"It's String Thing" #22 Tiles

Artists from six countries as well as nine of the United States participated in this week's challenge.  It is remarkable to ponder and surely it is a testimony to Zentangle's® universal appeal.

Ingrid C said that she "loved to do this" -

There are many wonderful details in her tile.  She beautifully fashioned Retro around the center loop and it resulted a lace-like look.  I will definitely be trying that myself.

Vicky Brison said that she did not get a chance to complete a tile, but sent a photo of how she learns the tangles for the challenge as well as her "practice piece."  This is the picture of her sketch book:

She writes, "...this is the way I've recently been working up my practice pieces in my new sketch book...and some times the practice piece is the only piece!"

Everyone has their own way of learning and organizing patterns.  I wanted to post this in case Vicky's method appeals to other tanglers.  At the very least, it will give you more ideas!  Thank you, Vicky.

Jackie Becker said of this - "That's a LOT of DOTS!"

Yes, lots and lots of lovely dots!  She ran Reticulated along the curved string line and shaded it just so.

Rhonda Koplin said that during a five hour staff meeting she had plenty of time to practice Ragz -

Look at all of those variations...thank you for sharing the fruits of your long business day!  

She added that it was a rainy day in Georgia, so the "rain-themed tangles were appropriate."  She, like many other tanglers this week, was "unexpectedly surprised" by how much she liked trying Reticulated.

At first blush it is such a simple pattern and true to Zentangle® - it becomes so elegant when added to a tile.

Sue Agnew said that when she was playing with Rain it "almost looked like it was twisting, so [she] tried to figure out how to enhance that effect with lines and shading."

She also said that she usually uses a brush-tipped Pitt pen in the cool grey series for shading to avoid the "messiness of pencil shading" but opted for the subtler look that pencil provided here.  

She used small snippets of  Retro and incorporated the stipples form Raindotty.  It's really light and lovely.

This tile  and inspiring note comes from Kris Powell - 

She writes:

Although I have never actually done "Zentangle", I bought the beginners kit and decided to give it a try! I have been faithfully following your 'Blog' and am inspired by your creativity and that of the participants in your weekly challenges. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, but figured, 'What the Heck", you always say...'There can't be a 'wrong' way to do this. (...or something to that effect)! I was incredibly nervous to put micron pen to paper but soon found myself sipping my coffee and relaxing. I actually found myself getting my "Zen" on! To that end, the exercise was successful, can't say the same for my artistic interpretation of the assignment....but overall, I'm pleased with my first effort! 

Pleased you should be!

I am excited about this for two reasons - one is that I am happy to say that Kris is my very talented cousin :) The other is that without the benefit of having a CZT in her area, she pursued the method, learned on her own, and found it to be as relaxing as promised.  That is a great testament to Kris' tenacity and talent and to the Zentangle art form.

Annemarie included just a touch of blue to her tile - 

She writes on her blog that she added the blue because the tangle appeared a bit dull.  It adds a very nice touch.  Annemarie's blog is written in Dutch with a smattering of English - it's delightful to visit.

Sue Jacobs added much color to her tile - 

She said that she used one of her hand painted tiles.  She shaded with "a couple different colors" of her Prismacolor pencils.  

There are many things to note about her tile: the color variations, the shading, the graceful Retro, the use of Reticulated in rows, the curve she achieved with Ragz...all so very nice!

Audrie Weisenfelder sent in this tile along with a note that captures the Zentangle experience:

She writes:

Here's my entry for String Thing #22. My first look at the required tangles made me wonder how they would fit together. But once I took a good look at the string, and set down the first tangle (Rain), the rest just fell into place. I really enjoyed doing this one, as it just happened, Zentangle style: little or no thinking or planning, just doing. As a result, it may be a little simplistic, but I'm OK with that. All in all, I'm satisfied with the result.

What a wonderful way to describe the method of Zentangle - and the result is just beautiful.  She also posted her tile here on her blog.

