French Ivory Encore

Had to share this image with all you tanglers.

This box (probably originally designed for a dressing table top) was in Rick's parents' basement, just waiting to be discovered. It's about 4 by 10 inches.

It just so happened that my sister Sue, (who works here with us) was having a birthday. I knew she collected "French Ivory" and that she loved the pieces I had recently tangled.

So, "Happy birthday, Sue!

And I thought I'd throw a few recent Zentangle tiles for fun. I have been playing with "bending" the rules a bit. When a tangle is made up of triangles . . . what's to stop us from bending those lines for fun and interest?

Such fun.

What do you think?

Let us know and we'll send one of these tiles to a responder.

Winner of our previous blog is Georgia Jensen. Please email your mailing address to zentangle at gmail dot com. Congrats Georgia!

Rick adds:
Maria and I are already having fun deconstructing that woven table top on which the box is sitting. We'll see what we come up with and let you know. We invite you to explore your own deconstructions, too!

Click images for larger views.

Cut it out!

"Mom!!!!! (always screamed in two syllables!) . . . He's (my older brother) teasing me again . . . CUT IT OUT!!! Mom, tell him to stop . . . knock it off or I'll tell Dad . . . I said cut it out!"

David yells back, "No! YOU cut it out!"

Some of us have had those childhood nightmares (daymares?) of a sibling making our lives intolerable (or so it seemed). In actuality, it was never so bad. It just interrupted the rhythm of whatever I was doing. I was always content playing by myself, amused with my art or tiny dolls . . . but I guess my brother wasn't so much.

Of course, today we are both in our 60's and he's a really great guy, always was, love him to bits. It must be some sort of rite of passage to go through this routine, choreographed in the heavens by well-meaning beings getting us ready for what life lies ahead.

What does this have to do with Zentangle, you wonder? Well I took this chant to heart. Perhaps it was really angels telling me what to do.

"Cut it out!"

I always listen to my guardian angels . . . albeit somewhat late.

This one is done on a blank Zendala tile, folded once to create a sort of rocking horse effect.

With this next one . . .

. . . I folded the top (white tile) and back tile (black) along the diagonals. The white one folded with the crease facing out vertically, the black one creased inward horizontally. I stitched the white tile (yes, with needle and thread!) at two corners,

then I made a small horizontal slit at the top and inserted the top corner of the back tile into the slit.

I cut these tiles with an X-Acto® knife, something I am comfortable with. But you could use some cuticle scissors or fine embroidery scissors (if you don't mind using them on paper). Then, I tangled around the cut-outs.

A fun project for sure.


On this last one, I used 2 square tiles, white on the back and black for the front. I traced a circle (using the cap of my cayenne pepper jar, about 2" diameter) and cut out the center.

Then I folded the black tile in half (with art facing out), opened it and folded in half the other way (again with the art facing out). Then opened it up flat.

This just gives you a way to form the black tile into 3-D and the circular hole ends up looking like a square!

On the white tile, I cut 2 slits in each corner, (see example) big enough to slip the corners of the back tile in the larger slit, and out the smaller one, of each corner. Voila! A 3-D "Cayenne-tile"

This last little Zendala-ette is the piece I cut out of the blank square black tile. I just couldn't toss it!

Winner of our previous blog post is Sue Zanker. Please email us your address so we can send you your tile.


Click images for larger views.

Which schway?

Shortly after we posted instructions for a new tangle schway, we received an email from Scott in Colorado.

He sent me links [here and here] of aroz, a tangle he had created over a year ago:

Look familiar?

Not only that, he wrote that he had emailed it to us, but never heard back. (I don't doubt it. I wouldn't even have been surprised to see that I had written back . . . and forgotten!)

This event is a great illustration of the charm of the Zentangle method. It's also an example of why no one can say, "This is my tangle." Zentangle's charm is in deconstructing patterns available to us all into a defined series of simple strokes that almost anyone can easily and enjoyably recreate . . . without stress, and without needing to know how it will look when you finish.

It is so exciting to become aware of patterns in your surroundings, ponder ways to deconstruct them, and then share them with others. With so many people enjoying that process, we will likely see more of this. (Of course, it will also give Linda Farmer, CZT, of tanglepatterns.com, even more work to do!  :-)

Aside:
When Maria was designing stationery, she was invited to the New York Stationery Show to receive an award. While she was there she made a point to not walk the show to see what other people were doing. She was concerned that she might see something, forget she saw it, and then months/years later, "create" the same thing, believing it was her idea.

We are pleased to acknowledge Scott's stepout of aroz. We are grateful that he, along with so many, are contributing to everyone's enjoyment of Zentangle.

Thank you, Scott!

Best,

Rick (and Maria)

Click image for larger view.

Ebony and Ivory

Enjoy this wonderful duet while scrolling through a few of our latest tiles. . .

[Instructions for how to tangle schway, shown in these next two tiles, can be found in this newsletter.]

Hmm . . . what if there was a magic mirror that inverted images, white for black, black for white . . .

Winner of the tile from the RSVP blog entry is Jen Crutchfield. Congrats Jen!

We look forward to your comments.  We regularly send out a tile from the blog to randomly chosen commenters (if we can contact you!).

 Click images for larger views.

R.S.V.P

Réspondez s'il vous plaît

As most of you know, that means "please respond" in French.

As a calligrapher, I have written this more times than even I can imagine. Over the years of lettering wedding invitations, designing sometimes four or five sets per day, I was always looking to get a little creative with how I might letter it - not only the language, but also the visual aspect. I rather enjoyed challenging myself to doing a repetitive task differently each time (see blog about bed making!). But this was way more fun and I just spent a bit of time of time to put together some samples.

