7th Annual Orlando Pottery Festival

Good news for Central Florida readers!

The pottery show that features Su D'Alessio's Delicately Detailed Pottery is scheduled for 

Saturday, December 9.

Click here for my past post about Su and her incredible work.

Su D'Alessio with her intricate creations at the 2016 Orlando Pottery Show

Here is the write up from the Festival's organizers ~

The seventh-annual Orlando Pottery Festival is Central Florida’s largest festival of ceramic arts. Meet about 40 talented local potters and shop the great variety of their handmade sculptural and functional work — from sturdy dishware to delicate jewelry to beautiful decorative art — all created on the pottery wheel or using hand-built and slip-cast techniques. These one-of-a-kind gifts will delight friends and family, or enhance your own home and enjoyment. And be sure to vote for your favorite artist!
This family-friendly event features pottery demonstrations, kids’ clay play, music, puppet shows, food trucks, and more! Free admission*, free convenient parking. Information: Visit www.orlandopotteryfestival.org

I hope to see you there!

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

Variety is the very spice of life, that gives it all its flavor.

                                                                                                                      ~ William Cowper

North Pole Bakery by Adele Bruno, CZT

Tangles:  Emingle, Cake, Lanie, Peppermint, Anso, Crescent Moon
(first in a five part series)

"It's a String Thing" #221

It's Tuesday, your good news day!

Featured this week in the United States is our National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony in Washington, D.C.  2017 marks the 95th year of this beloved tradition. (Click here for more information on the National Parks Service website.)

Since most of us are already up to our elbows in Christmas projects, I thought it would be wonderful to tangle some trees in celebration of our national tree as well as our own.

We begin with this string ~

IAST String by Adele Bruno, CZT

Whether you prefer to tangle your tile in the traditional manner or create Zentangle® Inspired Art, this promises to be festive fun. 

Let's decorate our trees with tangles that include -

Cake by Una Wang

Cruffle by Sandy Hunter, CZT

Flux by Maria Thomas and Rick Roberts

and even though we just used Primtemp last week, it does make for a pretty tree.


Please feel free to decorate your trees with any other tangles that come to mind. 
Please include the names of them in your email to help others who may want to look up their step outs.

In the meantime, Friday's eBook release is just a few days away - stay tuned!


Simply pencil the string line onto your tile and tangle away! 

Here are the (Not so) Official Guidelines: 
* Challenges are posted on Tuesdays.
*Use the string posted for the week and some or all of the suggested patterns
* Submit a photo of your tile saved as jpg or scan your tile (300 dpi or higher) and save as a jpg
*Email your jpg file as an attachment to - brunoadelem@gmail.com
*Entries for IAST #219 are to be submitted by Saturday evening of the week issued 
*Photos, notes, and the 'Tile for Honors' will be posted on the following Monday 

Send in your photos - you will encourage and inspire fellow Zentangle® enthusiasts all over the world.  WHEN YOU SIGN YOUR NAME, PLEASE INCLUDE WHERE YOU LIVE.  
FOR EXAMPLE:   ADELE BRUNO (FLORIDA)

PLEASE NOTE: It is not necessary for you to have a blog or website to participate. 

If you do have a blog or website, I will add a link upon request. 
Please include the site specific URL. 

I look forward to your emails.

"It's a String Thing" #220 Tiles

It was good to give pause and contemplate our blessings this week.  The results below are as warm and wonderful as the sentiments they were sent with.  

Two exciting projects have otherwise consumed me this week.

In fact, one of them is due out this coming Friday - a collaborative eBook with Dorian Eng, CZT.   

I am so excited about it that I could just burst!  I am not sure if I can keep it 'under wraps' until then, but I'll try...  

While my tile is absent, please know how grateful I am for this community of loving tanglers.  

This fabulous show of tiles ends with a current photograph of our Tangled Map - wait until you see how full it is.

With grateful hearts, this is what we tangled ~

The first tile arrived from Lily (Hungary) and here on Instagram ~

...here is my entry for your weekly challenge.
Zenhug:

From Shirley Wohlsen (Australia) ~

I enjoyed the wonderful Tangles for this week’s challenge,
Attached is my tile for - It’s A String Thing #220 challenge.
Thanksgiving is not a traditional celebration for Australians,
but saying that I do have a couple of happening in my life this year that I’m very thankful for,
being my husband’s two operations six weeks apart, I’m thankful he came through them and is as well as can be expected.
Happy Thanksgiving! to all who celebrate this event. 

