Dish it up...

This has been a weekend for projects.  I worked on my dissertation topic some more and am in another waiting phase for feedback from my mentor.  So what do I do while I'm waiting?  I tangle, of course!

I am not sure how I ended up with so many projects at one time, though.  Well... yes I do, too.  I started one several weeks (months?) ago and found a spurt of inspiration last week with some new tangles to try.  And then, a friend approached me today about donating a couple of "art" plates to a local silent auction/fund raiser for our local AIDs awareness and treatment non-profit organization. (By the way, it's called Upper-Savannah-Care-Services-Dishing-It-Out-In-Greenwood if anyone wants to take a look).  He said, "Your Zentangle (R) stuff would be really cool.  So - after running around to a few stores for white plates and a paint pen, I sat down this afternoon and whipped up a couple of plates.

First of all, tangling with a paint pen can be frustrating.  I could not find an ultra fine pen so I had to settle for fine.  Also, the tip dries pretty quickly so you have to keep shaking and priming it. However, the quick dry part is good for larger pieces so you don't run your hands through it.

One of the plates I chose was a Corelle pattern that already had a "string" on it!  I didn't add any additional strings to this one... I just tangled where I felt like it - letting on pattern melt into another.  Another issue with paint on a surface like corelle or china is that shading is not really an option.  So the depth I might get  by shading didn't happen.  Here's a shot of my progress about 1/2 way through...

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And here's the finished product:

That one was so much fun that I decided to do another.  This was a square salad size plate with an inch border:  I used a Tombow gray marker to create my string then tangled it like the first one:

This one is oriented correctly

This one flipped clockwise when I uploaded it!

And here are both plates ready for the auction!  Well - almost.  I have to spray them with a poly coat first...

Another project that is nearly completed is my "envisioning" piece.  I took the 3" tiles and traced them randomly on a large 16x20 cotton fiber paper.  I drew a string behind all of the tiles and tangled the spaces as I felt led.  Some tangles were chosen because of their "elemental" meaning - droplets and waves for water, florz, and knightsbridge for their foundation/earth feel - others were chosen because they represent something important to me - the scrolls represent my degree completion, jetties always look like bouncy-balls so they represent my grandson, etc. And Abbe Road (among others) reminds me of my anam cara, MaggieKat.  All of these things are important in my life and in my vision of my future life of abundant joy and well-being.  Now I need to search for the right words or images to add in the tile spaces.  I hope someone else will take a chance on some Z.I.A. (zentangle inspired art) and envision their own perfect self.

Initial draft from my sketchbook

Just need to add my visions now!

OK... one more.  I wanted to try the new tangle Tuftid on Linda Farmer's Tangle Patterns site. I tend to tangle at times when I have to be quiet or still - neither of which are easy for me.  So - I typically start a tangle during church (I know people wonder what on earth I'm doing, but I think I'm less distracting when I tangle than when I fidget!).  Here's Tuftid and friends:

Happy Tangling!