And So It Begins

New Year's Resolutions are always a mixed bag.  They're full of wishes and enthusiasm for the next year.  They welcome new ideas with determination and hopefulness.  Unfortunately, this is often temporary. There is a silent expiration date on resolutions for most people (yeah, me too).  That diet goes out the window within a few weeks; exercises go from full steam to lifting the remote control.

I think the key to a successful goal for the year is to pick something you actually enjoy (not power lifting or embracing your inner love of kale).  I love art.  I love Zentangle.  I love how I feel when I take a few moments each day to focus on myself.

Carol Ohl, CZT, has a fabulous Tangle-A-Day calendar that makes it perfect to achieve this goal quite easily.  Each day contains a spot just waiting for artistic expression.  She has stunning artwork and step outs along the way too.  

I have purchased several of these calendars over the years and have yet to complete one.  It's not for lack of trying or desire though.  Each year, I end up with the mistaken belief that the book needs to be something specific.  I get wrapped up in my head instead of letting the tangles guide me.  

2017 is the year!  This is the time I will embrace this book for what it is--an opportunity for me to collect my artwork in a convenient and portable location.  I've decided that each day will let me explore a new tangle so I can create a kind of tangle library for myself by the end of the year.  If I get behind, I can catch up at my convenience.  If I'm feeling very tangly, I can move ahead.  As long as I keep tangling and enjoying the Zentangle Method, it will all work out beautifully.  Sometimes I go a bit out of order because I might have an idea for a certain day (holiday, etc.).

I'll be sharing some of my completed pages here. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed creating them.

January 1-3, 2017, MomZenArtist, Emily Classon, CZT

January 16-18, 2017, MomZenArtist, Emily Classon, CZT

February 1-3, 2017, MomZenArtist, Emily Classon, CZT

Up for the Challenge

With my crazy year, I realized that it's been ages since I've enjoyed a Diva Challenge and figured that I just have to jump back in.  Sometimes I panic when I've been away from something for too long and feel like I have to pick up where I left off.  Fortunately, tangling isn't like reading a book.  I can start in the middle without getting lost in the story.  The characters are tangles, and while new ones might be added to the mix, I can always find comfort in familiar friends.  The plot may thicken, round, highlight, or even get colored in, but it's still of the choose-your-own variety.  I can start on page one, the middle, or the end and still get wrapped up in a good tangle.

I dove in to Diva Challenge 296 using the tangle Moowa by CZT Anya Ipsen.  I had seen beautiful work created with this tangle but hadn't tried it.  I was surprised because I am a huge fan of Mooka, and this looked like a flowing, wave version of the tangle.  

I picked up my 2014 Tangle-A-Day Calendar (yes, you read that date correctly) and started to practice this new-to-me tangle.  I filled a week with different attempts until I felt like I had the flow.  Why 2014?  I have several uncompleted calendars and have decided that that's okay.  In an effort to Untangle My Life, when I want to play or experiment with tangles, I pick up a calendar and use the pages as an art journal.  I add the current date and have come to accept that it's fine that it wasn't completed in chronological order.  Like my book analogy above, it's freeing to be able to start anywhere.  In the past, I would get derailed by life and not be able to keep up with the calendar and found that frustrating.  Now, I'm jumping in and finding a random page to embrace like this one from 2014:

Next I took my tangling to a tile.  I just received my first box of the new 3Z tiles and thought that Moowa looked really cool done in a spiral.  I loved how this tile came out but thought it needed something in the middle.  

I love creating zen gems and thought an onyx would look great in the center to balance out the black Tipple segments.  If only I could figure out how to create onyx.  I create a lot of gems and figured I needed a lot of black colored pencil and some highlights and went to work.  Here was one of my practice gems I created in a sketchbook.  Then it was off to fill the center of my tile!

Here's my final Moowa challenge tile:

Valentangles

Valentine's Day came and went around here as my family was busy with some massive house projects.  We enjoyed making valentines and spending quality time together despite the craziness.

