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ERNST HAECKEL was the inspiration for this:  At ZenAgain this week we experimented with tangling that was inspired by other people's work. This sea creature above is inspired by the work of Ernst Haeckel, and was it ever fun to draw. Below is a mosaic of the class's work with this assignment. We were each given some General's Chalk Pencils to use--we each received different colors and were required to work with whatever colors we got. Once again, you can see that all of them were similar, and yet, each is distinctly different. This was only one small portion of a much larger table with these tiles displayed.  Maria Thomas, one of the founders of Zentangle®, has a remarkable poster with her own version of Haeckel's sea creature on a portion of it. See her poster below. I believe this is for sale but am not certain. (UPDATE: Yup, it's for sale at the Zentangle® website.)  This is only a small portion of Maria Thomas's larger work. With apologies for capturing the chandelier light reflection on the glass...no matter how I tried, I couldn't avoid it. And finally, below, is a photo of a book about Haeckel's beautiful work (the master himself). There are many books available about him.  This was the very first tile we did at the opening of the workshop last Sunday. An old favorite and often the first tangle taught to new students, Crescent Moon.  Tangle: Crescent Moon. Black Micron 01 and graphite on a Bijou (only 2"x2") tile. A tiny tile is all I can manage to post today; it's been a busy weekend and frankly, I have overdone it. Apparently I may have contracted a second head cold on the heels of the first one, so I am really dragging. Keeping things small and simple this evening. "'Space' seems to be such a confusing term. The closer we look at something, like what we are made of, the more space there seems to be."
(Cindy Frostad) "All my best thoughts were stolen by the ancients." (Ralph Waldo Emerson)  My first attempt at drawing the tangle: Ratoon. Done with a black Micron 01, graphite, Rainbow Lead Pencil, a small amount of General's White Chalk Pencil, on a white Zendala tile. Yes, this makes three blog posts in one day. It's true. Deal with it! <g> Ratoon is a new tangle from Molly Hollibaugh CZT (one of Maria Thomas's talented daughters) released earlier this week. The title of the tangle actually comes from some research that Maria was doing to prepare for ZenAgain this week. A "ratoon" is described thus: "a new shoot or sprout springing from the base of a crop plant." The theme of workshop was SEEDS--all the seeds from our art-ancestors that we use in creating art today, and all the seeds we are sowing as we do our own art and as we teach others. You can see the seeds represented in the tangle above. Just as those seeds have and will continue to sprout, so all art stands on the shoulders of all previous artists. In making our art--even if it's bad art!--we honor them. One of the many things I love about tangling is that I never know where something is going to go, how it will develop, and the highly calming effect of the process. We all get the same instructions, and yet all our pieces, while obviously related, are so delightfully different. I will put a partial mosaic of this tangle as an example of that below (partial because there were so many of us that I couldn't get the entire view).  A partial mosaic of Ratoon tangles done for the first time at the workshop.  A closer view of a few of the tiles. Bear in mind that we all had the same instructions...and look at the different interpretations. "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)  Drawn on a 10"x10" Renaissance (tan) Opus tile, with black Micron 01, graphite, General's chalk pencils (purple, two colors of yellow, white). 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. |
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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