Leaky pen borders

Stop! Don't throw out that leaky pen!

You can use it to make interesting borders...

Below is the first tile I ever did with a leaky pen border.

And here's one with twisted Striping and Knightsbridge.

It's a simple matter of rolling the leaky end around over the edge of the tile. You need to be a little cautious so you don't get ink all over your fingers! Here is my first video (!!!) to show you how I go about it. (I couldn't see the camera, and the sound was on, so you can hear my husband giving me instructions!)

Below are a couple of photos showing the border in process, and what it looked like when finished. This is on eco-dyed paper.

Here is the result of the tile in the video.

Tangles: Crescent Moon, Doodah, Knase,
Knightsbridge, Snail 

"Window on the Woods"
(c)2015 Margaret Bremner
Tangles: Pearlz, Seljuk, Wud

I really like using Seljuk as a border with the leaky pen.
It nicely accommodates some of the blotches and irregularity. 

"The Door's Always Open"
(c)2017 Margaret Bremner
Tangles: Crezn't, Floo, Paradox, Pearlz,
Sanibelle, Seljuk, Tagh

"Journey of an Old Soul" process

Some of the papers I used in my most recent eco-dye batch didn't stand up to the simmering as well as others. They had some frayed edges, tears, and small holes. I chose one of them to do a seven-circuit labyrinth.

This is the paper as it emerged from the dyeing, with a few initial pencil lines.

I chose Bosch for a border with a Sprouts/Mooka/Hollis mash-up in the corners. I outlined the labyrinth with a thin border between the paths, adding some details throughout.

Next I added a bit of color, three gems and some spring green Icantoos, as well as a metal leaf sun - or  is it a moon? Then more tangling in areas of the lines dividing the pathways, some shading to the corner sections, and some shading in the labyrinth itself.

That part done, I affixed the paper to a cradled birch panel, deciding to leave the wood grain showing. I added a small brass nail just inside the corners of the paper and drew a dark brown line around the edge of the wood. I finished the sides with a strip of cork.

I didn't like it. I thought it made it look like particle board - not an effect I wanted! I removed the cork and painted the sides bronze. To finish, I added matte varnish with a sprinkling of gold flecks.

Here is "Journey of an Old Soul":

"Ye Are The Stars" process

I recently purchased a stencil called Alhambra (from Marieke on Etsy) and used it to create "Ye Are the Stars" on an eco-dyed Opus tile.

Here is the paper as it came out of the dye-bath. I intended to retain more of these colors, but that's not what developed.

I didn't want simply a pattern with designs, so I searched to see if there was a 'star moth' or 'star butterfly' I could incorporate. Lo and behold! There's a Pink Star Moth, native to the southeastern coast of North America! I found pictures and did one in colored pencil.

Fairly far into the drawing I decided there were just too many patterns going on; I liked them, but they weren't contributing to the look I wanted. Here are two details:

I didn't like the Ragz on the left or the five different corner sections on the right.

I had to change them. With high quality art paper (like the Tiepolo of Zentangle and Opus tiles), if I'm very careful I can peel off a top layer of the paper and begin almost fresh. I got out my scalpel, tweezers, and bone folder and got back to drawing.
(See further down for "How to peel paper".)

I re-tangled all those sections, opting for Tidings all over, and am much happier with the corners now. There is gold ink in each of the nine 8-pointed stars.

Here is the finished artwork.

HOW TO PEEL PAPER

First, I lightly cut around the edge of the section I want to remove - more like scoring than cutting. I absolutely don't cut all the way through! Then, I loosen a corner or two with the knife point...

... and use tweezers to peel off the top layer. It never goes neatly! I always have to pick off more edges and peel more. But eventually I get it all off, leaving a rather fuzzy section of paper.

Then I use the bone folder to really smooth it down. A thumbnail works well, too.

THE TITLE

"Ye are the stars" comes from this quotation from the Baha'i sacred writings:

"O friends! Be not careless of the virtues with which ye have been endowed, neither be neglectful of your high destiny. Suffer not your labors to be wasted through the vain imaginations which certain hearts have devised. Ye are the stars of the heaven of understanding, the breeze that stirreth at the break of day, the soft-flowing waters upon which must depend the very life of all men, the letters inscribed upon His sacred scroll."

Joy and Delight

A home bursting through the roof with happiness, surrounded by gleeful vegetation, and a big sun in a gold sky. Oddly, the metal leaf sky is not quite so over-powering in real life!

