simple symmetry

It's a hectic time of year - the to-do list grows a little longer with every item I cross off.  It would be easy to fall away from tangling, but that would be a great shame - as it's the perfect chance to have a little burst of downtime, of calm and focus.  But now is not the time for learning new tangles, or trying complicated designs.  The Diva knows this as evidenced by her challenge for this week.

Simplicity is the key.  And what could be simpler than Bales.  Drawn out of a grid but following the lines to form a cluster of snowflakes shapes.

Best wishes to my fellow tanglers for the festive season and the year ahead.  May all your ink flow smoothly, and your pencil stay sharp, and may you find pleasing splashes of colour wherever you desire them!

it's a wrap

Having submitted a very lively tile for this week's It's a String Thing challenge I decided to draw a second tile, to simplify things and hopefully calm my seasonally over-agitated mind.

And there it is.  Verdigogh wrapping itself round the edges of the string shape and Pauline's Pigtail doing the same on three little balls.  It gives both tangles a slightly new look - both wintery, like bare branches and festive, like ribbons and strings.

the magic word

A new official tangle feels like getting an early Christmas present.  And it's a good one - with a name that makes me think of the kind of word used to finalise a magician's spell.  Arukas!

Bands of Arukas

I started playing about with it a bit last week and popped a few simple variations into some pentagon outlines I used a template to draw.  These are simple versions, but which effectively show how slight changes, for instance by darkening different parts, can really change the look of the tangle. 

Arukas in bloom

Gridded Arukas

I think I could carry on with these slight variations for an endless amount of time, but when the Diva Challenge invited us to use Arukas I decided to push things a bit further and see how the tangle would look used in different ways - and I was quite pleased with some of the results.

These are hasty practices in my sketchbook, but thought it would be good to share them with others.  I can't wait to use some in forthcoming proper tiles.  Each brings a different dimension to the tangle.  Putting it in bands seems to emphasis its Art Deco nature.  In a grid it adds depth and dimension and would work well with tangles like Cubine.  Formed into a flower shape with Onamato between was fun and free-form.  But my favourite for now is placing it within Ing. 

A warm winter greeting from me to Arukas - you're welcome to stay!

Arukas-Ing

four by four

I knew I wanted to re-visit one of the ideas I came up with in last week's Diva Challenge post.  In fact I'm sure in time I'll re-visit all of them, and perhaps do more explorations with other tangles.  But for now I wanted to trying gridded-Aquafleur on a tile.  I used another of my recycled packaging tiles - I can't get enough of that look at the moment! 

 And I love the result.  Simple, striking and satisfying to draw.  What more could you ask for?