Heart Zendala

Thank you for all your kind expressions of sympathy last week. I really appreciate your support, and feel it strongly in my life, not just in my art.
I am sad to say that my Diva tile this week honors the two loves that Lar and I lost in three days last week. After the passing of Minou, we saw Socks suddenly waste away. Our home feels empty, as they were such a huge part of our lives for the last eight years.  They were always with me when I tangled, and Socks came every morning for "our" yoga practice. I am so grateful for the time we had together.

Nested Hearts

When I drew the string yesterday for this week's tile, I found that the hearts would not nest by joining at the upper "v". I inverted the inner heart for my string, and felt relief that I would not have such a "hearty" tile to complete. Tangling with no real desire, I started to see a heavy heart that was being lifted up by the "wings" of the inner heart. This took on more and more meaning as I realized that my heart, heavy with worry for our little cat, Minou, was somehow going to be carried by a smaller, but stronger, heart inside me.
Today, as I was doing my morning meditation, I noticed a small rainbow on the carpet in front of me, coming from the prism in my window. This immediately brought to mind the "Rainbow Bridge" poem for our beloved animals who have passed on.  Although it might seem maudlin to some, it has brought me comfort over the years.  Seeing my tile from yesterday, I remembered the hymn "I'll Fly Away", one of my dad's favorites, that sings of the release from earthly woes at the moment of passing into the "land where joys will never end". A few hours later, at the vet's, Lar and I released Minou, with love and gratitude, from the pain he had been suffering from renal failure for the last week. After 14 years together, it was a difficult goodbye, but we are grateful for his sweet spirit and never-ending love.

"When I die, Hallelujah, bye and bye, 

I'll fly away."

"Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge."

Minou the Magnificent, showing off his white "M"

Diva Challenge #351: Heart of a Champion

This week, we lived through another horrific school shooting. I, like most, don't understand how we can sacrifice our children to terrorists, to a nation-wide addiction to violence and guns. My heart is filled with a yet unvoiced moan, wail. "Thoughts and prayers" has become a mockery, but for now, all I can offer, as I try to sort through my confusion about what to do, is my prayers for the victims and their families, and my commitment to stop the insanity. I applaud the survivors who are speaking out, and leading a protest on March 24.

Diva Challenge: Heart of a Champion
2/13/18

Diva Challenge #350: Rimana

February is definitely back, and so are the heart-themed challenges. Not a big fan, but I decided to give it a go.

For my string, I did multiple  incomplete hearts that lay off the paper. I lay down Nadine Roller's "Rimana" tangle on top of the string. It started to grow. That inspired me to add some Pokeleaf, and finally Mositoo, which lends itself to an occasional heart shape here and there. As I added color, it really came to life. I really like this one, sneaky hearts and all!

I did a few more compassion meditation for kids at school this week. Here's one that I managed to photograph!

Thank you for stopping by! Please have a fun week!

Diva Challenge: Rumpus

"rumpus: a noisy disturbance; commotion. hubbub, uproar, furor, fracas"

I cannot think of a better word to describe what you get when you combine middle schoolers and a blue, blood super moon!!!  Luckily, Rumpus, the tangle, is, for me, at least, quite relaxing and lovely. A great challenge from the Diva, perfectly suited to my week of substitute teaching!  I confess that I did this tile this morning, with some resistance, created by my preoccupation with Sunday chores and heading back to work tomorrow. However, once I got started, I liked where we were going. It was an interesting study in backward design, a concept in education where you begin curriculum design by defining the desired outcome. But this is Zentangle, where we don't plan ahead. I drew the finished Rumpus first, then the stripped down one and finally the sketch, without planning a single stroke.
What a curious and fascinating method, this Zentangle!

I continue to do compassion meditation tiles for the kids I'm working with. I try to work the "lesson learned" from their "mistake" into their tile. Unfortunately, they tend to grab the finished tiles before I can take pictures of them!  Here's one with a favorite Michelle Obama quote:

And another monogram

Thanks, as always for stopping by. Have a rumpus-less week!