From Ragged Ray (United Kingdom) ~

A funny thing happened while I worked on this week's challenge. I was browsing through my basket of tiles I'd previously coloured and I noticed one I always ignore, because it's murky and dark and a strange mix of colours that reminds me of a bruise. I pulled it out and took a closer look, but dismissed it again. But just as I was putting it away I noticed the reverse side was glowing with this glorious green. Like sunlight through clouds, autumn giving way to spring. And that seemed to say a lot about this year, it dark days and its bright. This suddenly seemed just the right tile for our Thanksgiving challenge. So I wrote my words on the dark side, on that strange blemish line that seemed to ask for them. And then I flipped it and tangled on the bright side. But the two are there, back to back, a call to remember, and to thank.
Thanksgiving best wishes to you and yours Adele. And thank you for inviting us all into your tradition, it's given me a precious moment of calm reflection as the year draws toward its end.

From Lin H, CZT (Florida) ~

A very Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family, Adele. Thanks for your challenge. I penciled in “Family” with my string as that is what I am very thankful for this year.

From Margarete Gilge (Germany) and here on her blog ~

here is my tile for your weekly challenge 220. I like your given patterns. Gra-vee I didn’t know yet.
Thank you for this enjoying challenge!
Best wishes from Germany,

From Lisette (Switzerland) ~

Thank you, Adele, for this new chalenge. Gra-vee and Z-trick were both new to me and I like both. I love the idea to write things we are grateful for onto the tile. I think I’ll do that not only at Thanks giving - once a year is not enough to say THANK YOU! Looking forward to the outcome of this challenge.

 

From Danie (Indonesia) and here on her blog ~

Finally I can submit my drawing for your challenge. What a busy week. Have a wonderful weekend.

From Miriam Gresnigt (The Netherlands) ~

This week I had to tangle on scratchbook-paper, because of tangling in the Spanish sun. I used White and Black gelpen with sanguine-red from Faber Castell.
I loved to do Z-trick in other shapes, some turned out a little bit like fassetts after shading. I could not help, there is Andalusian influence in it, because I am on vacation there.
With tanglehug...

From Joke Leussenkamp (The Netherlands) ~

This is my contribution for this challenge. It was quite fun to draw and color this. Printemps was familiar to me but the other two weren't draw that often by me.
Greetings from a windy and rainy Eibergen.
Tangle hugs

From Hilary (Chicago) ~

Happy Day after Thanksgiving! I hope you had a nice holiday with loved ones
I enjoyed this week's challenge so much. The lovely idea about gratitude really gave me a good vibe while working on it. I definitely added you to my list of people for whom I'm grateful!

 


From Ria Matheussen (Belgium) and here on her website ~

I enjoyed working on this wonderful challenge with a lovely string and beautiful patterns.
I decided to make my drawing on a watercoloured tile (made smoothly with a puty knife) and used ordinary colourpencils to make the colours a bit stronger. Besides my black pen, I 've used a lot of white with my new Sakura white gellypen...
Thank you very much for this very relaxing and beautiful Zentangleexprerience,
Kind regards from Belgium,

From VenaC (Whitby, Ontario) ~

I had so much fun doing Gra-Vee that it took centre stage.

From Ulrike (Germany) ~

...what a nice challenge again! It wasn't easy to get the square Z-Trik into this swinging string. I used Aura and Sparkles. In the end I have colored my tile even for the first time! And the result was a surprise for me. But see yourself, please.

From Verena (Germany NRW) ~

Greetings from Germany.
I Take your "g" for grateful and an "f" for freedom.

From Lynn G (Florida) ~

A special thanks at Thanksgivings for all you do for the tangle community.

From Cha'Co (France) ~

Here is my contribution to the IAST #220.
It was very difficult for me to use Z-trick (a very angular tangle) with this string (very curved !) but I finally found the solution: I used Z-trick as a background and I was able to draw the wonderful Gra-vee over it. I am finally very happy with my tile !
I hope you did not have indigestion...

