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Yes, I'm now officially addicted to this tangle with its deeply graphic qualities. I added some blue and gold rings in chalk pencil when I was finished, the colors of Ukraine, since the tangle is derived from Ukranian folk art (see yesterday's post).  Tangle: Kivka. Done on a black pre-strung Zendala tile. I ignored the string, but when I was done drawing the string still showed faintly so I added the chalk pencil rings to cover it. Gold and Silver Slicci Metallic pens. Both pens were at least 10 years old and previously unused. I am lucky they worked. I don't even remember where I got them. Yesterday and today I have been experimenting with using a 9-pointed star as a string for tangling. Below is my first attempt, done with Tomomi Galliano, CZT of the Pebbles and Drops website.. And underneath that is today's try. I like this 9-pointed mandala a lot. Nevertheless, first tries are just that: first tries. I can only get better with practice, eh?  On a black zendala tile, using White Gellyroll 10 and 05, graphite, Micron PN, and chalk pencils. First try.  On a black zendala tile, using White Gellyroll 10, Micron PN in black, and chalk pencils. Tangled with Mooka and orbs/Tipple. Second attempt.  Metallic paints on black tile, white chalk pencil, white pen, blue pen. No idea how this happened. A friend and I were fooling around daubing several types of metallic paint on a variety of Zentangle® tiles a few months back. I've no idea what specific paint we were trying out here or even what I did.
The tile sat around with the paint scattered on it for weeks, and then I picked it up today and inserted a few scribbles. It was fun, although I'm not sure I made it better and may have made it worse. Just experimenting!  A Zengem on Black, from a string developed by Stefanie vanLeeuwen using multiple Prismacolor pencils and General's Chalk Pencils, plus a White Gellyroll pen. #tanglestudiostefanie, #zengemonblack Truly, I am a lucky gal.
I did this tangle last night for a friend whom I think of as a real gem. This woman has been my mentor for the last two years in a meditation teacher training program. She has been unbelievably kind, sensitive, helpful, and has drawn liberally from and shared her own deep practice and her decades of experience teaching meditation to others. In the process she has been a powerful example to me, as well as to the other four people in my small peer group for the last couple of years. We have been fortunate to know her. In Buddhism there are many lists, one of which is known as "The Three Jewels: The Buddha, the Dharma, and and Sangha." I mailed off this little Zentangle® Gem Portrait today with that in mind, to say thank you to her. She has managed to embody the Buddha's teachings, transmitting the Dharma clearly and faithfully, and with patience and kindness has helped us to form a peer supervision group (the Sangha) that will continue long after the program ends. Thank you, Adi. "...You should understand that you are one of the Three Jewels. You shouldn't put the Three Jewels outside of yourselves; you should always think of yourselves as being one of the Three Jewels—and that includes your body, your speech, and your mind.” ― Dhomang Yangthang, The Union of Dzogchen and Mahamudra  Zengems on a black tile, using Prismacolor pencils in a wide variety of colors, General's Chalk Pencils in 3 colors, and a White Gellyroll Pen #10. This is the result of a truly wonderful class with Stefanie vanLeeuwen this afternoon <@tanglestudiostefanie>. There were students from Canada, the USA, Holland, Germany, the Carribean, and Spain. We had such a good time and I certainly learned a lot. I'll be trying this method again with other forms and colors.
Every person in the class produced something very beautiful--the sign of an excellent teacher. Stefanie had everything extremely organized well in advance. I chuckle when I contrast the sense of control I have with colored pencils to the lack of control I have with watercolor; see yesterday's post for more on that. Art is truly endless learning. "Regard everything as an experiment," said artist Corita Kent. Words of wisdom.  Mandala on a black Zendala tile using metallic, stardust and white gellyrolls and white chalk pencil. Also a metallic gold Prismacolor pencil. Tangles are Shattuck, Betweed, and Pepper. I did this last night just before I went to sleep. My thought in this moment, this morning: The Wheel of Change rolls on, every moment of every day. Let's roll. "The thing that lies at the foundation of positive change, the way I see it, is service to a fellow human being."