I was inspired by the season to create a series of rosy gems featuring the tangle Luv-a by CZT Sharon Caforio.  I love how delicately this tangle cushions the gems.  Whenever I use Luv-a, I smile a lot!  I think this tangle is one of the sweetest ones I've ever seen, and I love to use it in a variety of pieces.  It's one of those magical tangles that looks simple at first but blossoms into a real beauty with a few simple extra strokes.

I submit these Bijou tiles as my Valentangles for the Diva challenge 254.

Gone Crazy for Molygon

Are you loving the official new tangle, Molygon, as much as I am?

At first I wasn't sure when most of my shapes resembled banana bunches. If tangles make me hungry, it defeats the purpose of keeping me from snacking!

Then I tried Molygon as a bezel around my tangled gems and was hooked. I love how the "arms" look like robotic tentacle when done this way. Here are two Bijou tiles I made for a swap:

I've been playing with this look a lot lately. Here's a Molygon gem on an ATC for another swap:

I have been playing with some fills and expect I will decorate the bananas in my regular tangles. I just can't stop making them this way...yet!

Check out the Diva challenge this week for lots of amazing interpretations of the fun new tangle at http://iamthedivaczt.blogspot.com/2016/02/weekly-challenge-253.html.

Flitter's Friends

When I created my tangle Flitter, I realized it was similar to other dandelion-inspired tangles.  I played with a few similar designs in my Tangle-A-Day calendar when I came up with Flitter.

One of my favorites is Dandi by CZT Sandhya Manne.  I especially love using this pattern in garden ZIAs.  It is similar to B'Dylan by CZT Mary Beth Schoonover too, but they build differently.  The third column reminds me of a large AHH by Zentangle®.

I love how tangles can be reminiscent of each other but inspired by unique items or experiences and have different step outs.  We are all surrounded by the same patterns and shapes, which makes them part of our communal artistic language.  It is beautiful to see multiple people be inspired by a similar shape.  Each person brings his or her own ideas and creativity to the pattern making it special and unique.

I know there are other tangle friends similar to Flitter.  Please let me know if you find some so I can include them here.  

My New Pattern: Flitter

My daughter loves the Disney Fairies movies.  They are sweet, fun, colorful, and clever.  The animation is stunning to go along with the fantastic natural world of the fairies.  I enjoy the films too (I'd better since we watch them so often) and would love to think of sweet fairies helping the seasons change.

In the first movie, Tinker Bell, we learn the story of how the fairy is born and learns about her true talent.  I have always loved watching as Tinker Bell is born from a baby's first laugh.  She floats through the sky in a flower seed until she reaches Pixie Hollow, gently lands, and is magically transformed into a fairy with the help of a little Pixie Dust.  I've tried to find an image online, but the closest I can get is right after she is transformed (from The Disney Wiki).  For a feel for the beauty and a look at her seed-turned-dress, check out this video clip from Disney.

The shape of the floating seed has always captivated me.  I was tangling in my Tangle-A-Day calendar one night while watching the film with my daughter.  I started adding simple curved lines until they made a small, delicate cup.  Next I added a swan like stem with a little top to it and added some shading.

I showed my daughter, and she said, "It's Tinker Bell!"  Whenever I use this pattern, she squeals with delight that I am drawing little fairies being born.

I present the step outs for my new pattern, Flitter:

Flitter can be used as a border, a fill, or a focal tangle, depending on your piece.  I look forward to seeing what you create with my fun little pattern.  Let's channel a little fairy magic into our tangling, shall we?

A New Calendar for a New Year

I had decided that since I was unable to complete my two past Tangle-A-Day calendars from Carole Ohl that I was not getting the 2015 calendar.  Then I got very sad.  I was inspired by all of the wonderful pages people were sharing on Facebook.  I also buy into the starting anew idea each year and love seeing a blank book just waiting for art.  I changed my mind and decided to buy the calendar only to see it backordered.  The Fates agreed with my original choice.  When I checked a few days later, it was in stock again and in my shopping cart.