A very warm welcome back to Gillian (United Kingdom) ~

Have not sent a zentangle in for well over a year if not 2 ... life overtook me and I lost my way with Zentangling.... trying to get back into it and am glad to have your string thing to give me a focus.
As for my tile I really liked discovering
z-trick, but although made lovely patterns with it when practising, just could not ‘get it’ today.. oh well I enjoyed it none the less so it’s all good :)
And a belated thanksgiving to you and all across ‘The Pond’ :-)

From Sharon Fite (California) ~

What a fun challenge on this busy week! I love Gra-vee and Z-trick - both new to me - and of course the classic Printemps! Yamit Fridman mentioned Sandy Hunter's Cruffle as her inspiration for Z-trick. And you can see it in there with the continuous line aspect. So I added a little Cruffle, like seeing a friend you haven't seen in a while! I lost the string along the way, but I had a fun time with it. I'm grateful for the new tangles, the old favorites, the strings, the weekly challenges, and you, Adele, for making this possible for all of us!! Cheers!

From Trudi (Woodview, Ontario, Canada) ~

Just loved your cute turkey rolls that your family made for Thanksgiving! I often do a Santa bread for Christmas at my daughter's. Special traditions are what really makes the holidays such a great memory IMO.
Nice to be back from vacation and Tangling again.

From Gabriela Garcia (Alberta, Canada) and here on her blog ~

This was a great challenge as I had so much fun adding all of Adele’s tips for Printemps. I changed Printemps sizes, I added more weight in a side of some of them, added sparkles in others and even decided to use pens with different widths starting with .005 Prismacolor Premier black pen, then Micron 01 pen and lastly Sharpie Fine pen, alternating them all the time. I liked how this created more variety and texture. The texture created with all the different widths and sizes is even more apparent in real life than what it shows in the picture. I loved how it looks and how relaxing it was and will definitely will be drawing Printemps like this again! ;-) Thank you Adele!

From Lori Byerly (Washington State) and here on her website ~

I'm "grateful" for all you do for the Zentangle community. :) I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving.
Here's my tile for this week's challenge.

From Karen Herstowski (Atlanta, Georgia) ~

Once again, loved this concept. I wish I could have taken it farther but ran out of time!!
This is my idea of honoring all those people who are so important to me. My incredible husband of 41 years, Bruce, who is the center of my world - my nucleus. Our amazing son Brian, who was only with us for 16 years, but still remains so alive. He taught us so much about life.
Thankful for our circle of family and friends, always there, always supportive, always making us laugh - we could not be more fortunate to have them around us.
Thanks to the creators of these wonderfully fun tangles and to Adele for some guidance on our creations.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!

From Jane Glotzer (Boulder, Colorado) ~

Hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful...those turkey rolls are tres crafty and muy adorable!!
We had a small gathering, my husband and myself and one other couple...kids live out of town...luckily we were all just together in New Hampshire in October for our younger son's wedding, so that was fabulous...Thanksgiving was lovely too...small gathering, but a ton of food--:)
I am grateful for my family--my husband, 2 sons, 1 daughter-in-law, numerous "grand"pets...the beautiful place I live...the freedom to create my art...appreciating life every day...
Here's my simple take on #220...I actually had a couple of others started, but did not like where they were going...no mistakes, but definitely no like--:)
Started with the Z-trik at the left side of the middle area, arbitrarily placing their points wherever I thought they'd look good as I went across...added the bottom triangle...wove some Gra-vee through the top loop of the "G" and (after erasing string) I couldn't see that loop anywhere, which I thought was cool--:) Lastly the little "drop" of Printemps, some graphite shading around...tried drop shadows under that Gra-vee which ended up looking like ribbons...happy with try #3--:)

From Sharyn Penna, CZT (Massachusettes) ~

Sending out wishes for a very happy Thanksgiving week.
My grateful list is always very long ... each printemps, z-trik , gra-vee and the extra beadline holds a little thank you for someone, or something, or somewhere, or sometime. This was such a nice introspective exercise of the spirit. And for that, I thank you!
Cheers for Thanksgiving ... and all the leftovers ... both food and memories...

From ToniaC (Rhode Island) ~

I enjoyed this challenge very much. I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving!