Diva Challenge #348: Moebius Syndrome Awareness Day

January 24th is Moebius Syndrome Awareness Day. Moebius Syndrome is a congenital nerve disorder affecting VI and VII nerves controlling the lateral movement of one's face. Laura--aka The Diva CZT--has an adorable son, Artoo, who was born with this disorder, which only affects these facial muscles, and nothing else! Artoo, one of some 5,000 people in the WORLD with this disorder, is an intelligent, talented and fun-loving boy! If you follow the Diva's blog, you are regularly treated to cute pics and awesome updates on Artoo and his older brother, Chewie. This week the Diva asked us to tangle the logo for the Moebius Syndrome Awareness Foundation.

Last Sunday, I taught my first class on black Apprentice tiles. We had lots of fun. Here's a mosaic for our second tile.

This was only my second full week of substitute teaching since starting on January 2. Definitely a challenge to get "gussied up" five days in a row, make it to work by 7:40, face the elements for 45 minutes while I try not to frighten parents in the "kiss and go" lane with my unruly hair! Ha! For the most part, the days have gone by smoothly and quickly, but have left little time for tangling. I generally get home, change into my "active wear" and cuddle up with the cats until it's time for supper. By 8:30 or 9, I'm ready for bed! 

My office mates provide lively and thought-provoking conversation during the school day.

I did manage to do a couple "compassion meditation" monogram tiles for two of our students. Here's one.

Thanks, as always, for stopping by. I apologize for not getting around to see your posts last week, but hope to catch up!  Have a wondrous week!

Diva Challenge #347

While we don't have the arctic temperatures of Diva-land-- -40 Celsius AND Fahrenheit, for those of you who may not have seen her post from Saskatoon--here in Chapel Hill we have twelve inches (30cm) of snow!!

(Since I started substitute teaching on January 2, we have now missed five days for inclement weather. I'm hoping it will thaw out before a class I'm teaching on Sunday on black tiles. I was  planning to do snowflake-y tangles, but I might encounter some resistance! )

I am thoroughly enjoying my return to middle school. As I meet new students, sometimes I think they might like to have a special monogram, so I've been doing some embedded letters as a compassion meditation, similar to the Random Acts of Zentangle. 

These were just for fun.

For the Diva's challenge, we had to use a thing to make our string. I have been trying to convert a tripod into a document camera stand, as shown in a video that Rick posted a few months ago. (See photos below. The old one was great, but bulky, heavy and difficult to transport. The new one will fit in my bag.)  After months of "messing around", I finally decided this needed to happen before I resumed my classes at the library. I needed two more parts: a 1/2-inch washer and a flat head stove bolt. While the former was easy to find, I had to go to 5 hardware stores before I finally found the bolt yesterday. I used the washer and a misfit hex bolt for my string. The tile progressed in starts and fits, a bit like the document camera stand! I was not sure that this was going to make it, but I took advantage of being snowed in and stuck with it like a tongue to a lamp post on a snowy day!!! The stain is cactus pear juice.

The finished tripod/document camera stand

The old document camera stand

Thanks for stopping by and following my journey. Have a pleasant week!

Happy 2018!

Welcome to the new year! I hope that your holidays were happy ones, and that the new year will bless you with good health, happiness and peace.
Amidst all the bustle of the holidays, I've been trying to keep up with the Twelve Days of Zentangle project. Last night, I started Day 11. We will see if I can finish up before going back to work in the morning. (News flash: After two and a half years of retirement, I have taken a 6-week substitute teacher position at the middle school where I taught for 19 years!) I did not purchase the Project Pack kit, but managed to improvise. My heartfelt gratitude goes out to the whole Zentangle crew for these creative projects and the videos to complete them.

The fourth day of Zentangle

The fifth day of Zentangle

The sixth day of Zentangle

The seventh day of Zentangle

The eighth day of Zentangle

The ninth day of Zentangle

The tenth day of Zentangle

Then there were these gifts for my daughter and her husband:

Dorian Eng's Tree Bells

Fidget toy in blue

I gussied up a cheap ($1) planner with "Meshmerize"...

...and enjoyed a peaceful new year's eve with a Renaissance Zendala.

