We celebrated the ampersand with this challenge - the fun and functional symbol that proved to be a fitting metaphor for all of the uncertainties that life has to offer.
Thank you all for your patience for the time it took to have our electricity and Internet restored after Hurricane Irma.
We used an ampersand shaped string and in most cases, tangled with ampersand shaped tangles. In fact, there are quite a few new ampersand inspired tangles introduced here. It's so exciting!
Let's take a look ~
The first tile arrived from Shirley Wohlsen (Queensland, Australia) ~
I’m hoping I have read your instructions for this week’s Challenge correctly,
I have chosen five Ampersand characters to use on my tile, at least two maybe three could be used as tangles.
*beautiful variations turned tangles
*large ampersand features bold lines and lovely curves
From Trudi (Woodview, Ontario, Canada) ~
Saying prayers for all in the way of hurricane Irma hope it just goes out to sea and misses everyone but I know that's not too likely. We have a friend who is leaving cottage country early to get back to Clearwater when others are leaving. If you are a visitor to the area the instinct is to leave but when it's your home you want to be there. I hope you are safely battened down and everything goes well.
(((Hugs)))
I hope your friend fared well!
*elegant ampersand
*contrasting brown background
From Mariam G (Port Hueneme, California) ~
This was an interesting challenge, as I have not intentionally tried to 'create' a pattern before. The best part is that with all the experimentation, I now have a few other patterns to revisit and work on. I don't know if what I have here is new, but I will be using it again (a set of four of the grid squares would make a nice frame for a gem...may have to try that later today!) I could not stand the thought of covering that beautiful string you created, so I went for the background - yet another challenge!
Again, your inspiration always leads us to new discoveries - THANK YOU!
(PS: as a nod to your adventures this past spring, the tile is made from Fabriano Tiziano paper)
Congratulations!
*beautiful grid based tangle
*soft shading gives a rounded look to the string lines
From Marjan Heemskerk (The Netherlands) ~
Congratulations for all your achievements. It is so nice to read such positive things.
For me this tile represents all the darkness and forces happening at this moment & the safety net (florz) that Zentangle brings us. Finishing a tile always brings you a happy end.
All the best and strength to everyone!
Greetings from a cold and windy Netherlands
*beautiful textures, especially in the use of Tipple
*deep, dark, star filled center
From Susan (United Kingdom) ~
I decided to start by printing this string. I thought the printer was noisy, and just managed to call a halt as it printed out copy “26 of 89”. No idea why that happened, but it means I had lots of templates to try out ideas!
Even with practice my hand doesn’t quite get drawing ampersands. I discovered a mirror image ampersand is a cursive S, which I sometimes use in my signature so that was easy. There are also sections of British Pound Symbols (hashes?) which seem to appear if I didn’t concentrate. Drawing As came much more easily.
Keep safe in the coming storm
You will have much practice!
*pretty mix of ampersand variations
*weighted lines and a touch of blue
From Ragged Ray (United Kingdom) ~
What a fun challenge for this week. I've been somewhat obsessed with symbols, letters, type and fonts since a young age. I remember subverting one of our art projects at school into a way for me to copy various type styles from newspaper headlines. I still regularly browse font sites to download new and interesting designs. I have books and magazines dedicated to the wonders of the humble letter! And yet, how tricky to tame this wild symbol into tangle form! I think I just about managed it - with lots of mirroring - forcing the brain to draw a familiar symbol in reverse takes some practice. A great lesson in focusing on the stroke and nothing more.
But more importantly, I want to send you my best wishes and thoughts and hopes for your strength and safety over the coming days as Hurricane Irma reaches you. It's so hard to comprehend such wild and damaging weather when I've lived my entire life in the UK - but the news does a fair job of informing me. I can only imagine how scary it must be, knowing it is coming, but not knowing the impact it might have. I am sure your faith helps to keep you somewhat calm. I will be thinking of you dearest Adele, and hope you and your loved ones and your home and community come through this safely and relatively intact.
