knowing when to stop

I spent much of September weaving this way and that over whether I might join in with Inktober this year.  One day I thought I would, the next not.  October began and I still thought I might.  Then decided against it.  I had a fair few tangling balls in the air, and couldn't really manage another comfortably.  But then... it was so tempting to want to join in.  And so I started to... but then I stopped.

And then I realised something.  I realised that I really love Ginilli (the tangle chosen by Stephanie Jennifer for October 3rd).  And I'm also quite taken with the Easy Mooka that a few people were using.  And so that's as far as my Inktober got.  But I loved every minute of it, and poured every drop of my ink-sodden heart into these four tiles.

An autumnal window - done using fountain pens and Diamine ink

Black pen, grey pen - and a Mooka stem for Ginilli to bloom on

A tissue-dyed tile - Ginilli in a spiral with added Easy Mooka tufts

Getting experimental - angular Ginilli and straight Mooka - with silver borders

Maybe next year I'll join in properly, maybe I'll even get beyond the first three prompts.  And maybe I won't, and that's fine too!

then and now, now and then

I'm always a little saddened when I hear that a Zentangle tile has 'gone wrong' for someone.  That they've made a mistake, lost their way,  or simply changed their mind about what they wanted it to be.  Part of the pleasure for me is working through those stumbles and reconciling yourself with wherever you and your tile end up.  Sometimes those 'wrong' tiles even end up torn into bits and buried in the bin.  Which is even sadder! 

It's not to say I'm immune to those difficult tile days.  But one thing I never do is throw away a wayward tile.  I'm naturally frugal for a start!  What I do is tuck them in a little basket... for later.  And thus my Leftovers Project was born! 

This week, torn between too many choices and not enough time I decided to revisit old tiles instead of starting new ones. 

First up this green tile that's been lurking on my pile for a good few years.  I found it with the line work half done, on some rather hard to handle tinted watercolour paper that I rarely use now.  The tangles were also ones I haven't used in a long time.  One of the most interesting things in revisiting these old tiles is spotting the changes in my tangling, my skill, style and choices.

Tangled with - Beadlines / Fleuri / Tipz / Pia / Stonestory

 To finish it off I completed the outstanding tangles.  Then anchored the bands to the edges using more tangles.  I added a touch of green coloured pencil and shaded.  Who knows why I didn't like it then, but I do now.

Next up this autumnal looking arc.  I presume I tangled this while trying to get to grips with Peaknuckle.  Drawn over a band of watercolour, again it was abandoned at the line work stage.

Just Peanuckle, plus a few curls and aura

I added shading and highlighting with coloured pencil and graphite.  It looks a lot happier to be finished, but it's lacking in contrast a bit.  Sometimes a tile is set on a path by my past self and it's hard to change that direction. 

And lastly there wast this.  A strange looking tile, left at the line work stage, with only one corner blacked in.  I blacked in two more corners and then grew tired of the effort!  Which is perhaps why I abandoned the tile in the first place...

Tangled with mutant Purk and Lollywimple filled with Jetties and Cruffle

Rounding the remaining sections seemed a decent halfway measure to fully filling them in.  I shaded and added tiny pops of the two colours I still had out from my other two tiles.  Sometimes a little touch like that can really finish off a tile, and also pull three disparate pieces together into something close to cohesion.

There were also a couple of others I worked on, which still remain stubbornly unattractive and I can't see a way to redeem them at the moment.  They have been returned to the basket, perhaps their day will come, even if it's not today!  So, next time you go to throw away a tile, think again... who knows what it's one day destined to become!

autumnal interweavings

My last post was word heavy, and I really appreciate all of you who took the time to wade through my extended musings as I led my Zigzangles out into the daylight for the first time.

This time I'll be brief and share a few tiles I've drawn in the last week.  Firstly this tan tile that inadvertently combined the two most recent Diva Challenges.

Diva #371 & #372 - Onion Drops & Dewd

Then a tile I didn't finish in time for Adele Bruno's challenge for last week.  The first time I tried to read Orwell's 1984 I couldn't connect with it.  I tried it again a handful of years later and it all made sense.  Sometimes it's just a case of the right book at the wrong time.  It's not a situation limited to books either - and I think Adele's Iza tangle has the 1984 effect on me.  I first played with it years ago - and liked how it looked, but this time I really connected, I felt the tangle as I drew it.  And I think that shows in the finished tile. 

IAST #264 - Iza and Heartswell - ink and graphite
on vintage printmaking paper that's as old as me!

And lastly a few Bijou.  I'm still keeping my pledge to make a Bijou for every It's a String Thing challenge I fail to make a full size tile for.  I noticed I'd missed one right at the start of the year, so that's why the first one uses an 18 as its string - we'll be doing a 19 before we know it!

