At first sight and second opinion

When I first read the documents before I go to the service in court, I often belive this is clear, this is what has happened. When I am there, during the session, it will be obvious that reality is not as simple as that. Very often I have changed my opinion when it comes to the end. Today this was the case. When you meet the persons involved you get so much more information. The picture is wider and maybe not at all what I saw at the first sight.

The same thing often happens in tangling. The string, or maybe the pattern in a challenge seems so clear and it just could not give any alternatives. But starting the process, breathing, getting in to the zone and let it flow, that changes all of that! Each pattern gives so much more information to the brain while working on it. The possibilities will be there. Unfortunately this doesn´t mean I can see the qualities at once! Sometimes I have to put the tile aside and look at it another day to grab the second opinion.

This tile is for Joey´s challenge no. 128. The start was a tangle called Villers #2 by someone named Baez. Had not seen it before but it looked much alike some other patterns I know of. Joey had placed the first part of it in the center. But as I needed something stable today I went for it. And it got me! I do love geometry so the patterns I added were gridbased as well: Sand by Adele Bruno and Dex. This is not a spectacular tile, but I felt so calm doing it and I appreciate the result. So thank´s Joey for this beautiful challenge! I loved to do it!

Taking over space

This morning I wanted to try Eni Oken´s new pattern, Trelina. This pattern reminds me of the art of the Swedish artist, Lasse Åberg. So I picked a string and started off. What happened? Trelina grow over the space and dominated totally the outcome! I had much fun doing this, but finished, I don´t know where the string went!!

In the background is Ticking (JJ La Barbera). As you can see, Trelina almost moved out of the tile! :) 

When I opened up the computer something waited for me. Linda Farmer had published my pattern LO´s on Tanglepattern.com. I knew she would since she told me, but her presentation of the pattern was so beautiful. I am so grateful for this and I feel blessed that something could come out of sorrow. 

My personal challenge about the strings didn´t work this morning. But I loved the result! String 152 by Barbara Finwall I wanted to do again to make it justice! This string was a challenge to me. It looked like a flower. What to do with it? As I looked at the string I started to tangle the petals with Garlic Cloves. I have no name on the creator of this pattern.

Then I added LO´s, Echoism, Fescu and Beadlines. To keep it all together I made a ribbon connecting the parts. When I look at it I see how things get together even if I don´t know it. But it is hard to belive that I used the same string in both tiles! 

29th of August

It is a special day today. It is Charlie Parker´s birthday. And mine. Celebrating Bird  I will play some old recordings tonight and eat birthdaycake for myself!  The tangling today went over the whole surface of the tile. The pencil-line connecting the dots in the corner was there but can not be seen anymore. 

The D-alfa tanglepattern (Bunny Wright) is in focus at Square One. To me it looks like ropes or maybe snakes. Fun to draw. Sparkle (Sharon Caforio), Betweed and Tipple joined. The string is 151.

Yesterday I sent my entry for IAST 159 to Adele Bruno. I made it on my trip to Stockholm actually, but finished it at home last night when I added watercolor.

The patterns are: Palrevo (Kerry Heun), Partay (Margaret Bremner) and Printemps. I wasn´t satisfied at first, but adding color to this I am quite happy about it! The Palrevo-pattern is very similar to a pattern called Främz by Tracy Frogley published on Flickr. Things like that happens when it is about patterns. There isn´t much new under the sun! Palrevo/Främz is really fun to do! But now I am going to celebrate!

Travelling strings

Home again. I have been focusing on my personal challenge: The strings from tanglepattern.com. I find it relaxing and challenging to work on strings that are not my decision. I know there are lots of tanglers that don´t bother about strings or they find them to limiting. So far I will stick to the basic thing with strings. The string for me is not a limit. It is a guidance. I don´t feel stuck. It is like having a start for free. When someone else has made up the string it is the start of the tangling moment in a special way. As I have been on the bus to and from Stockholm, here comes some wobbling lines too!

string 147 by Judyellen Palumbo: Starcrossed (Jenna Black), Printemps, Paradox and Tipple. Starcrossed is a new tangle and it is absolutely a tangle I will come back to! This one I made on the bus with my Lamy fountainpen and in my sketchbook.  

String 148 by Barbara Finwall: This one I made after the funeral of my friend, which was the reason for my trip to Stockholm this time. When I was alone in the night I had to do something to get some relief from all the feelings during the day before I could go to sleep. Tangling was the way to sorten things out and doing so I also could feel grateful that I have had the opportunity to know my friend for so many years. Patterns: Viaduct (Wayne Harlow), LO´s (mine), Ing and Tipple

String 149:A funny string from Grace McIntyre. I didn´t know where to start. But then I decided to go for Ing once more. Ing is the Diva´s challenge this week. I then added Lots a dots (Carole Ohl), Partay (Margaret Bremner) and Florz. Also from my sketchbook, drawn with Lamy fountainpen and micron.

