The heat goes on....

In previous posts, I've mentioned using Zentangle to remember a favorite place or experience. During the summer of 2020, I chose patterns that reminded me of the beach, or the ocean, or seashells to take me away from the monotony of the pandemic. And it worked beautifully!

This week, with the continuing heat, I chose cool blues and greens for my cards for our friends at Meals on Wheels. I tried tangling with watercolor brush pens, then repeating the lines with a fine-tipped Sharpie. I really enjoyed the blurry, underwater look that it created. So much so that I made 55 of them!

In my journal, I continued this color scheme.

This distress ink background became more gray than green, so I added pink and purple :)

Have a great week! (And a Happy 4th to those who celebrate it!)

Mental "Well"ness Month

Zentangle is proposing a series of short videos for the month of May, which is Mental Health Awareness Month. They are available on YouTube and involve using the tangle "Well".  I've enjoyed the first two.

Week 1

 

Week 2

I've been on the road a bit lately, and just enjoying getting out of my bubble for the first time since the pandemic started. Lar and I ventured out as far east as Interstate 40 would take us this past weekend, to the Atlantic ocean. We both experienced awe and wonder at seeing the waves "breathe" after a five-year absence. Sunday night, the moon treated us to a spectacular full lunar eclipse, with an extraordinary orange super moon. (So serendipitous, as we didn't plan this. In our wooded neighborhood, it would have been impossible to experience.) The sun never settles for second best, and we marveled at the colorful sunsets over the Intracoastal Waterway and the sunrises over the ocean. It was all a lovely reminder of how important it is for our mental and physical well-being to give ourselves time to rest, to wonder, to experience awe.

With my road trips, the #SummerFraganic2022 prompts have helped me to continue tangling with fewer supplies, time, space. (I pull random tiles out of my pre-dyed tile stash and throw them in my tiny kit.)

Day 5, with Ginilli

Day 6, with Chainging

Day 7, with Marasu

Please give yourself time to care for your mental health, in whatever way you can. We live in difficult times, and need to pile good experiences on our plate! If we're depleted, we can't look out for each other!

Meals on Wheels

"What do we do with all these tiles we make?" My Zentangle students frequently asked for ideas. I usually pointed out that they stood alone without frames, could be tucked by the corner behind light switches, made into cards or gifts, hung from ribbons, placed in albums, only to receive blank stares. And I understood! I, too, was starting to have tiles pile up.

One day, my friend and fellow tangler Melissa offered a new idea. What if we used them for cards and gave them to our local Meals on Wheels clients? Melissa offered to set it all up, and a community service was born. Since October 2020, we have made cards every week. Sometimes, we use Zentangle artwork, sometimes stencils or freehand drawing. Each card has a personal note. There are currently 4 of us in this group, and a few others contribute as well. Every so often, we get positive feedback from some of the 165 or so clients. These always make our day! And getting together with my friends, Melissa, Pamela and Becky, to share our results, has lightened the monotony of the pandemic! We gather every two weeks, usually in one of our driveways, and catch up for an hour or so. A breath of fresh air!

This week, I decided to raid my "tile drawer" to make 41 cards. I added some digital paper words from  Pink Monarch on etsy.

After I made my cards, I had a little time for some random tangling.

Rozhki, with watercolor

Gray distress ink with blue Microns

If you're in the Triangle area and would like to join our team, email me!

Waiting

Waiting takes up a lot of time, doesn't it? I know this year we are all waiting to see when the pandemic will end. We're waiting for things to get back to "normal". We're waiting for the year to be over. (Remember how we all wanted 2020 to be over?)

I've been waiting to get over a virus this week, and waiting to be tested tomorrow, to be sure it's not COVID-19. Then, there will be some more waiting for the results. I'm not anxious, thankfully. And I've used this waiting time to do some tangling.

After our Christmas gathering on Sunday,I revisited the 12 Days of Zentangle. I did these in my journal, and wished I had done them on tiles! (I don't enjoy drawing in my journal and find it awkward.) 

Day 1

Day 2

I decided to get some color and large nibs back onto my drawing table! I watched a fun lesson from 7F5R Studio on youtube using the Flameflower tangle, by Debbie Bowyer. I enjoyed it so much that I did two tiles.

After seeing a post on the Zentangle Mosaic app today, I tried a lesson from the #toyoutangle classes on June 19, 2021, called "Nature's Light". This was very relaxing, too!

I like the stained glass look.

Wishing you patience in your time spent waiting....

The 3 R's of Resilience

Do you remember the 3 R's of education? Reading, 'Riting, and 'Rithmetic. This week, I finally made a tile that was taught in a Tangle for Solidarity lesson from June 2021. (This is a free class offered by 7F5R in Singapore. I highly recommend it.) As I drew along during this meditation, I realized that we are heading into our third year of the pandemic. What a sobering thought. I began to think about how we've all changed, and how, hopefully, that includes some positive personal growth. (Yes, it's drawn on the back of a Zentangle tile.)

Later in the week, I read an article about coping skills that West Point cadets learn that can help us deal with the pandemic. I had to find a way to summarize this important lesson, and create a "note to self"! I call this "The 3 Rs of Resilience".

Other goings on...

Sand Swirl Tree, on youtube

Blattwerk, Dealys and Yerba

What resilience skills have you learned during the pandemic?