Did you ever have to make up your mind?

• Say yes to one and leave the other behind? Oh, did you ever have to make up your mind? (Cue Lovin' Spoonful tune...)
  
  I, like so many others, LOVE the idea of seeing the same string in action... and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the idea of gettin' somebody else to draw me that string! Why IS the string part so stubborn sometimes?
  
  ANYWAY, I used the string. I used a random list of patterns. I tangled. Hmmmm. The last pattern I drew was Pokeleaf. Here's the tile before being "leafed." I just can't decide if it "needs" to have that additional pattern.
  
  The Arthur William Radford quote - "Half of art is knowing when to stop" - is running around in my brain!
  
  BTW, I use random.org, which has a nifty utility for randomizing a list of words, to act as a gigantic icosahedron.
  

Not the FULL Picture

Laura, our well-loved DIVA, challenges once again! This time, it's draw with your non-dominant hand. I have to tell you: I totally love this one. I often do an exercise in my Creative Thinking classes that pairs people up and requires each partner to draw the other partner, using the non-dom hand. Similar "rules" apply: pen only, no eraser, just draw!

So, I embarked on my tile, string first. A little wobbly, but not so bad.

The tile turned out pretty well, too.

I found that I was holding my non-dom (for me, the left) hand still and moving the tile a lot more (lesson one: move the tile!)

I had to move slowly and deliberately, guiding the pen through each stroke (lesson two: duh!)

I made Crescent Moon first, as that's the pattern I generally teach first but decided to take a "risk" and include Betweed, which requires concentration (for me) and Trentwith, a tangle of my own, just to develop some more mastery over it (lesson three: don't be scared!)

I found that shading was the hardest part, as I couldn't quite get the pencil to "behave itself" (lesson four: let the tangle happen!)

Now, here's the REAL story. What the string can't show and the tile doesn't show is the amount of effort, concentration, and work (in a way) this tile was. What DOES show that is the following photo, of the nib of a brand new pen. Not so new, now.

It Pays to Save EVERYTHING!

A star? Can I tangle a star? Welllllll, yes! On this old (old but not quite vintage) bisque porcelain star I had sitting around. Too cool to pop into the "donate" tub, but no idea what it would be good for. Guess I know now!