doodles — 2015 — The 21st Century Matriarch

The Beginners Zentangle class (posted about here early in February) was prolonged by 2 snow days so took 6 weeks to complete rather than the planned 4. I started daily tangling after the first class back in January - both for the Zen and the tangle benefits. The daily process when I first started was to:

Try 2-4 new tangles per day (generally from the Tangle Pattern site)
Create the tile in the early morning quiet at the kitchen table
Pick the patterns the night before

When I travelled to Dallas, I taught my mother about Zentangle (realizing how skilled the CZT class instructor was…Zentangle is not difficult but getting started is a change from the norm for most of us). Fortunately, my mother was receptive and is now enjoying Zentangles on her own.

By the end of the month, my personal process has been tweaked in several ways:

Pick at least 1 new pattern per day
Create the tile in the early morning quiet in my office where I can look at the pattern instructions on my computer screen and see the woods through the window (and sometimes birds too).
If I feel stressed or off-center during the day - take time out to create another tile
Try different tile material (so far I have tried paper coasters, card stock, heavy paper backing to paper pads….the coasters absorb the ink almost too easily). I also have experimented with different sizes - some that were leftover from cutting 3.5” squares…other I simply used material that were already close to the traditional size (the coasters were 4” squares)
Try different pens. I bought some other sizes of the Micron 01 pen I used originally. The finer tip works better on the paper coasters.
Work out simple ways to draw patterns. For example the pattern below was inspired by a drawing in a book about Assyrian carvings. It took me several tries to find the easiest pattern.

So - without further ado.....the my February Zentangles!

My plan now is to do a post each month that will include my Zentangle creations and at least one pattern created during the month. It’s a journey instead of a destination!

The Zentangle® Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. It was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. "Zentangle" is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com.

I am taking Beginners Zentangle Art at my local Community Center and enjoying it tremendously. In some ways, it is very much like doodling but the myriad of patterns have me on a path of trying new things rather than sticking with too much of the same thing. I’m also learning more about shading, to list the pattern names on the back of the tile, and how to get the ‘Zen’ from the activity. When I doodled, I sometimes got the ‘Zen’ and sometimes not. Now I know that keeping my focus on the tangle - encouraged by the environment I choose for the activity - increases the value of the activity beyond producing the 3.5 x 3.5 square of artwork.

My favorite time of day to produce my daily tangle is right after breakfast - when the house is quiet (except for the birds getting breakfast at the feeder outside the window) and I don’t yet have anything else started for the day. The patterns I selected the previous afternoon are ready for me at the table as are all my materials. I have a pretty box I didn’t want to recycle after I’d mailed away all the greeting cards; it has found a new function: storing my Zentangles. Zentangle is also a way to utilize some of the card stock I’ve accumulated in my office supply cabinet; the 3.5 x 3.5 standard tile size is easy to achieve with a paper cutter.

What do you think of the results so far? The photographs are the tangles in the order I made them. I did break the rule about orientation (Zentangles do not normally have an orientation) when I added the spiders to the webs (day 3) - I couldn’t resist.

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The 21st Century Matriarch

The 21st Century Matriarch

2015

The 21st Century Matriarch

Zentangle ® - February 2015

Zentangle® Class

The 21st Century Matriarch