From Sue Leslie, CZT (Vadito, New Mexico) ~

Happy TG weekend. Always love the challenges, tho don’t get to do them all, and some I do well after the week so don’t get to send them in. A new tangle for me this week (z-trik) and two of my favorites. Was fun to do. Thanks for all you do for the Zentangle community.

From Susan (Tennessee) ~

Once you said "G" for "Giving" and "Gra-vee", I couldn't think of anything but food.
Z-Trick reminds me of the rim of my great-aunt's china.
I made a reticula and incorporated peas with "Printemps", Turkey with a reticula, Sweet Potato Casserole with a crumbly fragment and some "Printemps"; and cranberry dressing in "(cran)-Poke Root". "Gra-vee" dresses the rest of the plate.
I'm disappointed that the camera didn't pick up my gelly roll (Jelly? Roll?) pens well. They are on the cranberries, peas, and sweet potatoes.
Fun and filling times! Thanks for the inspiration!

From Susie (St. Louis, Missouri) ~

From Susan Theron (Velddrif, South Africa) ~

From Sue Agnew (Tucson, Arizona) ~

This is too late for this week's challenge (the day got away from me), but I wanted to do it anyway because I think it's an important exercise, and because I had an idea in my head and wanted to see if it would work out the same way on paper.
My "happy place" with grid-based tangles is an allover background grid, so I went there this week with Z-trick. I really liked the surprise of stars appearing. Then I tried Trans-Zending with Gra-vee on top. The letters came out looking sort of woodcut, which surprised me. It wasn't till I was putting in the final white outline and shading that I figured out what I'd done wrong with the space where "enough" is placed. But I believe I've heard there are no mistakes in Zentangle!
One of the things I'm grateful for is this community of fellow artists ... and for all that you do to keep it going!
Happy Thanksgiving!

A very warm welcome to  Dolly Bolen, CZT (Alberta, Canada) ~

I am finally able to e-mail you one of my finished tiles for your IAST Challenge! I have participated before but never
made your deadline because my life is full of constant deadlines as a Freelance Journalist/Photographer. This is my first
time submitting a tile to you and I do enjoy your challenges. Thank you so much for all you do for the Zentangle community!
I did try the tangles Gra-vee and Printemps before but Z-Trick was new to me, it was great to give it a try!
I do however, post my IAST tiles on the Zentangle Mosaic App when I don’t meet your deadlines. I am so grateful for my family, Zentangle and the Zentangle community, all of which I love very much! The words Family, Zentangle and Love appear in my black Zentangle
Apprentice tile which I tangled with the new Sakura White Gelly Roll Pen 10 and I added touches of Copenhagen Blue Prismacolour
Premier Coloured Pencil to give it some pizazz! Black Printemps were added with a Sakura IDenti Pen. Not traditional Thanksgiving colours but I love to tangle late at night when all is quiet in the world and I have time to just tangle the night away!
In Canada we celebrated Thanksgiving in October but I recognize the US holiday and wish everyone a (belated) Happy Thanksgiving!

Welcome to our IAST community and welcome to our Tangled Map, Dolly!

In closing, here is a current photo of out Tangled Map that hangs proudly on the wall of my studio  ~

IAST Tangled Map - a world of wonderful tanglers!

From my grateful heart to yours, Happy Thanksgiving!


Check back Tuesday afternoon for "It's a String Thing" #221!

Happy One Day After Thanksgiving

This is not a tangled turkey, I know, but I wanted to post the rolls my daughters and I make every year for our Thanksgiving feast.  Not only are they cute, they taste really yummy.

If you celebrated yesterday, I pray your time was very blessed. There is an abundance in life to be grateful for and in the words of a prayer uttered at Mass yesterday, "Even as we thank God for our many blessings, we are confident that He will bless us with even more."

Have a wonderful weekend.

"It's a String Thing" #220

It's Tuesday, your good news day!

It is also Thanksgiving week here in the United States. 

It is a time of family and friends and feasting and football mixed in with the Macy's Day Parade and all wrapped in a blanket of gratitude for the many blessings God has showered upon us.

After the mealtime prayer at our home, we take turns around the dinner table to say aloud what we thank God for, especially the blessings of the past year.

