six-sided celebrations

Today is a special day.  It's the anniversary of my very first Zentangle tile.

Back in the summer of 2013 I bought Beckah Krahula's One Zentangle a Day book, cut up a handful of thin white postcards, grabbed a 0.4 non permanent black pen and a pencil and tangled my first tile.  Two days later I tangled my second - and I haven't stopped since.

I blogged about my early exploration here - although I confess that I didn't start my blog straight away.  Initially I made notes on my tangling progress on pen and paper and only started the blog a couple of months in and then typed up my notes!

From little acorns - Static, Crescent Moon and Tipple

Everything I hoped Zentangle would bring me has happened.  My tangling has grown in confidence, ability and imagination.  I've explored different shaped tiles, different pens, a multitude of colours whilst never losing the love of basic black and white.  I've connected with people from all over this weird and wonderful world.  I've felt full to the brim with Zentangle excitement and also basked in utter calm as a tile takes shape at the end of my pen.

Mighty oaks - Drupe, Drawings and Aquafleur

Apt that six years on my current obsession is the six-sided delights that Marguerite Samama calls Relaxagons - which I blogged about a couple of weeks ago.  Moving on from getting to know the tile, Marguerite invites us to explore the hexagon shape using tangles which can benefit from greater space.  She offers example and suggestions and I tried this with three different tangles.

Firstly I worked in black and white on one of the delicious hand made Relaxagon tiles, cut from the same Fabriano paper as the Zentangle original white tiles.

Drupe with added Beadlines and Fescu

Then I coloured a tile using the watercolour pencils included in the kit.  Not only are the colours perfect compliments to each other but their quality is wonderful - they mixed and mingled so well.  

Drawings - usually reminiscent of birds, this looks like something
more at home beneath the waves. 

I prepared my final tile by masking using thin washi tape and then smooth blending some blue Distress Ink.  When I removed the tape the hexagon was divided into all sorts of interesting shapes - which I began to fill with Aquafleur.  Disaster struck in one section of the tile - I lost track of which ribbons I was filling and it all started to unravel!  A few moments of despair where I considered ditching the tile - then the 'No Mistakes in Zentangle' motto came to mind and I grabbed a black Posca pen and covered over the mistakes.  When it was dry I went back with my white and gold pens and if I hadn't told you, perhaps you might have thought it was my intention all along!

I've been tangling Aquafleur fairly regularly over the years -
but I noticed one day that it didn't feel quite right, and when I checked
I'd drifted a little in how I tangled it and so the inward twisting spiral
had disappeared.  (Here's an example on a similarly masked tile)
It's worthwhile going back to the step-outs from
time to time in case you've drifted and need to find your way home!
Or else just enjoy your drift and call it a tangleation!

Thank you for sharing my tangle-anniversary with me.  Thank you to those who have been with me since almost the very start, and thank you to those who've joined me through the years.  Thanks for your encouragement, inspiration, and company on this tangled journey.  Here's hoping there are many more tangled adventures in the years ahead!