"It's a String Thing" #54 Tiles

This "String Thing" was an adventure in the straight line.

The string, a collection of triangular spaces, could be filled with any or all of the four straight lined tangles.


Let's take a look ~


Lori Byerly's tile arrived first ~

As she noted, it is more of a ZIA (Zentangle® Inspired Art) piece - and such a colorful one.  Paradox butterfly wings and Bilt succulent plant leaves, how delightful.

And my readers know how much I love when this happens...

The next tile arrived from Cheryl Anne Day-Swallow ~

Yes, another beautiful butterfly - this time with Rosewood wings.

Cheryl wrote:

Butterfly wings were created using Bilt & Rosewood
Flower leaf was created using Paradox
Flower stem was created using Bitten

Title: Zentangle Riddle

The little butterfly enjoying the blue sky
Fly's by the flower and asked himself why
Why does the flower bloom each and every day
It’s Zentangle power that helps keep it that way

This tile arrived from Juul who said it was unusually cold in France for this time of year ~

Here is my contribution.....as you can see,I couldn't stop drawing "paradox" anymore. Its a tangle that I really love to do. Paradox is antistress for me haha!
So sorry for the other tangles....its not because I didn't like them but suddenly there was no more place in the string for them.

That is a delightful description of the 'zen' that Zentagle brings - anti stress and a pleasantly pleasing ending!

Carmela wrote ~

This String and Patterns were much linework, but they all are patterns that I like.
Bitten and Rosewood are both new for me and I have never heard or see them before. I like [to] tangle new patterns.

It is a treat to learn new tangles.  Note how she blended Rosewood and Paradox and the darkened end points of Rosewood are a nice touch.


Kristen Kostelnik Killips said~

This one was hard! (In a good way.) I worked on it over the course of a couple days rather than all at once. I thought the softer tones of a Renaissance tile might be a good balance to the sharp edges of all the tangles. I wasn't sure about it the whole time I was working on it, but now that it's done, I love it! I also picked up a few new tangles in the process.

Kristen chose some different, yet still straight lined tangles for her tile.  The mixture of the brown, black and white is fabulous on the Renaissance tile.

Christine Forrester wrote ~

... I don’t like the linear tangles as much, and had only learned Rick’s Paradox before, but I was amazed as I experimented last night. The attached tangle reminds me of the Hall of the Mountain King and I didn’t fill in the Bitten squares to keep that pattern light and airy.

A wonderful look she gave to Bitten by not darkening in the alternating squares.  Again, Rosewood and Paradox blend together well.


Sal said that there was "no template needed this time!" - making reference to her last few fabulous entries...

She did create a template of sorts as she repeated the string line four times to form the pinwheel like center piece - very creative.

Ilse Lukken wrote ~

This really was a challenge to me, drawing all these straight lines. All patterns were new to me, so all together this was a journey on an unknown path ;-)
I'm not really satisfied with the result, and I'm very curious what other people created!

It was a fruitful journey to be sure.  Ilse alternated dark and light spaces in Rosewood, a very nice detail.

From Anna Houston, CZT ~

She achieved the feeling of great depth with her tangles and the dark Bitten in the middle is yummy.


Deanna Spence wrote ~

My tile of the week is attached. I had planned to use all of the tangles, but once I put Paradox in one space of the string, I had to put it in all of them! I did make a border so that I could use Bitten and Bilt a little bit. Looking at the finished tile, I would never guess that it started out as just a bunch of triangles. It's kind of amazing!

Yes, as so is her tile - "kind of amazing" :)  Using Bitten as a border with Bilt interspersed is an ingenious idea.

From Janice Johnson ~

I am submitting my entry for this week. I have played with Rick's Paradox and Rosewood a lot in the past. I have also used Bilt quite a bit. I am going to need to play some more with Bitten as I am not quite as comfortable with it. I attempted this challenge 3 times and finally committed to my third attempt. For the most part I like it, and now want to play with Paradox some more. I opted to do Rosewood in the only 4 sided space amidst all the triangles. Not a square but I like the wonkiness obtained.

That is a wonderful wonkiness.  Notice, too, Janice's varied details with Paradox - alternate shading, darkened spaces, and fun shapes.

From Joya ~

...here's my tile for "The String Thing #54". I'm still beginner and the straight lines were difficult for me to handle, but I'm glad I tried it out and now I know how to draw them :-)

...yet another example of tangling building confidence!  Notice her cascade of Bilt.  It hugs a curve in a triangular shape for a beautiful effect.