--Lech Walesa  Tangles: Huggins and Fife. Done with Gold Gellyroll and white chalk on a black Zendala tile. It's Election Day here in the USA and the voting is hot and heavy. Last night I did another mandala, above. I'm reminded of how the Wheel of Life is ever-turning, ever changing, and today will prove that to be true. No matter who wins this election, my country has changed dramatically over the last four years, and it will continue to change during the next four. Inevitably. May we know peaceful change; may we grow into kindness and peace each day, and may we trace our roots to the Tree of Peace. The tradition of the Tree of Peace was especially honored by the indigenous peoples of this country. There are many beautiful renditions of Native Peoples view of the Tree of Peace but I didn't want to use any of those out of copyright concerns. Below is an image from Wikimedia, used with permission. This image comes from Slovenia. Many world religions also speak of and value a Tree of Peace.  Just a quiet day and my first work with Day One of Zentangle®'s Project Pack 06. Videos for this one are likely easily found on YouTube.  I'm loving the contrast between tangling and empty space on this. Tangles: Mooka, Crescent Moon (variation), Fescu. Just what I need. Another hobby. Oh sure. The only way I can justify this one is to say that I'm surprised at how well these things actually show off Zentangle® tiles. Or would if I ever got good at making them. Today's version was so badly bungled that I won't even go into the story, but it turned out sort of ok. I made the most of what started out as a "right-royal mess," as my friend Vivienne used to say.  My 2nd try at this.  I added a simple ribbon. Easier than I thought it would be.  Just to show how the tiles look in the book (the book actually lies flat quite well, but it was still damp when I opened it to take this photo so I decided to allow it to be only partially open). This is a tile from January of this year. Not only that, but a bunch of cotton quilt scraps arrived in the mail from my kind friend Elaine J. Huffman. Free! And mostly gorgeous batiks. She is clearly enabling this addiction. Thank you Elaine...I have 4 more books in the works already, thanks to your gift. Clearly it pays to know a talented quilter. See below.  Trees are in bud, the buds looking bigger each passing day. There is a small maple on my front lawn with large tight red buds. I worry about this tree as it was mistreated in the past, but despite all that, it's resilient and looking pretty darned good. I'm guessing I'll see leaves within a week or so. I think of this tree as courageous and persistent. May it have a peaceful and ease-filled summer growth season this year. A few days ago I begin work on this tile below. Because I'm so busy it took days to finish, even though it's a very small piece. It's clearly Spring-inspired.  Tangles are Blixty and Catkin. Micron 01, Prismacolor pencil and General's White Chalk Pencil, graphite. This morning I snuck in one more tile when I should have been working on something else. I am a world-class procrastinator, especially when whatever I am supposed to be doing is preventing me from making art.  A "cartouche"-based tangled piece using Doodah on a black post-card-sized paper. Maria Thomas did the calligraphy of the word Gratitude; it was enclosed on a business card inside one of my orders, and I loved it. I pasted it onto the black page, along with the Zentangle® chop (the red square at the bottom right, which I embellished) and used white gellyroll, gold gellyroll, and red General's chalk pencil, gold metallic Prismacolor. And now, back to the big projects. Sigh.
In the style of one of my idols, Mori Yuzan, a Japanese artist who lived in the late 19th and early 20th century:  Gold gellyroll on a black tile.  Gold gellyroll pen and blue chalk pencil on a black tile. Yuzan's work has always been irresistible to me because of the linework. Wave after wave. and so many tangles (not that he would have thought of them that way). Both of the above tiles are nearly copies - if not outright copies - of his spectacular work, which fortunately is now int he public domain. So relaxing to draw these and hopefully learn a bit from him.
Both were done for Zenuari2019 day 14, "idol tangle." I think I'll be doing a lot more idol tangles!  Experimenting with Mimi Lempart's tangle Mi2, using a thin gold pen (sorry, don't know the name) a friend gave me, plus Pokeroot and Pokeleaf tangles. Colored with Generals Chalk pencils on a black Zentangle® tile. I hope to do more of these experiments when I have time.