String 150 by Adele Bruno: Most of this tile was finished on the bus. I wanted to draw on a tile, not in my sketchbook. It was more difficult to do this, but using a book under it helped a little. I finished it back home when I added the Cheesecloth (Suzanne McNeill) in the background. As a frame I used Heart Devided (Helen Williams) and the big hearts are Heartstring (Helen Williams) with a Beadline (Margaret Bremner) across it.

A beautiful morning in August

Today the sun has poured all over our village. August hasn´t been this beautiful as it is today. Not much wind, our big lake Siljan has been like a mirror. So I moved out into the garden sitting there with my zentanglemeditation for today.

It was a moment of depth and focus. Even though my dog was digging up something unnameable in the bushes that surrounded us. I had prepared for the string 146 (Lily Moon)and this is what came out of this golden moment. I didn´t know then who had made up this string! but Drogon took place into it, and that´s the pattern of Lily Moon! Then there is LO´s (mine) and Viaduct (Wayne Harlow). I wanted LO´s to join, since I am leaving for Stockholm tomorrow and my friends burial. that also means I won´t post in a week or so, but sure I will tangle!

Before I close this I want to publish the picture I made yesterday with all 10 circletangles in it! Here it is:

Have a nice time and keep on tangling!

Joey´s challenge no 127

New pattern to me: Sparkle (Sharon Caforio) Great choice by Joey! I like the simplicity of this pattern and will go back to this more than one time! Thank´s Joyce for this!

Undu (Karl Stewart) was my own choice, since I needed something flowing very smoothely around Sparkle!

About patterns and surprises

The new focus tangle in Square One is Viaduct (Wayne Harlow). I have tried that pattern before. I have seen it been used. But it didn´t appeal to me. The pattern I saw was about cars and highways. I also saw a pattern with 3D possibilities. But it wasn´t enough to really want me to go further with it. I decided to give it one more round though this week! I made it in my sketchbook, on a Bijou-tile and whow, there I found something more! Of course I was inspired by what I saw in Square One, but the fact is, first I had to reach the point when I could draw it more freely. That´s the same with all patterns, appealing or not. I should remember that. 

The surprise came with this morning meditation! I wanted to go on with my personal string-challenge and had come to string 144 (Angela Werner). It was a perfect match to Viaduct! At least in my way of thinking! I guess this pattern will stay in my library of go-to-patterns after this! I had so fun! Flux, Tipple and Beadlines (Margaret Bremner) joined too. 

IAST 158

Lily Moon is a great artist when we talk about zentangle. Her new pattern Drogon is now on this week´s IAST. I am convinced that Drogon will be used over and over again around the world. It is already running through Facebook-groups. It is a lovely pattern and so easy to learn. Here is my entry for the IAST 158:

Adele Bruno has come up with a nice string as well - 16 - . The challenge was to use our "gold-medal-patterns" together with Drogon. I choose Huggins, Webz (Suzanne McNeill) and Beadlines (Margaret Bremner). As I felt like celebrating this beautiful pattern from Lily Moon I added some red in it!

Scaffolding

Today was like I needed scaffolding around myself. Something to hold on to when too much feels insecure. I did my daily tangling and looking at it afterwards this becomes obvious to me. Yes it is a part of a mourning-process, I know that. But to look at the process as a picture is a little bit scary at the same time as it is a relief.

The string is important when it is about scaffolding. Here it is string 143 by Beth Snoderly. The patterns are Waves (Suzanne McNeill), Oof, Hollibaugh, Nipa and Tipple.

Another way of travelling

Travelling tangles Project is going on every where. At least it seems to. It is a wonderful idea that grows and grows in its own right! Connecting people, that´s what it is about. Joey's weekly is going into a new theme and it is another way of doing this. Joey starts with a tangle and then those who wants to finish it can all do that in Joey´s blog. Ofcourse I want to participate in this. It is so fun! Here is my entry:

The start is Paradox and it is supposed to be placed in the same way as Joey´s suggestion. I added one more Paradox, Diva Dance, tipple and Whalestail (Jenna Black).

Travelling and tangling

It is easy to tangle. You don´t need much. A piece of paper, micron, pencil and a tourtillon. Going on a journey, long or short doesn´t really affect the ability to tangle. Driving a car is not possible though. But sitting in the passengers seat gives a lot of possibilities to tangle. I have made a journey to my father up in north of Sweden, just for a couple of days. We went by car, I didn´t drive and could relax with zentangle.  I worked in my sketchbook, cause it was much easier to hold that, since I didn´t have a table to lean on. I also made some tangles (which I post here) in the night before going to sleep. I don´t need the bumpy roads for tangling, I do that when I don´t have another choice! First my personal challenge; the Strings!

