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.

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.

And now, back to the big projects.  Sigh.

 ZenLinea posted a wonderful video on Instagram on how to draw this knot, so two nights ago I decided to try it at about 2 a.m. when sleep was eluding me.

This was my first effort and I'd like to play with it a lot more, if I can ever find the time.  I started off thinking it would be black and gray on the white tile, but somehow I began adding other lines and colors to the outside of the knot (the gold gellyroll, the yellow Prismacolor) and then the colors also crept slightly inside the knot as well.  I think I finished around 3 or 3.30 a.m. and was able to go right to sleep afterwards.

Of course this afternoon I was looking at it again and wondered what it would look like if I ran it thru an iPhone app, so I gave that a try using the same photo:

Rather reptilian, don't you think?  And soooooo different.  But interesting for sure.

I hadn't intended to draw today as I had too much else to do, but I just couldn't help myself.

It's been that kind of week--labyrinthine.  So many twists and turns.  We keep walking and we trust we will find our way in to the center and then out again on this challenging journey. 

I hope we are in the center now and will soon find our way out to resume our lives. 

I am still far from home, helping out my friend who is receiving daily treatments.  She is close to the end, however--only three more and she will be done and we will return to our respective homes.  A huge complicating factor has been the sudden illness of someone in her family; it certainly has increased the pressure on her to finish here and go home.  There is much uncertainty.

And yet, we know we just need to keep walking along on the path before us, and trust we will get where we need to be.  In fact, we are already where we need to be, and we just need to remember that.

It took me a few days to do this piece as it's so large.  I learned a lot in the doing and will try again for better results.

My friend also tangles and finds it therapeutic as she waits for appointments.  She is talented and here is one of her latest efforts, a Zendala done on a tile which she had pre-treated with a Fine-Tec paint gold wash.  Isn't this spectacular?  (I have her permission to publish this photo)

Those metallic Fine-Tec watercolors are so inspiring.

...we aren't having any where I am temporarily living in order to help out a friend.  It's winter here but the ground is bare, although in my actual town, 400 miles north, there's plenty of snow.

Nevertheless, the Zenuary2019 project on day 18 had a prompt to tangle something based on a snowflake shape.  Since I am way behind on this January challenge (I'll be working on it all thru February), I've just arrived at day 18.  I cut out the following shape on some previously-used paper:

...traced around it on a Strathmore tile, and here's the end result:

And here they are side by side.

"There is no better designer than Nature."
--Alexander McQueen

Basically no time to write today.  My friend is doing well but because of other circumstances (not my story to tell), we are still on the emotional rollercoaster. 

My heart is broken by some of what I see of the other patients at the treatment center, especially the sick children.  May they all heal, including their parents and caretakers.  May all be at peace; may all be well.

This nearly qualifies as what's known as an "inchie," a tiny drawing.  But in fact, it's more like a "two-inchie," since I did it on a Bijou tile (2x2") with a gold gellyroll and shaded it with a Prismacolor yellow pencil.  It's done for the Zenuari2019 project, day 16, "tiny tangle."

I'm away from home again and thus haven't tangled in two days.  Or done anything except knit.  Starting to feel a withdrawal.  I certainly hope I can get to do some textile work or some more  Zentangle® today or tomorrow.

"We first make our habits, and then our habits make us."
--Dryden

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 day is bright, sunny, and chllly but I am sleepy anyway.  I'm away from home helping a friend who truly doesn't need much help  We've been having fun tangling.  I did the tile above earlier while she was working on something much larger.  Lovely to have a companion in art.

When I find myself fading, I close my eyes and realize my friends are my energy. --Anonymous

Two more tangle experiments today.  I am saving the textile work for next week when I think I will have more time to focus on it.  What I love about both Zentangle® and textile art is the deep inner silence I experience when doing either.  Both are highly meditative.

Today I went into that silence with joy and relief.  One of the wonders of Zentangle is that it doesn't matter what the outcome is, bad or good, because the process of creating is where the gift lies, and that in itself is enough.  Often the outcome is wonderful--a bonus.

 Sure enough, I had the thing laminated this afternoon (see yesterday's post for an explanation of "the thing") and then with the help of an x-acto knife and 3 minutes of work, cut a center hole and installed the works. 

Voila, a completed Zentangle® Spinner.

As I mentioned yesterday, I'm thinking about wheels/mandalas, etc., of which this is only one.

The big one--the Full Moon--was shining in my bedroom window so brightly last night that I thought she was going to come right through the glass and join me.  So I'll be calling this my Full Moon Spinner.

Now if we could all just learn from the quote below...

“You develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it. From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, ‘Look at that, you son of a bitch.”
― Edgar Mitchell

This week's Solstice (yesterday) caused me to start thinking about wheels, as in the Wheel of the Year and how that wheel is turning once again.  I've had wheels on the brain.  For example, the Wheel in the tarot (see my previous post on the Wheel of Fortune card HERE), plus I just finished a Zentangle® project that had me creating a wheel, below.