From Ragged Ray~

And here is my attempt at this week's challenge. While I enjoy straight line tangles, they offer up their own problems. When I used a lot of one, like your Paradox Zendala they can look stunning. And of course they can offer great contrast when used with curvy tangles. But I find it a challenge to make them stand out by themselves.
I knew this week I wanted to leave lots of negative space, to have the triangles looking really sharp. I found Rosewood very appealing to draw, and know I'll use it again. But Bilt misbehaved a bit in the triangle shape! Paradox was a joy as ever - a lesson in concentration and turn-turn-turn your tile. A bit of darkening here and there and a bit of Bitten-bunting and there you have it!

So many extraordinary details - curved corners of Rosewood, Bitten unhinged, sparkle on Paradox and Bilt and that lovely, lovely white space.


Kirsten Bish wrote ~

Enclosed please find my newest Tangle, I call it "Hidden Secret".
While Paradox is one of my favorites, I wasn't sure how it was going to look next to some of the others. bitten has turned into one of my new favorites, and Rosewood is just cool and fun to play with...

Her sense of fun tangling can be felt through her words and in her tile.  She cascaded Bilt as well and the alternating light and dark spaces are striking.


Lilly Moon slipped this in~

...with outstanding details.  Note the contrasting dots in Bitten, the complimentary direction of Paradox, the dots and lines of Bilt, just to name a few.

Lucy Banta said ~

I've always loved Rick's Paradox, and I enjoyed learning Bilt, Bitten, and Rosewood. I thought Bilt would be difficult, but it really isn't--this will become one of my favorites!

Here's the link to the post on my website.

What a very pretty piece!  The Bitten border is beautiful as are the rows and rows of Bilt.

From Annemarie ~

She tangled and shaded and added a bright patch of purple - so pretty.  She also posted it here on her blog.


Linda Bladen wrote ~

I just couldn’t get my mind working with two tangles let alone three, or even four with this string. I’ve enjoyed using Paradox before because I do like doing tangles with lots of lines, but I’ve never done a monotangle with it so today was the day and I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent doing it.
As usual it is on my blog and here is the link

It is a marvelous monotangle complete with a touch of blue shading.


Shary Penna wrote ~

I really liked your tangle choices this week. Each one compliments the others...I wanted to use them all.
I made one tile...at the halfway point I was pretty happy with it. Every other section was filled with Rosewood triangles that had centers of Paradox. It looked like stained glass. I debated leaving it or using another tangle and went with the latter. While I completed the tile, I kept thinking, Rosewood needs rounded corners...what if the whole tile was just Rosewood filled with Paradox? So last night I did just that. Someday I'll repurpose parts of the first tile...sometimes it's good to listen to the inner voice. Thank you for another inspiring prompt!

What Sharyn came up with is inspiring - rounded edges of Rosewood filled with Paradox. The adjustment to Rosewood is so subtle and yet it yields such a huge difference in the look of the tangle - that is brilliant.

Ingrid Coventon wrote ~

Hereby my tile # 54. It became a monotangle. I love Rick's Paradox and once I start drawing, it takes over and I can't stop. It is such a fascinating tangle. All those curvy lines that appear by drawing only straight lines. I intended to draw the other tangles as well, but I started with Rick's Paradox and it took over like I said before. So I let it happen and I hope you will enjoy my tile.

Ingrid is another tangler, who this week, fell under Paradox's spell.  Her delicious, deliberate lines and and dark shading bring the pattern to life!

From CZT Joan Delony ~

Her tangles are framed with beautiful black Pearlz, highlighted and shaded just so.

Nathalie Marinoff said ~

Here is my submission: I realize that the string and tangles you chose should have "straight lines" and that "straight lines" are used with Paradox which produces the curve (hence the name) but, I add a little curve to the lines to make it swirl a bit more. There is a rhythm to Paradox which I find relaxing and makes it difficult for me to stop. I was determined not to submit a monotangle, so, used Bitten by Carole Ohl, CZT, which was new to me.

Seems Paradox is quite habit forming :)  But see what Nathalie did with hers ~

~ and what a stunning look she achieved.  She added a curve to the line, as she said, to make it swirl and she also gave the ends a bit more weight.  That is just amazing.  Stunning.

Cathy Cusson said, "I remember doing rosewood back when it first "hit". I loved it then it sort of got forgotten with other new tangles being posted. It was nice to go back and visit with this old friend. Fun challenge!"

Along with Rosewood, Cathy tangled Bilt along the middle string lines and it contrasts nicely with her white space.

CZT Sue Jacobs returns with this lovely tile ~

There is so much to see here - layers of tangles, alternating light and dark spaces, and patterns that link lines to neighboring patterns, oh my!

Jane Glotzer wrote ~

Whoa...what a sharp, pointy string this week after last week's round curves! You are always keeping us on our collective toes, Ms. Bruno--:)
It's a String Thing #54 ended up a duo-tangle...there were just so many lines in all the suggested patterns, I didn't think I could make them all harmonize in one piece! So, I stuck with the amazing Paradox in the one top right squarish space, and then also in three of the triangles. I added a bit of Bitten for the last three spaces, but since I kept my grid in the same orientation all the way through them, it looks like a cool background with the Paradox floating on top. (I'm thinking the squares could have been a bit smaller, but I still like the final result.) And shading always adds such a pop!

