"It's a String Thing" #73 Tiles

Happy New Year!

This week's string created by Barbara Finwall brought to mind Rick Robert's wonderful pattern Schway.  We used the tangle along with Paradox and it turned out to be just the perfect nod to the new year.

Let's take a look ~

The first tile arrived from Lori Byerly along with her clever wording ~

What a lovely way to ring in the New Year. Standing between one year and the next,schway points to the past and the future. Hopefully 2015 will not be much of a paradox though. :)
You can see my tile here also.

Bold lines for Schway and large Paradox all wrapped up with fabulous shading - a great way to ring in the new year.


Cathy Cusson said, "...I was not fond of schway at first, but now I feel differently."

Cathy has such a lovely balance of the two tangles here.  Schway comes to life in shades of green and blue as Paradox swirls around it.

Joya returns with wishes for a happy New Year and this wonderful tile.  She said that Schway was new to her and "recreatvie to tangle."  She also posted it here on her blog.

Notice how she shaded every other row in Schway and added Paradox in two of the arrows.

Susan Theron said ~

Happy new year again! I've tried a few variations and decided on the attached combination. Loved this challenge and looking forward to see my fellow tanglers contributions.

Susan included happy details here in the variations of Schway and fanned edges of Paradox.



Gillie Rhodes wrote ~

I had always been scared to even attempt Paradox but once I started I really got into it and love the way the top left corner came out..very cool!..so now will be experimenting with it a lot!
Not sure about Schway it is a bit too regimented for me but it was good to learn another tangle!

She added a bit of sepia shading and four different looks for Schway- so very nice.

Carmela said, "Schway is not a pattern that I normally use and the string look[ed] like a big Schway, so i accentuated it and filled it with Paradox which i use often and is one of my favorites. On my blog."

The twists and turns of Paradox contrast well with the angles and multiple variations of Schway that Carmela drew.  In the bottom right hand corner Schway shines with aura, bold outlines, and detail lines.


Ingrid wrote ~

Happy New Year to everyone and Best Wishes for good health, love, happiness and of course lots of time for tangle moments!
It was a pleasure to draw Rick's paradox because it is one of my favorites. I have seen Schway before, but never tried my hand at it, because it seemed such a complicated tangle to draw. Didn't even look at the step outs. When, for this challenge, I looked at the step outs, I was very surprised that it was a very easy to draw tangle. And I must say that I am pretty satisfied how this tile turned out.

Ingrid's tangle journey reminds us all that trying new tangles can be so rewarding - especially the ones that at first glance seem so complicated.

The stark contrast with purely white and black Schway is striking, compliments Paradox, and then is all softened with shading.

Juul sent her tile along with good wishes for "une belle et creative année 2015 !!!"

Dark spaces contrast with the delicately lined sections of the string.  The smaller Paradox in brown adds depth.

From Heike Mosebach ~

~ with happy New Year wishes.  Notice how she swirled one large Paradox in the background and how a few of the Schways broke away from the rest.  That is fun.

  

CZT Lucy Banta wrote ~

I love both tangles Schway and Rick's Paradox, so it was fun to try to use them in this week's string challenge. My first try resulted in an odd-looking tile so I attempted another one omitting the string section in the top right. You can see both on my blog post,

Lucy shaded Schway in such a way that it is easy for the eye to "read" it in both directions.  Focus on the black arrows, blink and then take a look again focusing on the shaded white arrows.  That is amazing!



Cat Trask wrote ~

... I really enjoyed this weeks challenge, it was a lot of fun! I didn't include any other patterns, just kept it simple. Surprisingly it took me three tries before I got one I was willing to send! Both patterns are new to me, and I learned really quick that I needed to SLOW DOWN. Especially with Paradox.

This is yummy - stark contrasts and fabulous shading.


A very warm welcome to Traci.  She writes ~

It's my first time sending a tangle to you. I stumbled upon your website while browsing tangles on Flickr. At first, I didn't like this string but once I began it all came together. I did this one on my iPad on an app called Procreate.
Thanks for your website. I find it so very inspiring!
Happy New Year.

Tangling on an app - that is very savvy AND very pretty.  Welcome!


From Beverly - her tile and New Year's wishes ~

Thick lines and shading pull the eye toward Schway and Beverly accented with tipple and aura.  

