Happy Halloween!

Adele's inspiration this week was candy corn! Here's my Halloween offering!

Happy Halloween!

Zendala Dare #114

It's been a busy week here! I loved the template that Erin provided, and actually completed it on Tuesday. My version, on a colored 3.5 x 3.5 tile with brown, sepia and purple Microns, has quite a few things that were unintended. Rain, for example, never got the treatment it deserves! (This was my first time using it. I have admired how many of you use it beautifully in the Zendalas. Bravo! Not an easy feat, for me, at least!)This came out totally different from my usual zendalas. The template is totally hidden, so I thought I would do it again, on Sunday morning. As I'm not sure that can happen, I'm posting this one.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a marvelous week!

Diva's Weekly Challenge #241: Cairns

This week, the Diva's guest blogger,Paula Bramante, had us looking for inspiration in cairns, or ceremonial stone piles. I was a bit nervous about this one, since I am coming to learn that sometimes I tangle, and sometimes I draw. When I draw, it becomes representational, intellectual, left-brain thinking. I don't enjoy it as much as I enjoy tangling, so I try to stay away from it. 

[THE BEST PART OF THIS POST] All the same, I wanted to participate in this challenge, and decided to spend some time with Andy Goldsworthy, a British sculptor, photographer and environmentalist who is considered the father of modern rock balancing. If you've never seen his work, which uses only natural materials--rocks, twigs, snow, leaves, petals, ice--you should check him out here. He has published numerous books, and there is also a documentary, Rivers and Tides. 

For my tile, I decided to use the shape of one of Goldsworthy's slate cones and fill it with BB. When I had finished, it still needed something. Remember the stone mosaics from Paula's post, I filled in with 'NZeppel. 

Are you familiar with Goldsworthy? I'd love to hear from you! Not familiar, but want to know more? Check out this Andy Goldsworthy page. Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful week!

Joey's Weekly Challenge: U is for Undu

Daniel Lamothe, the creator of this week's Undu, is such a talented and creative young man. This tangle is simple and elegant--my favorite kind! I first planned to layer inks in black, white and grey, but then realized that would be a bit like Orlique, a Maria Thomas tangle. So I kept it short and simple. Thanks, Daniel, for this mesmerizing tangle. Thanks, Joey, for another wonderful challenge! And thanks to Carolyn Koesters for her curvy String #059!

It's a String Thing #115

Adele really tested us this week! I confess: I had to trace String #116, with its many crescents! I even erased it a few times before I was satisfied. Swarm and Fandance weren't easy for me. I felt like it all finally started to come together when I shaded it. I can't wait to see what others did! Thanks for stopping by! Have a great week!

Diva's Weekly Challenge #240: Leaf it alone!

This week the Diva challenged us to be inspired by the season wherever we are. Here in North Carolina, it's autumn, my favorite time of the year. After a long, hot summer, full of mosquitoes, I'm delighted to resume my walks in the woods, to admire the trees, wildflowers, birds and whatever else I might stumble upon. (Lately, I have discovered some copperhead snakes, too. Glad not to have stumbled on them, as they are venomous!) This week's walk led me past lots of crazy vines with tendrils and heart-shaped leaves, some Pokeberry plants, and of course, a plethora of leaves! Together, they all inspired this:

Heartleaf, Pendrills, Pokeroot, Sampson, Oke, Zinger

Although I love autumn colors, I've left this one in black and white, so it works for both the  northern and southern hemispheres! Thus, the title "Leaf it alone!"

Thanks for visiting! Enjoy this transitional time of year, wherever you may be.

Zendala Dare #113

I thought this week's Zendala template was so pretty that I couldn't wait for the weekend, so here it is!

Purk, Mooka, Betweed, A-maze, Chainging, Knightsbridge, Linq and Sparkle

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great week!

Joey's Weekly Challenge: T is for Ta-Da

Thank you, Joey, for another monotangle challenge! I've only used Ta-Da once, for last week's It's a String Thing challenge. In this example by its creator, Margaret McKerihan, the pale ink makes it really glow. I tried to capture something similar, and layer ink. (Maybe too much for one tile!?!) Thanks for visiting! Have a great week!

Zendala Dare #112: Layer Up!

I love Erin's Zendala Dare. Not just this week, but EVERY week! It's the last challenge of the week for me, and I usually do it on Sunday while my husband,Larry,is listening to the American Top 40 show on the radio. This week was no exception. When I saw this week's template, I thought of woven Damask ribbons with the pattern appearing in the negative form on the back. I also thought of one of Maria Robert's tiles I saw this week where the lines change from black to white. And yet another where she used white ink on a gray background done with a Fabrico pen. (My white on gray was barely visible, so I added some black to those sections. Can you see the white? It might have been good to go back and add some white on top of the black in the A-maze sections.) Thank you, Erin and Maria, for your inspiration. I couldn't have carried this one off without you!

Tangles used: Betweed, A-maze, Mist, Mooka

String #114 and WZTV

Thanks, Adele, for another challenge! String #114, Ahh, Ta-Da and Teenos. All three were new to me!

This week's focus for Weekly Zentangle Video was ING. I really enjoyed working with this one, and mixing it in with Mooka.

Thanks for stopping by!

Diva's Weekly Challenge #239: Munchin on Black

Thanks, Laura, for this week's challenge to use Munchin, black on white. (I wholeheartedly concur with Laura about the black tiles. I have found that Strathmore Artagain black artist tiles give me a brighter look than the Zentangle paper, which just doesn't seem to like ink as much as its white counterpart.) I always enjoy the white GelliRoll pens, as they slooooooooooow me down. Munchin is simple and elegant. When I use it, I zen out :)

If you missed it, I highly recommend watching Molly's video, even if you know how to draw Munchin. There's a cool little tip about putting black ink on top of the white.