Just got back from a week away and we are having our first serious storm of the winter; it's just begun. The beginning today: I began designing another large rug. It's too early by far to show anything, but I am pleased with the start. The ending today: After endless rain and then multiple overly-early snowstorms, we finally got all the leaves cleaned up. It took all day. Since I'm focusing on gratitude this month, I want to say how relieved I am that I no longer have to do this myself. Because I live in a condo, someone else does it for me, and of course they have all the right tools & equipment, saving my old bones the effort. Thank you, thank you. Two small tangled pieces today...  Above is a black Zentangle® 3-Z tile with White Gellyroll pen and White General's Charcoal. The tangle is called XLnt and it's by CZT Jody Genovese (you can find it on tanglepatterns.com). This is my first try at it, and wowza, it was not easy for me to figure out. I like it very much though and think I'll be using it a lot. This was done for the "It's a String Thing #271" Challenge on Adele Bruno's website.  And this one is done on a tiny Bijou tile (2"x2") using Gold Gellyroll pen and A bit of White Gellyroll, with colors by General's Chalk pencils. The tangle in the center is Zenith, and that was our assignment for the Gratitangles Project, day 25. I mixed in a Footlites tangle on either side (same project, day 14). Zenith is a tangle I always mean to use, and rarely do. While working on these tiles I could not help thinking of things I am grateful for today: For example, safe housing, with great caretakers who moved those leaves efficiently and who also take care of the snow and ice. I'm grateful for the snow tires I had put on my car yesterday. I am grateful that I even HAVE a car and the money for snow tires. “The roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation for goodness.”
—Dalai Lama  Gold gellyroll pen on a black tile, with General's chalk pencils faintly in the background. Tangle is Pepper. So far, we're having an extraordinarily early winter. Multiple snowstorms have already struck, and it's been much colder than normal. We are nowhere near the Winter Solstice when the season officially begins, but it's definitely winter out there.
I spent 2 hours today getting snow tires put on at the very busy local dealership. More snow due tonight. Fortunately, it's accumulating more in the hill towns surrounding this valley, but it's often rain or slush here. We are lurching rather haplessly from storm to storm, with just a few bits of sunshine in between. Today was mostly cloudy with a couple of hours of filtered sun. This tangle was done to honor the short days and the occasional lovely brief moments of sun, when they come.  Tangles: Adalpha and Madama. Violet Moonlight Gellyroll pen, White Gellyroll pen, black Micron 05, General's White and Blue Chalk pencils, graphite. Done for the #fullmoonmosaic challenge on Pinterest. Yesterday's post was all about the sun; ironically, today's is all about the moon. Here we have an experiment that didn't quite work, but I like it anyway. I cannot even put into words what I was trying to achieve--it's too hard to explain. But I still like the ghostly, dusty fadedness of this violet-colored full moon. Before dawn this morning I woke up and couldn't believe how much light was in my room. I turned my head on the pillow and was almost blinded by the nearly-full-moon beaming down directly into my eyes through the window as She sailed along in the northwest corner of the sky. It felt as though she were tapping on my shoulder and calling to me to, "Wake up! WAKE UP!" Full moon
Make this night Love will heal the wound The glowing light Will make things right It's alright --Hird A few days ago, I shared a post called "Inspired By Others," in which I showed some work done a la Ernst Haeckel at our recent zenAgain2018 conference. We didn't stop there, however, and today's post shows two very different artists whom we also explored. Talk about crazy fun--this was a highlight of the conference for me. KEITH HARING Indeed, Keith Haring, one of Molly Hollibaugh's favorite artists when she was a child. After wondering what, if anything, we could do with tangles and his work, Molly experimented and came up with this instruction at zenAgain2018, and below you see the tile I did as a result. I was SO surprised - and delighted - by this choice of artists!
 My own version of a Keith Haring-style tile. Was this ever fun to do! Done on a black Zendala tile with White Gellyroll pen #10. Permission to break all the rules here, and just have a good time. And if that alone wasn't enough, have a gander at the mosaic below. Bear in mind that this is only a partial photo of the whole mosaic. Prepare to drool.  But wait--that's not all we did. The next tile couldn't be more different. (As is true for the "Ernst Haeckel-style" tile we did which I presented a few days ago) GUSTAV KLIMT Yes indeed, Master Klimt himself. I couldn't do him justice--none of us could, really, but we all gave it our best shot and my tile's below, along with a partial picture of the group mosaic.  This was my tile. Yes, that is some Gold Gellyroll in there, along with black and brown micron 01s, and Generals Colored Chalk Pencils. This is truly only a very small portion of the class mosaic, enlarged so that you can see the detail and the contrasts.  "What inspires me to paint? ...revisiting some old greats like Sargent, Homer, Whistler or local masters... thinking hard about a new approach or idea; or seeing a new painting on a friend's lounge room wall."
