 Adaptation from a TangleDream video on youtube. This piece uses a high-focus string, and there is no verbal instruction, so be prepared to pay attention! Graphite, white chalk, white gellyroll pen, Micron 01 and 03 in black, Uniball Signo pens in violet and yellow. Whenever I'm forced to take a long break from tangling, as has been the case recently, it helps me to get started again by using videos. Here's one called, "How to Draw Cell" by TangleDream (click on the title if you want to try it yourself). It's sort of like warming-up for a few days before I launch back into creating my own.
I would call this a high-focus piece; the "string" (the basic form, in Zentangle®) takes concentration but isn't hard if you watch carefully. A lack of verbal instruction means anyone with any language can follow along--no English needed. It's always fascinating to see how one can think one is following carefully, and yet the outcome is so different from the original. (I love that. Plus I enjoy adapting things) Truly, we are all the same. And yet, we are all unique. It shows in so many ways, and art is one. "...Your handwriting. the way you walk. which china pattern you choose. it's all giving you away. everything you do shows your hand. everything is a self portrait. everything is a diary." --Chuck Palahniuk Aha, I finally begun tangling again. I hope to be drawing soon too. This one is not my favorite. I'm not a fan of the way colored pencils work on printmaking paper. But that's all I had on hand, so the grainy-ness couldn't be avoided. Next time I'll get back to using a smooth surface for the colored pencils. But so meditative to be tangling again.  Adapted from one of Tangled Yogi333's videos on youtube called The Italian Tangle. (It's actually an assortment of tangles and tangleations, not one thing.) Colored pencil, Micron 01 and 08, white gellyroll pen.
 16.5" x 9.5" Punch needle embroidery. The pattern is Green Mountain Gala, ©2022 to the Old Tattered Flag. They offer both a pattern and a pre-planned kit, but I opted for just the pattern and used my own color plan with variegated sock yarns and lace weight yarns in the UltraPunch medium needle set on #2. With 2 painted wooden buttons added. Isn't the pattern elegant? Julie Thomas from OTF is a genius designer. I've done a zillion punch needle embroideries and truly love this one. Imagine my surprise when the foundation (an excellent quality weavers cloth from Old Tattered Flag) began to shred. I had this happen on another piece years ago and ended up patching and re-punching the shredded part with no problem--but on this piece, for some reason, I couldn't get the patch to hold and tried at least 6 different methods to re-punch with no luck. In the end I sewed on the 2 wooden buttons at the bottom of the piece to hide the shredded foundation. The only other option was to throw the piece out. Wow.
What a puzzle! All the rest of the piece went just fine. I do NOT attribute this to Old Tattered Flag's foundation as all their material is superb quality. And it only "went wrong" in those 2 small areas. I suspect that the yarn I was using--which worked fine everywhere else in the piece--might have had a thickness change at that point and caught in the needle. But I'll never know. One of life's mysteries. There has been a change in my recovery rate this week and I'm starting to feel somewhat better. I just have to wait things out while my body heals. Probably one more month. Not being a patient person, it ain't easy. I am still not getting much (any) drawing or tangling done, but I have been able to resume work on my punchneedle embroidery project. I'm beginning the outer border, so here is a preview of a tiny section. It'll take awhile to finish, so this is all I can show. This isn't the best photo but "good enough."  |
ABOUT ME I'm a textile artist (traditional rug hooking, punch needle rug hooking, and other textile arts), a long-time meditator, a certified meditation teacher and coach, and focused on learning about the interplay of art, creativity, and mindfulness every day. 
Certified, 2021
Certified Zentangle® Teacher, 2013
Certified by AmyOxford.com at The Oxford Rug Hooking School, 2016
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SITES TO WATCH:
Insight Meditation Society Oxford Rug Hooking School Zentangle: The Official Site Green Mountain Rug Hooking Massachusetts Tarot Society 
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