Bravery: Letter Edition

I am not fond of my handwriting.  After years of note-taking and scribbling, I still am not used to my writing.  In my scrapbooking days, it was torture if I had to manually write a journal entry; I always typed them.

That's why I'm so surprised that I'm starting to play more with my lettering and even enjoying my handwriting all thanks to my Zentangle® practice.  The philosophy of Zentangle--taking it "one stroke at a time--is really transforming my entire life!  

I enjoy practicing letters and playing with different pens and papers.  It's fun to see which swirls and lines I can create.  Like my Zentangle art, it's handmade, doesn't have to be perfect, and it's a reflection of who I am and what I'm feeling at that moment.  It's all part of my artistic journey filled with new lessons and adventures each day.  And practice makes it more fun!

Here is my entry for Sakura Color Products of America's quotation contest.  The challenge was to submit a favorite quote using Sakura products.  I used a black Zendala tile and the white and Metallic Gelly Roll pens.  I love how color shimmers on the black tiles.

I look at this piece, and I smile.  I don't immediately dislike my handwriting.  Instead, I think about how fun this was to create, how colorful it is, and how many more ideas I'll get to try in the future.  What a change!  

I often like to ask myself, "What's the worst that can happen?"  If I don't like a piece, I can start a new one.  If I don't feel confident with a tangle pattern or technique, I need only to practice some more until I get my groove. I find that I am able to pick out one area or one pattern that I truly love even if the rest of the piece was practice.  I think we're rarely perfect at something off the bat, but we expect ourselves to be.  Thanks to my Zentangle practice, I've learned not to be so hard on myself and to accept each creation as it comes.  It might be perfect, or it might need work.  It might be a jumping off point for my next creation.  Whatever it is, I find something that I like about it and treasure the fact that I can create beautiful art each day. 

The quote is from one of my favorite book, The Mill on the Floss, by George Eliot.  Having a young daughter now makes this quote resonate with me that much more.

Lovely Letters

This weekend, I took a lettering class with Joanne Sharpe.  I've been inspired by the beautiful lettering that people use in their art and wanted to see if I could learn something new.  It was fun to explore some ways of playing with my own handwriting and a wide variety of markers to create different letter styles.  I especially enjoyed being able to spend the day with fellow CZTs, Elaine and Susan!

Here's my finished letter sampler:

Name Zia #2

What is a person to do when she can't sleep until 4:30 am due to coughing?  Tangle!

I wanted to make a name picture for my friend's daughter (yes, this is Bethany's sister).  I had a bigger frame to work with and a shorter name this time.  I needed to get a larger watercolor paper pad to fill the frame though.

Like Bethany's piece, I cut letters out of black paper with my Cricut.  The tricky part was figuring out how large the letters could be while still fitting into the frame.

It took a long time to fill in the tangles, but it was such fun!  I love watching as a Zentangle piece evolves and develops into something exciting.  I didn't use a string for this piece and just let the patterns take me places.  I love how Purk and Printemps came out in this one!  I started Cadent, and it just wanted to morph into Huggins.

Here's the end result:

I hope they'll like it!

A ZIA gift

A dear friend welcomed a new daughter into the world a few months ago, and we're finally getting together for a visit.  I was inspired to make a name sign for her as Zentangle® Inspired Art (ZIA).

I had an interesting frame with seven small sections--the perfect number for her name!  I cut small pieces of watercolor paper to fit each section then tangled each.  Here are some unshaded before pictures:

I used my Cricut machine to die-cut letters in black then added the tangled pieces behind each letter.

Here is the end result:

I hope they'll like it.

Welcome to the world, Bethany!

Tangled monogram

One of my coworkers is retiring today, and I wanted to make something special for her.  I decided to try to do a monogrammed tangle.  I used my Cricut die-cutting machine to make the silhouette "L" and tangled the background.  I put the design in a frame that even looks tangled.  I hope she'll like the gift!