Metaphors. And a Contest!

The Zentangle art form, it has been discovered, engenders metaphors. In fact, it may be more than a metaphor as Carole Ohl so aptly expresses in her blog post from last summer.

A metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to something in order to suggest a resemblance, but to which it doesn't literally apply. An example would be “You are the sunlight of my day.” You are not actually sunlight, but you brighten my day. Well, you don't physically "brighten" my day... you get the idea. A metaphor is also something that is used as a symbol to represent something else; the national flag or the capital city are often metaphors for the country or its government, as in "Yesterday, Ottawa announced plans to shorten winter next year."

I was talking with some friends recently and this definition of 'metaphor' came up:

"... a process of comparing and identifying one thing with another. Then, as we see what 
things have in common, we see the general meaning they have. Now, the ability to see the
relationship between one thing and another is almost a definition of intelligence. Thinking
in metaphors... is a tool of intelligence. Perhaps it is the most important tool."

(Louis Simpson in "An Introduction to Poetry" p.6)

I knew we zentangling folks were smart cookies!

"Anything is possible, one stroke at a time."™  

... has been adopted by Zentangle founders Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas as the official metaphor, seen in lots of Zentangle materials. When the zentangle tile is complete, we can give people a bit of good advice for life and encourage them to

"Look at it from a different angle."  

"View it from another perspective."

Even the tile itself is a metaphor. When everyone in a class has completed a tile it's great fun to bring them all together on the table so the students can see everyone else's artwork. Even with the same string, same tangles, and same instructions it's always amazing how

"Every Zentangle tile is unique and original, just like the person who created it."

During a recent weekly zentangle challenge Maria created a spectacular tile with hearts going off the edge of the tile and the negative spaces filled with wonderful, ribbony Hollibaugh. Some people noticed the hearts right away; others needed to have them pointed out. I think there's another metaphor there:

"It isn't always obvious what holds it all together."

 I like to share these metaphors with my students during a class. I'd like to have more metaphors to share. I'd like hear other metaphors that arise from Zentangle. So... 

* * *  I'M  HAVING  A  CONTEST!  * * *

Here are the details:

1. Tell me one or more zentangle-related metaphors that you've discovered. Leave a comment after this post or, if you prefer, e-mail me. Metaphors mentioned above are ineligible :-)
2. You have until 5:31 on March 20, Saskatoon time - the vernal equinox at my spot on the globe - to send metaphors. Okay, I'll be lenient. Let's say midnight your time March 20.
3. I'll share my favorite responses in a future blog post, and I'll choose a favorite and award a prize. There's no rubric or criteria here, just my personal 'Oh, wow!' decision.
4. I'll do my best to have a winner by the end of March, but sometimes life interferes with life. Be patient.

A grammar lesson:
Don't use 'like' or 'as'. That would make it a simile. "Zentangle is like a breath of fresh air" is not eligible. "Zentangle is a breath of fresh air" is.

The prize, you ask?

The prize is one of my original zentangle-inspired artworks: your choice of any one of the apple corer mandalas I've posted here on the blog. You can see three of them here and several more here. I'll contact the winner and get your mailing address. It won't be framed; I don't want to risk mailing glass. One thing to note: "Rose Window" is no longer available. It's been sold.

And just to sweeten the pot, here are two more:

SUN STARS - 12 cms. (5") square; pen-and-ink; colored pencil

©2011 Margaret Bremner (Betweed, Flux, Gneiss, Printemps, Striping, Tipple, wavy lines)

SECTIONS - 12 cms. (5") square; pen-and-ink; colored pencil

©2011 Margaret Bremner (Cubine, Finery, Flux, Meer, checked Aura)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.