"Joy and Delight"
8.5" x 5.5"
Pen and ink on eco-dyed paper, with colored pencil, tiny gems, and metal leaf.

The sky is all metal leaf, which is awkward for photos as it shines so much. I also used metallic inks and sparkle inks. The windows are clear glazed. (I just can't rein myself in sometimes!)
Here are some detail images.

The front door and the windchime/mobile:

The text:

The whole quotation is what's known to Baha'is as a "Pilgrim's note". 

It's attributed to one of the main people but cannot be authenticated
and is therefore not considered sacred text.

"My home is a home of peace.
My home is a home of joy and delight.
My home is a home of laughter and exultation.
Whoso enters through the portals of this home
must go out with gladsome heart."

The happiness explosion:

You can see a few of the small gems I included.

The sun:

About as Crazy as It Gets

This is especially for all you Crazy Huggins fans out there!

I had a piece of eco-dyed paper with 'spots' from eucalyptus leaves:

Here it has a few of the 'spots' outlined in brown ink.

I couldn't see any trees or houses or flowers in the marks. Lots of moons, maybe. I didn't have a clue what to do with it for a loooong time. Suddenly it struck me that Huggins has a lot of circles! No, wait. CRAZY Huggins!!!

I outlined most of the circles, deciding to sacrifice a few. These circles would need to be darker than the connecting curved bands. I thought about what tangles could be dark and would fit in a small circle, and which tangles would work in a long space.

I decided to include a gem for some 'pop'. I eliminated the pink at the top left. I made two screws á la Maria. In the end, there IS one moon! After a lot of shading, here is the finished work.

All the tangles:
Appease, Beadlines, Bilt, Bosch, Crescent Moon, Cubine, Drobbles, Emingle,
Fohbraid, Gewgle, Gneiss, Icantoo, Jonqal, Knightsbridge, Koril, Kuke,
Paradox, Pearlz, Snag, Tamisolo, Tipple, Zewm, Ziabolic, Zonked
Plus: Auras, triquetras, a Chinese coin, and striping with a twist

Here's a detail of one section.

And that, I think, is "About as Crazy as It Gets". :)

7-circuit labyrinth

During the decade-plus that I focused on mandalas, one thing I investigated was labyrinths. So, of course, one page in my Book had to be a labyrinth. I chose a 7-circuit one as they are simple to construct and way easier to skew to fit a space than the Chartres variety!

I had done two pages intended to be cling-wrap patterns, but this paper doesn't seem to like that idea at all! I had two rather unappealing pages so I decided to use them for subject matter I want to include.

This is the beginning wash with the penciled lines of a labyrinth.

I expanded the labyrinth design to fill a wider space, and to work with some of the lines in the wash. Then I outlined it in copper ink.

I drew the dividing lines of the labyrinth and tangled the background.

A few more details, and shading with various colors of pencil, and here is the finished page.

If you're interested in labyrinths I've done a couple of other posts about them here and here.

In my Book: a sunflower and the flower of life

More pages in my Book. This project has rather taken over my life. :S

Sunflower meditation. I had done something like this at one of the OgunquiTangle retreats and found the quotation online. I liked the piece and it's been sold, so I did a reprise in my Book.

I've done work based on the Flower of Life pattern, so I did a page with that design. I added the hummingbird when I found it among my Art Stuff. It's a nod to another hummingbird I added to another flower-of-life piece.

Here's the smaller, earlier piece, on a zendala tile:

Hexes in my Book

In ongoing decluttering I found a small, square sketchbook from the two years I lived in China. I wasn't interested in keeping most of it but there was a page investigating triangles and hexagons. It's really amazing the variety of stars, boxes, snowflakes, cubes, diamonds, chevrons, tunnels and more that can be achieved with these simple repeating shapes. I glued the page into my Book and expanded onto the sides.

Opposite that page seemed perfect for another go at CZT Cherryl Moote's tangle Hexonu, a much more random (and zen!) version of hexagons. Done large, they can be filled with other tangles.

In my Book: back cover, alphabet, gems, and paisley

This is an 'ideas' book of sorts. I've been including past and current artistic interests as well as things I want to try in more detail at some future point.

