"It's a String Thing" #11 Tiles

Get ready for a feast.  This week's results are in and they are really spectacular. 

 

Joan Delony's tile is chock full of movement. 

 

The use of Jitterz in the middle of the tile seems to set everything in motion.  She adds a nice touch to Jetties with the variations in light and dark spaces.

This next tile is from UK's Ragged Ray.

It is stunning.  The tangleations that she created are just delightful.  The use of Jitterz in the mid sections of Jetties is inspired as is the Knights Bridge effect on Jilli. 

She writes,"The lesson I learned this week was to just play with the tangles and see what happens.  I started thinking that I couldn't easily see a way to work the chosen tangles into the chosen string.  So I just played about with them, and was surprised when something started coming together.  And in some ways it's different from my more orderly balanced tiles - which is surely part of the point, to take our art in new and unexpected directions!"

Yes, it is and you illustrate that beautifully in your work.

Mindy's approach to this tile was very elegant.  She chose to use Jilli in a large format and the result is glorious.

 

 

 



Mindy's lines echo so well the Zentangle® theme of 'deliberate marks' on a tile.  Her sparkle on Jetties makes the tangle shine and move.  The gradation in size makes Jetties appear as if it is exploding off the paper.  What a treat to behold. 

In her accompanying note, Mindy wrote that, "in zen, there is an expression: beginner's mind.  beginner's mind has more options."  (she doesn't use capital letters in print)

That's a good thing to keep in mind as we look at these strings and patterns - keep an open mind, look through fresh eyes, and stretch your imagination.  Thank you, Mindy.


This next tile from Sue Jacobs is a treat for many reasons.  First and foremost because it's her beautiful work.

 

Add to that, she created the tangle pattern Jilli that is featured in this week's challenge.  She dubbed "It's a String Thing" #11 - 'Double Trouble'.  That's a great name or it!
She also said that she managed to tangle her pattern in reverse and attributed it to turning her tile often "for the best angle to do the drawing." 
Thank you, Sue, for that reminder.  Turning your tile often is imperative - and you may just come up with a tangleation like Sue did!!


Jackie Becker said that turning her tile helped her as well.
 

She wanted to keep the curves even on Jilli and found that drawing them horizontally from left to right did the trick.  Jackie used aura and shading on Jetties to highlight the pattern.  Jitterz is a nice compliment the orderliness of Jackie's Jilli.  I heard a nursery rhyme in my head when I typed that :)

Sue Agnew said, "I've always thought that Jetties looks like buoys or fishing bobbers, which is why I strung them that way."

Bobbers strung on a sting line - what a nice touch that adds!

She also said, "I don't "do" spontaneous well, so Jitterz was a (fun) challenge." 

Thank you for taking the challenge because it is fun for us to see your wonderful results.


Here is Brenda Urbanik's pretty tile:

 

Jetties, Jilli, and Jitterz are accented splendidly here by her use of negative space.

 

She said that she found the string 'interesting' and hoped that she did it justice.  Yes, Brenda you certainly did! 

 

Kudos to Brenda, too, for your beautiful mark.  It's reminiscent of Zentangle with the dots and border that encompass your initials - very nice.

 

This next tile is selected for honors this week by virtue of the fact that it is only the second time Jenna Wheatman has sent in a submission.   

 



She writes,

"I'm new to zentangle.  I started about 1 month ago (self taught).  2 weeks ago I found I am the diva blog which I started to do and it was while looking through other entries that I saw someone who had linked to your site.

I thought I would give it a try, I've never done these tangles before, I noticed the shading is what really makes these look great, which is what I needed as I'm just learning how to shade.

I'm from the UK and zentangle is just starting to appear, I'm trying to find and official zentangle teacher close by..." 

It is amazing that very much like Ragged Ray and Jackie, Jenna is self-taught.  Not only is she self- taught, she takes the weekly challenges and uses them to learn - just what they are intended for.

She is also willing to put her work out there for the rest of us to learn from and that is very admirable.  Thank you, Jenna.

I have a little something in the mail for you.

Many thanks to all of the talented tanlgers who sent in their work.  You motivate the rest of us and we are grateful.

Stop by tomorrow for "It's a String Thing" #12 - just in time for Halloween!

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