Weekly Challenge #97: String Theory v. XX -"No Strings Attached"

This week's Diva challenge was a string challenge with a twist.  Instead of giving us a string to tangle with Laura challenged us to create a tangle using no strings at all.  Since I like to use more of the 'graphic' patterns this challenge actually turned out to be rather easy.  I almost feel like I cheated.  I am pleased with the outcomes though.

My first ZIA is in honor of my mother who passed away in 2004.  Her birthday was on Monday.  She loved to wear mittens and play with glitter so her nickname was Sparkle Mitten.

My next tangle is a little bit softer.  I used the new/old tangle Zinger since I missed last week's challenge.

Happy Tangling!

-Jennifer Gayle

Weekly Challenge #94: "UMT v. X: Socc"

This week is the first week of the month so it is time again for "Use My Tangle".  Every month our Diva, Laura, features a tangle submitted by one of us.  This month's came from Erin Olson, CZT.  Her tangle Socc is simple, in that it only requires one type of stroke, but it creates such a beautifully complex design that you would never know it.

I spent the better part of this week in the hospital for migraine headache.  They are nasty little buggers.  While I was in the hospital I was picturing what I wanted to draw for this week's challenge.  It looked so much better in my head.

I really liked how the circle came out, so I decided to try again.  This time I practiced my shading and created a group of orbs.  I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

Socc is definitely a fun and easy tangle to use.  It will be taking a permanent place in my library!

-Jennifer Gayle

Weekly Challenge #93: New Official Tangle "Bunzo"

This past week Zentangle co-founder Maria introduced us to a new tangle, called Bunzo.  Our challenge this week was to create a design using Bungo.  I've been suffering from a terrible migraine for several weeks now, so I kept my designs rather simple.

Due to my migraine I wasn't able to get last week's stripes challenge posted in time.  I did get it finished to I thought I'd share it.  I had just purchased a set of metallic gel pens so I decided to go a little crazy.

I hope that everyone is safe after the wrath of Sandy.  Have a great week!

-Jennifer Gayle

Weekly Challenge #91: "Beads of Courage"

This week's challenge was in honor of Laura's son Artoo's second birthday.  Artoo suffers from a rare neurological disorder called Moebius Syndrome.  Recently Artoo has begun participating in a wonderful program called Beads of Courage.  Created as a way to help children cope with chronic illnesses, Beads of Courage allows children to tell their story of courage and strength through strands of colorful beads.  Artoo's strand, already over fourteen feet long and not nearly complete, was the inspiration for this week's Zentangle creation.

I, personally, am rather pleased at how my drawing came out this week.  I used real lampwork beads as my inspiration.  It was also a good exercise in shading.  I love the use of shading in Zentangle, I just often get lazy and leave it out.  This is a good inspiration to start using more shading.

-Jennifer Gayle

Weekly Challenge #90- "String Theory XIII"

This week's challenge had us going back to basics.  One of the foundations of a Zentangle is the string. It is a guide line drawn within a tile that helps inspire the placement of the tangles in the design.  This week we were challenged to use this string as the foundation of our Zentangle:

You can find this string and others, as well as an explanation

on the importance of strings as TanglePatterns.com.

I found this week's challenge particularly challenging.  Like many others I have developed a habit of not using strings when I design my Zentangles.  Forcing myself to work within the confines of the string really made me stop and think about the tangles I wanted to use and how they interacted with the surrounding tangles.  I am not particularly thrilled with the outcome, but I believe the challenge has inspired me to start playing with strings and to push myself to go out of my comfort zone.

-Jennifer Gayle

Zentangle Ganesha

This week I have been focusing my energies on creating Zentagled Ganeshas for a friend in the zentangle community.  Dilip Patel, the first CZT in India, has made it his goal to collect 100 zentangled images of the Hindu god Ganesha.  He has invited those of us in the Diva's circle to participate.

My first Ganesha comes from this week's Diva challenge.  We were to use the new tangle 'IX'.  Honestly it is my least favorite primarily because of my unsteady hand.

For the other three, I searched the internet for images of Ganesha.

I hope that I have honored the Lord Ganesha well.

-Jennifer Gayle

Weekly Challenge #87- "String Theory v. XII: Pinwheels For Peace v. II"

Today, September 21, is the International Day of Peace.  In celebration our weekly challenge was to create a 'Pinwheel for Peace'.  Our pinwheels would contribute to Pinwheels for Peace–originally started as an art instillation by two Florida high school teachers with only 500, 000 pinwheels in 2005.  On September 21, 2011 the number of pinwheels contributed to Pinwheels for Peace, including contributions from the Diva Challenge, had grown to 3.5 million.

I was first introduced to Taoism and the symbol of the Yin Yang my freshman year of high school during our unit on world religions.  Since then the Yin Yang has been an ever present symbol in my life (it is actually a permanent symbol at this point).  I have best heard it described as a balance of opposites.  When trying to decide what to draw for the International Day of Peace I thought back to this balance of opposites.  What is peace if nothing else but finding harmony among those with differences.  So, for my pinwheel I went back to my old friend because, like in so many situations, I believe he conveys exactly what I wanted to say.

-Jennifer Gayle