#190: Pink For Ardath

What a lovely tribute to Laura's beautiful grandmother Ardath.  Losing our loved ones is saddening under any circumstances, but when the cause is a disease that strikes mostly women, I wanted to just reflect on the feminine spirit.

I've had a couple of scares over the years, but have so far been spared this devastating diagnosis.  I can't speak any more profoundly than others have done, so this time I will just post my tile and hope it somehow captures the glowing feminine spirit that can nurture all of us, not just women but men as well.

I had no plan when I started this tile, but this is where it ended up.  I used a sepia pen rather than black for a little softer look and added color with Tombow blendable markers.  

#189: Yuma

This challenge is an interesting one, and not only because Yuma is such a cool new tangle. The subject of Native American Art has been in the forefront of my mind for a few weeks now. We live in Arizona these days, and Yuma is a city here. The entire state is full of Native American Art and culture, as is our neighboring state, New Mexico.

My husband an I just returned from a trip to Santa Fe, where we purchased a wonderful piece of pottery by an artist named Paula Estevan (look her up - her work is phenomenal!), who should be a Zentangler, if she is not already.
 

Most of her designs feature all-over repetition of one design in black and white. The patterns are traditional Native American, but her use of these designs is very contemporary looking, I think. Plus, her pots are paper thin, and if you've ever attempted to throw any kind of pottery, you know making them thin is a magic trick.

We also visited the Georgia O'Keefe museum in Santa Fe. In addition to having the privilege of viewing Ms. O'Keefe's wonderful works, we also saw an exhibit of works by a close associate and friend of Ms. O'Keefe's, Miguel Covarrubias. He was born in 1914 and just passed away this January - 100 years old!!  One of the things in the exhibit was a notebook in which he had made pencil sketches of various Native American designs. I copied several in my own little notebook (photography was prohibited), and I hope to incorporate them into my tangles at some point. 

If you follow Square One: Purely Zentangle on Facebook, you may have seen my interpretation of Fengle, which was inspired by a friend's Henna hand design in Marrakech.

Isn't it amazing how patterns seem to be such an integral part of the human experience?

So, without further ado, let me add my versions of Yuma to meet the Diva Challenge this week. 

The first one I did more or less as practice, and when it was on the tile, I thought it needed something more.  I just happened to read on someone's blog that you can blend Jelly Roll pens, so I gave it a shot.  Kind of fun and sparkly.  Very eyelash-y!

The second one was an attempt to play with the spaces and use the Yuma more or less as a string.  I'm pretty happy with this one - it almost looks Japanese to me.  See how everything is connected?

Happy tangling, everyone.  Thanks for stopping by!

Antonine

 

#188: National Coming Out Day

I'm so very late getting on board this week, as I was on vacation and not able to tangle or to blog.  So, here goes, finally!

I wasn't sure if this National day was observed in the U.S. or Canada, but no matter, it's a good thing.  I can't claim to have always been so open-minded. Like many people, fear and ignorance fueled my thinking. I was fortunate enough to have three beautiful daughters who educated me regarding gay people and their rightful place in society.  Thank you, ladies!

Now I watch with interest the legal wranglings of the various states and courts over gay marriage issues. What the Supreme Court did this week (NOT hearing appeals) opened the way for marriage rights in eleven more states. It's so beautiful to see stories of couples together for forty years finally able to legally marry. Make no mistake - any real objection to gay marriage is financial, not moral.  It's all about spousal benefits. So I say hurray for every state that moves into line, but let's get those Federal benefits covered once and for all.

So, here is my contribution. I used Tombow markers for color. Then I tangled LaBel and Laced, Girdy, Boomerang, and Trentwith and Trumpits. This was fun!

#187: Blind String

When the Diva's latest challenge came out, I was so pleased with that.  I love those deals with a paper tablecloth and you are challenged to close your eyes and draw your table companion.  The results can be hilariously accurate. Or not...    I always enjoyed children's games like pin the tail on the donkey and blind man's bluff which involve a blindfold.  It was really fun to call all your other senses into play. 

When it comes to Zentangle, the blind string challenge plays right along with all that.

 

However, there is another sobering side to this issue.   I am very nearsighted, and being the "mature" lady that I am, my glasses these days are the graduated tri-focal kind.  The difference in my distance and reading prescription is vast.  When I am doing close work, like threading a needle, reading tiny print like the back of a CD case or, yes, ZENTANGLE(!), I actually take my glasses off and put the object about eight inches from my eyes.  Then I can see just fine.  But I have a real fear of age-related vision problems.  Cataracts, macular degeneration, and who knows what else could spell a real disaster for me.  Because of astigmatism, cataract surgery would not be the magic bullet that it is for some people.  I could lose that close-up vision clarity at some point.  My aunt, who loved to do needlework, suffered from macular degeneration and eventually became blind.  This is so scary to me. 

I guess what I mean to say is I am thankful for ever-improving medical treatments and I rejoice in every day I can wake up and see this beautiful world!  And do Zentangle!

All that (sort of bummer) stuff out of my system, here is what I came up with in answer to the challenge.  I did two strings, which I have posted here:

 

The first finished tile is a bit fuss-budget-y I think, but the other one turned out pretty well.  I got obsessed with twirly things going on.  I also did something I swore I would never do - used Bronx Cheer to fix a "mistake".  Once I got going, though, I kind of liked them.  You might have to flip the second one around in your mind to match the string - sorry!