 Finished. Tangled with Arukas using black Micron 01, graphite, white chalk pencil and a bit of white gellyroll pen. Whoops, a little side-step (away from showing the junk-journal-related work I did last Saturday) into the wonderful world of maptangling. I got distracted by hearing about a new method of preparing the tiles for this, much easier and faster than my old methods, so took time out to do this one. You can see the original tile after I prepped it but before I drew on it, below.  The tile I prepped before tangling, using Ecoline inks.  Two more tiles with their "maps" prepped onto them. Every year I try to enroll in the online course called Sketchbook Revival. So this year it's called Sketchbook Revival 2024. It's run by Karen Abend and is lots of fun--unless you stress yourself out trying to keep up. This year I noticed that an amazing Zentangle® teacher named Anica Gabrovec, a CZT from Croatia who goes by the name of ZenLinea online, was teaching. The moment I saw her name I looked up her class and it was on one of my favorite drawing techniques, Maptangling. She had a much faster technique than I've seen before for creating the map, and that's what I'll be using from now on. Here's another page from the junk journal from last Saturday:  Honestly, this page doesn't do much for me. It's just not that interesting.
You can see some tissue-paper dyeing at the top edge and peeking out from the bottom; some of it is covered by torn wrapping paper I glued down in the center (and tangled on a bit), and the tangle around the edges is called Scrolz. My response to this page is "meh." And yet, anything that gets me drawing and/or creating is bound to result in some form of serious contentment, even if the result is mediocre. I'm always amazed at the way time spent on art improves my mood. A ten-minute sketch of my smallest waterbrush and my kneadable eraser. (After which I tossed in some color via watercolor pencils. Did that help, or hurt?) Very shaky hands did not help.   I like this version better. A friend prefers the version below. The mystery of how we see color and our differing color preferences is always intriguing. For this version, I took what I had below and used my Prismacolor pencils to enliven the colors. And also got a bit dotty. And added some graphite shading. And layered in more colored pencil. And, and, and...  This is the version my friend prefers, and it's the the original. It's all done in watercolor. I like it. I just like the one above better. Microns 08 and 01 in black, watercolor pencils, graphite. Tangle around the edge is Foundabout, and I've used the Micron 01 to do some hatching as well. Let me just add that it took me SIX TRIES to get this knot right. Talk about brain exercise.
 In my sketch journal: Using Microns 01 and 08 and a gray Faber Castell brush pen, then using watercolor pencils to tint and shade. Continuing the series here. Tangles are Debbie New's Imaritas and Imarisen, based on the painted pottery she saw at a museum. And here was the sketch before I added the color:   Let's see: D for the Dharma, for daylight, for delight, for deliberate. Also for do-over, for doubt, for demand, for "duh...", for ditto...I could go on, but won't. This is another illustrated letter using sketchbook paper (5x7"), black Micron 01, watercolor and colored pencil, plus a bit of graphite and white gellyroll. Great fun to do. Tangles are: Rixty, Tipple, Mooka, Printemps, Flux, Moonpie, I Can This, Zinger.
 On the left, contour drawing of tulips, just Micron 01 and graphite. On the right, Lavender, with watercolor pencil & water added to Micron 01. From today's journal. My notes on the right were cut off but they are telling myself, "Leave more room for the stem between the lavender flowers." More practice needed. It's been over ten years since I went to my first official Zentangle® class. I've never been able to locate my actual tiles from that class (as you can imagine if you read this blog, I've got zillions of completed tiles) and believed I had lost them years ago. Why should I care? Because occasionally, other tanglers will post "Here's my first Zentangle ever! And here is what I'm drawing now for contrast," and I always enjoy seeing the effect of their practice. Practice makes SUCH a difference! I've always wished I could find my first tile to view the effect of my own practice. Then this morning I followed some clues that led me to look in my photo collection from 2012. And yay! I found photos of my first two tiles from my first "official" instruction by a CZT. Unfortunately I cannot remember her name, and I don't think she's teaching any more. I would like to thank her but don't know how. We did 2 tiles in that class, which I remember as only about 2 hours long. I do remember rushing to keep up. But she got in all the basic tangles (Crescent Moon, Hollibaugh, N'Zepple, Tipple and a few others). Perhaps "speed tangling" was not the best way for her to teach, but I got the idea, including the principles, and took off from there. Without further adieu, here they are--tangles from my very first one in 2012 to 2020, eight years after I learned. The progression is obvious.
Proof that anyone can do this.