In previous IAST Thanksgiving week's, we have counted our blessings and incorporated them into our tiles for this two different ways:  we have written them to be viewed along with the tangles and we've lightly penciled them in the string spaces to be tangled over.

This year we will use either option and begin with this string that I drew with a fancy cursive 'G' for Gratitude ~

IAST #220 by Adele Bruno, CZT

The tangles we will use include ~

Z-trick by Yamit Fridman
An angular tangle, it can fill most any space.  I have referred to this tangle often when writing about aura. 

Gra-vee by Laura Sponseller
How could I pass up a tangle by this name when anticipating a Thanksgiving feast?!
This tangle is open for many variations.

Printemps by Maria Thomas
This is simple and round and familiar to us.  Here are my Tips for Tangling Primtemps ~

Use as few or as many of the tangles as you wish.  The option is yours - to either have your words hidden in pencil along with the string, or to write them in Micron and view them with your tangles.

Simply pencil the string line onto your tile and tangle away! 

Here are the (Not so) Official Guidelines: 
* Challenges are posted on Tuesdays.
*Use the string posted for the week and some or all of the suggested patterns
* Submit a photo of your tile saved as jpg or scan your tile (300 dpi or higher) and save as a jpg
*Email your jpg file as an attachment to - brunoadelem@gmail.com
*Entries for IAST #219 are to be submitted by Saturday evening of the week issued 
*Photos, notes, and the 'Tile for Honors' will be posted on the following Monday 

Send in your photos - you will encourage and inspire fellow Zentangle® enthusiasts all over the world.  WHEN YOU SIGN YOUR NAME, PLEASE INCLUDE WHERE YOU LIVE.  
FOR EXAMPLE:   ADELE BRUNO (FLORIDA)

PLEASE NOTE: It is not necessary for you to have a blog or website to participate. 

If you do have a blog or website, I will add a link upon request. 
Please include the site specific URL. 

I look forward to your emails.

"It's a String Thing" #219 Tiles

We are back!

Two weeks flew by, didn't it?  The geometric string along with some "hypnotic" tangles made for some brilliant results.

Let's take a look~

From Sandra (Germany) and here on her blog ~

thank you for this nice challenge! I loved the string and it reminds me a bit of the paintings from Piet Mondrian ;-)
I also liked the patterns you chose and so I had a lot of fun with this tile.
Many greetings from germany
and best regards

 Tangled Tidbits -
*Facets shaded at points and Vortex at the middle
*Tortuca centered Vortex


From Ilse Lukken (The Netherlands) and here on her blog ~

Voilà: my entry! Just what I needed today, all those angles ;-)

Tangled Tidbits - 

*Vortex shaded to the outside edges with a dark center space

*pretty rows of Tortuca

From Lori Byerly (Washington State) and here on her website ~

I so enjoyed the mix of curve and angle in this week's challenge. Thanks for all you do.

 Tangled Tidbits -
*one large and lovely Vortex - rounded tips and shading add dimension
*string line becomes an elegant feature of the tangles



From Miriam Gresnigt, (Twente) (The Netherlands) and here on Instagram ~

Here's my tile for this week's challenge.
You took me out of my comfort zone with these square grid patterns. I have not done them very much.
Thanks for the challenge and opportunity to think outside my comfort tangles.

 Tangled Tidbits -
*sparkled Vortex
*wonderful weighted lines, dots, stripes


From Jody Genovese, CZT (New York) ~

Do you remember me? :o) It feels like forever since I have sent you a tile. I have had the busiest couple of months.
I think things are a little slower so hopefully I am back on track. I have looked every week at the beautiful work even though I have not had the chance to participate.
I’ve missed it. I know we had extra time, but I have it done and wanted to send it in.
Hope you and your family are doing well. All is good in freezing cold NY! Sending hugs your way.

We have missed you!
Tangled Tidbits -
*two part Vortex 'tranzends' the tangles below
*weighted lines, and shades of gray emphasize Tortuca


From Susie (St. Louis, Missouri) ~

I decided to do 2 tiles this week. I’m not happy with the string, but I’m not happy with the other tile either. I sure wish there was a teacher in my area, I need help in where to place the tangles so they go together instead of just filling in the string. Any teachers in St. Louis out there?

