Twisty Tangle

Before I begin, I want to draw your attention to the first blog (Dragon's Fire) on the right side of the page.  It belongs to a friend of mine and the current post is a great Zendala you might enjoy. 

I have always liked small things.  One of the reasons I love gray days is that on a gray day your eye is brought down to see what is right in from of you.  You notice the moss on the trees, the shiny trail of a snail, the delicacy of the veins on a leaf.  Sunny days draw you up and out.  Gray days are good for reflection and appreciation of small things.

Because Zentangles are traditionally only 3 ½ inches by 3 ½ inches, they fit right into my comfort zone.  Plus, they have Patterns: modest swirling patterns, formal lined patterns and joyous free form patterns --- even organic, suggesting sorta-real-life-stuff patterns.  I do love patterns, or tangles, as they are called.  (Perhaps that is why I so love traditional Arabic art)

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the term  ‘Zentangle’,  I whole-heartily recommend checking out www.zentangle.com.   Maria & Rick are the originators of tangling as an Art Form.  But it is not really just an art form, it is also a form of meditation, of slowing down long enough to get in touch with yourself.  I am deeply grateful to them and what they have given us.  I would love to someday visit Rick and Maria and take one of their classes.  There is always so much more to learn.

To be a truly zen tangle, a pattern most be repeatable in just a few steps.  They are drawn one line at a time.  For instance,

Begin with drawing the letter “S”.    Then, echo that line on both sides.

Now, draw the letter “S” backwards and echo it.

Voila!  You have a tangle.  And you can fill it in with any number of variations.   I call this one "Twisty".