I'd been ignoring the back cover. It's on the back, after all; who looks there? But it was becoming a bit grubby and I thought I'd better do something. The large zenAgain stamp was there from November 2016 when I received the book, so I tangled around it. There are three circles with metal leaf. The thin "white" stripe beside Knase is a strip of holographic paper. It sparkles rainbow colors at different angles, which goes with the string of rainbow Pearlz, which may be my favorite part of the whole thing!

In the past I've done calligraphy and some lettering, so I did a page honoring that art.

The final two are:
 • an ampersand, E and T, the Latin "et" meaning "and"
• the German SZ (ess-tset, pronounced like an 's')

On another page I'd done a random, gray wash because I like to have something like that to pique my imagination. It turned into paisley and gems. I'd encountered the tangle Ilac and have liked Paisley Boa since I discovered it, so they became the basis for this page.

ZIA Ideas - Tree trunks

In my on-going, randomly occasional, posts about tangles that can be used in Zentangle-inspired artwork, here are some tangles that I've used for

  TREE  TRUNKS  

CRUZE from CZT Caren Mlot. Find step-outs here (scroll down).

"Meteor Shower" - 9 cm. square
(c) Margaret Bremner

DIVA DANCE from Zentangle, for CZT Laura Harms. Find step-outs at this link.

"A Windy Day" - 9 cm. square
(c)2018 Margaret Bremner

PRESTWOOD from Margaret Bremner. Find step-outs at this link. 
Shown below is a variation of this tangle.

"Splendiferous" - 9 cm. square
(c)2018 Margaret Bremner

ZANDER from Zentangle. Watch Molly draw it in this video link (about halfway through the video).

There are many tangles that begin with a zigzag line - angular or curving - and could be used for a tree trunk:

HIBRED (from Zentangle): in the Zentangle newsletter here.

PUFFLE from CZT Sandy Hunter. Find step-outs at this link. Scroll way down.

WUD from CZT Joni Feddersen, and a 'ribbon' variation of mine, can be found at this link.
ZEDBRA (from Laura Harms and Margaret Bremner): earlier on my blog here.

ZEWM (from CZT Amy Broady): on Amy's blog here.
KNASE (from Zentangle): I recently learned that this is pronounced 'nase' not 'naze' or 'k-naze' (which I'd been saying for years). Pictured below. Step-out from CZT Holly Atwater, with thanks! 

"Black Walnut" - 9 cm. square
(c)2018 Margaret Bremner

Knase step-out courtesy of CZT Holly Atwater, with thanks!

PALM TREES are somewhat different and sometimes have a more square grid look. I don't see palm trees much where I live, so I don't draw them often. From left to right here is Beelight, a variation of 'Nzeppel, sort of Purk, and Tortuca (all from Zentangle).

"Baobab Fantasia" - 9 cm. square
(c)2018 Margaret Bremner

No doubt you can think of lots of other possibilities!

ZIA Ideas: Roofs

"Early August" detail, (c)2015 Margaret Bremner
Tangles on the roofs: Crezn't, Flukes, Tagh

Shelter from weather. Star-gazing platforms.

Here are some tangles that may give you thoughts of

 ROOFS 

CREZN'T (from Margaret Bremner)
Shown on the left roof above, and in this detail from "Cloud Cover". Find step-outs at this link.

FLUKES (from Zentangle)
Shown in the middle roof of the top image, and in "No. 6 Fairy Lane" below. Find step-outs at this link.

PALREVO (from Karry Heun)
Shown below in a detail from "Cloud Cover". Find step-outs at this link.

SHING (from Margaret Bremner)
Shown below in a detail from "A Little House on the Prairie". Find step-outs at this link.

SHINGLE (from CZT Maria Copetas)
Find step-outs at this link.

TAGH (from Zentangle)
Shown on the right roof of the top image, and on the right edge below. Find step-outs at this link.

UP AND ACROSS (from CZT Suzanne McNeill)
Find step-outs in Suzanne's book Zentangle 2 - Ideas for Scrapbooks and Journals.
See an example on the right in the image below. This picture is the cover image of the 2019 Tangle-a-Day calendar, available here!

"Be Home for Supper" (c)2015 Margaret Bremner
Tangles on the roofs, left to right: Palrevo, Knightsbridge, Tagh, Shing, Zewm, Up and Across

Many square-grid tangles, if you done on an angle and in the right context, could look like a roof. Try Emingle, Tortuca, Warble, and Beelight.
You can also use many tangles designed as borders, but do several layers instead of just one.

Have fun!