How "Ancient Spirals" came to be

"Ancient Spirals" was created on paper I had eco-dyed some time ago. (Click on "eco-dyeing" in my subjects list on the right to see more about this technique.) It is also inspired by a compositional method I learned during a class from Lynn Mead through TangleU.

It began with a sheet of paper I'd eco-dyed a while ago.
In pencil, I divided it into 2" squares, leaving a thin border.
Using the eco-dyed marks as guides, I added some arcs to create partial circles.

I had noticed spirals in some places and decided to pursue that imagery.
In pencil I indicated the spirals and some shells and leaves, then
 added a bit of color with Inktense and Graphitint water-soluable pencils.

I began adding details with fine-nib pens: a leaf, a few spirals.
A whole quarter finished.
What are those scallops at the bottom? Feathers? Leaves?

More Inktense. More Graphitint. More tangles.
More leaves. More spirals. More details.
Blue seems to be running diagonally.

Almost finished.
Some of the eco-dye patterning is so beautiful
I want to leave it without any additions.
Colored pencil for final shading.

Aaand... done!  Albeit a bit fuzzy in this photo.

Here's a short video of the progression:

"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."

Slowly, slowly

This is one of those things that was supposed to be something else. But the something else didn't work and it became Something Else.
It was supposed to be patterns left by film wrap and paint but the paper didn't like that idea and it was just nondescript blotchiness with a lovely copper wash in a few places.

This page in my Book developed sloooowwly. I left it for a while as I was quite disappointed in the wash result. Then I noticed a few things at the edges and drew them.

From time to time I added a little more.

I'd noticed the small darker circle and triangle left of center and eventually decided to do something with them. I added a square for three shapes, and decided to use the three primary colors. Originally I was going to use some sparkly paper but yellow looked too gold so I found some leftover bits from other projects.

Tangles thus far: Bosch, Crescent Moon, Doodah, Paradox, Pearlz, Seljuk.
And in the colored squares: Finery and Prestwood

A little more...

Tangles added: Parabola, Tipple (sort of), Y-not (Etcher variation)

...and the finished page.

Tangles added: Icanthis

Or maybe not. I might add more.

More space junk

More art space junk becomes more interesting.
I received some dark blue tissue paper recently and wondered if it was the kind that would bleed color onto the paper. It wasn't. So I just glued some pieces into my Book. At this point I thought it would become images of water, waves, surf.

Nope. Birds, an airplane, a butterfly: wings things. I glued on a few items and did a little tangling. On the left are things I hoped to add.

More gluing and tangling.

The end result.

Collaged elements: tissue paper, hummingbird, air mail sticker, butterfly,
white dove, Persian tea label with bird, Barcelona sun mosaic chocolate wrapper. 

Space junk in my Book

Space junk. Junk from my art space. This is how the page began.

All collage except the yellow stripe which is Zig marker. Left to right:
Two strips from the edge of another piece.
Part of a flower from a piece I didn't finish.
A strip of holographic ribbon.
A watercolor-y experiment on terraskin.

I had divided the page vertically, and filled some spaces, then realized that the left side was too empty. I hunted down more space junk: a couple of squares from a grid of irises that I never completed.

No more collage but more tangling, and it's coming along nicely.

Here's the finished page. I'm rather pleased with it, considering I had no idea how it might develop.

Main tangles, left to right: Pixioze, Knightsbridge, some flower thing I made up,
d'Uni, Knightsbridge again (in color, and with dots),
Blooming Butter/Crescent Moon/Morse/Tipple/Tridots,
4Fun variation, Tipple, MySwing

My Canvas Has Laces 2018

One week until Shoe Bank Canada's second annual fundraising art auction My Canvas Has Laces.
The aim of this charity is to ensure that no Canadian should want for a decent pair of shoes.

For the second year I'm contributing my talent on a pair of canvas shoes.
Here are the shoes I did last year, displayed during the auction. I'm proud to say that my shoes brought in the highest bid and sold for $1100!

My shoes on display at the 2017 auction.

This year's shoes when they arrived, pristine and begging for art!

This year I decided to use a tessellation pattern I've used before and had success with. The pattern would be black and white, but not quite. The tangles would be flat white on pearlescent white, and flat black on graphite gray.

