Zentangle Challenge - Initialize

This weeks challenge at the Diva blog was a guest challenge by Christina Vandervlist. She is expanding on the string theory by asking us to use our initials as a string. This challenge was a lot of fun. I had a little trouble getting a D and a T to work well together. One is so fat, and the other so thin but I finally came up with something with which I was happy.

I think the idea of initials or monograms could make nice personalized cards or t-shirts. Here is one I had made previously based on the letters of our high school here in Benson. BHS - Benson High School.

Happy Tangling!

Zentangle Challenge - Creative Genesis

Guest challenger Sue Jacobs, CZT has expanded once again on the string theory challenge. And rightly so since drawing a fresh, new string for each tangle can be a challenge in itself. I read that the inspiration for the "string" in drawing a Zentangle is just that. If you held a string in your hand and dropped it on your tile and drew the lines in with pencil you would have a design to start your tangle off. And so Sue's challenge is to tie a weight to a string, drop the string onto your tile and trace the resulting lines onto the tile. Surprisingly this seems to generate a lot of "strings" which look like the ones I draw for myself. Very loopy. However, the challenge has a nice randomness about it and was fun to do.

Zentangle Royal Challenge

It has been a few weeks since I have had time to tangle for the Diva's challenge. Along with the royal wedding in Britain it has been prom week in Benson. My son is a junior this year and the job of the junior parents is to plan and put on an Afterbash for the junior and senior class and their dates. It has become quite a production. The Afterbash takes place in the city armory which is a dauting space to decorate, to say the least. Huge, bare and with very high ceilings it is decked out according to theme (Las Vegas this year) in order to house, for one night, 200 plus teens and their parents.
Then there is the matter of feeding and entertaining the prom goers until 4 in the morning. To this end other dedicated committee members come up with lavish food and drink menus as well as a myriad of games to play. Of course ,where there are games, there must be prizes ,and that committee spends an enormous amount of the money raised by the parents to supply some fabulous gifts and prizes for the teens. Everything from lap tops to cash is up for grabs. All in all, it is quite a group effort on the part of the parents who plan, create, decorate, cook, and work all night long to ensure their children are safe and have fun on prom night. And lets not forget that after a long night, these selfless people are back again for cleanup while their offspring sleep! Ah, the things we do for love.
Lisa Burns has provided a wonderful slideshow of the Afterbash at snapfish.com. The login is bensonprom11 @hotmail.com and the password is vegas2011. You can upload your own Afterbash shots or have pictures printed of you and your friends. Enjoy - and thanks, Lisa!
So after our own big event in Benson was behind me, I turned to the Diva on Monday to catch up on the slide shows of recent challenges and to see what the new challenge was all about. Laura provided a slideshow of royal inspiration for tangle patterns. Isn't Westminster Abbey awesome! Wow, talk about pomp and circumstance. There are arches, and chair backs, and braiding, and badges. Columns, and cornices, organs and sashes. Lace sleeves and fascinators, eye candy galore. A person just couldn't wish for much more. So I lay on the sofa, kicked back and relaxed, and tangled my way to Great Britain and back!

Zentangle Challenge - Love Your Curves

Ahh, curves! A challenge I can live with...

Zentangle Challenge - White Space

The Diva's weekly challenge was to create a Zentangle and not fill in every little space. I must admit that can be a challenge when you are tangling. I often have to consciously make myself leave negative space, but I I seem to like the tangles I create with white space much more. Though you can fill in every space of the tile with pattern and still have white space by carefully choosing which patterns you use. Some of them leave a lot of white within their design and this serves the same purpose compositionally.
At any rate here is my tangle of this challenge:

Zentangle Challenge

Recently I discovered two wonderful blogs by Zentangle enthusiasts. For those who don't know, a Zentangle is a small black and white patterned drawing, a type of "artistic meditation" developed by Rick and Maria Thomas. Zentangle is a registered trademark and you can find out more about them at zentangle.com.
I love to tangle but often find myself using the same patterns over and over. It is easy to get into a rut. Then I found two new websites. One is a site entitled tanglepatterns.com and is a compilation of many Zentangle patterns organized and maintained by Linda Farmer. Bless her! The other is a site where a weekly challenge is posted for tanglers who would like some fresh inspiration. It's the Diva's Weekly Challege and a link to the site may be found on the right sidebar.
Last weeks challenge was "Breathe" and here is my tangle: