Fresh Eyes

When I designed the Tangle-a-Day calendar, I added some of my own art, mostly because my friends told me I should. I wanted to have big blocks of blank tangling space, but my friends won out.
   At the end of January, two thirds of the calendar page is taken up by a big blob of Inapod, with one little square for the day of January 31. Laura Harms had hers finished before mine, and it was so cool that she just extended the already tangled space into her blank one, making it all one big piece of art. Check it out in her Flickr post here. Also check out what Donna Jeanne Koepp did with her page here. What they did was so much fun, that I get very inspired to get mine up to date. I added lots of bubbles to connect my old with my new, and did a variation of Margaret Bremner's Dansk, that sort of mimicked the Inapod.

Here is what the page looked like before:

 











Here is what emerged for me:

I was needing a little color in my life this morning, so I took the photo with the calendar laying on a painting of my kitties. hello kitty.

This exercise really made me realize how much fun it is to
1) use an existing piece of Zentangle® (or otherwise!) art to play with
2) find an unfinished tile one started long ago, and continue it with fresh eyes!

The Inapod art that I had done some time ago now had another purpose: to jumpstart more art! And my kitty painting: I didn't realize when I took the photo that I would be talking about 'fresh eyes'! It's amazing what the right brain comes up with when the doors swing open! See this entry (under the heading, Inspirational) from the Zentangle website.

Lefty Loosey

I always love the non-dominant hand challenges. I don't often do it until I get a reminder, so thank you, Diva, for the challenge this week. I decided on Sunday nite to save my next calendar entry for the challenge. When I saw what it was, I immediately wanted to change my mind. I really liked the way the two previous days on the calendar page looked, and I was afraid I would 'mess it up'. As soon as that thought hit my brain, I knew that I HAD to do the challenge with my left hand in the last empty box on the page. I then figured I might as well repeat what had already emerged in the two previous days, to see what it would feel like to do the same thing using my left hand. It was a struggle about a third of the way through, as I had to gently tell my critical voice to take a breather while me and the joy voice had a little fun. Once I let go of the need to control the line, and make it as pretty as I thought the other parts of the page were, I was on my way to some real fun.
    Letting go of how it looks makes me much more aware of how it feels. Loosening my hold on the pen helped me release the urge to control it. I went very slowly, not to make a great line, but to feel the line as it emerged from my pen. I love the feeling of the wiggles and wobbles. In seeing some of the other challenge participants' work, I was struck by how delicate and gorgeous the wobbles are. There is real feeling in those lines. Makes me happy to look at every one of them.
   Thanks, again Laura. I have to remember to do this one on my own a little more!

Here is the whole page...

And here is the challenge section of the page... if you can't tell, I am in love with Tricia Faraone's Sanibelle tangle.

Silver Keepsake

My friend Loretta is having more fun with her calendar, and I wanted to share. I love what she did with her niece's birthday! She told me she used a double sided tape to add the photo, then tangled around it. She found a silver Sharpie paint marker to accent her page. It almost glows in this photo! I love how wild Loretta is getting with her pages. This one is especially joyful. Having a good week, Loretta? Thanks for sharing.

   Speaking of sharing, a Flickr group has been set up for those of you who want to share your calendar fun online. If I can figure out a way to do a slideshow here on the blog, I will do that too. Thank you all for the great feedback! I am inspired by all of you!!

Diva Week 55: Moebius String

The Diva Challenge for week 55(!) is to make a string using the Moebius Syndrome logo. Laura's son has this rare condition, and she is working hard to raise awareness and support for this Foundation, including dyeing her hair purple (the foundation's signature color)!! Read about the Moebius Syndrome Foundation.
    It was a little daunting to draw the string, so Laura provided a traceable image. I didn't use it, as I was up for the challenge of trying it without tracing. It's a little wonky but that's just how it goes (on Mondays especially)! I had fun with Margaret Bremner's new tangle, Dansk, and also threw in some orbs (almost exactly a year ago's challenge post) for healing measure.
   Here's to you, Artoo, and your sweet smilin' eyes!

   

Tangleations: 2-N-5.... Pais/Hollibaugh

Stuck (once again!) on what tangle to do next, I used my handy dandy Tangle Guide from Tanglepatterns.com. I keep it on my computer desktop so it's at my fingertips! (Check out how to get one here).
    For Jan 16, I went straight for the first one on the list: 2-N-5, a tangle created by CZT Anita Roby-Avery. Anita's instructions begin with a pencil grid, but I like to freeform on this stuff, so that's what I did. I like when things are a little wonky, so this works for me. I show my steps to the tangleation below. Once I had the basic tangle done, I did a few more things to it. I had so much fun I did another one going a different direction on Jan 17. I extended the lines from the 17th into the 18th, and began a few elements of Pais by Mikee Huber, then added some Hollibaugh by Molly Hollibaugh,  and finished adding the insides of Pais after the Hollibaugh. If all this sounds confusing, just refer to the steps below. I had so much fun with these, that I had to share the steps. (You can find the original steps to these tangles by clicking the links provided in this post.)
   Thank you Linda Farmer (tanglepatterns.com), Anita Roby-Avery, Mikee Huber, and Molly Hollibaugh!

Purple Haze

The Diva's 54th Challenge: Purple Haze. Read through Laura's post to find out why she chose purple.

Using color in Zentangle is always a little daunting to me. I rarely think about adding color. Because I love the black and white and shading, I'm quite happy to stick with that. But, the challenge being just that: a challenge, I am grateful to have someone nudge me out of my box, so thank you, Laura!
   I began with a string of purple blobs, made with random purple watercolor pencils I happened to have handy. The color was a bit more on the magenta than purple side, so in the end, I added a little more purple, and a bit of blue. I was having a hard time with this one, and it seemed like it just wasn't finished, no matter what I did. I could feel myself wanting to overwork the whole thing, so I let it lay for a bit.
   As always, just when I don't know I need something, it appears. I was blog hopping and was happy to see that Zentangle had a new post. Wa-la! I needed a little dark to balance all that complex swirling I was doing! All the shading in the world wasn't helping, but once I read the blog about the one third/two thirds proportion, I knew that's where the answer was: a little more black! It's still busy, but it feels a little more balanced. Thanks Laura and Maria (and/or Rick) for pulling me forward today. I might just try another!

Calendar Giveaway!

If you're surfing around for more Zentangle® fun and some really great inspiration, you must check out Sandra Strait's (Life Imitates Doodles) review of the 2012 Tangle-a-Day Calendar. Sandra's reviews are always interesting and thorough, and full of useful information about different mediums and their possibilities. Whether you've been into Zentangle for a while, or just starting out, Sandra's blog always has great info AND awesome eye candy.
   She is also giving away one of the calendars (signed and everything!). If you leave a comment and your email address (by midnight, January 22), you will be entered to win. Winner will be posted January 23.
   Thanks for the review, Sandra! And thanks to all who have purchased a calendar. We've just printed the second batch!