CHALLENGE ~ Sepia

This week the Diva challenged us to use sepia or brown in some fashion within the Zentangle tile or ZIA.  I love using color once in a while and then I love going back to black and white!  I created this Zentangle sitting outside enjoying the beautiful weather.  I made a stab at Molly's new tangle Pea-Nuckle, but I had just glanced at the instructions and, well, I should have printed them and brought the instructions with me as I really did not "get" it.  However, with Zentangle and the Diva challenge and life's usual time constraints, I embrace the idea of moving forward no matter what!  Once I posted this, I spotted a cartoon-like smile--- do you see it?  Have a great week everyone!

Challenge~ Mardi Gras!

The theme for this week's Diva Challenge is Mardi Gras or, in other words, time to roll out the fun! For my first tile, I used Sakura gelly roll pens in the Mardi Gras colors and, in Zentangle fashion, just let the tangles unfold without any intention or expectation.  I don't know if I like it or not.  It is very different and I wish I didn't use any black.


While I had the color pens out, I used the purple for the second tile and there is something about this one that I do like. And, for the fun of it, I am also including a couple other tiles I tangled made this week.

Thanks, once again Diva and Zentangle community for the opportunity to enjoy this delicious relaxing art form!

Poppies Remembrance Challenge - Lest we Forget

The Diva challenge this week is about poppies and remembrance.  I started thinking about my father.  My father served in WWII, but also sacrificed for his family every day. He's been gone a long time, but I miss his "one sentence" advice like, "Do the hardest thing first, and then everything will be easy after that."

I relied on some favorite standby tangles for this challenge like tripoli, a crescent moon variation, dex variation, and pendrills.  For the poppy I used a dual brush marker. I tried to keep it simple, like my father did.

Spooky Tangle Challenge

In keeping with the spirit of Halloween, this week's Diva Challenge is about a spooky or haunting Zentangle or ZIA.  My two offerings are kinda spooky for different reasons.  The first one is haunting because the weird colors clash so much! The second one, which I tangled on Halloween, made me imagine some sort of hole in the night sky. 

Punzel Challenge

"Punzel" is a new Zentangle pattern introduced in the latest newsletter (subscribe here) from Rick and Maria, AND its the Diva's choice  for this week's challenge.  This was my first attempt  and  I was not going to use the tile for the challenge because I was not too pleased with it.  Then my son told me he liked it and it looked like it was floating so I decided to add  color using a simple splash background technique from Marie Browning's book Time to Tangle with Color.  

For the next two I tried out Punzel on black tiles with a metallic gelly roll.  I still need practice on this tangle, but as I was going along, I found myself relaxing into a wonderful Zentangle meditation and that is such a benefit in today's stressful world! I am so grateful to have this art form and process.

 

Weekly Challenge: Opposites Attract

Diva's weekly challenge was offered again by stART's super talented CZT, Christina Vandervlist. This challenge sounds easy enough, simply use straight lines for the string and curvy tangles, or vice-versa.  I went with straight lines for the string since my usual habit is circular scribbly strings.  My usual habit must also be to mix up curvy and straight line tangles because I REALLY wanted to do that with these tiles. A great reminder of  many things we do by habit, routine, and instinct, and the effort required to change it up.

Just for the Joy of Zentangle

What could be better than sitting outside on a gorgeous summer day with the birds singing, feeling grateful for my family and friends, creating a Zentangle?  Tried a brown Sakura 05 with brown shading for a change of pace.