You are so right in every observation you mentioned. Thank you for thinking of all of us the the path of Irma.
*such a versatile tangle - from dainty to bold
*aura and detail lines add drama and a lovely scalloped edge
*single ampersand on a bead line, each holding a gem
From Tonia C (Rhode Island) ~
Very fun challenge!!!!! Got out my Calligraphy book and did "&" in various calligraphy styles with pens used for Zentangle. Calligraphy styles: brush, bamboo, wait, beatty, hatching, & various medieval scribes. I filled the string with #pokeleaf, #Cheesecloth, #jalousie & a fragment. If you look at the ampersand with quotes, that is my chop as well (TLC). Have a great week!
*creative ampersand chop!
*wonderful blend of calligraphy and tangling
From Margarete Gilge (Germany) and here on her blog ~
the task this week was a real challenge! First I learned the meaning of the word Ambersand and then by recherche at the PC its variety of variants in different fonts. Since I like to play with patterns, I had a lot of joy to tangle. I have drawn three versions and show two on my blog...
I send you my colored tile.
Best wishes from Germany
*lively collage of endless variations
*ampersands flow in all directions against the deep, black background
From Priscilla DeConti, CZT 28 (Kingston, New York) ~
When I saw the gold letter you did for your parents anniversary, it sparked something in me for this weeks challenge.
I just received some gold acrylic paint I've been wanting to try and I did...and I kept the tangles simple. I am sorry I did not use the AA(because I don't always read everything..bad habit LOL)
Yet I did use R2, paushalov, paradox, swim, a cruffle attempt and one I can't remember ...All in all I think it came out good...
Thanks for the challenge
*glorious gold ampersand
*tangles in black anchor the backgroun
From Sra (India) ~
Here's my entry for IAST 2011
I took a tranzending class recently and attempted that on a coloured tile. Not sure if I've tranzended :) but I like it. I loved the idea of using the ampersand.
Have a safe and good week.
*doubled ampersand, wonderful tranzending
*light and airy background of dual colored Sandswirl
From Thekla (Berlin, Germany) ~
and here is my tile for IAST #211 with
Florz, Pok Leaf, Kuke from Katy Abbot, Krul from Maria Vennekens
Greetings from Berlin, Germany
*wonderful white spaces
*wispy ampersand curves
From Lin H, CZT (Florida) ~
While we still have power, thought I'd get my IAST 211 tile off to you. I'm sure posting the challenge is low on your priority list right now. I will say that luckily I did my tile right after you posted the challenge (lucky because ever since then we have been scrambling preparing for Irma). I didn't come up with any original Ampersand tangle patterns but I had fun filling my drawn Ampersands with patterns that I really like--AA's by Judy Murphy, Braid by Blaine Liddick, Brayd by CZT Michele Beauchamp, and Rixty, a Zentangle original.
Sure hope we all make out okay with Irma hitting the whole state and more. My husband and I are staying home and have prepared as well as we can. I hope you and your families stay safe, Adele. Good luck to us all!
*four fabulous ampersands on a zendala - on a Tickled to Tangle frame - not that is FUN
*shading and lightly penned and scattered ampersands fill in the background
From Susie (St. Louis, Missouri) ~
Hope everyone in the hurricane area is safely sheltered. tangles. My thoughts are with everyone. Simple tangles for a simple string.
*...and simply beautiful
*delightful details - white space, shading, small detail lines
From Vonnie Schneider (St. Paul, Minnesota) ~
Thank you for the challenge! As I was creating tangle patterns, I realized that the ampersand wasn't one I normally use. I actually had to find an old journal to see which one I use! I like how the border look like little butterflies and the background are like snowflakes...kind of describing our cooler than normal temps this year in Minnesota! Hope you are staying safe !
How fun to rediscover!
