NINETY-NINE.... ONE HUNDRED... Dancing Divas!

This week we celebrate the 100th weekly "I am the Diva" Zentangle Challenge with a special new tangle.  Introduced and offered by Zentangle founders, Rick and Maria, the Diva Dance is pure fun.  Check it out yourself here.   I used the tile I started for last week's challenge with the looped string.  I ran out of time to complete it for last week, so I decided to combine efforts on this go-round.  Sort of like multitasking I guess. 

So today, December 20, the Diva Challenge is two years old, and guess what?  So is our wonderful chocolate lab, Mocha.We got Mocha as a little puppy in Feb 2011 on the day my mother-in-law passed away.  He turned out to be the best therapy in the world for our family and the sweetest darn doggie around. Here is his picture.

Happy Birthday Mocha!

Finally, let me take this moment to wish everyone peace and love and the comfort of family and friends during this holiday season and, as always, happy tangling everyone!

Challenge ~ Keenees!

If you would like to smile, just start tangling Keenees:)  I use it often and have included it in my classes too. I like the way it looks and appreciate the fact it doesn't require much concentration.  So, I was really happy to see this tangle was chosen for the Diva's weekly challenge.  If you haven't seen this weekly event yet, check it out right here.  A big thank you to Diva, and also to CZT, Donna Hornsby, for Keenees.  Here is the blog post where Donna introduces Keenees.

 
For a second item to share, here is  a pair of boots I tangled, and Keenees found its way to this Zentangle- inspired fun as well!  (Left picture, left boot) These boots were on their way to the consignment store when I decided to give them new life instead.



Happy tangling everyone!

Challenge ~ SOCC

This week is "Use My Tangle" week at the Diva's Zentangle Challenge.  And the random winner is CZT, Erin Olson and her delightful tangle SOCC.  I highly recommend reading the great story of this tangle, here on her blog if you haven't seen it yet. It speaks to some of my favorite qualities in the Zentangle community.

This is the first time I tried SOCC and I really like it for the contrast and dimension of the tangle.  SOCC is a keeper, for sure. Since we had our first snow this week, I decided to prop the tile on the piano for a different background/frame, just for fun.

Thanks Erin and Diva.  It is a pleasure to hop back into the weekly challenge.  Keep tangling everyone!

Art Teachers Embrace Zentangle!

OK, I admit it.  I took the summer off.  Went to the beach many times, and enjoyed family, friends, and the spectacular weather here in Little Rhody, the Ocean State.  I was so relaxed, I didn't even keep up with the weekly Diva Challenge.  But summer always flies by and this one did too.  Back to reality and fall routines.  And, for many, back to school!

This past week I was able to share Zentangle in a workshop for 8 AWESOME art teachers in Barrington.  Let's just say they took to Zentangle like ducks to water!  We  talked about the relaxed focus that is achieved by tangling, and quickly got right into the Zentangle zone by learning several tangle patterns and creating 2 tiles.  This was a wonderfully creative, enthusiastic, and open-minded group of teachers who clearly have so much to offer their students.  They really seemed to relish the opportunity to take a pause and relax and create and learn a new art form.  

The following mosaics are from this workshop and show what they did.  If you look carefully you may notice that the second mosaic has an extra tile included "just to even things out".  It was such a pleasure teaching this group.

Challenge ~ Home

Home is where the heart is.  Or, sometimes, home is where the luna moth is!  The Diva's challenge inspires us to use the "home" prompt this week and I decided to create a piece of Zentangle inspired art (ZIA) by tangling on a photo image of this spectacular luna moth that has just taken up residence in our garage!  We feel so honored to have him as a guest.  It was tricky to work on the glossy photo paper with the pen, but what the heck.  The simple tangled background is merely there as a platform to highlight this natural beauty.  If you'd like to learn more about luna moths go here.  Enjoy!

Challenge ~ String Theory v. X: Eccentric Circles

N'Zeppel (random) Pendrills, Pepper, Knightsbridge, Huggins, Crescent Moon (variation)

What fun! This week's Diva challenge is all about creating a Zentangle using a string made up of eccentric circles.  You can check out the specifics here.  I admit, I am always instantly attracted to a challenge that allows the chance to choose whichever tangles you like.  Although I neglected to shoot an image of the tile with just the string, it's easy to see the two sets of eccentric circles that made up the string.  Have a great week, tanglers!

Challenge ~ Bridgen

I had a great time with this Diva Challenge, following my string with Bridgen, and then just going on and on with Bridgen until I was "done".  Then it felt right to fill in alternating sections ala Knightsbridge.  And, finally, I decided to try color in the sections.  My first attempt with this method, and I used the technique described by a fantastic tangler, LeeAnn, also known as Ledenzer, and described here.  The whole process was really fun.  Have a great week everybody.