Today I'm celebrating the kindness of spring, coupled with the kindness of a fellow tangler. I've encountered a wild variety of people over my 6 years of tangling, and almost exclusively I've been humbled by their passion, friendship, care and generosity. Chatting the other week with Australian tangler Yvette, discussing unusual papers, we agreed to send some to each other. I sent her some of my khadi paper (which I used for my Zigzangles among other things) and in exchange she sent me a bumper selection of lokta paper.
As well as thicker pieces there are some that are almost tissue thin, and have leaves and grasses caught within them. I knew these could be a challenge to work on, so I lightly glued two pieces to some white card to make the surface more stable.
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| A rather grand-looking tile - I picture men in pale suits leaning on columns, smoking as the last days of the Empire crumble around them. (Sitiko / Ruutz / Beadlines) |
These tiles need a gentle touch - a mere stroking of the pen, but they reward with a delightful texture. You can feel the fibres of the paper as you move the pen, not a rough or bumpy resistance, just a slight hairyness. You feel the occasional bump of a blade of grass, which seems to remind you to slow down, enjoy the line. Each line, every line.
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| Venture inside, out of the sun - and hanging from a wall this palm patterend screen. No doubt purloined from its rightful owners, no doubt now gathering dust in a far flung museum. (U-2 - blogged about most capably by Linda) I seemed to like mine upside down! |
There was no way I'd risk any major shading on this delicate paper, just a touch of graphite here and there and not a blending stump in sight! But I added a little extra interest by way of lots of detail lines in a lovely dark yellow pen that I just got last week which was a perfect match for some of the grasses! It doesn't always happen that way, but I love it when it does.
So interesting! Your beautiful tangles on special paper and your comments, too. Might I add, there is the aura of Laurence Of Arabia about them - and perhaps the tiniest hint of Agatha Christie's Death On The Nile? Only in the most positive and exciting sense!
ReplyDeleteThank you Jennifer. It's funny, all the time I was tangling I was thinking about Death on the Nile, it's my favourite film adaptation of a Christie novel! Glad that came through in the tile!
DeleteWhat a terrific post. I read Jennifer's comment above, and wholeheartedly concur!
ReplyDeleteHappy tangling.
Hugs, Sarn xxx
Thank you Sarn!
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ReplyDeleteU-2 looks great upside down and your dark yellow pen has me intrigued. I'm not a fan of yellow but when I do like it, it's just this sort of shade of yellow.
ReplyDeleteThanks Linda. The pen is a Uniball Emott. It seems to be a new pen launched this year. I haven't found much info about them yet, and they seem to only be available in the UK at the moment, but I figure eventually they'll make it to the US although Uniball products seem more common outside of the US than within.
DeleteOne other thought - if you are able to get Staedtler Triplus in the US - I can't easily tell from Google - I reckon their Mustard (14) would come close. The Triplus are a nice pen to use although not water-resistant like the Emott.
DeleteGorgeous work as usual Jem. I am in love with that first tile. Funny, I just watched Death on the Nile...again...a couple of weeks ago and I see that in your tile perfectly😉
ReplyDeleteThank you Michele. Your comment was so well timed - I'm really struggling with a tile for this week's blog post - and trying to power through the dislike, but your comment brought me back to remembering the point. The process, and the fact that different people like different things, and that maybe after this dud tile there will be a better one behind it!
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