IAST #224 / #259 / #262 - Bijou pastel paper tiles - ink, graphite, white pencil and pen

the wonder of wending

Recently I've read a few really thoughtful posts that encourage us to look at how we create as well as what we create.  Most agree with or develop things I've touched on in previous posts on this blog.  I'm a philosopher at heart - I like to think about what I'm doing, why I'm doing it, how I'm doing it, as well as actually doing it.  It adds another layer of meaning and depth.  It adds to the mindfulness.  Of course much of my thinking doesn't actually occur while I'm in the zone actually moving the pen across the paper.

I'm going to share some art with you today, and I'm very excited about that - but I also want to touch on a bit of the thinking that occurred around its creation.

A while ago I wrote about the dilemma of having more than enough art supplies.  I'm not reckless in my purchases.  I love to read lots of reviews and make balanced decisions before accumulating more stuff.  I'm pleasantly confined by a lack of storage space which means my materials have to earn their right to be there!  I usually know how I might use something long before I buy it.  But occasionally I spot something that has potential, without clearly knowing what I might use it for.  And that was the case with this pack of cotton rag paper zigzags that I bought at the start of 2016.  I've worked on this type of paper before - it's challenging and rough but worth the effort. (Click to see slightly larger pieces on this paper.)

Two other significant strands of my creative practice wove into what happened with these little zigzags.  Firstly was the ability, which I'm very slowly developing, of not joining in with everything.  There's so much on offer, so many challenges, techniques, tangles - it's wonderful and overwhelming.  I want to dive in, but I don't want to drown.  I want to graze along the buffet table, sampling the delights rather than gorging myself.

Way back in early summer I spotted a few people on Facebook doing something wonderful where they tangled in a concertina book and their tangling travelled over each fold and onto the next.   They called it the Infinite or Endless Zentangle Project.  And a bit of questioning led me to discover that it was the brainchild of Natalie Plechkova.  She blogs about it here on her website - it's written entirely in Russian, but you can translate it via Google and get a fair approximation of her meaning.  And of course the images are a true delight in any language.  For a more instant visual hit take a peek at her Instagram feed.

I was charmed and hungry but knew that the true beauty of this thing was being able to stick with it over the long distance and I doubted my own stamina.  A few weeks later I had an idea - perhaps I could do something similar but over a shorter distance?  A finite Zentangle project?  And suddenly those zigzags heard their true calling. 

On the 14th June I tangled the first panel on my first zigzag.  I noted on the back that it was a rainy, chilly Thursday.  I completed another panel every week for the next 15 weeks.  I stopped myself from doing more than one panel a week.  This was a case of pace not race!


Here it is.  Filled with more tangles than I care to list.  All packed more tightly together than I would usually do.  Each panel measures about 7cm x 8cm.  Here is is laid flat to allow for a better look.

One week after finishing the first I started another.  The 20th July, when I noted that it was cloudy but we'd still had no rain.


For this one I used Margaret Bremner's rope string idea - but needed to create breaks between panels for the rope to look right.


Somewhere along the way I decided I needed a name for these things - naming has power, it makes us feel connected to things.  I like playing with words, breaking them and putting them back together again.  I stirred a few things on my tongue but came to like the word Zigzangle!  So that's what I am calling these.  For you they might answer happily to another name!

On this one I let grid tangles take centre stage.  Jumping back and forth adding extra little details in to tie the panels together.  But still only working on one panel a week.  I began this third Zigzangle on 31st August where I observed the first intimations of autumn.




Although I've been working on these little strips of paper and ink for a few months I'm only sharing them with you now.  And that's due to the second creative movitation, and one that I talked about a while ago when I mentioned the benefit of sometimes working for yourself alone.  I wanted one-to-one time with my Zigzangle.  I wanted to get to know them, and know them well, before I told you what they were and showed you what they looked like.  But now I have, I'm glad I have.  And I hope for you it was worth the wait.

spiral-bound scribblings

As I headed to my sketchbook today to note down a couple of new tangles that have taken my fancy I realised it's been a while since I shared my sketchbook secrets with you.  So here goes with the four pages I've filled since June -

Points of interest - 

• Having fun cutting Wholly Hollibaugh type 'holes' in all sorts of tangles.  I'm late to the party but this is an area I want to explore much, much more
• Playing with coloured ribbons - as introduced in videos for Zentangle Project Pack #3
• Tangles I found but want to use more - Tektonik and Ila

Points of interest -

• More Wholly hole making - this time through Icantoo
• Copying down a few ornate border tangles that I spotted while reading The Book of Zentangle
• Drawing in white having blacked out a big mess that I've now forgotten entirely
• My first Diva Dance leaf - I've since drawn them all over the place
• Tangles I found but want to use more - Poa and Cindyer

Points of interest - 

• Having fun threading things through Tropicana and Scallamp - two tangles I love
• Various scribblings as practice for IAST or Square One tiles
• Rediscovering Reef and Kathy's Dilemma - both of which I met when first learning via the One Zentangle a Day book 
• Tangles I found but want to use more - JoVi and PeelD