Henrike Bratz said that she "would never have chosen Schway deliberately. So thank you for the challenge. It was fun and the outcome is an interesting tile with well hidden mistakes "

That does bring a smile because there are no mistakes here - or in Zentangle :)
Look at Henrike's lovely lines in both tangles - delicate and bold, thin and thick, dark and sparkled.
Notice her fabulous variation of Paradox in the top right.


Sandra said ~

Thank you for the new challenge :-) When I started with the pattern "Rick's Paradox" I fall in love with this pattern and so I decided to create a monotangle with it.
I posted the tile on my blog too.

Sandra fell in love with Paradox and it shows.  She created sensational swirls of it in both black and white..

Portia Hyde sent her tile in with a one word message - "Twisted!"

That sums it up!  Portia created a perfect twist of Paradox accented by a simple corner of Schway - so very elegant.



Kirsten Bish wrote ~

Enclosed please find my newest Tangle "Which way did he go??... George?" (from the old Bugs Bunny cartoons) It is something I often say to my GPS.
I love Rick's Paradox it's one of my very favorites,and Schway is one that I shall incorporate into my growing span of regular tangles... Much Thanks to you for that.
I hope you, and all my fellow Tanglers have a wonderful and creative year!

Her enthusiasm carries over to her tangles.  And just for fun - two red arrows in opposing directions :)

Christine Forrester wrote ~

...I had to learn Schway and love Rick's Paradox.
I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year and Thank you for all the work that you have put into this site and especially over the busy time of this holiday season.
So here is my first attempt of 2015.

- a first and fabulous tile made so with wonderful shading.  Notice how just that bit of dark tippled Schway adds so much interest.


Natasja Rijsbergen wrote, "Here is my tile from this week. As you can see I made different variations of Ricks Paradox and played with the pattern."

Natasja tangled some beautiful variations here.  Notice, too, that she drew Schway in opposing directions, creating a diamond shape in the process.


CZT Sue Jacobs wrote ~

I really like both these tangle patterns and the string was intriguing as it looks like an arrow by itself. I didn't try to go to far out of the box this week but I knew what I wanted to do and I was feeling industrious so I got two tiles done...On my blog 

Sue created two wonderful tiles - and looks - by changing the placement of her tangles and using two variations of Schway.  It is a treat to view them back-to-back.

Kelly Rickert described her soothing experience ~

This was my first tangle of the year and I loved playing with the patterns. I've never used schway before and I really loved it. The process for this tangle was one of the most soothing and healing I've ever had. I showed the end product to my family and they each had a different interpretation for what I think of as my little arrow dandelions.

Those "little arrow dandelions"could possibly a new tangle pattern.  It flows so naturally with Schway, adds fabulous dimension when shaded, and has so much movement.  It's grand!

LonettA wrote ~

...This first week of 2015 I enjoyed your challenge so much! I like the string with its straight lines and angles, and I do love "Schway". Perhaps it reminds me of M.C. Escher´s wonderful art. Escher is one of my favorite artists! Also I couldn´t help me but I had to use my tangle "SETA" a little bit.
I wish you a wonderful weekend with best wishes from Germany
P.S. my Blog-Link 

-

Like Lucy, LonettA shaded down the middle of the light arrows of Schway and notice how her dark spaces in the same section move from a stark black to a lighter grey as it moves to her pattern SETA. (Click here for her step outs).  The Schway lines along the right edge and the single arrows are wonderful touches.


Sue Agnew sent happy New Year greetings and her note ~

This week turned out to be kind of "less is more." On my first tile I tangled Paradox in the triangle shapes around the edges of the big arrow shape, thinking it might look like turbulence behind a moving arrow ... mostly it looked like chaos. So, I just used Schway, in the arrow shape.
Looking forward to a new year of string challenges!

If the other tile brought "chaos" to mind, this is just the opposite.  It is peaceful, simple and elegant.  Notice how the shorter lines for the base of Schway make the arrow more prominent.

Audrie Weisenfelder said ~

,,,I was happy to see Paradox as one of this week's tangles; it's always been one of my favorite go-to tangles. I wasn't so sure about Schway (I hadn't really used it, although I did put it in my sketchbook). It did seem tailor made for the string; probably too obvious, and probably too simplistic. But I went with it anyway. And ended up with 2 versions; very similar. So similar that I couldn't decide which to use, so you've got them both.
They're also on my blog.

