Zendala Dare #87

Diva challenge #143

This week's challenge was to use the new pattern "Cruze" by CZT Caren Mlot.  You can see the step outs for this tangle here. 

I like this pattern but found it really hard to incorporate, so a good challenge for me. I went maximalist but think I'll do another one with more of a minimalist style. I am looking forward to seeing what other people did with theirs to see if I get some ideas of how to use this type of tangle. 

Note, this is not drawn on a renaissance tile. It's just the lighting that makes the tile look creamy. I could have edited the colour but it looks nice so I left it. Thx! Meg

Zendala Dare #76

I took an Adventures in Zentangle Class this past Sunday with Lisa Heron, CZT, of the Zenned Pen. I always feel more creative after a class. There are a lot of patterns here that we practiced then, including knase, meer, and cadent. I had some questions for Lisa about positive space, negative space, and tonal value that she helped me with. I feel like I understand these a lot better and was able to employ them here. I don't think those things are important to Zentangle, but I found it meditative to consider these factors as well. 

Diva Challenge #137: Knights over Tipple

Zendala Dare #73, Lamp Inspiration, and Back to Work for Me!

Zendala Dare #73

Here is my first of two submissions for the Zendala Dare #73. I bought some gel pens and was really excited to use them. It's a bit overboard . Colour can be great, but it's another dimension to consider. My husband calls this the "Flower Power" Zendala.

Using my iPhone I changed the colours to Sepia and then to Black. The simpler basic colours create a nicer end product.

Here is my second submission for the Zendala dare. There was a lot I liked about my first Zendala that I tried to recreate in this one using black and silver gel pens. This one has a tribal feel to it that I tried to preserve throughout the whole piece.

Other ZIA

This drawing is based on the lamp in my living room.

Winds of Change

This is my last week of my maternity leave! I start work October 1, and I'm also going to be studying for my registration exams. Possibly I'm spending extra time on Zentangle this week knowing I'll not have the time to dedicate to Zentangle as I have over the past ten months. It's going to be an interesting change. I'll be learning to be a working mother and to find balance in my new role. I hope I also stop feeling guilty for dropping my son off at daycare!

Here's my little monster with his own form of art entitled "Spaghetti and Meatballs Extravaganza."

Watercolor, bales, and tipple

Regular watercolor 

Watercolour and owl

Today, my mom brought me a bunch of beautiful watercolour supplies from her stock. She was showing me how to use them, and I did this quick bales with tipple using watercolour pencils. My mom has such as huge influence on me. She has taught several watercolour courses. Having her "on demand" really influences which mediums I choose to explore.

This owl was a bit unexpected - he jumped out of my pen! I just love owls and would like to get a tattoo of an own on my right thigh. I drew him using instructions found at Art Is Fun. I just found this site and am looking forward to the watercolour abstract and mixed media tutorials. 

Diva Challenge #133 - Tipple

This week the Diva challenged us to use tipple in our work. I loved this challenge and had a burst of creativity because this was such a simple challenge. I was excited to be able to focus on other features than learning the tangle and figuring out how to incorporate it. As you can see, I produced a number of tiles where I was able to try different colours, shapes, and paper. I'm working on stepping outside the box, so to speak. Rick and Maria always have these nifty tiles where they've only filled one corner and go right to the edge of the tile. I was chatting with Lisa Heron of The Zenned Pen, my CZT, at her class last Sunday about wanting to try that, so I used this opportunity to try that out.

Tipple is one of my favourite patterns and shows up in a lot of my tiles. I loved having it play the leading lady in these tiles rather than a supporting character. Further, the simplicity of the pattern I was using made it possible for me to relax and try these other things.

I also enjoyed such a simple and peaceful challenge because I've been feeling really stressed about my son's starting daycare next week. He's only 10 months old, and I'm so sad that I can't stay home with him longer. He's changing so fast, and I'm never going to have the opportunity to spend time with him the way I have over the past 10 months. He's just so little and he needs me! But he needs me to work too because that's what best for our family. The stress from his starting daycare has led to my chewing the skin off the side of my thumb and gaining five pounds. Thank god for tipple.

The first two tiles in this post are my submissions for the challenge, although I created three additional tiles (also included below). I think I'm done doing tipple tiles this week, but a few more may show up. I really wanted to do one with watercolour. I've never used watercolour in Zentangle, but my mom just passed some watercolour pencils down me that I'm dying to try.

Diva Challenge #133 - First submission - This is my second ever white-on-black tile. I used white charcoal (you know how I love charcoal) and my brand new beautiful Zenstone. This is mine and my husband's favourite. It's classic and simple.

Diva Challenge #133 - Second submission - I think blue is one of my favourite colours. I find it completely soothing. It probably captures my predaycare mood perfectly while also soothing my frayed nerves. Blue doesn't try to cheer me up. It just soothes. 

Additional Tipple #1 - This is on a Zendala tile, and I used twenty different colours pencil crayons.

Additional Tipple #2 - I used three different metallic Sharpies (gold, silver, copper) to add colour.

Additional Tipple #3 - I used selected pencil crayon colours for shading. This one makes me think of a diagram of a molecule.

Bright Owl Zendala Dare #70

This is my first Zendala dare. I used charcoal for shading. I drew the template by freehand so it's not entirely symmetrical. Black shading at the border is added digitally. 

Diva Challenge #128

This challenge was to rubber band two pencils together to make the string. It was my first ever challenge I completed. I didn't feel comfortable sharing it until now.

First sale

I made my first art sale today. I sold this piece of Zentangle Inspired Art to Lana Eckel, owner and president of Intuitive Truths. It can be viewed in her office in Regina, Sk.  I'm very honoured and flattered by her support.

This work is based an a tile I made using String 039. With the frame it measures 11" X 14". I can't believe I used only seven tangles for this large piece.