Points of interest - 

• Lots of Hexonu - every time I use it in practice I like it - try to put it on a tile and it all goes wrong
• A few examples of Divi drawn as I started to develop the tangle 
• Quli - drawn free hand without a grid, having discovered it on Linda's blog and saying I would test drive whether it could be done gridless!  And it can - without a doubt!
• A pop of red as a warm up for the most recent Mosaic Project I took part in
• Tangles I found but want to use more - MIR.I.Am and Y.I.Am

I've included some links this time - to tangles or techniques that I mention.  But if there is anything else you spot that you can't decode or would like to know about please just ask!

all the difference

Good things come to those who wait.  The new tangle I'm about to share with you appeared as a mere inkling a couple of months ago.  I've given it time to grow, to develop, to change and truly show itself to me.  But now I think it's ready to see the light and to maybe hop from my page to yours.

It arose while planning how to fill a couple of leaf shapes on some stunning eco-dyed tiles that a Travelling Tangler in my swap group sent to me.  This is not one of those tiles, but looks similar - and seems a good place to start as autumn begins to comb her fingers through our days. 

Looking leafy - filled with other tangles and wrapped and surrounded by dark auras.
On pastel paper with white highlights.

The tangle is based on a series of Y shapes each fitting into the next and growing smaller as they go.  You may see Y shapes, you may see forked branches or paths, or turned upside down perhaps even wishbones.  I call it Divi because of the nature of it constantly dividing itself.  If the forks of Divi were in Robert Frost's road in the woods there'd be plenty of choices ahead of you!

The step out is really quite simple.  Divi is very forgiving of wobbles and inconsistencies.  Your Y shapes can be curvy, or straight, or really wavy, or looping upwards or downwards or any which way. I've also shown how it can be drawn along a band (which you could pencil in first).

In this next example I've mirrored the starting Y shape, and filled the spaces between branches with Shattuck.  I've then put more thick auras down both sides, and then a few Fescu.  The bands looked a bit too stark so I added some black dots to break them up.

Looking like wings and beaks and feathers and all that flies in the night.
Black tile, while Gelly Roll, white charcoal.

If you draw Divi along a band it can then be embellished in multiple ways.  Tangled like this it has similarities to Chainlea, but is different enough too I think?

Looking beautiful in shades of blue.  Endless potential for variation. 
I even weaved Fescu through the holes in one of them!

I can be drawn without much additional ornamentation - and take on another look entirely.  This version nods to Ruutz and also to Wind Farm - but again, it differs significantly too.

Looking tumbled - each Divi section jumps off from the one before. 
I darkened some of the lines and added touches of Tearce. 
On a Brusho coloured tile - pigment ink and graphite.

Lastly it can transform into something far more geometric.  You can also fill the bands of Divi itself rather than the spaces between.

Looking shiny and new.  Divi with corners instead of curves. And filled with Clob.

Sometimes I think that the measure of a good tangle isn't just how it looks on the tile, but how it makes you feel when you tangle with it - and I know I'm biased but I'm really enjoying the diminishing divisions of Divi and I hope you do too.  I'd love to hear how you get on with it and to see your creations.

As always, if this tangle appears to be too similar to any others in name or style, please let me know. 

a little of what you fancy

I don't think I have too many art supplies.  If gathered together in one place they would fit in two drawers of my old bureau.  I've seen people with far more, and equally people who create magic with a ballpoint pen on scrap paper.  I resist the urge to buy every new pen that catches my eye.  I read copious reviews before trialing a new paper.  And often I come back to my old favourites again and again.  But sometimes I think perhaps I have more than enough - in the literal sense of the phrase.  I have more than I can hold in mind.  More than I can choose from.  Things get forgotten, which of course also allows for the thrill of rediscovery.  

And so it was this week.  The Diva challenged us to tangle with straight lines only.  I knew I wanted to draw bands of Shard, a tangle I rarely use despite it being a close cousin to Baton which is one of my favourites.  I almost grabbed a square tile, then I remembered my 3Zs!  A little box of precious triangles I treated myself to earlier this year!

Diva #368 - Shard / 3Z tile / pigment ink / graphite

I recently took myself a week long holiday at home.  Time spent with loved ones, away from normal activities, chores, hours spent on this computer.  We talked, we read, we ate cakes, we laughed, loved, listened to starlings singing from the fir tree, we slept late and long, and walked out on a grey day to a beautiful little churchyard.  And of course I wanted to tangle, but didn't want to be rooting through options.  So before I 'left' I packed up a little set.  3 tiles cut down from Zentangle Apprentice tiles, to something postcard shaped (roughly measuring 11 x 8 cm).  My trusty black Uni Pin 01, a turquoise Copic SP I very rarely reach for, a Zig Clean Color Brush in Haze blue and a pencil and stump.  And these are the tiles that came from that. 

Bran and Printemps / Shattuck, Bunzo, Clob, Beadlines, Printemps / Huggins, Antidots, Clob

To summarise - I like having choices, but not too many.  I like limitations too, but only if I know I can break free!