Three color zendalas

This blue-green one begins with one of Zentangle's pre-strung tiles. I did a turquoise acrylic wash overall, then tangled.

Tangles: Lamar, Romanancy, Snugz, Tipple, and stripes

This golden lotus began with me trying to use up a gold leaf pen that was drying out. Then I strung a loopy flower thing over the dry gold ink and started tangling. I had a lot of trouble wanting to add more gold, and yet leave the petals fairly white. Then I had the idea to put a gold wash over some of them. There are also some tiny gold gems in the center. Unfortunately, the gold and the gems don't scan very well; it's nicer in real life.

Tangles: Black Pearlz, Braze, Copada, Msst (sort of), Munchin and tiny gems

Some of you may think you recognize this piece from Suzanne McNeill's book Zentangle 7, page 10 :), and you'd be right, almost. This is the same piece, but I've added to it: darkened some areas, yellowed much of the orange, added a few highlight colors, added colored gems, and added Many Moons around the outside to the edge of the paper.

Tangles: Amaze, Firecracker, Many Moons, Starburst, Tripoli and tiny gems

Chez Amanda

A challenge for Earth Day, or Amanda as Laura the DivaCZT's son likes to call the little blue planet. In my blog post about some postcards I'd made for an Earth Day swap I mentioned how I'm awed by the immensity of space and our tiny planet in it. A little blue dot. I went with that concept again. First, a view of us from 'way out there somewhere. I can't take credit for that lovely three-sphere layout idea; that's Maria's, here.

Tangles: Jemz, (a varied and very unexpected version of) Kuke, Tipple

Then I thought of leaving Earth in a spaceship, with those doors and windows that close the way a camera shutter does. (My husband's been watching Star Trek lately; I wonder if that had anything to do with it?) I used a mandala template (#51) from Erin, the Bright Owl.

Tangles: oddly, not many really, if any, but there are elements of Baton, Cubine,
even Y-not (or Etcher) and Msst

I wonder if Milliways, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe, under new management might be renamed Chez Amanda.

JEMZ - a new tangle

Tangles: Black Pearlz, Jemz, Knightspeak, Paisley Boa, Paizel

I've been (*ahem*) wasting too much time recently playing a game on my phone. BUT... it inspired this tangle pattern! Ha! Vindicated!

Jemz is a square grid tangle and begins much like Florz, but this time make larger black squares rather than fairly small ones. You want to end up with a white octagon in each (former) square.

Tangles: Firecracker, Jemz, 'Nzeppel, Tidings

BTW: It's getting harder and harder to keep track of tangles and names. If this pattern has been presented elsewhere, or if the name has been used earlier, please let me know!

Tangled Trees

That's the title of a large piece of Zentangle inspired art I completed recently. I showed it at a recent weekend art show and sale with a group of artists I work with.

"Tangled Trees" (c) 2013 Margaret Bremner

You can see some of the first tiles here. I just kept going and did many more tiles that could be taken for trunks and branches. Each tile was done individually, without consideration for how, or if, it would link with another tile. Once I had a small stack of tiles completed - probably about 50 - I began to arrange them.

I placed fuller, 'heavier' ones at the bottom, getting lighter going up. I didn't want everything to match spot on. It's more interesting with some breaks and gaps. However, some of the gaps were too much. In those cases I added more tangles, sometimes in gray so they'd seem to be more in the background.

Arranging the paper tiles.

It ended up being six tiles square. I mounted them on a 24" square canvas and tipped and tilted the tiles for some irregularity. I expected simply to paint the background canvas white, but no. Nothing is as simple as you expect! Of course, the Tiepolo paper that Zentangle uses isn't really white, more of a pale cream. So I had to mix paint to match. Well, that was actually simpler than I expected, and I now have a small container of what I'm calling "Meringue" color, should I need more later. Here are two detail pictures.

This tile is in the bottom row, third from the left.

This tile is in the third row, third from the left.

My little corner of the art show and sale. I sold 23 pieces!

I'm thinking of another forest, maybe in browns.