 Tangled Tidbits -
I hope there is a CZT near you offering classes.  You are doing great!  One of the many wonderful things about IAST is that we can learn from each other's styles and techniques.
*multi-sparkled Facets
*beautiful Vortex center

*great use of white space
*soft shading


From Lin H., CZT (Florida) ~

Thanks for your challenge this week, Adele. Vortex and Facets were two new tangle patterns for me and I love them both. I’ve always like Tortuca, too. I had to think about how to fill your string for a bit but once I got started, the tangles just seemed to flow onto the tile.

 Tangled Tidbits -
*pretty balance of black, brown, white space
*Vortex shaded centers add depth
(Nice frame!)


From Tonia C (Rhode Island) ~

Tangled Tidbits -
*'x' repeats in Facet and Vortex
*weighted outer curve of Tortuga


From Susan Theron (Velddrif, South Africa) ~

Tangled Tidbits -
*large Vortex swirls through string sections
*added horizontal lines create a fascinating variation of Facet


From Sharyn Penna, CZT (Massachusetts) ~

A huge, heartfelt thank you for your giving honors to my tile last week ... your prompts often offer a strong sense inner peace and healing ... and after viewing all the tiles you posted, I believe I was not alone in the calm. Every tile was stunning!
This week’s prompt was captivating in an almost hypnotic way. I’m looking forward to seeing all the interpretations.
Until then, may you find calm in the holiday preparations. Please know, your name will be thought of many times by many tanglers as we give thanks and celebrate family! Happy Thanksgiving ... Cheers and love 

...as I will be thinking of all of you, thank you, Sharyn.

Tangled Tidbits - 

*Facet lines run from center Vortex, distinguished by shading - glorious!

Notice how the frame magnets top two of those sections

*little pops of weighted lined Tortuga 

From Jonesy (St. Louis, Missouri) ~

Here's my submission for challenge 219. I'm not feeling well this week, but I can always find some solace in my art, no matter the final outcome. Have a great week!

Tangled Tidbits - 

*beautifully shaded tangles

*delightful degrees of light and dark - white on black, white on gray, black on white

A very warm welcome to Susan Cuss (Peterborough, Ontario, Canada) ~

This is my first zentangle, so I'm not sure if I did everything correctly. I think I made Vortex a little too curly, but the idea was to connect one Vortex to the next. I really liked Tortuca, too. I added a bit of watercolour after I finished the tangle. This was fun! Thanks.

Tangled Tidbits - 

How exciting to see your first tangles!

*tight spirals of Tortuga, large and smaller

*light, free floating Vortex 

Welcome to our Tangled Map. We are happy you joined our IAST community, Susan.

From Priscilla DeConti, CZT 28 (Kingston, New York) and here on FB ~

That's what I get for not reading the whole email and skimming highlights. I was going to apologize for being so late and if I could not get in this week it would be ok.
I now see that I am early...
Here is my take and I added my rendition of 4 corner corolla...In any case if I don't do another this is my entry.

Tangled Tidbits -

*shading distinguishes the outer edge of Vortex and the points of Facet
*pretty added tangle

From Karen Buse (California) ~

It was a week of "doing for others" which felt good but was exhausting. Friday was my day to chill out and I spent several hours on this challenge which really helped to recharge my batteries. Aaaah, the magic of Zentangle.

 Tangled Tidbits -
It is rejuvenating, isn't it?
*shading along each Tortuga spiral
*filled in line space of Facet and Vortex create beautiful variations


From Dani (Indonesia) and here on her blog ~

I'm glad to be able to join this challenge. Because you gave long time to draw. I love the part, when you choose what patterns to draw. Like it or not, I have to love it. And now I know more patterns by joining your challenge. Thank you.

Tangled Tidbits -
I am so happy to know that, Dani.
*Vortex and Facet play from the same grid
*Tortuga integrated into both tangles - very creative!


From Hilary (Chicago) ~

I wanted to try two different versions of this and they ended up being side by side because I liked the paper. I turned the string upside down on one of these, not sure which one.I really enjoyed this week's challenge; each of the patterns was fun to do.
Thanks again for everything, and I wish you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Tangled Tidbits -
...and the best to you and yours, too!
*Facet variation flows horizontally and vertically on wonderful colors
*smaller Vortex has fewer lines, larger Vortex features many


A very warm welcome to Susan (Nashville, Tennessee) ~

This is my first challenge...

