Weekly Tiles 10/24/2016 – 10/30/2016

Diva Challenge 290 – ’Nzeppel & Flux Duotangle

A duotangle is a *tile or design with two and only two tangles (duh). This week the Diva's challenge was to do a duotangle of 'Nzeppel and Flux. Both are tangles I use overuse frequently, though rarely together. 

Flux is an interesting tangle because unlike most, it has two “official” forms with two *stepouts. Before I did the tiles, I drew and shaded both versions of Flux in my sketchbook.

Two versions of Flux with different shading

 My first attempt was in another sketchbook on tan paper, which unfortunately doesn’t photograph well. I’m sure there’s a way to restore the lovely tan hue of the paper, but I’ll leave that for another day. The idea was to explore layers and shading and introduce a little color. 'Nzeppel is the wire-like tangle at top and bottom.

Diva Challenge 290, Tile #1 

 Not entirely happy with that one. ‘Nzeppel is a grid-based tangle, and I thought, “what if I take one of the repeating units in ‘Nzeppel and use it as a *string, then filled the squashed balloon segments with both versions of Flux?"

Diva challenge 290 - 'Nzeppel and Flux, attempt #2

Ahh, that’s better. I know Zentangle says that there are no mistakes, and that you shouldn't be critical of your own work, but there are always going to be tiles that you think turn out better than others.

It was a relatively busy and stressful week, so I finished two more tiles that I started in Hilton Head, just to relax. The first one kind of captures what my week was like!

Mr. E, Crescent Moon, Hollibaugh,Tipple, Black Pearl, Florz, Tripoli, Mooka

Garlic Cloves, Binda, 1/2 Orbs, Ruutz

That's it for this week. Thought I would start defining my terms (not everybody tangles!)

*tile – from Linda Farmer’s blog: “A 3 1/2-inch x 3 1/2-inch (89 mm x 89 mm) square card of high quality paper. The format of a Zentangle®. So named because completed tiles can be arranged together to create a beautiful mosaic.”

*string – from Linda Farmer’s blog: “One or several random free-form pencil lines drawn within the tile’s border, creating sections within which one adds tangle patterns to create a Zentangle®.”

*stepout – A series of steps used to create a tangle.

Weekly tiles (plus tempus fugit)

Been gone for a while. Been busy, been covered up, but mostly just lost in the day-to-day. I think it’s time to get back on here again, even if this becomes an “action item” in my BuJo (ask me – I dare you).  I guess that’s the Rational in me coming out.

Anyway. One of my favorite Zentangle Artists is Lily Moon. Her work inspires me. Her productivity inspires me. Her blog inspires me. It’s not chatty, not full of technique, rationale, daily life. Though she often posts themes (“color”) or thoughts, usually what she does is regularly post what she creates each week or two. Often with no comment, just pictures. And I spend hours studying what she posts.

So I think I’m going to try that. I have been posting my work occasionally on Facebook, but since only a handful of my FB friends really give a damn about my art, I feel like I’m showing off a little to the others. Makes me uncomfortable. Plus, I can only post finished work.

I’m going to try and post once a week, Sunday, for now. I can post my art, my tiles, my sketchbook, knowing that only friends who are interested will seek me out.

Like Lily, I do have thoughts/opinions, I do have progressions, I do have themes and tutorials. But mostly I want to have a place to put my “stuff.” Comments will always be welcome as will silence.

Work from October 15 - 22 (more or less):

Facebook Square One Challenge: Tagh (with Antique, Shattuck and A tiny Tipple)

Diva Challenge #289

The Diva challenge for last week was "Leafy Goodness." Looking at her blog now, I realize that I did something very similar to the Diva's example. Oh, well. Sincerest form of flattery, blah, blah, blah.

Then, of course, the Election. Zentangle relaxes one, requires focus, takes one away from day-to-day inanity. So of course, having watched Debate #1 and #2, I decided in favor of sanity to draw instead of watch.
 So here is what I did when I wasn't obsessing over CNN or watching the Debate:

Zendala, unshaded

Zendala, shaded

Plus, I shaded a couple of tiles from Hilton Head that I had not finished:

Anyway, thanks for listening. 'Til next week!

When I'm not tangling...

If you've read my blog before, you'll know that one of my favorite things to do while on Hilton Head is to take one or more of the cooking classes at Michael Anthony's Cucina Italiana. I've been doing this for several years now, and it has completely changed how I cook. Last April I took two of them and reported on it in this blog entry, and in this one.

There are two types of classes - Hands-on and Demo. The Hands-on classes are my favorite, since you get to prepare each dish yourself (sometimes with a partner).  But they also take longer - up to 4 hours if you get lucky in your partner! Plus, you don't sit down for the lunch you've prepared until everything is done. That means a late, heavy lunch, which puts a damper on dinner plans.

The Demo classes, where Executive Chef Chris Johnson prepares the dishes while you watch and take notes, only takes 2 hours, and you taste the dishes as he finishes each one. Easier on the time, and you eat early enough that you can still enjoy dinner.. So I signed up for two of the Demo classes this time - the first was today. The handout has all the recipes that Chef Chris prepares in the class, and as you arrive you are given that, plus a nice glass of Prosecco.

Here is the layout and kitchen for the class. Get there early enough to get a seat where you can see every detail without resorting to the TV screen! I got there first, so I snagged the second seat from the right, where my nose was practically on the cutting board!