(Amanda Hyatt) Another tile for the Grati-tangle2018 project. This one has a variation of Fracas and also the tangle Marasu.  Tangles: Fracas (a variation, for Day 7) and Marasu (Day 9) of Gratitangles2018. Done on a white tile with a green 01 micron pen, a variety of General's colored chalk pencils, graphite, and white 08 gellyroll pen. While working on this tile I was grateful for all the things I've been given that allow me the luxury of time and tools to practice this form of meditative art. I am lucky indeed. And one last tile for today, same project. The tangle is Cyme and it's for day 10.  05 gellyroll white pen on a black Zentangle® tile. also 10 gellyroll white pen. General's chalk pencils in color. While working on this tile, I was thinking that I am grateful that I know a posse of women who are skilled healers and ready/able to work on a friend who's in need of help. Gratitude to these friends. We are geographically scattered but I trust them all and love them all.
Here is a quote that captures the nature of the work we've done together over the years: “I dreamt we walked together along the shore. We made satisfying small talk and laughed. This morning I found sand in my shoe and a seashell in my pocket. Was I only dreaming?” ― Maya Angelou Indeed, SVFs...indeed.  Black Bijou tile, 08 White Gellyroll, General's White Chalk Pencil. Tangles are Narwal and Luv-a. Days 17 and 18 of Inktober2018. Did this today on a 2"x2" bijou tile. It was all I could manage as I'm down for the count in a major way with a severe chest cold and lots of coughing that reverberates right down into my toes. The kind that makes you exhausted. I've been mostly sleeping for two days. The good news is, it's a cold and I'll recover. Unfortunately I'm missing some exquisite weather--cool and sunny, the best of autumn. But eventually I'll get better and get myself out there. Glad I had the energy to do this tiny tangle. Doesn't that title sound like an affirmation? Yah as an alternative way to spell yeah. But in fact it's a tangle by CZT Emily Classon and somehow I've never tried it before. So I tried it out today. That's the beauty of tangle challenges; there's always something new to do.  Here is my Plain Jane version, my original tile. It was fun to do this even though the gold gellyroll pen tended to pool when I stopped or started, causing wobblier lines (I was going over and over a few lines to try to even them out, resulting in not quite the effect I hoped for. But that's ok--live and learn. Black tile, gold gellyroll pen, General's Gold Chalk pencil, and a bit of blue colored pencil. Below is an iPhone app-version, my favorite of the "iPhone-altered tiles" I tried. I'd love a few yards of fabric made from this:   And finally, I played with a triptych that includes the original tile and two experiments. Fun! I should know better than to start these challenges, as I never finish them! So right here, right now, I'm declaring that I'll do what I can but I'm not going to stress out over it. Here was my plain Mooka tile (underneath which you can see how I tarted it up repeatedly with an iPhone app):  Mooka and also Easy Mooka, done on a black tile with a gold gellyroll pen and a little "Nord" in the background. Also used a General's Gold Chalk pencil for a further bit of color and shading. I do love Mooka. Of course, I can never leave well enough alone, so I had to mess around with the original on my iPhone. Results below. I rather like both the plain and the fancy.. What did we do before computers? (We had much saner lives, methinks.)  Determined not to be late again for this week's challenge, I decided to do a second tile and post twice in a day. The challenge was to use tangle 'Nzeppel and/or Crazy 'Nzeppel on a tile. I believe these are the "least 'Nzepp-ly" 'Nzeppels I have ever drawn, partly because I thought I'd try both types ('Nzeppel and Crazy 'NZeppel) within an orb. The orb softened the grids so much the tangles are less recognizable than normal.  'Nzeppel and Crazy 'Nzeppel each drawn in an orb with gold Gellyroll pen. Four Mookas are on the outside of the frame, and the Betweed tangles are done with Gold General's Chalk pencil, then smudged with a tortillion. (Yes, the gold chalk looks green on the black tile, but it is in fact, gold)  Here is the same tile set into a mosaic created with an iPhone app using the original photo above. Of course, this is only one possible way to rotate the tile.  Black Zentangle® tile with Gold Jellyroll pen and Gold General's Chalk Pencil (found at a fabric store). Tangles: Sandswirl, Icantoo, and Therefore. I wanted to try out my new Gold (or yellow) General's Chalk Pencil to see what it could do. Very pleased with it. Of course I couldn't leave well enough alone and had to take the original photo above and run it through some iPhone apps to see what would happen. The two resulting versions are below. I love them but I also just like the original tangle above.  