The above wheel is going to grow up to be a "Spinner Board," once its spinner arm is inserted thru the hole in its center.  Before I do that, I'm thinking I will need to laminate and back the piece.  There are 55 different tangles on the piece, and I'm guessing it's about 9x9".  It was fun to do and took twelve days, tangling for about a half hour each day.  It's part of Zentangle's Project Pack 04 and all the relevant how-to videos are on YouTube.

In the process of doing this, my already messy desk grew completely out of control, so today I went on a massive cleaning binge.  It should be noted that, for me, a "massive cleaning binge" is equivalent to picking up one piece of paper from the floor.  I did not get the cleaning gene.  I was happily raised in Lower Slobbovia.

But today I swept my large desk clean and forced myself to sort through things and create a semblance of order.  It's quite shocking.  More work has to be done tomorrow but here is the progress so far.  (Wish me luck with maintenance...not a strength either)

Apparently the wheel turned into a Wheel of Progress for me.  At least for the next 24 hours.

Happy Solstice to all...

Oh my, another sunny day.  They are increasingly rare, and so I treasure them.  It's downright cheerful outdoors, though cold.  Great to see the sun. 

So where's the fog?  I did this tile this morning as part of my continuing experiment with incising tiles rather than using pen on them.  So it's done only with a stylus, graphite, and after that I used some watercolor pencils to add a bit of color.  I thought it came out quite "foggy."

This was done for the final piece of the Gratitangles2018 Project (November) and is the tile for day 30.  I am officially done and really enjoyed the month.  As I was doing this tangle this morning, I was grateful for whoever invented Gratitangles, and grateful that I had a chance to participate.  I hope I can continue this practice of being-grateful-while-tangling.  It makes a big difference in mood.

I'm intrigued by experiments with the incision technique and plan to continue them a bit. These truly are experiments.  Here is one (below) that didn't work so well.  I did this on a Bijou tile (2x2") and used General's Chalk Pencils for color...in order to get the color I had to rub fairly hard and I noticed the wonderful Fabriano Tiepolo paper did NOT like the rubbing.  You can see that it was beginning to shred.

I'll put that on in the "No fail, no learn" category and I'm glad I tried it.  I have some other ideas that may work better on the Fabriano Tiepolo paper.

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. 

I've been feeling the itch to draw a bit again (other than tangles).  One thing I know about drawing is that if you don't use it, you lose it.  And I haven't used it in months, other than tangling. 

This morning as I lay in bed I knew I wanted to sketch something--anything--quickly.  So I got out of bed, grabbed a pencil and post-it note, and did a 4-minute sketch of the Buddha that a friend just brought me from her trip to Asia. 

This was a straight-from-the-bed-into-a-sketch moment of madness.  After all, we each have something we need to do first thing after getting out of bed, right?  And I hadn't done that yet.  So I guarantee it was very short.  And not particularly good.  But you gotta start somewhere.

Not a masterpiece, but could be worse after months and months of inactivity with drawing.  Perhaps this is the start of something.

I've been participating in the "Gratitangles2018" project, an annual November event centered around the theme of Thanksgiving Day in the United States.  I'd include a link to it, but honestly, I don't know who started this or where to find the right link.  And I've looked.  I don't even know who sent me the list this year. 

But in this time when the United States feel less "united" than at any time since the 60s (meaning, the 1860s, when we had the Civil War), I really need to focus on what I can be grateful for...and that is still a lot.

Yesterday, Day 23 of the project, one of my least favorite tangles came up:  Jonqal.  I've never liked it and never ever tried it.  However, I'd committed myself, so I put on some meditative music and gave it a try last night.  Result:

Here's the thing:  I still don't like it, but I'm glad I tried it.  And I admit I like the result better than I expected.  Even though mine is far from perfect (perfection is not what Zentangle® is about, anyway!) and doesn't look like the "classic" version.  [See the "classic" images HERE.] 

It will never be a go-to tangle, but I'm glad I gave it a try.  Lesson learned!  I'm thankful that I made the effort to attempt it, and the attempt was the major part of the lesson.  I want to try more things in life, whether I think I'll like them or not.  I also noticed that the process of doing this was just as relaxing as it is with all of the other tangles that I so strongly prefer.  It got me to the same place, even if it's not--like the sketch at the top of today's post--any type of masterpiece.

It isn't about the masterpieces.  It's all about the work.

It's now day 24 and I tried out a tangle I've only done once before.  Click HERE to see my one-and-only previous try at it.  I supersized it that time, and really like the effect.  Today, though, I did the more classic version.  It wasn't half as easy as the supersized one, and I messed up in places, but I like the result anyway:

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

Little darling, the smile's returning to the faces
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun
Here comes the sun, and I say
It's all right
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun,…
(the Beatles)

There are so many things to be thankful for today, but let me begin with seeing the sun.  Where I live we haven't had a sunny day in a long time, and although it's extremely cold out, I notice how much the sunshine has lifted my mood.  I can't be the only one feeling this way.

