seeking shade

This time last year I was writing about tangling through a UK heatwave.  And the same is happening at the moment, albeit thankfully on a smaller scale.  I'm lethargic and disinclined to work on tiny details or pieces that need a lot of blending, smoothing, tinkering.  I'm adapting my tangling to the mood of the weather.

I'm also learning to work with my materials, rather than against them.  I picked two tiles from the stash of lokta paper kindly sent to me by my tangle friend Yvette.  Last time I worked on two tissue thin pieces with grasses trapped within them.  This time I picked two of the thicker pieces, in this shade that reminds me of parched grass.  This paper is heavily textured, especially on one side, it calls to mind baked earth desperate for rainfall.

I knew the paper would challenge fine pen work, but I wasn't in the mood for that anyway- so grabbed my 02 and 03 black pens and set to work tangling loops and giant Tipple and then adding a few other tangles.  I added some small pops of brighter green, from a particularly juicy pen and watched the paper suck the ink into itself.

Going loopy - mostly unnamed ink roamings with added Pixioze

The view from down under - similar but with Inaura

A handful of white highlights and the merest suggestion of graphite shading and they were done.  I tangled them separately, but they were always destined to be a pair.

***

I found a small burst of additional inspiration, and tangled this piece on an ATC sized tile I'd coloured with a Faber-Castell Gelato, a set of which I received as a recent birthday present.

Melting moments - a simple spread of Esher
with added detail lines

The heat is set to break tomorrow, and I hope the week ahead brings some sea breezes because I'm keen to bring some summery teals and blues into the mix.

the kindness of strangers

T.S. Eliot claimed April to be the cruellest month, and while I've known some challenging Aprils, in general I think spring is a kind season.  It reassures us after long doubtful winters.  It teases us playfully, mild bright days interspersed with showers and chill nights.  It pledges to step aside in the next few weeks to let summer take the stage, with all the drama that can bring.

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.

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.

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.