*twirls and chains of ampersand
*weighted lines and touches of color
From Sue Leslie, CZT 22 (Vadito, New Mexico) ~
“And” life goes on. So appropriate for the times we are in with the hurricanes etc. We will preserve & life really does go on My tile incorporated firecracker, Nexton, slalom and laced all which go with today theme of AND life goes on: firecracker to the fire of life, nexton to what may come next, slalom to the race of what we do and laced as it is all laced together no matter what happens next. To all in the storms this week stay safe and it has affected many of us including us as we have changed vacation plans from Puerto Rico to Park City this next week.
Stay safe & rock on everyone.
Tangled Tidbits -
That was beautifully expressed, thank you, Sue. The ampersand on its side seems so appropriate for the times, too.
*weighted string lines
*pleasing mix of patterns
From Karen Buse (California) ~
I managed to create a focal, grid and border pattern using both of the common ampersand symbols…fun!
*Whoa! - fabulous, flowing ampersand tangles
*elegant border, lines, and details
From Aileen (Singapore) and here on her blog ~
This is my challenge #211 contribution done predominantly with tangle Cudad that I learned from Yoga For The Brain Totally Tangled Edition Tangle Cards from CZT Sandy Steen Bartholomew and a hidden Pingline Steps penguin from the Kids Edition Tangle Cards.
Thanks for the challenge!
Rainbows and raindrops in sunny Singapore
Sandy's book that you mentioned remains one of my favorite.
*ampersand woven in and around the fascinating city scape
*outlined string is shaded on the outer edges highlighting the white space
From VenaC (Whitby, Ontario, Canada) ~
I was like a kid in a candy store when I looked up images. What to choose, what to choose!! This ended up being like a sampler. I chose a different ampersand for each border, a big one and a small one in the middle. It was a fun experiment. Thinking of you and all the Floridians through hurricane Irma.
Tangled Tidbits -
*stripes & sparkle & shading
*beautiful border created with multiple styles of ampersand
From Talia Maynard (United Kingdom) ~
I'm sending this to you with much love and hope that you, your family and friends manage to stay safe in the wake of hurricane Irma. I can't believe the destruction that is being caused by it. I will be praying that it passes by quickly and quietly.
Here's my tile for this week's challenge. It's been a little while since I tangled, and this was done with my newborn asleep on my lap (he's nearly 7 weeks now).
I decided the keep the tile simple, with a ribbon design for the ampersand string, and lots of perfs for interest. It's a bit rough around the edges but it works. I hope you like it.
Tangled Tidbits -
Congratulations! Enjoy that peaceful time with your new little one.
*aura along the ampersand lined string lends a laced edge
*tone of Tipple - can imagine how relaxing that was to draw
From Denise Fairbank (Concord, New Hampshire) ~
Hello Adele, I hope you are safe and have been spared devastating damage of Irma. I loved this week's challenge--the ampersand! Love symbols and their beauty. I chose to do a curvy ampersand that had "natural" mookas where the pen starts and stops. Looking forward to viewing the many versions.....
*lovely, lovely ampersand - light, dark, sparkled, shaded
*elegant curves and weighted lines
From Gabriela Garcia (Alberta, Canada) and here on her blog ~
I was very inspired by Adele's words about thinking positive thoughts, and was thinking on them while I tried different things with Ampersand, suddenly by echoing some of it's lines a pattern with some kind of nice mystical seeds and angels appeared! I added little dots and circles around them as the seeds of happy positive thoughts they are spreading everywhere. I hope you all like it and if you wish to try it you can find the step outs by visiting my blog post. Maybe we can all join together spreading some positive thoughts full of love, compassion, kindness and joy! ;-)
This pattern is as charming as the thoughts behind it - just beautiful. Be sure to visit Gabriela's blog for the step out.
*ampersand inspired angels - wonderfully creative
*sparkle and touches of color and soft shading
From Sharon Fite (California) ~
Hello Adele, I'm hoping that you and yours have weathered Irma without incident. We're wishing the best for everyone in Florida and Texas!