I am having a blast with the calendar as I get caught up this month.

I think I haven't finished my previous calendars because I got caught up in trying to figure out a plan each day.  Some days were random art, and some were for testing out new-to-me patterns.  I enjoyed the calendars and still go back and fill in empty dates when I want to play.

This year, I am using each lovely block to experiment with a single pattern.  The patterns may be new or familiar to me.  It takes the guesswork out of it and makes it interesting to try new things.  By the end of the year, I'll have a lovely tangle compilation to refer back to while working on other projects too.  Here are a few pages I've enjoyed doing so far:

I tried a few border-style tangles on this page.  Nautica was a fun one with a lot of variety. 

I love Ruflz.  What an elegant tangle.

These were all new to me, and I liked them all.  Jesterz was fun and appealed to the Cadent-lover in me.  Tleaf is quite lovely and delicate.  3 To Go reminded me of cute little break dancers twirling around on the ground.

Happy 200 to the Diva

Our beloved Diva reached a huge milestone this week--her 200th challenge!  We were invited to create a monotangle with one of our go-to tangles.

I immediately started adding Flux leaves in the center, randomly building outward. I used to not like Flux because I hadn't found my groove with it. Surprisingly, while teaching the pattern in a class, I admired how my friend and student interpreted the leafy shape. Ever since, I have created my Flux like she did--a looser, more leaf or teardrop shape than a comma shape. A new love was born. 

I especially love drawing Flux as a flower or in random spurts with a string. I enjoy letting the petals float, swim, or bloom in various directions. 

It only seemed fitting to think about inspiration for this challenge. I hope that I inspire others when I teach. I am always fascinated by how inspired I am with each of my students. 

Happy 200th, Laura!  Thank you for inspiring us all!

I couldn't stop myself after this one and created a couple of colorful Flux flower ATCs too.  I think I'll be sending these to some of my CZT friends.  

Muster Mixer

German CZT Anya Lothrop has created a new "Muster Mixer/Pattern Mixer" challenge inviting tanglers to mix two designated tangles into a piece of art.  The first assignment was to combine Rixty and Mooka in some way.

I knew I wanted to have tall, bulbous Mookas and figured the Rixty could go along for the ride on the stems.  This was a fun and simple piece to create.  I'm looking forward to future mixed up challenges.

Daily Tangling

I have always found that my stress level remains lower and my creativity flourishes when I tangle daily.  Sometimes I play with a pattern or work on a small area if I don't have time for a larger piece.  I am enjoying the new Bijou tiles for some tiny tangling too.

Another great reminder is the Tangle-A-Day calendar from CZT Carole Ohl.  I have used these calendars for a few years.  They are nicely made with daily spots for art.  The calendar illustrates a few patterns as well as sharing some of Carole's beautiful artwork for inspiration.  I usually start off in January and tangle in the calendar daily, but then I lose track of it.  I continue to tangle but usually do so in other journals, tiles, and projects.  

I have two unfinished calendars that I would like to complete.  I've decided to treat them like a new, blank calendar disregarding the dates.  Here are a few pages I've created lately:

 Verdigogh is a pattern that I really enjoy creating.  It seemed fitting for the Christmas page.

This calendar page was inspired by the amazing M.C. Escher exhibit I was fortunate enough to see at the Currier Museum of Art.  I have always loved Escher and was thrilled to be able to see so much of his original work up close.  I was infinitely inspired by his line work, shading, and complex yet often simple strokes.  I created these three pieces and a sample of his chop after seeing the exhibit.

Sand Dollars and Fireworks

Welcome back to the Diva!  It's wonderful to have Laura back blogging and inspiring us.  I wish her darling Artoo continued success in his recovery.  