Shoes with the tessellated sections painted. Now onto the patterning.

I used interference blue paint with the black paint in one section on each side, so from one angle it looks black and from another angle it looks blue. I also added a hint of red on the dark section above the blue/black one as the colors on the shoes are red and blue.

Middle section looking black...

... and looking blue.

 These photos give an idea of what the tangles look like.

I felt they needed something a little more, so I did a single section in grays on each tongue.

Would you like to bid on these (or other) shoes? There are 21 pairs of shoes beautified by 21 artists so there's lots of variety! Go to the My Canvas Has Laces website and see what you can find. Remember, the auction is October 20; get your bid in before that.

Zenbuttons (and Spundalaz)

Cute as a button, and a delightful way to go around in circles and create a type of mandala!

I first saw this type of idea from Chris Titus, a CZT in the United States and major organizer of the Square One groups on Facebook. Her idea involved using a paint-spinner gadget to create concentric color streaks that could be developed into tangled mandalas. She calls them spundalaz. More on that in a future post.

Marguerite Samama, a CZT in the Netherlands, has a zenbuttons tutorial on tanglepatterns.com, here. As I don't have a paint-spinner gadget, Marguerite's tutorial inspired me to try the zenbuttons.

Zendala tiles seemed like the right thing to use. Here's my first try:

Tangles: All Boxed Up, Lanie variations, Puff, Tipple, Tripoli, Well 

I'm not very happy with it as the white highlights don't show up well. I think my black ink was still a bit damp and the white pencil smeared it slightly, leaving gray instead of white.

The second try turned out better. There's a little more dimension to the rings but still not enough for my liking.

Tangles: Boucle, Jalousie, Lanie variations

I came across a pre-strung zendala tile I'd begun a long time ago. It hadn't held my interest, but I didn't throw it out. I wondered if I could adapt it into a zenbutton so I divided it into concentric circles and completed the tangling. Here it is the way I'd left it, and with my ink drawing done.

Tangle: Ginili adaptation

I altered the color of the perimeter ring as it was too bright. There's much more satisfactory dimension in this one. I'm improving!

I had a wonderful eco-dyed tile, a gift from Chris Titus some time ago. The rusty circle was so lovely as-is I didn't know what I could add to improve it. Aha! Zenbutton! Here's the tile, with the concentric rings I drew to begin.

And here's the result:

I'm pretty happy with it, although sufficient dimensionality is still an issue I think.

How "Prairie Sun" came to be

Some years ago I saw a beautiful quilt while visiting a quilt show with my mother. I quickly drew the pattern on a zentangle tile I had in my purse. I wanted to do something with this design later.

Eventually, I decided to do each square (or 'quilt block') on a separate tile. Of course, I wanted to do this in color. I used a compass so that all the circles would connect rather than having irregular joins.

Earlier, I had done a black-and-white piece of tree trunks and branches, and decided that this would be the same size: six tiles square, mounted on a 24" canvas. Here are the 36 tiles, randomly scattered,  before I did the pencil shading.

There are a number of different designs that can be made with these squares by turning them in different directions. I tried a few and decided I liked best the regular concentric form. It took a lot of shifting and turning to arrive at the final arrangement with colors connecting where I wanted them to. Little colored brads are placed at the intersections of the tiles to mask the rounded corners.

I considered either a black border and sides, or colors that would blend with the tiles. I chose colors and did a mottled border and sides.

Well... no. I did not like it. It sat in the studio while I looked at it for two weeks before I decided that it was channelling My Little Pony way too much. I painted the sides of the canvas black as a means of separating the surface from everything else, and echoed the circles keeping some of the mottled color but painting the rest of the background white. The white is iridescent and not quite opaque so you get a hint of the color underneath. I think now the tangled squares have more prominence.

The last thing I did was to replace the small round brads with larger square ones, placed diagonally. Now it's finished! Here are a couple of details of the final piece.

And just for fun:
On another tile I had drawn a quick idea of the quarter-rounds and some possible tangles. It's on the left below. I don't think it was particularly useful, and I was about to throw it out when I thought, "No, I could do more with that." The end result is on the right, below.