MIANDER

MIANDER is a pattern that keeps appearing in my tangles. It can grow in any direction depending on how you turn your tile. Shaded or unshaded, it’s a fun pattern to try. It resembles the official Zentangle® pattern TRIPOLI, but in a square kind of way, as you’ll see if you follow along.

First, begin with a square. Add a triangle on each side. Turn your tile 45 degrees in either direction and draw another square on the side of one of the triangles. Add a triangle to each of the remaining sides of the square. Turn your tile again, and repeat. If you keep turning in the same direction, circular or spiral patterns may form. I like to vary my direction and let the pattern “wander aimlessly or casually without urgent destination.” That’s how Merriam-Webster defines meander—the inspiration for naming this pattern, and so zen! My choice of spelling is a combination of the names of two special people, Mindy and Andy. 

Merry Christmas, you two! Merry Christmas to you!

Disclaimer: If this pattern has appeared elsewhere as a tangle pattern, please let me know so that I can give full credit. 

Ganesha call...and response.

Here is my Zentangle-inspired interpretation of Lord Ganesha, proposed by Dilip Patel, CZT, in his quest to reach 100+ by December 31, on his blog here.

Alphabetica G-I

I added a few more tangled alphabet letters under the tab Alphabetica. I am creating this alphabet for my 3 grand nieces as birthday gifts. Happy birthday Meghan!

Zendala Class

This morning I taught a Zendala class in Northampton. We used the template for Zendala Dare #7 from The Bright Owl blog which I transferred to blank Zendala tiles prior to the class. 

We incorporated six tangles: Ixorus, Braze, Betweed, Dex, Mist and Florz, with a little bit of optional Rain ...appropriate for our calm before the approaching East Coast storm! Here are the class results. Gorgeous!

Thanks, Amy, for the photo.

Be sure to visit The Bright Owl blog by Erin Koetz Olson, CZT, for weekly Zendala templates that are printable and can be used as is, or transferred to Zendala tiles. She has a tutorial link about how to do this on her site. If you're so inclined, you may submit your finished Zendala by following Erin's instructions, and also view a gallery of all participants for each week. She has 28 templates available. Thanks, Erin!

For Nancy

Sometimes the thing to do is send a Zentangle ... or Zendala ... to a friend.

The Diva's Weekly Challenge #80

Imagine how surprised I was to see that my tangle design, Mi², was selected by The Diva (Laura Harms, CZT) as this week's challenge. Well, here is my contribution. As you can see, I love sprinkling seed shapes throughout my tangles. Tune in again next week as I come up with more tangles to 'seedify.'

Thanks Laura!

Mi² Revisited

A few months ago I submitted a tangle pattern, called  Mi² (Me Too), to CZT Linda Farmer's tanglepatterns.com. From there it took on a life of its own as Rick Roberts highlighted (and elegantly simplified) it on Blog Zentangle and the Zentangle Newsletter. Later, Maria Thomas praised its charms again on their blog. Then today, as I was composing my blog post with some tips on how to more easily set up the underlying 'seed' structure of the pattern, I discovered that CZT Laura Harms, has selected Mi² as weekly challenge #80 on her fabulously inspiring blog, I Am the Diva. Be sure to see Maria's sparkling contribution to the diva's challenge here. Okay, I know I've probably inserted way too many links in this brief paragraph, but it's my way of thanking Linda, Rick, Maria, Laura, and all of you who have adapted this pattern to your own zentangle-inspired art. I love finding it in unexpected places!
Here are some tips and illustrations for beginning this tangle pattern that may possibly make it easier to draw the initial 'seeds.'  With your micron pen, draw small diagonal lines, in alternate directions, for as many rows as you like. Be sure that each diagonal line is slanting opposite to the one above, below, and on either side. Then go back and connect the bottom to the top of each side of the slanted line with a mini-crescent moon. To complete the seed, fill in (or not) with ink. See here for the remaining tangle steps.

As you can see, I've varied the length of the lines, which adds to the fun. I hope this helps.

Atlas Planetanglia

I am a four-time participant in The Sketchbook Project sponsored by Art House Co-op in Brooklyn, NY. My first three Zentangle-inspired sketchbooks can be viewed in their Digital Library. (You must create an account at their site to be able to view any of the thousands of sketchbooks.)
Currently I am working on Sketchbook Project 2013, titled Atlas Planetanglia. It will build on the imagery and process I used in 2012, titled Tangled Planets. Images for this work-in-progress can be viewed on my Galleria Planetanglia blog page.

Copyright 2012 Mimi Lempart

Tangled planets?

Almost a year after becoming a Certified Zentangle Teacher (CZT) in 2009, I began a daily practice of drawing one Zentangle a day. The small, 3.5-inch format enabled me to practice the 102 patterns I now had at my disposal to learn so that I could eventually teach them to others. I began storing the tiles in poly-protected album sleeves as a reference source which I still use today.

 Looking back through these albums I discovered the first time I used a circular format was in May 2011. My strings and tangles were random, not symmetrical as mandalas, and thus began my “big bang” exploration of tangled planets.