The Diva has tasked us with playing with the latest Zentangle® pattern, Arukas.  I like the idea of this tangle but still haven't quite fallen in love with it yet.  I do tend to like patterns with very straight, repetitive lines, like IX, so I figured I would like this one quickly.  It is fun to create, but I think I need to explore it some more.  I haven't quite achieved the star look, but I think that many, like my Bijou tile, look like sand dollars.  

This is one of the first times I used Bronx Cheer to cover something that I deemed less than favorable.  One of the Arukas turned into a nice round shape resembling a sand dollar.  I liked it, but the other one had lines that went off the Bijou tile.  I decided that I liked the rounder look and plunked down some Bronx Cheer.  Ha!  Should I have revealed my secret, or would you have guessed anyway?  

Others remind me of fireworks or bugs or scorpions because at least one of the interior shapes always ends up looking puffy.  It's still cool because I never quite know how it's going to turn out.

I am enjoying filling in my initial spokes or rays to give a little contrast.  I like the look of that in this Bijou frame tile:

Have you been playing with Arukas?  What do you think of it so far?

Thanks for Supporting Tangle-A-Thon 2014

It's been a blur since Tangle-A-Thon 2014!  We had a wonderful day filled with creativity and fun all while helping others.  A lovely group of CZTs and fellow tanglers gathered to create several interesting projects together at Lowell General Hospital.

The group raised over $1,500 to benefit TeamWalk for CancerCare at Lowell General Hospital.  I was thrilled with the generous contributions that everyone made to support this event.

I would love to extend a special thank you to CZT Teresa Hathaway for her support in brainstorming projects for the special day and teaching some fun mini lessons.  Terry taught interesting border patterns and the beautiful Stella by Jana Rogers on seasonal spiders.  Check out this beauty by fellow CZT, and my former student, Suzanne Crisafi.

Tangled spider by Suzanne Crisafi, CZT

Next everyone worked on different make-and-take projects including a cute Bijou envelope and pull-out card taught by Terry.  

After lunch, I gave demonstrations of blown ink strings.

Blown ink string sample by Emily Classon, CZT

Blown ink string Renaissance tile by Emily Classon, CZT

For our final lesson of the day, we explored some patterns, including a variety of flowing or botanical ones, for some peekaboo cards.  Here are a few samples I created for the lesson:

Peekaboo card by Emily Classon, CZT

Peekaboo card by Emily Classon, CZT

I would also like to thank all of our wonderful artists and CZTs for their generous prize contributions.    We received amazing prizes from the following:

• Emily Classon, CZT, MomZenArtist
• Sandy Steen Bartholomew, CZT, Beez in the Belfry
• Sue Jacobs, CZT, Sue's Tangle Trips
• Marizaan van Beek, CZT
• Karen Izzi, CZT, The Peaceful Healer
• Cris Letourneau, CZT, Tangled Up in Art
• Genevieve Crabe, CZT, Tangle Harmony
• Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas, Zentangle®
• Chris Titus, CZT
• Sakura of America
• Kate Lamontagne, CZT, Kamala Boutique
• Terry Hathaway, CZT, Terry's Tangles
• Jean Theurkauf, CZT, Art of the Tangle
• Susan Nutting, CZT
• Wendy Brown, CZT, Let's Go Tangle
• TeamWalk for CancerCare

Thank you all for your support and for making Tangle-A-Thon 2014 such a success!

Pattern Peeping: Featherfall

I spy with my little eye, a pattern that looks leafy.  

I found this cool leaf, and it reminded me of one of my favorite patterns, Featherfall.

This piece was created on a colored tile created by Sue Jacobs, CZT.  It was fun to play with colored pens and colored pencils on a different background even if the scan doesn't do the color justice.

What I Did on My Kripalu Vacation

My Kripalu adventure was amazing!  I needed to get back to basics and to reconnect with my love of simple patterns, tangling in my comfort zone, and creating from within.  Here are my individual tiles as well as some group mosaics including a few of my tiles.

Does anyone else see a hummingbird hiding in my Munchin tile?  It was totally unplanned, but now I can't stop seeing him in there.  