Tangled Tidbits -
It is an honor to host your first submission.
*background grid is shared by tangles and string spaces
*blue centers emphasize Vortex
Welcome to our IAST community and to our Tangled Map, Susan!

From Laurel Davis, CZT (New York) ~

I really liked all these tangles, but putting them together on the string was a challenge!

Tangled Tidbits -
*striking Facet variation with black triangles
*outlined white center of Vortex pushes all of the other tangles up and outward
Love that backdrop!


From Verena (Germany) ~

This tangle was not easy to manage.
Looking forward. Best regards

Tangled Tidbits -
*beautifully detailed tile
*large and smaller Tortuga in contrasting light and dark
*off center middles of Vortex - wonderful variation!


From Miriam G (Port Hueneme, California) ~

Am so glad we had two weeks on this one, as the first attempt just wasn't sitting well with me. Something about that string kept drawing me back, and when I sat down with it again it just screamed 'perspective', so I had a little fun with it!
I know... I kind of 'bent' the Tortuga rules, but by the time I realized it, I was locked in! (So maybe the little bends are another tangle pattern, just not sure of what it might be)
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family and to all the fellow IAST Enthusiasts.

Tangled Tidbits -

You had a lot of fun with this!
*fabulous perspective on a Facet vanishing point 

*grand use of thick and thin lines, depth of shading 

From Vonnie (St. Paul, Minnesota) ~

Interesting challenge! I was appreciative for the extra time, as I had a few minute here and there to work on this tile. The patchwork look to it reflects it too!

Tangled Tidbits -
*off centered middle spaces of Vortex (just like Verena - how fun!)
*Facet variation features shaded centers like Vortex


From Karen Herstowski (Atlanta, Georgia) ~

Thanks for giving us extra time on this wonderful project. This is a great combination! I used some Fall/Thanksgiving colors to give it a warm appeal but kind of messed up the shadow angle - still love it - mistakes and all!!
Wishing everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Tangled Tidbits -
We call those creative opportunities and they are all beautiful :)
*multi-lined Facet with beautiful sparkle - fine lines repeat around it
*Tortuca grid shared with white and colored spaces


From Felicity Strohfeldt (South Africa) and here on her blog ~

I loved this challenge, but my attention was divided, and I first attempted an angular version according to the string. Think this gave me quite some practice time, but the end- result was too stiff and cold. I softened the string and started again. Made my life difficult with the white auras, and almost put in a black background. Pleased I held back on that one. Vortex by Sandra Strait challenged me for a while, but the rounded effect bouncing out worked well. Tortuca by Maria Thomas became ribbons in hollibaugh style on a shaded background, much softer than black and I had fun with Facets by Nancy Pinke and their variations give and Africany feel to the artwork. The challenge was stimulating and the journey insightful. Loved it.
Hope you are well and I wish you and all participants a wonderful week ahead.

Tangled Tidbits -
That is a happy tangling tale, thank you Felicity.
*string as negative space and shading defines the string spaces
*sparkled Vortex, Tortuga in Hollibaugh fashion, Tortuca tipped Facet - yum!


From Aileen (Singapore) and here on her blog ~

Tangled Tidbits -
*festive red pen and shading
*pleasing mix of curves and angles in the tangles



From Ria Mathuessen, CZT (Belgium) ~

Thank you for this special challenge.
For me, it was a bit coming out of my comfortzone, I have never used those tangles but I'm glad I know them now, especially Facets is a very nice, pleasant tangle.
As you can see, I have used a black tile and worked with my new white Sakurapen and finished with a bit coloured charcoal.
I enjoyed, discovering those (for unknown) tangles in this special string, thank you very much Adele,
Kind regards from Belgium

Tangled Tidbits -
*glowing tangles, bright highlights
*Tortuca centered Vortex



From Margarete Gilge (Germany) and here on her blog ~

thank you for another wonderful challenge with very interesting patterns! On my blog you will find two more tiles under the link
Best wishes from Germany 

Tangled Tidbits -
*beautiful variations of all three tangles
*sensational striped and sparkled Vortex


From Ulrike Daniel (Germany) and here on Flickr ~

Dear Adele, thank you for another interesting challenge. I like your strings and tangles you selected.
I wish you a lot of good ideas for following challenges!