Thanks for stopping by!

Joey's Weekly Challenge: S is for Striping

Thank you for an enjoyable challenge this week, Joey! When I first tried Striping, it looked really flat, even with my shading. Then I discovered the Zentangle enhancement of sparkling, which I think I've taken to the extreme in this tile! I used the lovely, curvy String #18, by Sandy Hunter.

I'm trying to pick up some tips on shading in the Facebook group, "Shading Zentangles". (There are some amazing artists sharing their work and following Eni Oken's instructional books and videos. Eni gives her suggestions, and is quite generous with her time.) I think I'll play with this a bit more and see what happens. I welcome, as always, your comments and suggestions!
Thanks for stopping by!

Update: Here's the new version. I used a Fabrico pen to deepen the shading and black pen to break up my exuberant highlights! Thoughts?

I'm stopping with this in the belief that Zentangle is non-representational AND "Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien." (Better is the enemy of good.)

Thanks again for stopping by!

Zendala Dare #111: Halloween!

This one had me spooked, Erin! A lovely template, to fill in with a Halloween theme! Although I don't really "do" Halloween--all that candy scares me!--I LOVE PUMPKINS! When the weather turns cool, I have pumpkin soup almost every day! (Talk about scary, right?) For my Zendala, I kept it simple and organic. Pumpkins (Leafheart tangle), spiderweb (Flutter), Pokeroot and Pokeleaf (because it is that time of year here in NC!) and Efell.

It's a String Thing #113: Noodles, pots and pans

To commemorate National Noodle Day, Adele gave us a challenge using Pots-n-Pans, 2-n-5 and Hollibaugh to use with string #113. I "noodled" around with this for a few days, then got sick and decided it would go undone. Feeling better today, I gave it a go. When I had finished most of the tile, I started drawing Quipple in the corner to give some dimension. This quickly became bubbles, to go with the spaghetti, pots and pans and dish towel! This tile feels more "drawn" than others, but it still brought me relaxation and enjoyment!
Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate your visit and welcome your comments.

Rhonda's Pumpkin

Last week, I enjoyed lunch with my dear friend Rhonda. She's an October baby, so I tangled her a tiger pumpkin.

Happy Birthday, Rhonda! 

Joey's Weekly Challenge: R is for Rosewood

This is the fastest tile I've ever done, unless you consider the time I spent thinking about what to do with Rosewood. I was about to post a comment on Joey's page to say, "Hope you're feeling better. I'm under the weather, and don't think I'm up for this week." I even looked at the  other posts, where tanglers had beautifully realized some of the thoughts that ran through my mind this week. Not wanting to miss a challenge, I took a piece of card stock and a sepia pen. I was planning on making an actual Rosewood frame for a Bijou tile. However, once I got going, I really liked the white space made by my Bijou tile string!
Funny how things work out :)

And here's an example of the "Bijou Tile Frame" I mentioned:

Diva's Weekly Challenge #238: Tri-Bee (and the Blue Funk)

When I first saw this week's tangle, Tri-Bee, it seemed so easy. That should have been a sign! Probably overthinking it, I was quickly discouraged by my efforts in my sketchbook. I grabbed a blue tile anyway, and jumped in feet first. Blue Micron 01, blue washed tiled. This was going to be great! WRONG! The blue ink was bleeding all over! I tried to remedy to the situation by barely touching the paper, and moving really FAST! (This reminded me of the fiasco last week with the tea and the stencil!) I quickly filled in the string, held it out at arm's length and grabbed a Gelly Roll Moonlight pen in order to have a thicker ink.
This attempt left me feeling blue.

This morning, after a long walk in my favorite park, where I saw a blue (!) heron and several deer, I felt ready to have another go at Tri-Bee.

This feels much more relaxed! Lesson learned: when life puts you in a blue funk, take a walk!

Thank you so much for stopping by! I am truly grateful for your visit!

Avant et après

In my recent career as a French teacher, I loved to play a game I called "Avant et après" to practice different sequences. In the Shading Zentangle group on Facebook, we post pictures of our work before (avant) and after (après) shading. Here are mine, using the tangle "Jalousie". I think I have a lot to learn about shading, but I had a lot of fun!

A new group! WZTV: Weekly Zentangle Video on Facebook

Several of our colleagues have recently mentioned Facebook groups. Yesterday, I joined two: Shading Zentangle and Weekly Zentangle Video. The shading group appealed to me because I have seen several of your tangles just popping off the screens in the last few days. (No, it was not due to the latest upgrade from Apple.) Really deep shading and sparkling highlights transform the tiles. I want to learn how! The WZTV focuses on a single tangle for the week, but you may include others in your work. The submissions are made into a video, thanks to the organizer, Jane Dickinson.
Here's my submission to the WZTV group, using GNEISS as the main tangle. This was my first go at this pattern. I thoroughly enjoyed it!
What groups do you belong to? Where do you find inspiration to grow?

It's a String Thing #112

Thanks, Adele, for a lovely challenge this week. Using String #112, Minline, Puffle and Kisses, I experienced a zentangle rollercoaster! As I am want to do, I first produced a very minimalist tile with lots of white. I really liked it, until I heard my first grade teacher, Ms. Clodfelter, who was also an artist. "You should never have white space. Use the whole page." So, rule follower that I am, I continued tangling, less and less happy with the results, which looked like a weird Easter bunny :( I was going to start over, but I hated to waste a tile, so I blacked out the Easterbunniness, with the exception of part of the ear, which is now a strand of Puffles floating in the night!