This one started out as a central string that everyone thought resembled a mother and child.  My dear friend and fellow CZT fell in love with it because it reminded her of a ram.  Of course, I added some legs and a tail and gave it to her.  :-)  Enjoy, Karen!  XOXO

Group Tripoli mosaic.  Mine is in the third row down, second from the end.

Group tile mosaic.  Mine is in the bottom row, third tile over, upside down.

The Thing with Ing

I always love it when a new pattern emerges from the creative minds at Zentangle®.  Of course people create patterns all the time as we are all inspired by shapes around us, but there's a special energy that develops when a pattern emerges from Rick, Maria, and Molly, the heart of Zentangle.

This week's Diva challenge invited us to play with the new pattern Ing.   I've had a few opportunities to play with this pattern, and I like how flexible it can be for filling options.  The simple external line structure is wonderful to fill with a variety of shapes or other tangles.

My first tile created for the SquareOne: Purely Zentangle® Facebook group features a central Ing surrounded by some Static.  I love the simplicity of the pattern and wanted to aura the external shape of Ing.

The next tile also features a central Ing.  I think I really enjoy mimicking the outer shape.  This time I used my aura to create Tripoli on each side with different fillers.  This is quite the triangular tile.  I love how filling Ing with Paradox makes it tricky to see the initial structure.  A chameleon pattern.

And Bijou Was His Name-O

I am participating in a Bijou tile swap with fellow CZTs.  We are all loving these tiny tiles as well as our new Zentangle® friend's philosophy on life.

Our swap was to send five Bijou tiles using tangles starting with the letters:  B-I-J-O-U.  To learn about these tangles, visit TanglePatterns.com.

Each of my tiles features an individual letter.  Here are the tangles that I used:

B - Biscus and Birds on a Wire.  This was my first time trying Biscus, and I thought it was a very fun tangle to use.

I - IX.  Maybe it's because I attended my Certified Zentangle Teacher training in the IX class, but I've always loved the pattern introduced for my group.  The delicate, repetitive lines really speak to me.

J - Jetties, Jilli, and Jalousie.  This one was a bit trickier since there don't seem to be as many tangles that start with the letter J.

O - Ojo, Oke, Orbs-la-Dee, Onomato, Opus, and Organza - I had a lot of areas to fill and tried several new patterns.  It can be a fun challenge to try to fit patterns into small spaces like borders.

U - Umble and Undling.  I love the boldness of Umble.  I had never used Undling before and think I'll be using that one more often.  It has a subtle and effective look when shaded.

And BIJOU was his name-o!

Stripes: Staying Inside the Lines

For this week's Diva challenge, we were asked to play with stripes.  I worked on a 2" Bijou tile from Zentangle®.  I love these little guys!  This one was part of a Bijou swap with fellow CZTs.

I drew my pencil string as diagonal lines across the tile.  This tile features tangles starting with O including Onomato, Ojo, Oke, Orbs-la-Dee, Opus, and Organza.  It was the first time I had played with many of these patterns.

When drawing stripes or lines, it's fun to think about how to fill the areas.  Do you fill between two lines as in Onomato (the tangle with the large circles)?  Do you follow a single line as in the fluttery Organza (the one that looks a bit like fans) and fill around it?  Either way, you can't go wrong as long as you're enjoying the process.

Square One: Verdigogh

This week's Square One: Purely Zentangle® group focus was to use the official Zentangle pattern Verdigogh. This is one of my favorite patterns to do.  I love the botanical feel of this pattern combined with the repetitive line work involved in its creation.

I often create this pattern as a curved stem with branches filling a tile.  For this piece, I thought it would be fun to explore Verdigogh as a border.  I drew the rectangular "stem" and built my needles in different directions.  I added a few on each side and turned my tile repeatedly to allow the needles to cross sides in various places.