Ragged Ray is back with a treat of a tile - 

She wrote a note along with her entry and since so many of us can appreciate her thought process, I include it here:

It's lovely to come back to your challenge after a little break. I loved the selection of tangles this week - each offered so many possible tweaks to take them in new directions. However, when I drew my tile they seemed to literally wander away from one another leaving me with a lot of white space! Thankfully Raindotty came to my rescue and scattered here and there it seemed to bring the whole together a bit more!

The "tweaks" as she calls them are very inspired - the extended lines of Rain, the Diva Dance-like tangle in Ragz, the really lovely light/dark variations on Retro....amazing!

CZT Brenda Urbanik's tile is framed in Ragz- 

and what a pretty frame it makes.  She used heavy and lighter lines and shaded beautifully.  She said that she allowed herself to "simply go" where her "pen and heart took" her and once again her string is "hardly to be found!"  And that's just what strings are supposed to do - suggest a space and disappear in the end :)

Brenda also posted her tile here on her blog and adds some great notes about strings.

Now this next tile is extra-ordinarily special.  It comes by way of String 022 creator, artist, illustrator, tangler extraordinaire - CZT Margaret Bremner - 

 How could she not participate this week, she said.  She added that she was complimented. I will add that we are honored :)
She included the patterns Radio Waves and Raddox in her tile selection and the result is lovely.

Jenna Wheatman said that she made use of a slow time at work to practice her tangles -

She added that she "enjoyed this selection of tangles, they easily break down into lots of fun variations."
There is a lot of FUN going on here!  It is just amazing to study what she's done with these tangles.  It's gorgeous.

The next tile is from Joan Delony -

Joan's use of  Raindotty along the string line is a first in this challenge - and what a nice choice.  It seems to make her tile glow.  Love the idea!

Mindy wrote last week that the challenge was fun.  She said that this week was even more fun - 

She has created a really pleasing balance of lines:  loopy and straight, thin and thick, heavy and light.  Mindy's shading also make the tangles appear layered.  You are right, Mindy, it is FUN!

Annie Taylor said that her tile reminded her of a fairground -

She wrote about it here on her blog.  She added piano keys to Reticulated and notice how she used Mooka in the folds of Retro.  Shading added nice dimension to her tile too.

Lynn O made me smile when she wrote:  "Here is my entry for this weeks string thingy."

Then I opened her attachment and smiled even more when I saw her tile.  What a lovely layering of tangles and details and shading.

Cathy Cusson has had more time to tangle because the severe weather has kept schools closed in her area. Not so good news for the schools, but good for those of us who get to see her work - 

She said that she knew "immediately upon looking at the list of tangles" that she would probably use Raindotty "minimally, if at all."  

Then "like that old potato chip commercial"  she found that she "couldn't do just one."

What a colorful analogy!  It's easy to imagine her getting carried away, lost in the dots as she added more and more Raindotty to her tile.

A N D now.... the tile for honors this week belongs to the relatively new CZT, Anna Houston from British Columbia, Canada.  

Anna said that Rain was the only tangle she had tried before, so she really enjoyed the challenge.

There are many pretty details in her tile that kept drawing me back to it:  the scrolls in Retro, the aura in Ragz, the countless Raindotty and the choice of Reticulated  for a border.

Congratulations Anna!  I have a little something coming in the mail for you.

Many thanks to the talented tanglers who sent in their precious work this week.

Special thanks to the creative minds behind the string and tangle patterns used in "It's a String Thing" #22:

Margaret Bremner via Linda Farmer for String 022

Ragz by CZT Christina Vandervlist
Rain - an official Zentangle® pattern
Raindotty by CZT Jane Monk
Reticulated by Livia Chua
Retro by Elena Hadzijaneva

Check back tomorrow for "It's a String Thing: #23!


Feel free to leave a comment in the space provided below.
If you would like to hear from me, please use the email box located to the right.
Thank you ever so much!