factory reset

I've had a few unsatisfactory attempts at tangling this week. Ones that don't look bad, but don't provide that glow of satisfaction so needed in a week where the rain barely stops.

Then I think about all those gatherings of beginner's tiles the CZTs show. All those little squares looking a lot alike but hinting at where each artist might take this new form they are learning.

I remember my first tile. And wonder what it would be like to go back and do one again using only those first three tangles. Whilst of course having the technique and confidence that about eight months of tangling has given me.

And so I do. And this is it -

And in it I can see some of what I've learned. About the contrasts of light and dark, about auras and rounding, greater control of the pen, confidence in shading, and that better materials do pay.

This felt a worthwhile exercise, and something I could do every so often. A kind of revision. A reaffirmation. A visit back to the start of the maze – only to get ready to get pleasurably lost all over again.