Regarding Ampersand, I didn't give it much hope. The string alone was a bit dicey, and creating my own tangles? Wait, what? I thought this might be the week I take a pass. Trying to accept the challenge, I let it percolate a bit, and I came up with a number of viable, usable tangles. Wahoo! Here's my tile with 5 newbies. Can't wait to see all the contributions!
You pushed through your hesitation and look what you accomplished! Congratulations!
*one variation flows in to the next
*soft shading and white space highlight the tangles
From Karen Herstowski (Atlanta, Georgia) ~
So glad to hear you came thru the rough visit from Irma. Best of luck with the clean-up. Being in Atlanta, we survived the storm fairly well but the mess remains. The inconvenience of loss of power always makes me so forever grateful when it is restored. Oh! the things we take for granted! I wish you the best.
While studying Calligraphy a couple decades ago, I learned this style Ampersand. Love its rhythmic flow, and try to use it whenever I can. Ampersand # 211:
*ribbon lines of a lovely, loopy ampersand
*fine lined background - vertical and horizontal - bring the ampersand to the foreground
From Anita A Westin (Dalarna, Sweden) and here on her blog ~
Happy to hear that IRMA didn´t carry you away from us! So my Ampersand is a very happy one!
*scalloped string lines
*Stripes gives wonderful dimension to the inner string spaces
From Ute Andresen (Germany) and here on her blog ~
I hope you are well and you and your family have overcome the storm Irma in healthy condition. For me this name is a little bit strange, because this is the name of my mother. In Northern Germany we also had a big storm yesterday (called Sebastian). Two big trees broke down across the way leading to our house. What a pity! They are completely uprooted. Half an hour before that I went right there with my car. Oh my God. ...
Well.
The Ampersand. It is the first time, that I read that name. I’ve heard “Ampersand” but never saw it. In German we don’t have a name for that. We just call it “Und-Zeichen” (what means “and sign”)
What do you think of this pattern that I created with the ampersand? (Might this be my first tangle pattern?)
I think it may be a nice, airy and delicate border. It is also possible to oppose it, if this is the right word in this case.
I call it Upers, the U is standing for Ute and the pers is standing for the ampersand.
Here is a special tile with this. The string was a 17, because, when I draw it yesterday, September 13., I celebrated my 17th anniversary of my Atelier. With Upers I made the lateral lines of the number. Flux had to be there too, Fleavy and Tipple.
But also another (official) tile with the ampersand as a string again. Upers, Pearls and Tipple and many Auras. Thank you so much for you inspiration!
Tangled Tidbits -
Congratulations to you, Ute, on a beautiful new tangle in Upers!
Be sure to visit Ute's blog for more on her new tangle, including the step out.
*wave-like movement created with Upers
*awesome aura and tremendous Tipple
From Robin Bort (Nevada) ~
I was so glad to hear that you and yours made it through Irma!
For this week’s challenge I did two tiles. Being a graphic designer, I am a fontaholic. I love ampersands and had such fun finding just the right ones!
The top tile contains a pattern that I drew based on the swooshy loop in the upper right of the ampersand I drew in the foreground. I just repeated that simple loopy swoosh on the interior of all squares on a grid. It was intimidating to create a new pattern, but ultimately fun!
For the bottom tile, my 12-year-old son wanted to try his hand at creating a pattern for me to use, and he did such a nice job! This one starts out with drawing a hexagonal grid (and he came up with a clever way to do that with parallel zig zag lines,) with overlapping half circles on the interior of each hexagon. He even named it Belooop and drew a step out for me with colored pens! He created it with such enthusiasm, it was a joy to create the tile and it made him so happy!
Tangled Tidbits -
*light and dark ampersands feature graceful ampersands
*beautiful backgrounds and shading
"Fontaholic" - I think many of us can relate to that :)
From Marla Mendenhall (California) ~
National Ampersand Day? Go figure. To whom does one apply to have such as a logogram recognized so? And who would have thought I would have had such fun tangling the same, and found myriad ways to do so? Not I!
