Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Challenges, Travelling Tangles & Inspiration...

Black White and Red all over


I'm using two new patterns here. Lily Moon's new pattern, Andromeda (at center stage) and Rainking (bottom left)

Circle String Series #3: Coffee ring string with Maryhill (and Tipple)

The challenge was to use Maryhill but not in the center.

Nebel, Wud and Lokomotive

I'm only using patterns from of my library for the D&C challenges.

Adele Bruno's "It's a String Thing" Challenge #150
"150" string with Adele's patterns: Xav, Isa, Teenos and Uncorked

a collaboration with Stephanie Jennifer 

My latest swap obsession. Stephanie (the mastermind behind the TTP) sent me this gorgeous watercolor tile with the pattern "Ginili" drawn with what appears to a white pen with a slightly raised thickness to it:

I was a little a-scared because this was so pretty just on its own and the dominant white was out of my comfort zone. It turns out she uses a Uniball Signo broad tip pen. I can't even remember the name of the flower-ish pattern I ended up using, but it had the same feeling as Ginili and I think I used enough white to compliment Stephanie's design but not overwhelm it. This is such a brilliant project and a whole new leap for me. I'm going to have to seek out family sponsorship for my international postage habit LOL;-)

These next two (on the right) came all the way from Germany from Sabrina Kirjavainen:



I find I have to sit on these awhile before I dive in. This last one is probably the best example of how I chase down inspiration. I wanted to add some bit of color without going crazy and after noodling around the blogosphere, I came across a Lily Moon piece that inspired the border (no one can really touch her but one can at least reach). She'd had a looping band (far more cleanly executed than mine) going through her piece and...well... there you have it. My little tipple balls with the pops of color were stolen long ago from her work...thanks Lily Moon;-)
When I was in college I had an art professor who would say "Good artists borrow, the best artists steal". I touched upon copying in a previous post. 
Copying is study. It's how you practice and teach yourself technique. You'll eventually gel with something and make it your own. I copy fragments of work all the time. I mean, isn't imitation the sincerest form of flattery? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog. Your thoughtful and generous comments delight and inspire me.
       








29 comments:

  1. these are some dandy pieces. I've sure been enjoying watching all teh buzz at traveling tangles. yours is stunning. Also love your Rainking there. Nice. But it is extremely clever, the coffee rings. You should create a whole series, and future generations will peruse your "coffee ring period" ahahhahaa!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks HeidiSue! The coffee ring thing has potential...at least for the next 7 weeks;-)You should consider jumping into the Traveling Tangles Project. It's super fun and creating one "starter piece" at a time is so much less time consuming.

      Delete
  2. Beautiful tiles! Thanks for the lovely words too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Lily! To add to the above I would call you "The Queen of Composition". I think there are many of us who would love to get in your head as you start a tile;-)

      Delete
  3. WOW such beautiful work think yours is a site I will visit again to borrow and learn. Thank you XOXO

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for the kind words Zoe and I'm so glad you stopped by;-)

      Delete
  4. All these tiles are wonderfull.
    I agree with your words: we give something of ourselves in our work and we learn something from others, That is O.K.
    I also learned a lot by seeing the other tiles on the Diva's challenge.
    The weekly tile with two new patterns is very nice but my favorite is the swap tile: gorgeous white Ginili but also beautiful finished by you. Really love this!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Ria! I really love how that swap tile came out too. It's my fave as well;-) Regarding the challenge tiles: I usually don't get to them for a day or two, by then there are several submissions to admire and be inspired by. Sometimes I see comments from those who don't want to look at others work until they've completed their tile. I'm the opposite. I look at everything and see what sticks;-)

      Delete
  5. I agree with you on the subject of copying. Few of the people I copy from, Michele Beauchamp and Helen Williams in particular, would be very flattered at seeing the results of my copies but it helps me improve, I hope. I have tried to copy from you too, especially where such subtle colouring is concerned, as my usual thing is to either use too many colours or too bright. As always, I love your work.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Margaret! Michele and Helen's work are in my fave 5 artists to admire and be inspired by-they are the queens of elegant swirls and composition. Another fave is Margaret Bremner. I love the way she breaks down space and the texture she achieves. Then there's Maria Thomas of course. If you're on Pinterest, I have a board called "Color". Its mostly pictures of rust-the most beautiful colors ever.

      Delete
  6. Wow, your tiles are gorgeous, I like it all! That's right, since my beginning of Zentangle at June 2015, I had learned a lot by seeing other tiles on the challenges or on other blogs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Bine! I don't know if I've seen your work there, but Adele Bruno's "It's a String Thing Challenge" is great inspiration. I like that all of the submissions can be seen in one gallery show each week. It's amazing that given the same string and set of patterns, the vast differences in results is astounding and it's a lot easier than waiting for each page to load when viewing the submissions on other blogs.

      Delete
  7. It's always such a pleasure to visit your blog and admire your work! Looking at your first tile, with the red accents, I suddenly get it: your work is made with love :-)
    (And I'm impressed with your interpretation of Joey's challenge!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Ilse! Your kind words are always appreciated. I would like to add your name to my list of favorite influences as the Queen of Contrast. I had another professor in grad school who used to say "Contrast equals interest" (NOT color as so many believe). I see so many comments in my swap groups relating to color anxiety and "should I buy this set of 150 pens/pencils?". I want to say Noooooooooooooooooo!

      Delete
  8. Pokeroot is lovely in red!!! Your other work is beautiful as well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Anne! yes the red pokeleaf was a surprise to me.

      Delete
  9. Thos tiles are absolutely stunning! Unfortunately I do not find the right words in English to express my admiration of your artwork! I love the tangles which you chose for the DIVA tile (I need to add the tangle left below in my sketch book! What is the name of this tangle?) And the circle string tile is simply perfect. I love it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much Simone! That pattern is called "Rainking", it was recently published on tanglepatterns.com

      Delete
  10. In card making, we call it "casing" when we turn to the work of someone we admire for creative ideas. There are some really great artists, and you are one, that do gorgeous Zentangles, but we need to remember what Zentangle is really all about sometimes and just revel in the process. Lovely work!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Absolutely beautiful work, as usual. I love everything you do.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Wow! These are great! That deep red and black of your first tile gives it such nice contrast and even texture! I LOVE the Tipple on the coffee rings with Maryhill behind. And your 3rd tile looks so metallic! And the traveling tiles...you finished them perfectly taking them where they wanted to go! Beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  13. WOW! Your tiles are so Beautiful! I Love them all!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I like your choice of tangles on the DIVA challenge's tile, particularly your interpretation of Pokeleaf.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I like your choice of tangles on the DIVA challenge's tile, particularly your interpretation of Pokeleaf.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I have a file on my computer called "J'admire". Sometimes, I open it, pick a piece and copy it, as a way of studying it. (There's something about muscle memory, I think, because I tend to recall tangles, tricks and tips better when I've actually drawn them as opposed to staring at them. Active vs. Passive?) I asked my husband once what he thought of copying. His reply :"Why do you always see artists with sketchpads in museums?" Duh! You have been very busy, and made some amazing art this week! My favorites are the coffee stain tile (the colors!!!) and the collaboration (the complementary tangles!!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Jennifer! Yes, muscle memory is the key. I came across several early tiles awhile back when I was searching for some "throwback" pieces for a recent challenge and couldn't remember if they were copies or not because I forgot to label them;-)

      Delete