Rick comments:
Actually it only took her about 10 minutes to do that RSVP assortment. Of course, she's been doing this for over three decades!

But now, this acronym has a whole new meaning for us . . . as we invite all of you to respond to our blog posts (and with the occasional added incentive of a piece of original art).

We are so grateful for your comments. How else will we know for sure that you understood what we intended to convey? How else will others believe what we say?

It's wonderful . . . when you réspondez to our s'il vous plaît. 

P.S.
Congrats to Sinda Wood for being chosen to receive a tile for commenting on our previous blog post.


S'il vous plaît, click images for larger views.

The Twilight [Zen]Zone

Maria writes:
My thoughts were wandering recently (actually they wander quite often, without my consent or direction). I was trying to figure out just why Zentangle immediately gets me into that mindfulness state, when other art forms I practice do not.

What's different about the Zentangle Method?

I was thinking about the abstract-ness of it all, and that when I'm actually tangling on a Zentangle tile, I do not distract myself by looking away from my artwork for reference, confirmation or even inspiration.

 
Earlier I may have been looking . . . here and there . . . this way and that . . . for inspiration. I frequently add to my Zentangle "field notes" journal as I explore new tangle and deconstruction possibilities. But while I'm tangling, I just look at my tile. I'm not looking back and forth between my art and model, or at a photograph I'm trying to imitate, or admiring and trying to capture the momentary magnificence of a changing landscape or seascape.
 

When I sit down with a blank tile, I like to have an idea of the tangles I might use. I usually start out with one of my "mac 'n cheese" tangles, you know . . . "comfort tangles." Some of mine are mooka, purk, tripoli, poke leaf and maybe a bit of bales . . . old standbys. When I get a rhythm going I might throw in something different, maybe a new one I have seen in passing or a tangleation of one of Rick's (making his straight lines a bit curvier! :-) or just some auras around to elaborate existing tangles. But while I'm tangling, I just look at my tile . . . I rarely ever look up. Perhaps this uninterrupted concentration/focus on one place is one of the ways Zentangle works its magic for me.

Rick writes:
Last week we were talking with visitors about when Maria and I had our a-ha moment that became Zentangle. Our motivation to develop and share the Zentangle Method was not that it enabled her to create beautiful art - that was expected.

It also wasn't the idea that it might enable almost anyone to create beautiful art. Although important, I don't think that would have been enough to convince us to begin a whole new adventure while maintaining our regular work.

No, what convinced us was the significance of how Maria felt. We thought that if others could feel that good and just as easily create beautiful art . . . that would be a worthwhile adventure!

While Zentangle art is usually abstract (nonrepresentational), it is not an abstraction (something that exists only as an idea). Its results are beautiful to see; its experience, beautiful to feel.

Maria continues:
So, what about you? How do you think Zentangle draws you into that Zen-Zone of mindfulness?

Share with us and we'll send one of these tiles to one of you. I use a random number generator to choose a winner, just so you know. And please! Give us a way to contact you. We love sending surprises out. Life is good.

Winner from "When's the last time?" is Lara Williams, CZT.

Winner from "Frame of mine(d)" is Anneke in Netherlands.

Congrats . . . they're on their way!

Click images for larger views.

When's the last time . . .

. . . you did something for the First Time?

It seems a silly question, but it's fun to ponder. . .

• The first time I went up in a hot air balloon comes to mind . . . (with my daughter Molly and my sister Sue in Mexico). 
• The first time I ate an oyster (I preferred the hot air balloon!)
• My first time in Paris
• My first time in Paris for the second time :-)
• The first time I got up in front of a big crowd to talk about Zentangle (over 100 calligraphers) 
• 10 years ago, when I went on my first date with Rick
• This morning, when I created . . .

 
Then I asked the girls in the Zentangle office.

Sarah said, "Going to the cocktail party here Saturday night!" (That was fun. We invited friends, family, staff and suppliers to our home to meet and get to know each other.)

Mary Lou said she had made a lemon mousse recently for a party for the first time and, thankfully, it came out great.

Daughter #1, Martha, who also works here said she and her husband had just kidnapped their young rooster (or would that be chick-napped?) and were bringing it to a nearby farm because it was causing a ruckus in their neighborhood. A first for her!

Rick writes:
Learning Morse Code. It's not yet second nature for me and I must pay close attention to each character. I've learned that if I don't recognize a character right away I need to let it go and just listen for the next one. If I try to get each character perfect, I miss the next few letters while pondering the one I didn't recognize instantly. Then, instead of missing one letter, I miss 5 or 10. Hmm, I sense a metaphor!

Maria continues:
So, what does this have to do with Zentangle?

Do you remember the first time you created a Zentangle tile? We hear from folks all over the world, saying "I just discovered Zentangle and I am hooked!" It seems to have a very profound effect on people the first time . . . life changing.

So, dear friends, what was your experience when you experienced Zentangle for the first time? We'd love to hear your stories.

-----+-----

For that top mobile, I gathered some of my and Rick's completed square tiles (top), ATC tiles (middle), and Zendala tiles (bottom). I folded them in half and then stuck their backs together – half of one to half of the ones on either side. Doing the ATCs was fun because I folded them diagonally and they formed a new pattern as they came together.

I'm looking forward to when we can open our porch windows and watch this spin in the breeze!

We'll send one of our commenters one of these blank ones which I made with double-sided tape, ribbon, string, and Zentangle tiles.

 
Click images for larger views.