As always, I'm struck with the parallels between tangling and meditation. Practice is practice, no matter where it's applied, and it always improves things. We may not be able to see it minute to minute, but observing month after month and year after year, the difference is huge. “Painting is a means of self-enlightenment.” --John Olsen  Tangle: Elegan (by Tangle Dreams) done with light gray micron 01, white chalk pencil over a pre-prepped tile (gray tile prepped in 2021 with Graphitint watercolor to darken). I used to be able to draw any phase of the Moon easily from memory. This is the Moon in Waning Crescent mode, as I've positioned it above. (of course I could flip it around 180° so that the white "horns" point left and then it would represent exactly the opposite, but this is how I drew it--waning). I haven't been watching the Moon as much during the last couple of years, and sure enough, I'm beginning to forget what's what. Time to check back in with Her! In fact, I have a series of tiles prepped as the Moon in Her various phases and I noticed confusion as I tried to put them in order this morning. Could. Not. Do. It. Had to resort to googling the Moon's Phases (what DID we do before smartphones?) in order to turn things the right way. Yes, definitely time to check back in with Her daily changes. While trying to determine exactly how long those tiles have been sitting around waiting for me to finish them, I re-discovered this (below). If you asked me, "Have you ever drawn an elephant?" I would have said with 100% confidence, "Nope." But here it is. And I drew it. Memory is notoriously unreliable!  Julie's elephant, drawn Sept 8, 2015. Tangles are: Between and Crescent Moon, along with random lines and stars. I based the coloring and the stars on an amazing photo I saw of a man in India riding an elephant for a spiritual celebration of some sort (to Ganesh, perhaps?). His elephant had been covered with light blue blue dust and he or someone had painted stars all over it. It pretty much looked like this. I completely changed the blanket, though, and left off the man, and used a template for the outline of the elephant from Ben Kwok of Ornation Creation (he has tons of animal templates). So this is not a copy of the photograph, not even close. I rarely tangle anything representational but my friend Julie adores elephants so I framed and gave it to her. And I drew it exactly 7 years ago today. A lot has happened in that time--she got married and now has a lovely little boy. I'm betting the elephant picture is somewhere in her house, maybe even in his room. Finally, since I've been on a Moon kick, yesterday I had fun with a Zendala I'd prepped with a watercolor wash a long time ago. Just playing with the tangle Ibex. I started off like the photo on the left and then somehow ended up like the photo on the right. Not my best work but oh boy did I have fun playing.
Really, it is the same tile, just taken on 2 different backgrounds under different light conditions and clearly I'd done more drawing in the version on the right. Still, when you look at the color differences, it's hard to believe it is the same tile. I think I prefer the one on the left, before I overdid the work on it. Live and learn.
Ah--I just heard that Queen Elizabeth has died. I know she was still working as recently as the day before yesterday, when she greeted the new PM. Talk about taking to a role in life with utter dedication--how serious she was about it! She wasn't perfect, but she was wonderful anyway. She was born to become an archetype, and perfectly lived the role. Go in peace, Lady. Here is another version of work I did in a class with Shie Naritomi, CZT. What a wonderful teacher. See my comments from yesterday on the background of this work.  Done with black and blue Micron 01s on a gray Phi tile, using prismacolors, watercolor, gold and white gellyroll, white chalk pencil, graphite. As one person, I cannot bring peace to Ukraine. I cannot restore what they have lost: lives, livelihoods, homes, family, and peace of mind. No one person can do this alone. But I can join with others to protest, to support. And I can take the time to sit quietly and calm myself, so that I make wiser decisions when I protest or when I support. Drawing and meditation both do that for me. So does drawing AS meditation. The more peace and compassion I can develop within myself, the more peace and compassion I can bring into the world. Perhaps only in small ways, but if each of us were able to do this, it would be powerful. So I have taken the time to draw this afternoon, breathing deeply and working line by line, one line at a time. It is calming. It gives me courage to watch the news tonight. Again. To witness the inhumanity. Again. It gives me courage to keep protesting, to keep supporting, to keep loving, despite it all.  From a class with Shie Naritomi, CZT. Micron 01 brown and black on a tan Phi tile with watercolor, prismacolor, and graphite, white gellyroll and white chalk pencil.  