The Name Game

Linda Farmer of tanglepatterns.com has issued a Zentangle challenge. Why are these so much fun?? Not sure about the answer to that, but all I know is, I can't resist. This one seemed like it would be interesting, and it was! The game is to find tangles that begin with each letter of your name and create a tile using these tangles.
   I used: Chainging, Ahh, Rain, Onomato, Locar and Emingle. Lots of fun, these challenges. Thanks, Linda!

Rounding

As I was playing with the Week 4 Challenge, (such a great starting point that can last the whole week!) I tangled Afterglo, but then it came over me to round out the shapes made by the auras and strokes through the auras around the stars. 
   I continued the Challenge by adding it to my "Tangle*a*Day" desk calendar. Here is Afterglo (Day 10) before the rounding:



By rounding, I mean to round the corner of each little 'box' or stripe you see around the star. Each shape will get a little corner crevice filled in with black. The effect made me think of a butterfly wing, and also added a little (healthy-type) drama to the day of January 10:

It was tons of meditative fun to round all the corners inside the stripes. Try it out sometime with any tangle that has corners. Experiment to see what kinds of shapes emerge, and pay attention to how it changes the tangle!

Challenge4: Audio to Visual

Laura Harms' Challenge Week #4 has us dancing under the stars!

Laura provided a music video for us to listen to and interpret visually as a Zentangle tile. As I started the music and closed my eyes, the feeling of the song came over me. I gotta say, it was a very different way to start a Monday. I hadn't even had my coffee yet, and after hearing the song, I really didn't need any.

   In the spirit of play, I began my tile. The string was basically a circle in the middle that I pretty much ignored once the play began.
   The name of the song (Starry Eyed Surprise) immediately made me think of the tangle, Afterglo, which I often find myself doing with star shapes. And usually when I play with this particular tangle, I am very surprised at where the lines take me.
   It was lots of fun to use my ears to hear what I then would intuitively feel about what I was hearing, and then using my eyes and hands and pen to record what I felt. What a stream of crazy fun! I had a lot of fun meandering through the squiglets and stars... 

come on come on

the fun has just begun  

tonite I'm seein' stars

ps: YFM! (Yay for Monday!)

The Confidence of Playing

Last week's Zentangle challenge (presented by Laura Harms), spawned a wonderful circle of comments about process and product. "Making art" can be a little nerve-wracking sometimes. In focusing on the outcome ("art"), it's easy to bypass the really fun part: the process. Beginning with our eyes shut called forward (for many, but not all) some doubt and (hopefully low-level) anxiety. That's just because of what we are expecting of ourselves (some nice art?).
   Notice when kids (or adults) play, they make things up and change things as they go. That's the fun of playing. The lightheartedness we bring to play allows for a certain confidence in what we are playing with. Playing with Zentangle is the perfect playground for lighthearted confidence to emerge. There is no preconceived image to attain -- just a meandering string that will get filled or not, today or tomorrow or two weeks from now.
   I love how each participant is playing this little challenge game. What a joyous symphony of play!! It makes me happy to my toes to see so many people joining in. Thanks, everyone!

Calendar Play: Week 1

It's been a few days since I've tangled on my Tangle-A-Day calendar, so catching up was fun. For January, I thought I would start with a string running all through the month. This way, the days are connected instead to each other instead of sectioned off one by one. 
    My first idea was to start at the beginning of the alphabet, and each day, do a tangle beginning with whatever letter was next. It's a nice tidy thought, but I soon remembered, oh yeah, I am not that tidy. I think I will use the alphabet as a starting point, but I already see things sneaking in there that aren't part of that system. Of course, not any of that stuff matters. Just having a little blank space each day is what I like. Allowing something to emerge into that space will be the fun part. 

I started the year with a heavier pen (an old fashioned fountain pen), then switched over to a Micron .005. Because the paper has a harder surface than I usually use (a real Zentangle tile), the thinner point works better for me. When shading, I use the Zentangle pencil and a blending stick.

   If you are playing with one of these this year, send me some photos. I'd love to see what you are doing with your calendar!

Challenge #3: Eyes Wide Shut

Laura Harms' Week 3 Zentangle Challenge: Shut your eyes and create a string!
   Staying ON the tile was a challenge with my eyes closed. I kept veering off toward edges unknown (appropriate, yes?). The thing I found most challenging (and since this IS a challenge, also right on) was trying to find a visual balance in my string after I had made it. When we walk with our eyes open, it's much easier to balance than when we close our eyes and try to walk. The information that our eyes send us really helps us navigate!! I know that sounds obvious, but I realized how much I take it for granted.
   As I opened my eyes and tangled away, the process felt awkward and weird. I think it was about finding that balance, knowing I had no control over what the string was asking. I felt like I was trying to compensate for a flow that I couldn't feel. It was as if I didn't really make that string, someone else did! My little left brain was screaming up a storm to 'fix this and fix that', 'pitch it and start over', 'make it prettier'. It's funny how when I begin in a place of little or no control, the left brain freaks into gear trying to get more of it.
   'Just let it be.' How many times do I have to tell myself this? Bunches. So I overworked the first one, shading it almost to death, I don't know. I did feel like I needed to do another to see if I could shake off the feeling of needing to control it so much. I kept it simpler (taking my cue from Week #1). Even though I was consciously more aware of my quest for balance, the second tile was much more relaxing. My left brain finally got the picture. It's ok to be uncomfortable with a process, and it's ok if I end up not liking the result. But just having the awareness of all these things feels like a wonderful gift. Thanks, left brain, and thanks again, Laura!

   

2011: Begin with the Z

For the past five years, a group of creative friends gather at my house on New Year's Day for what we call Creative Beginnings. The idea is to begin the first day of the new year swimming in a creative intent (as well as eating the last bit of holiday goodies).
  Last year, we began with learning Zentangle. It's been a really fun year, and looking forward to some more zzzzs this year.
   As the new year begins, one of my friends, who has yet to dip into the z-space, announced she was now ready to "begin with the Z."
    I like the idea of beginning at the end of the alphabet. Let's see how we can shake it up this year.