Monthly Archives: August 2014

Embracing Zendalas

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I have always loved the look of mandalas, dream catchers, anything geometrically balanced in the round.  So Zendalas are a natural fit.  Loving the balance and symmetry, I am a little intimidated by them, so I have decided to focus on them for the next few weeks to build up my confidence.  Here is one I did this past week while sitting in the heat at my son’s softball practice.  It was 102 that day, but I was in the shade and there was a light, hot  wind occasionally blowing through. I have to say my concentration on the tangling kept me from constantly thinking about hot it was even in the shade. I doubt that it made me feel any cooler, but at least I wasn’t thinking about the heat, lol. Anyway, I did manage to complete this in one evening,without overthinking it, and I am pleased with the result.

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I still need a lot more practice to feel comfortable.  For instance, the only other zendalas I have done (see below) have been on prestrung tiles so I will need to to start creating my own from scratch. And I can’t even look at the tin of black zendalas yet!

So, off to practice zendalas!

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Back to Square One

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There is a great new group on Facebook open to anyone – it is not just for CZT’s.  It is called Square One:  Purely Zentangle®.  It is dedicated to the original, purest form of Zentangle – black pen on 3 1/2″ x 3 1/2″ tiles.  It’s so easy to get caught up in the beauty of Zentangle on other sizes, adding color, and tangling on all kinds of objects.  In doing that, we sometimes forget what the original intent was:  15 minutes of mindful activity that results in something pleasing to the eye.  Okay, that’s a little over-simplified, but you get the gist.  This group celebrates that!

When you first post a pic, you are asked to tell your Zentangle story.  Reading through everyone else’s stories brings back memories of how I first found Zentangle.  Here is my post:

I heard the word zentangle and loved the sound of the word so much I looked it upon the Internet. Then when I saw it, I immediately started trying it. Angie’ s son was a classmate of my son, and we ended up chatting and I mentioned zentangle. She had just returned from her CZT training, and the rest, as they say, is history. The first tile is from my class with Angie on October 14, 2010. The second tile is the first one at CZT 5 training at Oakhurst.

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So, if you are on Facebook, search for Square One:  Purely Zentangle® , scroll to the very first post, and read about the various journeys that have led to Zentangle.  And while you’re there, ask to join, and share your journey with the rest of us.  By the way, a neat thing about Facebook groups is that you can go to your group, click on the photos tab and see all the pics posted to the group without the accompanying text.  It’s a great place for inspiration.

The creators of the group, Chris Titus and Jenny Perruzzi, had just added some more fun to the party.  Every Friday, they will post a Featured Tangle (with a link to the stepouts on how to create it).  The first one, last Friday, was Cadent.  Now, I LOVE cadent!  And I thought I was pretty good at it, until the posts started showing up.  Well, I certainly have a lot to learn.  Some of the variations just made my jaw drop!  I really want to play with cadent for a few days!

Chris and Jenny have already posted this week’s Featured Tangle – Twing.  That happens to be one of my favorite ones at the moment so I can’t wait to get started on that!

Ready, set, Tangle!

 

Bonjour, Bijou!

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bijou Bijou Tin

Welcome to Bijou,  the newest member of the Zentangle family.  Bijou has his own tiles, 2″ x 2″, and even has his very own page, story and gallery on the zentangle website.  Click here to read all about his journey from France to zentangle headquarters:  www.zentangle.com/bijou .

I love working with small, delicate details, no matter what medium it is, so this is just my size.  I started off by creating an original size tile (3.5″ x 3.5″) and then used that string and patterns to create a Bijou tile.  I really enjoyed it, and I think I will do several more of these!

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Au revoir!