Another Map Tangle with watercolor and metallic paint base, Micron 01, and graphite. Tiny bit of white gellyroll pen. Tangles are Romanancy, Sandswirl, a variation of SeaWave, Printemps, and some random lines. It took days to get through this one for some reason. While working on a different project (punch needle embroidery) I had a minor textile collapse when the foundation fabric shredded all the way through. Eeeeek! Although I knew what I had to do--patch it--I have been putting it off for days. I've never had to patch anything before and it was intimidating. This morning, after a bit of tangling and a lot of meditation, I took on the task and as with many intimidating things, in actual practice it was easier than I thought. And I learned a lot. Things I Learned: No need to draw on the patch first, or to pin it in place. It can be done by "feel." I did lengthen the loop length by 1 (went up from a 2 to a 3). Go slowly, be prepared to back up a bit if needed. Check how it looks on the other side frequently. Afterwards, be ready to clean up well, and trim off the extra. Here are the steps (sorry I didn't take a "before" picture). Imagine a blank spot with no punching and holes in the fabric where the patch now sits:
 Right side with finished patch. (Remember, the pattern is reversed on the right side) The dark wedge shapes above and below will need a bit of tweaking to make the light part crisper and tighter. Well of course as I was patching this up I was thinking of all the times I've screwed up in other life issues and had to try to make repairs. Oftentimes it's been quite successful. Occasionally, not. Don't we all have to patch things up in relationships from time to time? Seems like the guidelines are the same: You cannot plan everything perfectly in advance, although you have to think things through. Then, you have to do it by "feel," going slowly and being prepared to back up occasionally. Checking frequently with the other person to see how it's going, and if it's successful (not always or immediately guaranteed), cleaning up afterwards by following through. Finally, it really helps to learn from our mistakes by analyzing what worked well and what we could have done differently. If only we as humans could get better at patching things up. Especially in this very messy scary world right now. Someone once said, "Life is the art of drawing without an eraser." And yet--even with no eraser--it is often possible to keep going and turn a mess into an eventual triumph. Let us hope we can do that in the current situation. May we all treat each other with respect, compassion, and generosity. Since I am on another map tangling kick, I am thinking about borders and boundaries and what happens when they are disrespected. My heart is with all the people of Ukraine, and extends to all the other wars going on all over the planet at this moment.  Watercolor, white gellyroll and chalk pencil, colored pencils, graphite, on a too-thin piece of cardstock as an experiment. “I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”
― Albert Einstein  A quick leftover tile from yesterday's session. “Light is a thing that cannot be reproduced, but must be represented by something else – by color.” --Cezanne Watercolors: Sooooo tricky to use. But I love them.  Ecoline watercolor inks, graphite, white gellyroll, white chalk. Tangles are: Marasu, Verve, Gigi, Seawave. How odd to be map tangling on a day when the world is experiencing one country violently overrunning another country's borders and attempting to re-write the global map by obliterating a democracy. I had prepped the tiles for this several days ago but it wasn't until today that I realized the irony of drawing this piece at this time.  Same tile, same room, same time, different lighting. Amazing difference. I can never quite believe what a difference lighting makes in a photograph.
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?
Sometimes tired old things just need to be dressed up a bit to shine. Cue the comments on whether that's true for all of us! I'm talking about things. Ha.  Tangles: Effie, Trelina, Zigoli, Paradisum, Henna Drum, on a gray Zendala with watercolor, chalk pencils, Micron 01, and Lindy's Magical Power watercolors. This morning I found a gray tile that I'd tossed some lavender-ish watercolor on long ago, in an early attempt to map-tangle. The color had spread out over most of the tile, with absolutely no interesting shape, and was incredibly plain. BO-ring.
Out came more watercolors today and I tarted it up, used my heat gun to dry it, and went to town with some of the Inktober tangles. Better. Every tangle except one was brand new for me. Some of them turned out more successfully than others, so I'll re-do the ones that really didn't have enough room to show themselves off. Perhaps that'll be the task for tomorrow.  Maptangling on a gray Zendala using Lindy's Magicals. Tangles are Spynes and Hirari. White Gellyroll 01 and Gold Gellyroll. A meditation on the preponderance of spirals in the cosmos. "In a spiral galaxy, the ratio of dark-to-light matter is about a factor of ten. That's probably a good number for the ratio of our ignorance to knowledge. We're out of kindergarten, but only in about third grade." --Vera Rubin  Tangles: Fengle, Yumemi (by Shie Nakatomi CZT), Whippdcreem (by Doris Bisschop CZT) with General's Colored Pencils and white gellyroll on a gray Maptangled Tile (watercolor maptangling using Lindy's Magicals) I enjoyed every moment of this one. Enough said.
