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Well shame on me--it took me weeks to get around to just putting a hem on this but I got it done today and it was extremely easy and quick. I don't know what took me so long. Nice to have this done at last. 9" x 20" hemmed.  Stone House Runner, an Old Tattered Flag (Julie Thomas, designer) pattern. Punched by me in 2021 using an Ultra Punch needle set on #2 with two strands of Valdani thread. 9x20". I finished it mid-October and it took me nearly 6 weeks to get it hemmed. Oh brother.
After watching my friend Jo Quincy, CZT, create a Mooka-Tipple combination tile, I thought I'd have a go. I've done this tile before but not for ages. Jo has damaged a finger on her dominant hand very badly and has been tangling with her non-dominant hand and producing work as gorgeous as if she was using the dominant one--she is really amazing. (NOTE: I used my dominant hand to do this one and it's not half as good as hers, done with her "wrong" hand.) I tangled with a blue Micron 05 over a pre-prepped watercolored Zendala--on the left. And then tarted up the piece with some watercolor pencils and gold gellyroll, on the right above. Which one do I prefer? Don't know. My tile is totally inspired by Jo's piece, but of course it came out differently as tangling is like handwriting. Hers is much more subtle. To see hers, go HERE. And as you watch, be aware she's using her "wrong hand." Amazing! Imitation is indeed the sincerest form of flattery. Finally, I had to play with them on my iPhone apps and producted these 2 versions:
Playing with "special effects" is always fascinating, especially any shift in color. Knowing that we don't always see color the same way makes this even more intriguing. Which version(s) do you prefer?
Continuing with zenAgain21: Here's a Dali-inspired tile. Mine looked quite different from those done by others (they were better at listening to the directions).  I know, scary stuff, huh? "When we are asleep in this world, we are awake in another." - Dali He's not one of my favorite artists, but this was a fun idea to experiment with. This was done with brown and black microns, graphite, watercolor pencils and white chalk pencil with a touch of white gellyroll on a 3.5" white tile. Somewhere during the four days, we worked on an Opus tile (10 inches square). I have plans to re-do this one, since I liked the idea but felt a bit too rushed during the execution. It was fun though.  Done on a 10" square Opus tile with black and brown microns, graphite, ochre chalk pencil. I have a few other things to finish or re-do, so that's it for now. What an opportunity. To be tangling for four days straight was just wonderful. And exhausting. As Molly Hollibaugh says, "Drawing is a physical act." True!
On the second day of zenAgain21, we discussed William Morris's fabulous designs. (A good friend who hadn't heard of him until about 2 years ago called him "The Wallpaper Guy," a name I found very funny and which always sticks in my mind, with affection). He's been a design hero of mine since I first saw his designs in my adolescence. Most unfortunately, this first tile that we did--inspired by his work--did not inspire me. In fact, this may be one of the first tiles I ever produced that I truly dislike.  Bear in mind that all 300+ participants were doing this same tile at the same time, and everyone's varied, but they all resemble this one. Some people absolutely did a better job than I, but even in that case, I don't like their tiles either. There is something about this design that grates on me in a way none of Morris's work ever does. My reaction to this design was so unusual I wanted to mention it here. I notice that I like the individual elements, but I do not like the way they come together. At all. !! So moving along, we did a second tile inspired by Morris that day and I could relate to this one a lot better. (below)  Brown & black Micron 01, graphite, white chalk pencil, watercolor pencil. Tangles are Tipple and Samson. An imitation of Morris' ubiquitous Acanthus leaves in his designs. So. zenAgain21 happened last week. Four days of Zentangle® and so much fun. This card (drawn by Maria Thomas, Rick Roberts, and who-knows-who-else) was waiting for us in our bags as we got started.  And yes, the theme of this event was Time. (and also Thyme-the-herb) As usual we received supply boxes with all the materials needed and some wonderful cards, like this one. Of course the "swag boxes" were identical and came with these terrific totes to hold all the supplies.  Each participant received the same supplies. Because I was attending with a friend and we didn't want to get our swag mixed up, I decided to tangle the cover of my journal before the workshop got underway:  All the journals were the same with the same sticker on the front (the hourglass sticker above)--drawn by Maria Thomas, Rick Roberts, and/or others from Zentangle HQ. To avoid confusion, I tangled around the sticker on mine using gellyroll pens. This i a beautifully constructed journal that opens completely flat. Oh, the possibilities. Next, we began by warming up with this piece--two newly-introduced tangles: Pangea and Myrth.  Black and brown Microns, white gellyroll on a white Zendala.  It's not quite on the horizon yet, but it's coming. Just got my 2022 calendar and did some simple tangling on the cover.
Where did 2021 go? Only about 6 weeks of it remaining. Did I use my year well? Did you? As for me, I'm not quite sure I am through with this tangling. I'll have to sit with it another day or two to see what I might add. I just finished attending zenAgain21, so I have other tangles to post and will try to get to them this week.  Micron, graphite, watercolor pencil. Tangles: Flux-ing, Mooka, Fescu, Crescent Moon. A quick trip into letter-land to produce an Embedded Letter for an assignment. There's something so soothing about the simple act of drawing lines and patterns.  Sooooooo true. |
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 Unified Mindfulness Coach Level I, 2024
Certified Zentangle® Teacher, 2013
Certified by AmyOxford.com at The Oxford Rug Hooking School, 2016
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Insight Meditation Society Oxford Rug Hooking School Zentangle: The Official Site Green Mountain Rug Hooking Massachusetts Tarot Society 
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