started on the wrong side and it needed adjusting. But I like how Providence is divided in half along the string line, and the little 'tails' of beady things that go out to the edges. The two extra "page corners" at the lower right were added towards the end for balance.
Tangles: Assunta, Beadlines, Black Pearlz, Caviar, sort of Daggerly,
Knase, Lotus Pods, not quite Not-a-Knot, Providence

I experimented with Sarah D's variation of Paradox that results in a tunnel effect. It reminds me of the cornucopia that my mother used to put on the table at Thanksgiving, minus the fruit and vegetables.
Tangles: Munchin, Paradox, Pearlz of sorts

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

I got an award!

A short while back I received a pay-it-forward award from another Zentangle afficianado and blogger, RevByrd. How delightful! Thank you! Unfortunately, it's taken me a while to get around to sharing it.


I won't claim to be a particularly versatile blogger, but I'll happily show off the award! And I'll pay it forward too. Here are the rules:
1.    Thank the blogger who gave it to you.
2.    Award 15 of your own awards to favorite or recently discovered blogs and let them know you nominated them. Then they get to give out their own awards.
3.    Share seven interesting things about yourself that people may not already know about you.

15 favorite blogs. Hmmm. Let's see... in no particular order:


Finally, here are seven things that many of you probably don’t yet know about me.
  1. I’m a big Calvin and Hobbes fan. The dialogue is delightful and the artwork superb. In most comics, you get either one or the other (or maybe neither!). Bill Watterson is the man!
  2. I’m a fairly good swimmer, and swam a mile years ago. It had to be done in under 45 minutes; it took me 42.5. I still swim for fun and exercise.
  3. In the time period that my husband and I refer to as "B.C." - Before Chloë (our eldest) - I took a course in travel agency procedures and realized that I'd rather go there than plan trips for other people!
  4. I'm a good person to have around in an emergency. I go on auto-pilot and simply know what needs to be done, and do it.
  5. I generally prefer vegetables to fruit.
  6. I'm overweight, but unfortunately would rather draw at my desk than go to the pool!
  7. I think I have the best kids on the planet, but then, I'm their mum.

Monday, April 9, 2012

Monday's tile: development

Today I'll show you a bit about how one tile developed. Unfortunately I didn't think to do scans earlier in the process, so we'll have to depend on words.

This one began with the 'asterisk string' from the DivaCZT's weekly challenge #64. However, instead of drawing straight pencil lines, I wobbled them across the paper. Of course, they didn't cross neatly in the middle and gave me some extra little sections. There are only three tangles used: Fohbraid, Munchin, and Paradox.

I had the tangles all drawn, but it seemed too bland across the bottom, so I "striped" a few of the small Paradoxes. I chose those three because they seem to be coming out the other side of where the Fohbraid triangles start going through. Below is the tile with all the ink tangles, but no shading yet.

Here is the tile with the shading added. What a difference! But there was something I didn't quite like about the triangles in Fohbraid. I decided perhaps it was too many lines (Auras) so...

... I filled them so that there was only one white band at the edge of each triangle. It still seemed a bit fussy at the bottom so I filled in one Paradox section entirely black. I think it balances the black triangles at the top.  Now I think it's finished.

Friday, April 6, 2012

Dodecahedron completed!

Earlier I posted about a book of three cut-out shapes I'd bought. I had started working on one of them. You can see how this project began here. Now, finally, I can show you the finished product, hanging in a corner of my dining room swaying gently in the breeze from the heat register. I took a short video of it and attempted to upload it but it didn't work. Too bad.

Tangles: too many to mention!

Some polysyllabic (many syllables) words, for those interested in such things. 
In my earlier post I wondered what shape this was; the book called it an icosahedron (20-sided shape) but I didn't think so. I finally figured out that it is a dodecahedron (12-sided shape), but not a simple one. The angles connecting each yellow pentagon (5-sided shape) have been pushed in, creating the blue folded diamond shapes and yellow stars instead of pentagons. I expect there is a proper geometric term for this shape, but I don't know what it is.

2 more zendala tiles

I've done a number of these now, and by the time I got to number six or seven, it dawned on me that they are all divided into different numbers of sections. Here is one with ten points (or five) and one with six divisions.
Tangles: Chebucto, Jonqal, O'Bob, Tidings, Tortuca
Tangles: tiny Black Pearlz,  Ixorus, Paradox, Tipple, stripes with highlights

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Huggy Bear

Another month, another Use My Tangle challenge! Huggy Bear was designed by JJ LaBarbera.

Tangles: Black Pearlz, Fohbraid, Huggy Bear in three incarnations.






Monday, April 2, 2012

More zendala tiles

Wow, gotta love those new Zendala tiles! Here are two more I've done lately.

Tangles: Allium, Baton, Black Pearlz, Munchin, Phuds, Prestwood
Tangles: Ambler, Black Pearlz, Coaster, Crescent Moon, Earth Rising,
Perfs,
Seljuk, Tortuca, as well as dots, stripes and spirals.
I also used Sakura's black metallic ink pen for a little extra something.

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Monday tiles - Beginning blind

We've been challenged with the idea of blind strings, which are quite fun, and shake things up if you're getting in a bit of a rut. I decided to try doing a blind border first, followed by a blind string. I didn't bother with the initial dots because I wasn't going to be able to see them anyway!

I placed my pencil at a reasonable point in the corner of a tile, closed my eyes, and started drawing. I often find, when I do things blind, that it's very tight, even when I know that and try to make bigger movements. One thing I like about starting out blind is that it usually ends up off-center which gives me an interesting challenge. I get something like this...
Tangles: Coaster, Knightsbridge, Parabola, Paradox, Providence (almost),
Shattuck and no shading yet.

...which is rather interesting, but I wanted it more centered. The solution: add something in the blank areas.
Tangles: as above with added Seljuk, and shading too.

Here's another one that was almost falling off the (top) edge and needed some centering.
Tangles: Ambler, Assunta, Baton, Black Pearlz, Fohbraid, Paradox

Aaaaand... one more for good measure. Mambo is from Helen Breil who designs clay stamps. You can see her design here. I find the 'filling in' a little easier if the hollow 'S's touch each other.
Tangles: Crossview, Lacing, Mambo, Tipple. Plus
stripes with highlights and more.