Tile #1 is a graphic rendition with Linda Farmers Chard (pronounced 'Shard') underlay. Tile #2 was inspired by my husband's "What about one with...", colored and textured by Photoshop. For tile #3 I've included the original pen rendering with the ampersand shaded (the rest of the design is a combination of upside-downs and backwards) because when I showed my husband the Prismacolored one he said, "I don't see it."
Tile #4 is one of those "it just evolved" moments, thinking how I might create a mandalla-ish design, with a touch of pen coloring, and tile #5 is again one with an ampersand right-side up and one upside-down and backward with a bit of a Jacobean-ish flower pattern hued with pencil.
And (&) while I didn't choose the epsilon rendition as an option, the final tile does pay homage to the endless possibilities this celebrated symbol has to offer ... & on & on & on!
My prayers go out to all those who have suffered through recent natural disasters.
Oh my goodness, Marla! These could be a post all to their own. Brilliant work.
*"Jacobean-ish" embellished, mirrored ampersands - whew!
*a high honor and homage for the beloved ampersand
From Beth Gaughan (North Carolina) ~
I was so glad to read that you and your family came through the hurricane safely! After the path took a western turn, we were minimally impacted here in central NC.
Here's my tile for this weeks challenge. (I am pretty confident that this is not what you had in mind using the ampersand string, but it's the only thing my brain could come up with.) I used Wist, Mooka, Flux, Cadent, and Paradox.
It's what you had in mind, so it is just right :)
*variety of rounded tangles are pretty compliments to the string
*touch of aura and shading
From Teddy G (Maryland) ~
Adele, I'm so glad that you and your family got through Hurricane Irma safely. Attached is my tile for the challenge. It was fun trying different variations of the ampersand to come up with a tangle. I'm looking forward to seeing the other tiles.
Tangled Tidbits -
*flower-like mirrored ampersand - so pretty!
*ampersand line with loops darkened in and sparkled aura
These are my tiles ~
The first I completed early in the week, while the anticipation of Irma was building. It provided a much needed sense of accomplishment.
I used acrylic medium and paint to gild the ampersand, trimmed it in a continuous line of ampersands, added aura, shading and penciled in larger symbols in the background.
Our family spent last Sunday huddled in our home together awaiting Irma. It was an anxious time. (Once all the preparations are complete, the waiting can be really unnerving.) My mother, daughter, and granddaughter sat together at the kitchen table for some drawing time. It provided some calm and an excuse to share a glass of wine and "appa juice", of course.
With a love for continuous line, I tangled this mirrored version of the ampersand, filled the string line with it, and then added it to a square grid in the background. Weighted lines, sparkle, and shading finished it off.
In the wake of Irma on Monday morning, we were grateful our home was intact despite the loss of electricity and a yard full of debris. A city curfew was in effect to stay indoors until the heaviest winds ceased.
Again, we sat around the kitchen table and drew. It provided a distraction from the temporary inconveniences we faced as well as a quiet time to take in just how fortunate we were that they were minor in the grand scheme of things.
When I outlined the string and then doubled it, my lines were so wonky (must have been nerves) that I was compelled to thicken in the lines. It was much too bold for my taste though, so I added Primtemps and some shading to soften it a bit.
My favorite is the ampersand/Pokleaf combination - a simple but happy combination.
Msst reminded me of the constant rain and so it graced the top of the tile.
Thank you all for your prayers, concern, good wishes, beautiful tiles, creative tangles, endless inspiration. I know our prayers continue for those still facing other hurricanes and natural disasters.
Be sure to visit the links to the blogs listed in this post. There are many new tangles to add to your repertoire.
Thank you for your patience while waiting to view these results. It was worth the wait, wasn't it?!
Check out the details of "It's a String Thing" #212 (link) and send in your tile!
Have a wonderful weekend!
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