I thought the piece was complete after adding the little berries and almost stopped there.  I couldn't decide how I wanted to shade the piece since it was already fairly busy, but I just kept picturing tiny orbs in the center.  I created an inner aura around the needles and immediately thought I took it one step too far.  Before I had a chance to second guess myself or to let the outcome dictate my artistic process, I filled the center with orbs.  I had been so relaxed creating all of my fine needles that I didn't want to stop tangling.  I didn't want this journey to end.  

Circle.

Circle.

Circle.

Sometimes the very simple repetition of one basic shape can be entirely relaxing.  I write about this often, and it certainly applies to the whole of the Zentangle® method.  It's true that tangle patterns repeat and can create a relaxing experience while creating them, but I find that some patterns are more relaxing to create than others.  When a pattern has fewer steps, as in the case of these tiny orbs, they can be especially calming to create.

I thoroughly enjoyed filling all of the small negative spaces with mini auras and circles.  I added a little shading at the end and am quite pleased with the result.

This tile was a perfect example of how this process should go.  Sometimes I get caught up in my head even though I know I should trust the process.  I've been feeling stressed lately, and I really needed to rediscover my sense of relaxed focus.  I sat down with this tile tonight, tangled, and didn't look up from my tile until it was complete.  I needed that!

A couple of my Verdigogh examples are in the fantastic new book, Pattern Play: A Zentangle® Creativity Booster by Cris Letourneau, CZT and Sonya Yencer, CZT.  Here are some of the ways I like to play with this pattern: 

Square One: Twing

This week's Square One: Purely Zentangle® group focus was to use the official Zentangle pattern Twing.  I have played with this pattern a few times before, but it clearly hasn't stuck with me as a regular or favorite pattern.

After refreshing my memory about the pattern, I immediately thought of Auraknot.  I drew some Twing-like points to mimic the shape.  Next I added several rays of Twing coming from behind the Auraknot star.  They came out fairly small so I played with different fills.  I liked the extra white space but thought the tile needed one more expression of Twing.  I drew exaggerated points almost creating an aura around the center star.  I then continued the steps to make this shape into a wide Twing.  

I am wondering, however, what I'm dreaming about these days because many of my tiles seem to have tentacles.  I haven't been sleeping well, and I may be getting to the root (or tentacle) of the problem!  I think the solution is more tangling.

Square One: Twing (and Auraknot) by MomZenArtist

Square One: Cadent

If you're looking to get back to basics, there's a fun, new group on Facebook called Square One: Purely Zentangle®.  The group was created by CZTs Jenny Perruzzi and Chris Titus.  It's open to CZTs and tanglers of all skill levels.  The goal is to have participants post only 3.5" tiles tangled with pen and pencil in black and white.  There are a lot of great groups for color, templates, and other ideas, so it is refreshing to get back to Square One.

Chris and Jenny have started adding challenges for us to play with while we tangle.  This week they asked us to play with a favorite pattern, Cadent.

I was inspired by a stunning piece created by Maria Perez, which included an excellent use of the dewdrop technique.  I play with that one from time to time but have yet to feel like I've mastered it.  So this looked like a good time to try it!

I started with my dewdrop of enlarged Cadent and was pleased with how it came out especially after I shaded it.  Then my tile got a little wonky.

I'm not sure if I put too much pressure on myself or tried to make my tile too complicated.  As much as I know better, I, too, can forget to just trust the process and let the art flow.  I thought too much about playing with Cadent variations rather than just letting my dear friend Cadent evolve on the tile.

I built outward from the dewdrop adding a frilly layer, then some tendrils, and finally the outer band.

I'm not in love with this piece, but I am pleased with my dewdrop attempt.  I think this tile will serve as a reminder to me to just let it happen.  When I try to do something specific with my tangling, I get frustrated and lose the wonderful meditative focus that I achieve from my regular tangling.

The next time I go back to basics, I need to remember the real basics--love what I'm doing, breathe, take it one line at a time, and don't think about the outcome.

That said, I do kind of think this piece reminds me of a Quidditch snitch bursting across the tile.