William Morris (1834 - 1896)

Maria writes:

I have had a fascination with William Morris for many years, admiring his brilliant sense of design (and his business skills!). He made his art available to many through his tapestries, books, fabric and wallpapers - all with his wonderfully recognizable compositions.

I had the great good fortune to visit The Victoria and Albert Museum in London, where there was an exhibit (a few rooms full) of nothing but his work! Beds and linens, upholstered chairs, so many combinations of complementary wallpapers, some even on the ceilings! Tapestries and rugs were everywhere, books with his illuminated letters and carved furniture . . . if I didn't like the guy so much, it would have definitely been Wm Morris overload! . . . (think MacKenzie-Childs on steroids).

But I digress . . . Rick and I do happen to live in a circa 1875 Victorian, decorated in his signature color palette, (my favorite teals, salmons, greens, golds... tapestries and papers).

So, this blog is dedicated to my old friend "Will" who I know would have embraced Zentangle's approach. I've always been "drawn" to the very subtle images in the backgrounds of many of his designs. Behind the graceful images of flowers, fruit, animals and maidens . . . there in the darkness, hidden almost from sight were faint patterns that completely and elegantly filled the spaces. On a very dark background, he might have painted green leaves or fern-shaped tangles that softened the contrast to create a more pleasing image. You can see examples of this master's work all over the web. Here's an example from a placemat we have.

So, how did this transform itself into Zentangle.? Well, I did a few of my usual Zentangles, but  then I colored in the background completely in rich black. Then I went in with a Sakura Gelly Roll pen in Medium White. On one tile, I tangled tipple's deliberate orbs with highlights.

On another tile I tangled inner auras, mimicking the negative (black) spaces.

On another . . .  repeating linear tangles that I then went over with a back pen.

This was FUN!

Here's one I left unfinished to show the difference with and without the white perfs added in the background.

Before posting this blog entry, I checked with the folks at Sakura to make sure their white ink was as good as their black Pigma Microns. I learned that they use titanium dioxide in the ink and it is light-fast, water-proof when used on paper and has the same archival qualities as the Microns. I was very glad about that because I liked the look it created.

Have fun with this William Morris inspired zenhancement!

So, who or what influences your tangles? Let us hear about it.


Rick writes:

This zenhancement fits wonderfully with Zentangle's approach. When you make those interstices black, you get a wonderful contrast. Those interstices (or "space between" - I love that word!) also create a Pre-Strung Tile within a tile with their contrasting areas ready for tangling in white.

We think this is a pretty significant blog "meal" so we're going to give you a couple days to digest and comment.

This also works well for us as our next couple days are quite full.

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