Tangled Tidbits -
I like that wish :)
*soft shading carries through all three tangles
*Tortuca shines in various sizes


From VenaC (Whitby, Ontario, Canada) ~

I had a hard time getting to grips with trying to use the string with these tangles. I did one last week but did facets incorrectly. I didn't look properly and did the second row sideways. That caused a problem when I got to the corners. So, back to the drawing board. I got facets right this time but I did use a ruler for all the main lines. I did, however, lose the string. I am not so fond of the end result, but at this stage, it is what it is.

Tangled Tidbits -
It helps to keep in mind that finished tiles are very much the sum of all the lines, not any one in particular.  By some magic they all come together to create something beautiful - just like yours.
*highlights and shading add dimension to Facet
*light and dark surrounding spaces of Tortuca accent the tangle


From Sharon Fite (California) ~

I love Facets, and Vortex and Tortuca were new to me. Mostly, the string was the big challenge. So linear! When I'm stumped, I turn to color. In this case it's watercolor. I wanted to keep the string fairly intact and use all the tangles. So I think I did that. As always, I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's interpretation. Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

Tangled Tidbits -
*alternating light and dark rows of Facet yield even greater dimension
*Vortex sections share connecting lines


From Jane Glotzer (Boulder, Colorado) ~

Well...I hope you are sitting down--:) It has certainly been quite a while since I participated in your wonderful weekly challenge! I have missed birthdays, anniversaries, sad passings, national tragedies, multiple hurricanes, and cannie corns...but I have been faithfully following along weekly...and not that I haven't been tempted, oh so many times, by so many of your string and pattern choices, but, for whatever reason, now was finally the time, so here I am--:)
My #219 is on a tile I had previously watercolored ...started with Vortex in the middle (seemed obvious, but what the heck...) then did some of the Facets on the bottom...elongated singular Facet along the side and then the other Vortex square in the corner popped out to me so I filled that in...more Facets up top and then I threw in a touch of Tortuca in the interior corners...shaded with graphite pencil and then added a touch of purple colored pencil just to blend in a little.
I must admit, I felt a little rusty...I have been doing a lot of commissioned public mosaic art (a memorial bench at an elementary school; concrete bollards at a playground in Lakewood, CO) and drawing art (I'm actually about to start a big painted piano public art project with Zentangle designs, in Fort Collins, CO, if anyone's in the neighborhood) but I don't normally do many traditional Zentangle tiles. IAST always pushed me to do and try things I would not do on my own and I find that hugely valuable! In the end, I like the balance of the lines, space and color, with just the smallest touch of black on my #219.
Thanks, as always, for everything you do!

Tangled Tidbits -
Welcome back! It is good to know you are always with us in one way or another. You will have to send photos of your incredible projects when you can.
*lovely light lined Facet in varying sizes
*Vortex lines reach from one to another (like Sharon's above)

From Joke Luessenkamp (The Netherlands) ~

Tangled Tidbits -
*beautiful tranzending
*creative variations of Vortex

From Talia Maynard (London, United Kingdom) ~

...I enjoyed this one. I'm usually more of a fan of the more organic tangles, but I do love the grid based ones too. I particularly found Tortuca relaxing to draw - all those little spirals.

Tangled Tidbits -
*and what a lovely variation of Tortuca that is
*deep dark center of Vortex and a striped one, too!


And now...

the tile for honors this week...

was sent in by...


Lily (Hungary) and is also here on on her FB page ~

Lily wrote:

... after a difficult month and a long break - here is my entry to your weekly challenge.
Best regards and Zenhug

 Tangled Tidbits -
*stunning depth in highlight and shading
*black and colorful spaces all share white dots
*Tortuca peeks out from the centers of Vortex
*single file Tortuca string lines

Congratulations, Lily!


Many thanks to everyone for sending in your precious tiles.  You inspire all of us and help build this wonderfully supportive IAST community.

Kudos to the artists behind our featured tangles:

Vortex by Sandra Strait

Tortuca by Maria Thomas

Facets by Nancy Pinke, CZT


Check back Tuesday afternoon for "It's a String Thing" #220!