My First Zendala

I have been looking at Zendalas, wanting to have a go at one but I guess I was waiting for the right time with my hand tremors.  I found this template at The Bright Owl's blog, where she puts out a weekly challenge.  Looking through past templates this one struck me as do-able for my first try.  To me, it seemed to call for lots of Paradox and there were a couple of new tangles I wanted to try also--Judy West's Teardrops and Coral which I left incomplete on the zendala because it seemed to work here.  My pen ran dry in those lighter paradox squares.  I was going to go over them with the new pen but decided to leave it.  It was a fun little project so I will definitely try more zendalas.  :-)

Still playing with flowers

Today's tangle uses ribbon flower, skein and I don't know the name of the one at the bottom.  I'm still stuck on the flowers for now.  Ribbon flower was fun to draw, skein was fun to shade. I had a little trouble continuing skein behind ribbon flower.

Pinwheels for Peace

The Diva's Challenge this week is to tangle a pinwheel for world peace.  I have used only 2 tangles here in my pinwheel...striping on the fold of the blade and hypnotic on the background since watching pinwheels makes me feel as if I am falling into a trance.  

Bark with Aura

I didn't know from one minute to the next what my plan was for this tile...I just meandered and let it happen.  Tangles used are Bark (inspired by the dogwood flower) and Ojo (Spanish for eye)  I have been playing with flowers in the last few tangles...was afraid of them for some reason.  Before I added the aura I thought it was ugly, now I am ok with it--it will go in the box-- a Birks box; it is perfect for tangles.

Yesterday's Tangle

Stag, Topper, Verdigogh, Olive leaf, Tipple

Monotangle N'zeppel

The Diva's Challenge - Break Free!

Hello!  This is my first post to the Diva's Challenge since I have been tangling again.  Happy Anniversary to Laura and Brad Harms!  I was sorry to learn Artoo has been in hospital again but at least he is doing well now.

Hand tremors still bother me but I am learning what kind of lines I can do and what just won't work for me.  Tangles learned here are Afterglow, O'Bob (well, my version of it) and Mi2, which I don't quite have my head around but got enough to be mostly passable.  I will continue to play with this one.  What a pleasant time I had tangling this.  Lollipop, my Shih Poo, snoozed beside me on the patio table...the breeze blowing gently, wind chimes tinkling slightly in the lilac tree.

Apparition

I tangled this while waiting for my bedsheets to dry this morning.  From the top, (L-R) the tangle patterns are Ennies, Keeko, Bula Flower, Copola and I forget the one at the bottom.  I will come back with its name.

Optical Design

This is a new pattern I saw in Margaret Bremner's post and I had to try it.  Tangling with MS is a challenge, my hands and fingers don't always do what I tell them to, but this pattern with so many repetitive short lines was pleasant to do.  I could feel the zen!  You can see instructions for this pattern here. http://juliannakunstler.com/art1_opt_des.html  I will add shading and show it later.  The pattern can be used as a monotangle or as a fill in other tangles.

Finished tangle below--a little shading to make the squishy things pop.  I tried to add JJ Barbera's Verve to the middle but my brain refused!  We tried though!  Will have to work on that one.

This IS a fun pattern and I am definitely going to play with it some more. 

Left Handed Challenge - Non-Dominatrix!

The Diva's Challenge this week is to tangle left handed...I am usually tangling with short circuits and the past few weeks it became noticably worse.  And this, the first week I feel I have a little control again and am awake also, wouldn't you know it!  The challenge is a doozy!  I almost said, no I'll wait for the next one.  Well, as I tangled, I was surprised it was as good as it is...I fully know it is not good but I expected far worse.  I did not have the energy to shade this, especially with my left hand!  I feel wobbly all over, even typing feels funny and I am noticing my left hand more as I type...I want to shake it.  However, it was a challenge and I am glad I did it.  Now to post over at The Diva's site and then visit the others, and I can't wait to see how everyone did! ;-)

Visit The Diva's Weekly Challenge here:



Vote for Amy's Zentangle NASCAR!  Read about it here-->  Amy's NASCAR

White Space Challenge

Laura Harm's Challenge this week is White Space. I did this first one last night but now feel it was only a warm up. Sometimes more ideas come while I am actually playing with a tangle. I used to think I had to have one already in my mind...but when I just tangle, more come. Guess what I will play with tonight!

I'm off to the dentist before work. Maybe I can tangle in the waiting room.

Click on this to see more about the Diva's Challenge.

Phoenix

I wanted to combine two patterns, W2 and Paradox.

However, as I filled in the W2 spaces with Paradox, I began to see I was loosing W2!  What to do?  This was not in the plan.

Not what I expected . . . so how will I shade this? Breathe!  As I looked at it, I began to see lots of possibilities. I have no printer for now so I couldn't print a few copies and try them.  Relax! Finally, I decided to try and resurrect W2

Et voila!!  W2 rose like a phoenix!  It turned out quite dark--darker than I usually tangle--kind of heavy with the blocks and dark shading, but that suits my mood today.  Tomorrow is another day and probably another mood.   The Diva has challenged us to work with white space!   Now that my dark side has been appeased, I look forward to some clean white space.  ;-)

A Grid Tangle in sequence

Grids are not my favourite kinds of tangle patterns but today my head needed something very ordered.  I began with a grid, added the string over the grid then picked up Totally Tangled to look for a few patterns I haven't tried.

First pattern I added is Kuginuki.  It was fun and relaxing, I didn't have to think too much about it, just enjoyed seeing the pattern develop "one stroke at a time."

When I added Pollen (upper left) I made some mistakes (my hands were not steady--sometimes I just have to accept that) but continued with a variation of it in the middle section.

Lower left is Buttercup--this one was fun. Lower middle and upper right is a variation of N'zeppel--I always enjoy shading this one.  I guess what I like about this tangle is that each pattern area is different but the grid is uniform.

Added a little more detail to the middle section.

And then shaded a few of the sections.

This isn't the best Zentangle I have done, but I did enjoy doing it and learned a few new-to-me patterns.

It takes all kinds . . .

It takes all kinds of people to make the world go round.  This was my weekend tangle; I went back in my journal and completed a page I had left undone.  Tried some patterns I had not tried before...the finished tangle looks a little disorderly, a bit raucous even...these completely different orbs bunched together remind me of different types of people...each beautiful in their own way, each entirely different from the bunch.  Each bring their own gift to the group.   I was added to the Zentangle Group at Facebook--some CZT's, some  experienced graphic artists, and some beginners like me.  Each tangler brings something to the group.  Cool huh? :-)

 
Before completion and shading.

Breathe!

Here is my response to The Diva's  Breathe Challenge this week.  She said,"Your challenge, should you choose to accept it - is to create a tile or piece using conscious, even breath. To Relax. Breathe. Smile."

What a blessing this challenge has been!  I have been playing with Paradox for the past few days and enjoying it...the more familiar I became with it, the more soothing I found it.  The final tangle is more of a variation I guess...it is paradox melted down.  I did the four dots, joined them to form a border, then drew a string, and filled each section with paradox as much as the string allowed.  I was relaxed, aware of my breathing.  I did each of the tangles below at bedtime...as I said the other night, it was better than a sleeping pill!  When finished this one I thought it looked like a wood spirit. (or maybe a wood nymph)  

This one I call Tumbling Paradox, it reminds me of ice cubes tumbling from a glass. 

The more I became familiar with this pattern, the more it's repetitiveness relaxed me.  A cross made four squares to tangle.

The first one I posted the other night and called Soothing, began with an X inside the border making 4 triangles to tangle with Paradox.