I've a long list of things to be grateful for, including the fact that I was able to do some Zentangle® last night and today, a process that is so meditative and so centering that I feel extremely lucky to have stumbled on it years ago.  Here's last night's tangle:

Next, I did a tangle for Diva Challenge #377.  This piece definitely has a "What the hell happened here???!!!" feel to it, as it ended up in such an unexpected result, with colors I rarely use.  But that's ok--I like it.  Later today I'll treat myself to going to the Diva's page (see link above) and see how everyone else handled this "duotangle" (combining 2 tangles).  I expect I'll be astounded and intrigued by all the different approaches, as always.  Here it is:

I also had time to find a place for the lovely little Buddha my good friend P brought back from her month-long trip to Asia.  There is now another tiny altar in my house:

Gratitude today, in no particular order, for:

• Sunshine.
• Heat, hot water, food, shelter.  So many people do not have some or all of these.
• Dear, dear friends.  How do they put up with me?  I'll never understand, but feel so happy that they do.
• Health.  It ain't perfect, but whose is?  It's "good enough." 
• That my friend who recently had surgery is on the road to recovery.  It's a long road but she is making good progress.
• Zentangle.  And art in general.  They keep me sane.
• Meditation, and all those who practice, including our teachers.  With metta.
• Our beautiful Mother Earth, who supports us even though we are making a mess of Her.  May we wake-up-and-smell-the-coffee, and change our ways before it's too late.
  

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.

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)

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 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)

We are expecting our first snow of the season, here in the Northeastern US.  Things are growing progressively quieter as people scurry to get home before the snow begins.

This is another Zendala tile for the Grati-tangles2018 Project.  I've nearly caught up now and am so enjoying myself.  I was focused today on gratitude for good friends and for lovely art materials.

This tile went somewhere I never expected.  I was in an experimental mode.

Interesting to see how the colors have washed out on this one as I uploaded it.  It's actually both greener and bluer.  I made some adjustments but still cannot capture the color.

I worked on this piece yesterday and today.  It's part of the Grati-tangles2018 Project.  As I worked I was thinking of how grateful I am when I am able to "change the frame" if things go wrong during the day.  Not that I'm  good at it yet!  But I'm doing better.

"Nobody can discover the world for somebody else. Only when we discover it for ourselves does it become common ground and a common bond and we cease to be alone."
(Wendell Berry)

E

Earlier this week I was fortunate enough to spend four days in the company of over 200 artists, drawing.  Meaning, doing Zentangle®.  I really cannot describe the experience other than to say it was sheer heaven.  Also exhausting.  One thing I can say for sure is that I was scheduled to go with a good friend who was unable to come at the last minute due to illness.  I really missed her.

This particular tile measures ten inches by ten inches and was one long moving meditation. 

A couple of beloved friends are struggling right now.  How helpless we feel when time and distance conspire against our desire to be present and helpful. 

There is not much I can do from here at this moment, except send love.  With that in mind I did this tangle last night, and dedicate it to all who are suffering right now.

I've been pondering this quote from an anonymous source (I've seen it attributed to several people): 
"Healing doesn't mean the damage never existed. It means the damage no longer controls our lives."
...and also this one, from Georges Braque:
""Art is a wound turned into light."

May it be so.

Now the head cold is really starting to kick in.  After waking up at 2.15 in the morning and being unable to get back to sleep, I did this tiny tangle on a Bijou Zentangle® tile.  Bijou tiles are 2"x2" only.  It's my version of the tangle Copada (not the classic version), done on a white Bijou with an 05 black Micron, graphite, and General's Watercolor Pencils.  Part of Inktober2018, day 11.

Below is my version of a tangle called Pais, which is the Day 6 tangle in the Inktober2018 challenge.  I'm curious as to why I seem to be keeping up with this challenge when I rarely can with others.  Maybe because I'll be teaching a class soon and want to practice as much as I can, or maybe just because these tangles are "monotangles" (only one tangle requested per day, although there's no rule saying you cannot use as many as you wish).  At any rate, I'm having fun.

Yesterday was an odd day.  It's been a tough week politically (to say the least) and then I had a few additional major concerns about friends.  I just couldn't settle myself, no matter what I tried. 

Finally I dragged myself out of the house and went to see this wonderful art exhibit by Jen Luck Hale, below.  I had seen the publicity and knew that colors would help me cheer up.  And they did.  If you are anywhere near Western MA in the next month or so, don't miss this one.  It's not just "snowflake-y" cut paper, it's cut paper in great colors with nature as the theme.  Plants, birds, fish, insects...it's all there.  And oh, the colors!  What a talented artist she is.  From what I have read, she does NOT draw on the paper, but just "cuts by eyeing it."  Wow.  Read about her process HERE.  Details and a couple of photos below. 

Don't you feel better just looking at those colors?

This (below) is only a small portion of what is on display. 

Can't decide whether to leave this here or keep going.  This is my Inktober2018 Day 5 challenge response--Fleavy.  I did it on a used coffee filter, a technique I learned with CZT and fabulous artist Cheryl Cianci a few years back.  I thought I was going to fill this in with additional Inktober tangles, but I like this so much I'm not sure.  Hmmm.

PS, I need to iron it a bit to get the wrinkles out.