MESSY. LIKE OUR PLANET.

My heart is with the people of Paris today.

The Joey Challenge this week (#86) was to do a W-2 monotangle.  Quite a challenge...in fact, monotangles are always difficult when one is trying to do something creative, rather than just using the technique to learn the tangle for the first time. 

I did want to do something different.  I've done W-2 in the past with great success using just a Micron and graphite--it's a lovely tangle that looks tricky but really isn't, with patience and with a mindful approach.  But making it look different?  I dunno...

Then I decided to crosshatch it rather than using gentle graphite shading.  And while I was at it, I decided to add Rainbow Lead pencil to it.  And I decided to crosshatch the first try with a Micron (no erasing with that!) and to do it messily rather than carefully.  What result would I get? 

Well, here it is.  It's messy.  It's different.  It reminds me of ribbon candy.  Do I love it?  No, but I'm glad I tried it.

There is something jagged and edgy in the result that reminds me of my feelings about the terror attack in Paris.  (I do NOT mean to compare my scribbles to the gravity of what is going on there...just saying that despite the soft coloring and ribbon-candy look, it's got darkness going on and that reflects a bit of what I was feeling.  i can only imagine what Parisians are feeling this evening...here in Boston, we know something about the effect of this type of shocking, senseless, brutal violence.)

I did this in my Tangle-a-Day calendar.

I then decided to try this on a black tile to see what would happen.  Once again I used cross-hatching, both with the Signo Uniball Pen and with the Rainbow Lead.  Here's the result, which I find interesting but also troubling.  It seems that tangling was bringing out some of those rough feelings over last night's terrorism.  In doing this mindfully, I reflected my awareness of right now, right here.

Will we ever mature enough to know peace?  To embody peace?