The squares are just the perfect size for the floating Paradox.  Not only that, but the bold Bitten contrasts so well with the lighter Paradox.  Well done!

CZT Kathryn Crane-Theilen said~

I am running out of white tiles, so I resorted to a Renaissance tile and I am quite pleased with the results. I used the brown and black Micron pens and highlighted with the chalk pencil after shading with the lead pencil.

Kathryn illustrates here the benefits of the Renaissance tiles - shading and highlights, brown and black ink - and the pretty possibilities.

A very warm welcome to JJ.  She sent in two tiles~

It is a good study to note the differences in her tiles.  For instance, the dark corners of Bilt in the first tile and the lighter ones in the second.  Even the way she shaded Paradox in each made a difference.  Welcome!

Sue Agnew said ~

...it was fun to have the chance to play with Paradox. Your tutorial was immensely helpful. I usually get mixed up partway through and zig when I should be zagging. I wasn't able to combine it successfully with other tangles, so finally I Paradox-ed every other space and then filled the empty spaces with concentric lines, then joined the corners a la Puf.

Rising Paradox columns - that is very striking!

Peggy Kohrmann wrote ~

Since I like grids and architectural tangles, this was a great week of learning. Not sure which I like best but Bilt, Bitten and Rosewood were great fun to learn.
The Rosewood triangles used the string with Paradox in the center. Used Paradox again with the triangle space and Bilt and Bitten on either side. The shading helps give depth.

A hearty yes to everything Peggy said!  Kudos to her for the variation of Rosewood .  Note that instead of darkening in the entire corner triangles, she filled them partially - very complimentary to Bitten.


From Audrie Weisenfelder ~

Her tile features stark light and dark spaces, and a beautiful Bitten centerpiece.  She also wrote about it here on her pretty purple blog.


Jenna Wheatman said ~

Here is this weeks string challenge. Was very close to not doing this one as the string really did not inspire me but I really liked the tangles. It took me a few attempts to get them to flow together and I used some inspiration from Chelsea Kennedy's blog
 I just love how she manages to really make the tangles flow and its really hard to work out where she started lol!
I have managed to fit all the tangles in.

Jenna is the one who can make tangles flow.  She doubled the lines of the string and framed her tangles and tangleations beautifully.  Her patterns peek out from the corners, large and lovely.

Jackie Becker said Paradox is one of her favorites ~

She added some whimsy to Rosewood and dark lines bordering Bilt and finished it up with some very nice shading.

Annie Taylor wrote ~

It was a difficult string for me, being so very straight-lined and triangular but I enjoyed the process and learning a couple of new tangles. The final result...? Well, it's the process that counts, isn't it!

Annie's lines dance across her tile.  Her details are many - lines in Bitten, cascading Paradox, and a lovely edge on Bilt, to name just a few.

Donna Flynn said that she sent this "along in the spirit of Wabi Sabi" as she was not so sure of the result ~

...yet, it is a very fun piece.  She used all four patterns and worked in colorful shades of blue and green.

A very warm welcome to Jen Morey.  She wrote ~

This is my first-ever String Thing, and I'm tickled (pun intended) to have found another weekly challenge! Thank you (and all the other wonderful CZTs who issue the various challenges) for doing all the hard work so we can sharpen our skills as well as our pencils. I've only been tangling for a year but plan to take the CZT course as soon as possible, because when I retire next year I want to teach Zentangle classes (as you can see from my signature)!
Blessings,
Jen Morey
Future CZT
(Certified Zentangle Teacher)

Her enthusiasm carries from her words to her art work.  A tower of Bilt and supporting tangles make for one pretty piece.  Welcome and keep us updated on your certification!

AND now, the tile for honors this week was sent in by 
LonettA!

She wrote~

...here is my tile for this week...
This time I´m tangling on my grey toned paper ... it´s my favorite paper at the moment!
Have a wonderful day!
Best wishes from Germany

She also posted it here on her blog.   

LonettA created a masterpiece of detail.  She shaded and highlighted along string lines, double some and darkened others.  By highlighting and shading patterns, she gave them beautiful dimension.  Of particular note is her whimsy with Bitten as it breaks away from its grid.

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

Many thanks to all of the talented tanglers who sent in their tiles for all of us to appreciate.

Thank you to the creative minds behind the string and tangles used this week ~

TanglePatterns String 052 created by Barbara Finwall

Bilt   by Lisa Skeen, CZT
Rick's Paradox   by Rick Roberts
Bitten   by Carole Ohl, CZT
Rosewood  by Sandra Strait

Check back Tuesday for "It's a String Thing" #55!