String 140. Drogon (Lily Moon), Maisie (Carla Jennings), Allium (JJ La Barbera), Phuds (Cindy Angtel), Fescu and Tipple.

String 141. Antidots (Anita Roby Lavéry), Chik (Cat Van Royen), Kelp (Nancy Domnauer), Webz (Suzanne McNeill) and Diva Dance.

String 142. Oke (Michele Beauchamp), Orbs-La-Dee (Anneke van Dam), African Artist (Tina Akua Hunziker) and Papyrus (Suzanne McNeill). This one is scanned from my sketchbook.

At last I made one for IAST 157. Two wonderful patterns by Lynn Shelton Mead are in the challenge together with a beautiful string from Adele Bruno.

This is all for now. Now I will go to make some fun with our little dog!

10th circle string

The last of the circle strings from Joey is this week. And I haven´t done anyone on a zendala! And I haven´t used any tools to make the circles! To draw circles without tool is a great way to keep focus, at least for me!

The tangle for the challenge is Oof, an official tanglepattern. I had not tried this before but I liked it a lot and there are many posibilities for embellishment and variations. I surrounded the circlestring with Lilypods (Margaret Bremner). As I have problems with my focus these days, it is a golden moment to sit down tangeling!

Abeko for my friend

In Square One Abeko now is the focustangle. No wonder! This tangle is sprung out of a tanglers mind, Lynn Shelton Mead and it is such a beauty in itself! At once, the day it was published, a lot of tanglers wanted to try it, including myself. Starting to use it I found it lives it own life and I don´t know when I start where it will end. It is so special! It doesn´t ask for embellishment. Not even shading. So today I just let it join my other tangles with string 139 (Barbara Finwall).

The other patterns are: Offkey (Lori Byerly), Olb (Helen Williams and LO´s (mine).

I made this tile especially for my dearest friend Lennart, who passed away last night. When I made this, I didn´t know that it was all over, but I thought of him every stroke I made. I miss him so much and I am filled with sorrow but also with greatfulness that I have known such a great person and that we became so close friends for many years.

L and O tangles 2.

After a day of cleaning and washing I finally sat down tangeling. My thoughts are all the time with my friend, dying in brain tumor, and with his family. 

This tile is for him and I used L-tangles in the center surrounded by an O tangle. They are: Lotsadots (Carole Ohl), Lantern (Donna Blair), Lava Juice (Carole Ohl), LO´s (mine), Olb (Helen Williams). In the corners Beadlines (Margaret Bremner). The string I used is no. 138 (Lianne Woods).  

More moving and travelling tangles!

Today I was spending a lot of time sitting in the backseat of our car. At my right side I had our dog in her cage. So I took the chance to tangle, since there wasn´t much else to do. The Diva´s challenge a couple of weeks ago was like that and I did like to do it in a situation when I really couldn´t think of perfectionism or other silly stuff. As the Diva has a challenging pattern this week, Knightstar (Daniel Lamothe), it is stuck in my mind and it was relly something else to do it like this!

It is from my sketchbook, since that was what I had brought with me. It was harder to make this in the car than in the bus. Much more bumpy. The patterns are: Florz, Crescent moon, Ruutz (Eni Oken), Knightstar (Daniel Lamothe) and O (Adele Bruno). This was on our way to Borlänge. On the way back home I made another:

This is for IAST´s 3 celebration. I liked the way it went and I like the patterns Adele has chosen for this special occasion: Orbs-de-la-Dee (Anneke van Dam), O (Adele Bruno), Onomato and Opus.

This day started with an extraordinary surprise! When I opened my FB I found that Sandy Kelley Jones already had finished the tile I sent to her! It made me so happy to see this. What she added was like a continuing movement from what I started with. Without the beforepic it would be difficult to know where the beginning is! Here is the result!

Before:

After:

I love this outcome! It is flowing so gently. The patterns are:
Leaflet (Helen Williams), Flux, Tripoli, Diva Dance and Tipple. 
Thank´s once again Sandy! So glad we did this!

To catch up or not

I did catch up when it was about Joey´s weekly challenge. I learned from this: Not to catch up. It is pointless and it just means I get stressed up and cant keep focus on what is important in tangeling. So from now on I won´t catch up! I have promised myself not to. The only good thing with doing that is that I won´t have to catch up any more! I love to tangle. And I love the challenge with circular strings from Joey! So today I had a party on a renaissance tile!