The kitchen

One of the things that slows down the Hands-on class is assembling the mise-en-place, all your ingredients, measured out before you begin and in some rough order of their use. For the Demo classes, this is all done ahead of time (it's good to be Chef).

The mise-en-place. Note the heavy Italian pounder in front, used for preparing the pork scallopine.

 Lunch includes wine, red or white, Prosecco in the center. 

 The first dish was Italian Wedding Soup, which we were told is not Italian, but Italian-American. The inspiration for this soup is a dish from the Campania and Lazio regions of Italy called "marriage soup," which originally referred not to nuptials but to the "marriage" of meat and greens. Whatever its origin, this recipe is so-o-o much better than the insipid Italian Wedding Soups I've had in the past. I can hardly wait to make it at home!

 Italian Wedding Soup 

Second dish - Occhi di Lupo alla Sardignola. Occhi di Lupo means "Eye of the Wolf" and refers to the pasta which is traditionally used in this Sardinian dish. We used a similar pasta - a mezzi rigatoni. This light and really satisfying dish has pasta, mild Italian sausage, and arugula, served in a light Pomodoro sauce.

Mezzi Occhi di Lupo

Occhi di Lupo alla Sardignola

The final dish was Scallopine di Maiale con Balsamico (Pork scallopine in a balsamic reduction). In the recipe was a pepper that I had never heard of before, but will certainly use - peppadew. It actually from Africa, and has an intensely sweet taste, but with a kick at the end. Absolutely delicious. Served here with sauteed spinach (which was actually green)

Scallopine di Maiale con Balsamico

There was a little down time between courses, so to keep myself from guzzling wine, I tangled on the only piece of paper available. It might only have been lunch, but I still had to drive home. Fortunately, I am never without my Micron pens!

The second entry in Diva Challenge #236: Freeform Aquafleur, Curly Bracket Feather, Fescu, Mooka
Fern
Cadent, Poke Leaf, and Poke Root

A good time was had by all, Especially me. I've signed up for another one next week!

Diva Challenge #236, or when to know you're finished

This week's Diva Challenge was to Tangle Something Unexpected. For me, it also turned into an unexpected challenge to stop tangling.

We are on vacation this week, on Hilton Head Island. We have a lot of friends here, almost all chefs and servers at fine restaurants. Some of them, like Chef Chaun Bescos, we've known for years. We've watched his progress from sous-chef at Alexander's Restaurant to Executive Chef at Redfish Hilton Head. Anyway, we have several restaurants that we try to visit a couple of times each while on the Island. Since we have our favorite server[s] at each, we have to juggle reservations so that we hit the restaurant on the nights they are working. Plus in the case of Redfish, we have to schedule for nights when both our favorite server Whitney, and Chaun are there.

So we have a calendar that I print off before leaving home where we can write in reservations - both planned and made. That's is what I chose to be my Something Unexpected.

First, I divided the areas on the calendar that we wouldn't need into Strings. Forgive the awful photography - light poor and most of the pictures taken with my Kindle...

September calendar page with reservations and strings

Then I started tangling.

'NZeppel, one of my "go-to" tangles

Kept tangling...

Opus in the center and Fife to the right

Kept tangling.

Enhanced Opus a la Eni Oken and added Lap and Crescent Moon

Kept tangling

How could I not use Mooka?

A reasonable person would have finished with a little Rick's Paradox in the remaining triangle, but I just couldn't stop adding stuff...

Rashell with auras, Msst, Zinger, Bronx Cheer, Ahh, Dragonair, Arukas. Oh, and of course Rick's Paradox

Somebody stop me before I hurt myself.

The final step, a little shading.

Whew. So, what do you think? Where should I have stopped?

On not caring, and Diva Challenges #232 and #233

 "…do not depend on the hope of results. …you may have to face the fact that your work will be apparently worthless and even achieve no result at all, if not perhaps results opposite to what you expect. As you get used to this idea, you start more and more to concentrate not on the results, but on the value, the rightness, the truth of the work itself." – Thomas Merton

This seems like a good place to remember why I’m tangling. I tell myself that I only care about the journey, that what I produce doesn’t matter..But then I share my work with my sister, (also a tangler and an artist), and when she compliments what I’ve done, I start criticizing it. So somewhere in a dark corner of my mind, I do care about what I produce.

I don’t want to be that way.

So I’m going to start doing at least one challenge a week (contrary to what I said here) and post it.

Last week on the Diva’s website, Holly Atwater challenged us to do one or more Zentangle meditations, or do a tile using Betweed. I love, love love the meditations, and hope Holly produces more of them. I only did #1 and #2, then went on to do a Betweed tile. 

Here are last week’s Challenge results:

Tripoli - Zentangle meditation #1 

Nipa - Zentangle Meditation #2

Betweed, with Rain, Bales tangleation, and Bilt

This weeks challenge (#233) was to use the latest official tangle, Zenith. This tangle was released at the recent Can Tangle. Stepout can be found here.

Zenith, with Tipple, Black Pearl, and Diva Dance

Diva Challenge #226

Guest Blogger Katie Crommett's theme for the Diva's Weekly Challenge #226 was "simplicity."

 Fun - did this one with my Iced Venti No-Fat Latte at the Starbuck's in our local Super Kroger.

Rashell and O-Cee Tangleations