It is a good thing to have both.  Each has its own beauty.  Notice how the white arrows in Schway stand out in both tiles even with differing depths of dark spaces.


Sharyn Penna wrote from the midst of a northeastern snow storm ~

The first try was done in a micron 01 but it was just too dark ... I used a 005 for this tile and it made a huge difference.
I wanted to figure out how to make Schway work in a circle. To soften the edges I added a single set of Betweed to each arrow pointing inward and then went a little too heavy on the shading of each arrow point. It looks a bit like a dahlia to me.
It was such a good lesson for me ... from pen choice to Schway in the round to realizing I need to ease up on over shading. Thank you for another great choice of prompts. 

Schway 'in the round' - that is brilliant.  First to even think of the possibility and then to see the idea through is quite an accomplishment, not to mention a great tip for the rest of us.  Thank you, Sharyn.

Janice L Johnson said, "I love using Paradox and am becoming more comfortable with Schway."

Janice melded her love for Paradox with Schway as she repeated the lines horizontally and vertically in similar spacing.  The addition of thicker lines helps to differentiate the tangles.


Lily Moon posted her tile here on her blog and sent it along with best wishes ~

Glorious swirls of Paradox, sparkled and shaded make way for Schway.  Shaded orbs rise from the black arrows that are beautifully shaded.


Annemarie sent happy greetings and added,"I did like this challenge, it was quite relaxing to do."

She included shaded and striped Schway and beautifully shaded Paradox.  The white space is lovely, too.  She also posted it here on her blog.


Peggy Kohrmann wrote ~

This weeks challenge with only two tangles was fun since I knew paradox. Schway was a bit difficult to get even and I'm still not sure how to shade it.
I did see one way to shadow Schway so I tried it. I'll watch how others do the tangles. Paradox worked better than it ever has and I used the Micron 05 to highlight the ribs of the swirl.
Happy New Year and may all your tangles be fun ones!! God bless. 

Those darker lines of Paradox are a great touch.  In observing the other interpretations of Schway, the tangle looks great if the spaces are even and when they are not.  It can be shaded in so many ways - all wonderful - including the way Peggy shaded it here.


Felicity sent her tile with a thoughtful reflection ~

Well here we are. 2015! ...Here, we are in the middle of a mild Summer, but the weather will surely hot up towards February, traditionally the hottest month of the year in South Africa.
Tile 73, the first of the new year. Once more in trepidation of geometrical tangles, I tackled this week’s challenge. Strangely I seem to keep to my first feelings and observation about each string thing. This week’s string brought to mind an upward curve suggesting hopes and dreams for 2015, yet as expected there will be downward turns too. So my paradox tangles suggest a theatrical curtain swung aside to reveal the spirit of new beginnings, that will hope fully bubble forth in a joyful way for all of us.

Tipple was a great way to add the bubbly joy that Felicity mentioned.  Notice how she added Schway to the string line of the large arrow shape as well as all of the variations she included, and the wonderful shading.


Kathryn White also sent warm New Year wishes and her tile - also posted here on her blog.  

She used bold black lines and white spaces to create contrast - but it is anything but simple.  Her Schway is tangled in various sizes and orientations and Paradox fills in various shaped spaces.  

Kathryn also sent her daughter Tonia Marie's tile and posted it here.  

A posy of Paradox in the midst of a sea of Schway with just enough boldness to the string line for each tangle shine - that is awesome.  

And now, the tile(s) for honors this week were sent in by
Christiane Plate of Germany!

Christiane  said this challenge had "hard contrasts" and that it was a "joy to tangle and see what happens."

By swirling Paradox, Christiane did create steep contrasts with the bold and straight edged Schway.  

It is mesmerizing to look at and an interesting challenge to take in all of her details.  

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

Thank you all for sending in your precious work for the rest of us to admire and learn from.

Many thanks to Barbara Finwall via Linda Farmer for TanglePatterns String 068 and to
Rick Roberts for the remarkable Paradox and Schway.

Stop by tomorrow for "It's a String Thing" #74!