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

The Leaves in Spring.

5/9/2018

 
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After weeks of playing peek-a-boo, leaves are exploding on the trees here.  Yesterday I could see houses clearly through the trees in my backyard.  This morning when I looked out, all I could see was leaves.  Overnight.

Of course, it's not actually overnight as  budding and growing has been happening for weeks, but something in the weather of the last few days has caused an explosion of leaves from their buds.  They are so green, tender, and beautiful.

I haven't deserted the blog; my lack of entries is only due to the fact that I have been focused on punch needle embroidery and am working on two large projects that I haven't been able to get permission to show.  The designer is dead, unfortunately, and I've no idea how to get in touch with his estate.  I'm still working on it.

But since I'm teaching a Zentangle® beginner's class in two weeks, I'm now focusing on that.  I found out today that the class is full and has a waiting list.  I warmed up this morning with the typical beginner's tile (including tangles always taught and one frequently taught in a first class.  If was fun to go back to basics.

I'd hoped to use my new projector and ipad for teaching this time, but in trying them out over the last couple of days, I've been unable to make them work well.  Argh!  I'll figure it out. 

My "beginner tile" above was done while I was holding up the projector with my left hand and tangling with my right.  Talk about awkward...even so, I could feel myself slipping into the meditative state found when doing Zentangle.

Next I decided to try a new tangle:

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The main tangle here is called Safflower, by Sarah Fowler. This is my (mis-)interpretation of her stepouts. Does not look anything like hers, but that's ok. Done with a Micron 01 and graphite on an Apprentice Tile. I snuck some Mooka in on the lower right and bordered it with a few dots. Shading was...a challenge!
The Diva Challenge in mid-April involved two of my favorite tangles, Shattuck and Tripoli.  A "duotangle."  (Click on that link for eye candy--scroll down to the bottom of her blog for the location where everyone posts their response to her challenge)  Here's my response.  You really never know what will happen when you sit down to tangle, as this just proves.  This one's just...odd.  I like it though.  Other than the two tangles requested for the challenge, the tile includes random linework.
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I can't express how good it feels to be tangling again after several weeks of working on other art.  Tangling has a unique place in my heart.  Rug hooking can be so relaxing and meditative.  Ditto with any type of drawing.  Punch needle embroidery is also extremely relaxing.  But tangling just takes me to another place, a quiet place, a place of focus and calmness.  And it happens almost as soon as my pen hits the paper.
"The last time I checked, it was still legal to take long, deep breaths."
--Jeff Davidson

Susie Ngamsuwan
5/13/2018 12:57:30 am

Oh, I love the scratchy style of your safflower tangle tile, and your shattuck/tripoli combo is absolutely beautiful and original. I love originality in design or out of the box. Congrats, my dear. As for the acrobatics for your beginner tile I have come to the conclusion that your left wrist must be very much A-OK again.

M.
5/13/2018 10:51:26 pm

Susie! What lovely comments. I want to try the Shattuck/Tripoli combo again some time. And yes, all of a sudden my wrist has taken a big leap forward in healing. I'm not sure what shifted, but something did, for sure, and I'm so pleased about it.

Did you disable the comments on your website? I read it faithfully but want to go back and really study some of what you did because it's so educational for me. I've only been skimming the last couple of weeks due to lack of time here--life has gotten crazy (good-crazy) so I'm very distracted. Hope that calms down soon. I miss tangling, while you, my friend, are so prolific.

Susie Ngamsuwan
5/14/2018 05:36:16 am

Yes, I disabled my comment section. This comment business eats too much of my tangle tile production time...have so much I want to do. I still visit other people's site though and leave a rare comment. My texts in posts will be less, too. I let the tiles talk.

M.
5/14/2018 08:33:53 am

They sure do talk. Bigtime! I understand why you disabled the comments. You are so prolific, and your tiles are so original and instructive, everyone was commenting.

I envy your focus and commitment. My interests are scattered all over the place and when I’m working on textiles, tangling falls by the wayside. Your work is inspirational.


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.

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  • ...a blog on art, creativity, and mindfulness