Stars in your eyes

This week's challenge from the DivaCZT leaves lots of room for possibility. Stars. Just incorporate stars somehow. Star tangles, a star string, little stars, big stars. I chose a pre-strung Zendala tile that looked very starry (six points). I've been botching Auraknot a lot lately so I decided I was going to do it right for once. :)

Tangles: Afterglo, Auraknot, Pearlz, Starburst variation,
and elements of Munchin

You can't see it here but I added a bit of clear glitter ink which dolled it up a bit.

Ooooo! Ahhhh!

Today I want to share a few things that I find inspiring, in a zentangle sort of way. Enjoy!

This picture was sent to me by a friend and Zentangle student. I don't know where she saw it.

For a whole different (read: tangley) take on  

anatomical drawings 

you must check out this posting from Alex Konahin, 

an artist in the Netherlands.

I'm still enthralled by Ernst Haeckel's renderings of radiolaria.
Check out this earlier post of mine.

Feast on some wonderful, black-and-white, 

tangley mandalas 

on Jane Snedden Peever's blog Dream It Then Create It. 

She hasn't posted for well over a year and but the post history is a delight.

And finally, just for fun, enjoy this dance video.
(With thanks to CZT MaryAnn Scheblein-Dawson for sending it.)

Notice how one pair of tights is shared between two dancers, 

so each person has one black leg and one white one. :) 

Brilliant!

It's Hip to be Square

Another zentangle challenge from our lovely Diva, this time to do borders within borders within borders... that's the string. I love many of the tangles that go in lines so I was looking forward to this.

I started with one of my current favorite tangles, Paisley Boa. Then remembered a previous favorite, Fohbraid. I found that the real challenge with this challenge was going around the corners!

Tangles, out to in: Zedbra, Purslane, Paisley Boa, Fohbraid,
Perfs, Knightspeak, Going Down

I added Zedbra at the very end, deciding that I wanted the whole tile covered. That made me think of other tangles I've designed and I decided to do another using only my own tangles.

Tangles, out to in: Chebucto, Lamar, Seljuk, Many Moons,
Copada, Black Pearlz (well, just one)

3 zendala dares

Every week Erin, the Bright Owl, post a new mandala template on her blog. Here are three I've done recently.

Number 30

Tangles: Deelish, Knightspeak, Paisley Boa (with leaves), Tipple

Number 45

Tangles: C-Scape, Cubine, Flux, Fohbraid, Jalousie, Pearlz, Purslane, Ragz
spirals, and things that just felt right at the time.

Number 16 (x2)

Tangles: Knightsbridge Aura, Not-a-Knot, Paisley Boa, Pearlz, Rounding and more

Others' spheres

A while ago I posted a couple of templates for doing zendalas that look like spheres. That post is here. The idea appealed to some of you and I said I'd show a selection on my blog. Prepare to be inspired!

This was created by Lesley Scott-Gillilan, a CZT in Indiana.

Homage to Jazzy, a neighbor's dog, by CZT Jane Menard in Ontario.

This one is done by Cathy, in the USA.
I think her choice of Dex makes the sphere look as if it's
coming out at us but with little squares going in. Cool.

Cindy Teigland used Knightsbridge and Anne Marks' tangle Camelia.

Here's an interesting variation from Lila Popcheff.
She's used the square grid but done the tangles in strips.

CZT Sue Clark used the tangle Flourish, but found it was
just too tricky in those stretched shapes at the edges.
The effect is still there.

Catherine Langsdorf created this one for a recent Diva challenge.
Love the different things she did at the edges!

Remember, if you try this send me a photo (or tell me where to find it on the Internet). If there are enough more I'll post another selection!

Earth Day swap

I'm involved in an Earth Day postcard swap among some of the CZTs. Earth Day is the fourth day of the fourth month, so we were asked to make four original cards. All the tangles used were to begin with the letters E-A-R-T or H. I only goofed a few times. :S

I'm quite impressed by outer space and how our planet is a tiny blue speck in the immensity of everything, so I did four little blue planets. They'll be in the mail tomorrow.

Tangles: somewhere above you'll find:
E - Emingle, Echoism
A - Assunta, Afterglo
R - Ragz
T - Tipple, Tripoli, Tidings, Tortuca
H - Hurakán, Hibred, Hurly Burly
(goofs: Black Pearlz, Knase, Seljuk)