And, finally, this week's (today's!!!) Diva Challenge, a duotangle with Phicops and Huggins.

Thanks for visiting! Have a wonderful week!

Diva Challenge #344: Happy Holidays!

So many tangling prompts, so little time! This week, Zentangle HQ began their traditional "12 Days of Zentangle" and also released a new tangle. These prompts are wonderful, and tend to involve stepping outside the tile with some new techniques. So far, I've followed along for three of them. (This reminds me that I still haven't done all the black tile prompts from a few weeks ago. Oh, well. We'll get there at some point!)

Day 1: white tile and Micron PN (Mine is blue black.)

I love the new takes on these basic tangles.

Day 2: A black tile, a white tile and some fancy cutting

Day 3: A white Zendala, some brown enthatching and a black Apprentice pen came out to meet "Rumpus", Maria's new tangle. I could draw this one all day!

Between tangling, I've been making felt birds for Christmas ornaments, sending out cards, meeting with folks to set up Zentangle classes in all the Durham library branches and shadowing the academic support teacher at  I'll be subbing for at my old school in January and February.

A little hard to get the colors on the scanner

I just got to the Diva's challenge this morning. This will be a card for a dear friend.

Wishing you all peace and good will

Thanks for stopping by. I missed getting by your blogs last week, but am looking forward to seeing what you've been up to!  May your holidays be bright, your to-do lists short and your tangle time plentiful!

Diva Challenge #344: Afterglo

"And now for something completely different," as Monty Python might say. This week's challenge was to use "Afterglo", by Carole Ohl. This one has been around for a while, it seems. The first time we met, I misunderstood it, and, shied away immediately. When I saw it on Monday, I decided to face my fear, if you can call it that! I jumped in with a "joy" RAZ tile and totally zenned out! I added a few "Ahhhs" at the end, focusing on letting my pen rest on the center point for a bit and then flicking it to get the tapered end that suggests a wispy glow. I really enjoyed this.

On Tuesday, I decided to do another Afterglo, on black. Very relaxing with the bold Signo. I added white Prismacolor, then picked up my Graphic One to add the black lines on top.

On Wednesday, I felt like trying another Afterglo on a tan (repurposed box) tile. I had a senior moment on about the third step, but decided to ink over it. White charcoal and graphite gave a different dimensional look from the previous tiles.

Thursday, I was curious about using a pink Micron on a Zentangle Renaissance tile.  White Prismacolor and graphite added a little depth and glow.

So what's so "completely different"? I usually tangle every day, but I've never taken the challenge and done different responses during the week. I usually do my tile, post it and wait for the next challenge, while finding different ideas for my daily tangle practice.  This was interesting, and definitely helped me to see Afterglo in a different light ;)

How about you? Do you practice your challenge tangle over the week, with different tiles?

Thanks for your visit! Have a radiant week! 

Diva Challenge #343: Dewd!

I must begin this week with a warm "Thank you" for all your wishes for my cat's recovery. He now has 8 teeth, of the original 38, and a hearty appetite, with no toothache to hold him back from his new favorite activity: eating!

Minou and his tree

The Diva asked for "Dewd" this week, and I was happy to oblige! I really enjoy drawing this one, which seems so rhythmical.  My first go was on a bookmark made from a recycled box. Once I had finished, I thought, "White chalk and graphite on a bookmark? Won't they rub off onto the pages?" I grabbed some clear nail polish and dabbed it on. Not sure how that will work, I would love to hear your ideas and experience!

My second go was on a paper I stained with prickly pears that a friend brought me. These were totally new to me. The flavor was quite floral, and I really love the color they left on the paper! I wanted to try drawing on the stain, as you can see, but I immediately aborted as it is still a bit sticky, even after drying for 4 days.

Finally, I wanted to use Dewd as a border. I spotted a Random Act of Zentangle I had prepared with "hope" and added just a bit of border.

And now for some inspiration courtesy of Mother Nature. Last weekend I spotted some gingko trees. These have always been magical to me, with their golden, fan-shaped leaves.

I collected a big handful and brought them home.

Thanks for your visit! Have a great week!