Ensembles

Ensembles are fun to do as a group or by yourself. These below are from one of our standard Zentangle Ensemble packs but you can make your own. You can make them in any configuration depending on how many people are participating or how large a mosaic you wish to create.

A couple suggestions:

• If you're creating your own, use pencil for your string.
• Focus on one tile at a time. Ignore what tangles might be on a neighboring tile. (Lock the others away if you have to!)

It's amazing to see how an Ensemble's tangles fit with one another.

Nine different people contributed to this next Ensemble.

Maria did this next one:

Rick did this next one: (Honest, I didn't look at any other tiles as I was doing this one, but if you look closely, it's hard to believe I didn't!)

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More Shoes

Janet sent us a link to her blog and pictures of her enhanced Danskos. We thought you would enjoy seeing them.

Thank you, Janet.

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On the other hand . . .

Try creating a Zentangle using your non-dominant hand. It's quite an experience. Here's one that Rick did:

Notice that although the strokes are uneven, they still give a consistent look to the overall result.

A quick web search on right-brain/left-brain returns all sorts of information on the benefits of using your non-dominant hand, particularly for us right-handed folks.

We think you'll enjoy playing around with this and will probably learn a lot from doing a few Zentangles this way. At a minimum you'll have a greater appreciation of what it's like as a child learning fine motor skills, or an adult recovering from an injury.

Try it . . . even if you don't show anyone your first one! But do another. It's amazing how quickly your non-dominant hand catches on - and begins to show its own style as it energizes a different part of your brain.

Have fun!

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Back to Basics

As we work through our to-do list for our conference next week, we remind ourselves . . .

Breathe
Appreciate

Dots
Border
String
Tangle
Sign

Breathe
Appreciate
Smile


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Quilting

Pat Ferguson wrote:

Dear Maria & Rick,

I entered a quilt - Zen Dahlia - in the Narragansett Bay Quilters Association show this past weekend in North Kingstown RI.

It is based on Zentangle and quilting designs , many of which are very similar. The whole cloth quilt is 85" square and was hanging reversible, showing both sides. After being judged by a professional quilt judge I received a purple ribbon (98% quilting excellence) and Viewer's Choice Ribbon- this one means so much to me because the general public is telling me that they like the quilt.. I had so many wonderful comments on the complexity and originality of the quilting designs. Many thought that I had a computerized machine that did the work but I hand guided every stitch. Even the judge commented that this was a work of art.

I have attached a photo of just a portion of the outer corner of my quilt with a quarter placed for size comparison. I will be posting more photos of the quilt on my website very soon.

I am so looking forward to the teacher training seminar in May! Zentangle has allowed me to find many more quilting designs to add to my quilting repertoire and a whole new style of quilting!

Congratulations, Pat! And thank you, ". . . a whole new style of quilting!" How cool is that!

See you soon.

See more (and larger) images on Pat's award page.

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Pointed Pen

Here's an example of using Zentangle's approach with an oblique pen with white ink on black paper.

These samples are from a class we taught at a calligraphy conference last year in Nashville. Since you can dramatically weight the stroke, you can play in new ways with different tangles . . . for instance, swarm.

Look closely at Maria's Zentangle on the right (below), you'll notice that she also used a regular Pigma Micron to add a counter melody to that tangle. Rick's cadent on the left shows that even a novice can enjoy the dynamics of this pen.

This is a great segue to letting you know that we will be presenting two classes at Odyssey2010, July 27, 2010 - an afternoon class from 2 to 4 and an evening class from 7 - 9 at Stonehill College, just south of Boston, Massachusetts. These classes will be mostly with our regular pens and paper and will be open to the public. Pre-register at info@2010calligraphyconference.com or call them directly at 617-836-6565. $30.

Zentangle is a wonderful tool for warm-up, inspiration and embellishment for seasoned lettering artists. It's also (as we know!) great fun for anyone. That's why these two classes are open public events.

Materials used above:

• Oblique pen
• Dr. Ph. Martin's Bleedproof White
• Sakura Pigma Micron 01 (black)
• Heavy textured pastel black paper
• swarm instructions
• cadent instructions

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Great . . .

. . . Idea
"D" writes,

Had to share something very exciting for me. I needed a gift for a friend who just bought a new house. She is totally intrigued with my work, so I made a Zentagle just for her and sealed it between two pieces of glass (I did stained glass work years ago). Attached is a pic of my result. I hope you enjoy!

Thank you for sending that, D!

. . . Minds
As they say, great minds think alike. For those of you who aren't stainglass workers, Maria designed a frame that you can slip your Zentangle tile into. They are made nearby and you can see the various choices here.

We have single ones . . .

. . . that can hang or sit on a little glass easel.

We also have different formats. Here's a hinged three panel. I keep this one on my desk. It has a Zentangle that Nick did on one side, one that Molly did on the other side and one they both did in the middle.

. . . Size!
However "HW" would need something else to frame a 3 x 6 foot (!) Zentangle. HW writes:

Posted this on Facebook and got a big response so I gave everyone your web address. Thank you for teaching so many people that they don't have to be an "artist" to do these!

Thanks HW!
 
 
 

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