When I did this today I had some fun. The difference is when I just play and let things happen on the tile. The patterns are: Gra-vee (Laurel Sponseller), the focustangle, Abeko (Lynn Shelton Mead) and Printemps.

Lynn Shelton Mead wrote about her tangle Abeko, that when she comes up with a new tangle it is like it is given to her, it is not a decision. She just passes it further. I love that statement because it is the essence of zentangle. Thank´s Lynn for those words! 

The Diva´s challenge: Knightstar

Knightstar (Daniel Lamothe)is a completely new tangle to me. It is logical, but I must say it is a real challenge. Not so much to understand the pattern and do it. But for me it was very easy to get lost in the lines and do something else. That shouldn´t be a problem, patterns often go their own ways and it is possible to let them do so and the outcome might be something unexpected! Well I tried to make something from my "misstakes".

This is from my sketchbook. I was a little happy when I could let the lines go like a broken net when I didn´t get the pattern to work!

Next one I started on Bijou tiles. The first one only got three petals. That´s ok with me, but I still haven´t been able to reproduce the pattern as it "should" be.

This time I thought I got it ! Wanted to try some color and blue was my choice.

This is the third bijou, now trying to get more than one sample of the pattern. Now it is possible to focus on the net, not the petals and that gives the pattern a new dimension. There are problems with the pattern. To embellish it and make it personal is not easy for me. I guess I have to work on it a lot more to really make it mine. But it is interesting. So now I made it on ordinary sized paper, I wanted to have it on watercolor-paper in case I should choose the color in the end....

This is the final tile. It is all drawn freehand with an L-string. And I let the blue come in. The other patterns are Cheesecloth (Suzanne McNeill) and Puf (Carole Ohl). I am not at that point when the Knightstar flow naturally. Maybe I never get there. But it was fun to try this and I am quite satified with the result.

Traveling Tangles Project

There is a project going on in a FB-group. I don´t think this will stay in a group. I belive it will be spread among tanglers over the planet! It is fun and it is conecting people that would never have spoke to eachother! The name Traveling Tangle is exactly what it is. I start a tile with something and send it by ordinary mail to somone somewhere. Someone finish the tile and publish it in the FB-group. Ofcourse it could be published anywhere. The group is a closed group which means you have to be let in by the moderator Jennifer Stephanie. If you don´t want to join, the idea is great and can grow and be spread wherever it happens.

The last traveling tangle I received came from Czt Sandy Kelly Jones. It was a happy tangle-post and when I got it I wasn´t in a happy mood. To receive this, made the day change into something hopefull! I got it late in the afternoon. I looked at it and wanted to start at once. But I said to myself to wait a little, let it rest over the night at least. This is what it looked like:

I waited till the next morning (yesterday), had my breakfast, brushed my teeth and then started tangeling. Here is the beforepic:

The simplicity of the lines and the fact that this wasn´t a finished tile really got me on the go. This is a very good example of a traveling tangle that works and just want to go on and on! A worked through pattern doesn´t give you that opportunity! But you got to have courage and trust when you leave it to the one who receives it not just to go on tangeling but also to finish it! Thats why I am convinced that Sandy is an exellent teacher! I think I learned something from this. I will be careful with the tangles I send on, that they are so open as possible for further development! Thank´s Sandy for this knowledge. It is not new to me, this is what I have tried to do when I have been teaching students through the years. Not to give to much but give enough! Now I got this knowledge back from a new angle. I am greatful for that! Here is what happened:

It is not about skills or anything like planning. It is about being in it and let things grow. I had such a great moment and I am grateful for that. This tile I will frame and keep in sight as a reminder to myself what tangeling is all about.

String 136 and more

I got mail today from Linda Farmer as an answer to my pattern LO´s . Sometimes things just go their own way. Early in my tangling journey I learned a basic pattern, Eke. I then found it uninteresting and in fact; boring. After that I never used it again and forgot all about it. Linda told me that LO´s was a tangleation of Eke! I am so happy she saw that. I belive I am a little bit wiser today than in the beginning. When a pattern seems too simple or when it doesn´t appeal to me, then I do consider it more than one time and not seldom I find myself really like it when I have tried it out. So I thank you Linda for reminding me on Eke! 

Here is my tile from this morning. I started with string 136. Then the patterns: Echoism, Nipa, Tipple, LO´s (my tangleation of Eke) and Ipso (Jennifer Hohensteiner). Note that I had not opened my mail-box when I did this!I love when moments like this appears. It is a reminder to me that there is so much more than I can see at the first sight, and there is knowledge beyond what I know of! More to find out....