 Gray Zendala with Micron 01 and 05, watercolor pencils, and white gellyroll. Tangles: Naaki by Nadine Roller CZT and LunarFlux by Debbie New CZT.  My linework before coloring. It felt great today to just sit and tangle awhile. Quiet and relaxing. I'm rusty but the annual 'Inktober" Challenge adapted for tanglers got me going and I couldn't be happier, even though we're already nine days into the month. I plan to do what I can and thoroughly enjoy doing it. It's good to be back.  Ran the first photo thru an iPhone app. Stark, but interesting. Sort of Steampunk-y. A repeat of yesterday's tile. This is version 2.0 since I gave away the tile I did yesterday as a thank-you gift to a neighbor. I realized I still wanted a version for myself and redid it, enjoying every line.  Tangles: Didot, Rain Dotty, Pringer, Hamadox, Joy-Jirella, Chillin, Emingle. My version of a class by Indica Boyd CZT for Artifex Eruditio Spring '21. Material uses: Green and Black Microns, Gellyroll 10 in white, General's Chalk pencils in white, green, and blue, graphite, Gellyroll Luxue Gold Pearl in green. Drawn on a white Zentala tile with a gray watercolor wash. In today's version I added substantial green coloring as well as the blue, and experimented a bit with placement of patterns. This was just as much fun as the first one.
 Another "learning tile" done very quickly from an Artifex video. This was done fast as a thank-you gift for a friend who made me a lovely dinner. I cannot cook so cannot reciprocate, thus I wanted to draw her something as a way of expressing gratitude.
However, I needed gray-toned paper to work with, and didn't have any. What to do? I grabbed a white tile and threw a gray wash on it. Et voilà--it actually worked! I'll give it to her this evening. Whew. When it doubt, improvise. Always a big life lesson for me.  Tangles: Waybop and Bales, Crescent Moon, Orbs. Blue and Black Micron 01s, graphite, white chalk pencil, Inktense Watercolors, White Gellyroll #10 on a Zendala white tile previously colored with a watercolor wash as an underlay (lavender). I'm turning into a major fangirl of CZT Emiko Kaneko, who has a fantastic Youtube channel and shares her teaching there. This (above) is my version of one of her lessons after watching one of her free videos. Here below are a few of the stages this mandala went thru on its way to completion. I photographed as I drew. What a calming experience.
One line at a time. Stay present. Cultivate patience. Enjoy the moment. Mistakes? What mistakes--a mistake can be addressed and learned from. Appreciate appreciate appreciate. Hold the pen (hold things) lightly. I love the lessons I learn from Zentangle®; they're directly applicable to meditation, to daily life, to just about everything.  Watercolor, Black Micron 01, graphite, colored and chalk pencils on watercolor paper. Original photograph below.  I made hard-boiled eggs last week and after they cooled this is what I saw. I took a photograph because if ever there was an egg begging for kintsugi, this one was it.
However, I ate the egg in my dinner salad, so no kintsugi took place. Not sure what kintsugi is? It's the Japanese art of mending broken ceramics using gold in the cracks, resulting in a mended object of striking beauty. Look HERE. The beauty is in the brokenness. The instant I saw that egg I wanted to paint it, though I've no idea why. Perhaps I've been thinking about kintsugi recently as I observe so much brokenness surrounding us all. Compassion can be one way to join our pieces back together, to form a strong bond, and to heal ourselves. I contemplate this, and then write: --------- Pick up your broken pieces. Lovingly place them together. Be gentle. Add the gold. Allow time for healing. And then, look. So much beauty. --------- And here is one lovely article I saw on the topic.  So it started out this way... I'm still "blobbing." A great way to try out various watercolors and watercolor techniques. These are Yatsumoto metallic watercolors. Very subtle unless you really load your brush. There was a teeny bit of Inktense Watercolor Pencil tangling going on in the upper left quadrant. ...and ended up that way:  On watercolor paper. Microns 01, 005, 08, graphite. Yatsumoto watercolors, white chalk pencil, silver metallic Caran D'Ache pencil. Tangles are: Ruutz, Beadlines, Hollibaugh, and some rounding.
 Watercolor, Micron 08. Tangle: Ruutz. This is all I'm capable of today. The night before last I had only 2 hours of sleep, who knows why. All day today I've been dealing with credit card fraud in a major way. It's taken hours to straighten things out. And I made a major blooper with some friends that also took quite a while to straighten out (assuming I even did get it straightened out). Isn't this just how life is--some days great, some days awful. (I could re-write that sentence substituting "hours" or "minutes" for the word "days" and it would be equally true.) There is nothing else to be done but to respond to each moment in the moment. And what a challenge it can be to respond skillfully. So all I can do is work on a few small blobs. In fact, I am a blob myself today. Neither happy or unhappy, but still just a blob. Sometimes ya gotta go with the flow--even when the flow is temporarily blocked and becomes blob-like. Here was how I started out, after watching a really fun video on IG TV by Yvonne West, CZT < @ywestart > which I thoroughly recommend.  My blobs before I tangled them. The video was fun to watch and if ever you don't feel energetic enough to tackle a full tangle, this is a terrific exercise for experimenting with watercolor in a low risk way. |
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
Certified Zentangle® Teacher, 2013
Certified by AmyOxford.com at The Oxford Rug Hooking School, 2016
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