DRAWING FROM THE DAY
  • ...a blog on art, creativity, and mindfulness

Drawings and Luck

5/23/2021

 
I am a very fortunate person.  Very.  Yesterday, a weekend day, I had to call for help twice:  My air conditioning broke in this very hot weather (mice in the compressor chewed thru the wires and blew a fuse) and later I had to call a plumber because of a leak in my kitchen faucet spewing water everywhere.  Why is that lucky?  Because when I called, both of them came within 60-90 minutes even though it was a weekend, both were wonderful and both problems got resolved completely.

I'm also very lucky because I have water.  And because I even have air conditioning.  But especially because I have water, when so many in the world do not have safe drinking water for miles, let alone in their homes.  I know how lucky I am.

Below are two pieces:  the first is my attempt to draw a tangle called Drawings (pronounced "Draw-Wings").  I've never been all that good at this tangle but I love the way others do it.  Yesterday I was determined to improve so I drew it on a post-it note and gave myself permission to mess up bigtime if that's what happened.  So of course it came out pretty well.
Picture
Tangle: Drawings. On a post-it note (yes, the note is purple). Micron 01 and General's Chalk White Pencil.
I was really interested to see how well it came out when I deliberately reminded myself that the outcome did not matter.  Just the practice.

After doing the post-it, I looked over at a tile I'd been stuck on for several days.  I mean, I was REALLY stuck.  I was planning to discard it.  It was not symmetrical.  The center sphere wasn't really a sphere.  I had no idea what to do next and most of it was blank.  I'd done the two tangles Snelly (as the "string" or container) and inserted the tangle Aleuba--this is a tile for Hanny Nura's Full Moon Mosaic on FB where each month she suggests a string and one or two tangles, always involving the moon somehow, and then everyone does what they like with them.  Including adding other tangles.  So I'd created the string and inserted the second tangle she suggested but the tile looked awful.

What the hell, I thought, I'll throw in some Drawings tangles in those big empty spaces.  Just for practice--this can't get any worse.   And then I'll add a bit of color.  What came out was this, which I quite like even though it's still asymmetrical.
Picture
Tangles: Snelly (as the string), Aleuba, and Drawings. Micron 01 and Generals Chalk Pencils.

Well of course the big lessons are:  Unless it's a life or death issue (just about never), give myself permission to screw up and see what happens.  And the typical, constant lesson from Zentangle® is:  don't give up on something.  Keep working.  If it fails, so what?  It's just a fifty-cent tile.  It's just practice.  I feel like I got lucky again.

Seems to me that all of life is just practice.  Right?
The more I practice, the luckier I get.
(Gene Sarazen)

Comments are closed.

    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. 

    I am also a Certified Zentangle® Teacher (CZT 11) and a student of drawing and of the tarot.

      If you enjoy reading this blog, input your email address here to get an every-other-month notice about checking for new posts.

    Subscribe to Newsletter
    Picture
    Certified, 2021
    Picture
    Certified Zentangle® Teacher, 2013
    Picture
    Certified by AmyOxford.com at The Oxford Rug Hooking School, 2016
    Picture

    Categories

    All
    Black Tiles
    Bookbinding
    Broken Wrist Tangles
    Clocks
    Colored Pencil
    Creative Inspiration
    Death
    Diva Challenge
    Drawing
    Dyeing Wool Or Yarn
    Fans
    Frederick Franck
    Gellyrolls
    Gesso
    Gratitangles2018
    Gratitangles2020
    Gray Tiles
    Ims
    Inktober
    Inktober 2018
    Inktober 2019
    Inktober2020
    Iphone App On Tangles
    Joey Challenge
    Knitted Knockers
    Knitting
    Knots
    Mandalas
    Map Tangling
    Marathon
    Meditation
    Neurographica
    No Fail No Learn
    Other People's Work
    Poetry
    Portrait
    Punch Hooking
    Punch Needle Embroidery
    Quilts And Other Art
    Rainbow Lead Pencil
    Renaissance Tiles
    Rug Hooking
    Scratch Art
    Sketchbook-skool
    String Thing Challenge
    #summertangles2018
    Tangles
    Tarot
    Tarot Rug Project
    Truly Miscellaneous
    Watercolor
    Weather
    Zenagain2018
    Zendala-dare
    Zenuari2019

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014

    SITES TO WATCH:

    Insight Meditation Society

    Oxford Rug Hooking School


    Zentangle:  The Official Site

    Green Mountain Rug Hooking

    Massachusetts Tarot Society


    RSS Feed

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
Proudly powered by Weebly
  • ...a blog on art, creativity, and mindfulness