The same photo as above but run through an iPhone app. Reminds me of something celestial (but then so does the original, come to think of it).  Same photo as the original but run thru 2 iPhone photo apps. So interesting to see what using apps can do. And finally, at a meeting I went to last night there was a wonderful celebration of a special member, a woman who died last week. I had only met her once, but the other group members have all known her for years and just treasured her. Because I didn't know her, I couldn't contribute but the group told wonderful stories about her talents, loving kindness, generosity, and eccentricities. I think everyone had a terrific and healing time. In her honor, someone had brought the floral arrangements (gathered from everyone's backyard gardens--she adored flowers) which had decorated her funeral service, and flowers were set around the room, including in the chair that she usually occupied. At the end of the meeting, the flowers were offered to all of us and we were encouraged to take some home in her memory. I chose these beauties below, and felt lucky to have met this woman even once. This is just a tiny sample of all the floral bounty, one last gift from a woman who apparently never stopped giving to others.   Tangles: Punzel and Molygon. Drawn on a Black 3-Z tile with a White Gellyroll 08 pen. Some coloring with a blue colored pencil (not much) and a bit of highlighting using a General's White Chalk Pencil. This is what happens when there is no time to tangle, but you gotta tangle anyway no matter what. I'd been wondering what would happen if I put the tangles Punzel and Molygon together. But there was no time to try it today. I thought I'd just try "refreshing my memory" on Punzel using a pencil and scrap paper for 5 minutes, and then I saw this tiny 3-Z tile and my White Gellyroll pen sitting there and couldn't contain myself. Good thing the tile was itty-bitty.  Same photo but altered by the iPhone mirror app. And if that wasn't enough, I played with the original on my iPhone mirror app, and got this, which is kind of fun. I prefer the original though. Ok, I'm now way overdue with prepping for a meeting this evening...but feeling somewhat less crowded by all the tasks ahead. Ahhhhhhhhh...  Head of a Buddha, done several years ago on a 3.5" black Zentangle® tile using white General's charcoal pencil and prismacolor pencils. My friend Susie from Thailand and I were discussing images of Buddha and agreeing that one doesn't have to be religious or have any belief in Buddhism to enjoy the wonderful art inspired by his history. The art on its own is peaceful. She commented on this after seeing the white-clay Buddha in my previous post (July 20th). I drew the picture above several years ago, probably around the time I bought that small white ceramic tile. It represents the "old" in the title of this post. It's true--just looking at images of Buddha always makes me feel calmer, and I remember feeling that way when I drew this. As a long-time meditation practitioner, I'm interested in Buddhism for its psychological value--it is a truly wonderful way to challenge our own thoughts, and to learn kindness. I'm happy the West has finally discovered the wisdom of Buddhist thought, and at the same time, I never think of Buddhism as a religion and do not believe that the Buddha ever intended it would become a "religion" with all the attendant dogma. Far from it. After digging out that drawing today, I thought I'd spend some time tangling, trying out a tangle called Zonked, by Barbara Finwall. Susie had just done her version of Zonked (see the 3rd tile down in her post) which I loved, and she inspired me. While testing it out, I added Hanny Waldburger's tangle Namaste, in honor of of Buddha. This represents the "new" in today's post title. Here is the result.  If you are also a fan of Buddha-heads, you may want to check out Virginia Peck's lovely art here. And now, it's time for me to go meditate. ...during which, I promptly fell completely asleep. Which suggested to me I needed to wake up and keep tangling. First I finished the meditation, then I did this. While not my greatest result, I like it on several levels.  The main tangle is my version of "Hollow Mooka," a tangleation of Mooka by Carole Ohl. Into which I put a my version of Y I Am, a new tangle by Susie Ng (a tangleation of Toodles). Finetec gold paint, General Pencil's watercolor pencils, black Micron 01, graphite, on a white Zentangle® tile.  Sketched freeform mandala on a black Zendala tile with white gellyroll pen, blue prismacolor pencils, and white charcoal pencil. It's not a full moon; in fact, she is waning. But all the same the Moon woke me very early this morning, calling through my window. I felt I should pay tribute. This was the result. Hommage à la Déesse de la Lune!
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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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