Can you make them in color?

Frequently people ask if it's "OK" to make a Zentangle in color. I reply that the traditional tile is done with black ink on a cream background.

No one ever said it was "not-OK" to make colored Zentangle-inspired art work though, right?

And here is some of the finest I've seen.

I recently visited the Franklin Park Conservatory in Columbus, Ohio, where there is a fabulous collection of the glass art of Dale Chihuly. This photo was taken from beneath one of the sculptures.

Who IS this guy, and why is he staring?

He's John Trentwith, a prominent "resident" at Philadelphia's Laurel Hill Cemetery, where I am a volunteer tour guide and where I recently held a Zentangle class.

You might still be confused.

Why is he staring at you from this blog post?

Because on his monument, high in the air, are some carvings. They form a funereal swag of rosettes and decorate the base of his marker quite nicely.

See?

And, those rosebuds, and John himself, were the inspiration behind the tangle pattern I developed called (what else?) Trentwith.

You can find it on the Tangle Patterns page!

Y, oh Y!

I must admit: I've been a little scared of this pattern...

Oddly, in my BRAIN I get it; in my hand, not so much.

Usually, it's the other way around. I can draw a pattern but can't verbalize the strokes.

Practice, breathe, practice, breathe....

An Entire Building?

Here's a view of the old Post Office building at 30th Street in Philadelphia. These towers are on all four corners of the building, with this gigantic tangle on two sides. In addition to these tower panels, there's a frieze that runs just below the roofline that has a complementary pattern.

My friend Patti said (after taking a class), "I see patterns everywhere now!"

Thanks!

Saturday was my very first, honest-to-goodness Zentangle class, and I couldn't have done it without the help and support of many folks!

So here's a hearty thanks to my pal Beth who provided the opportunity and to my ever-lovin' who schlepped the goods around and to my cheerleading friends who rah-rah-rah'd me all the while.

And, of course, a great big thank you to the students who took the plunge and signed up for the class based solely on "what the catalog said." Their enthusiasm still has me bubbling, days later. This tile contains all of their "chops," interpreted Zentangle fashion.

Tick Tock, Around the Clock

So, here's a cool thing...

There's a guy who made the human clock... pictures of people holding times of the day...

and the same guy made the human calendar... pictures of people in a calendar grid ...

Now, he's doing a MAIL CLOCK.

The deal is that you send a POSTCARD with the time you have chosen (He's got it all programmed at his website so that he doesn't end up with four thousand "high noon" cards and no three a.m. ones.) by the date you are assigned and VOILA! your post card becomes the official representation of that time.

I tried for 9:10, as that's my birthday but had to settle for my age. I figure that if someone is seeing my age, it's a rare sighting, as it's in the middle of the night.

Here's the link, in case you're interested in joining in!

http://www.humanclock.com/mailclock.php

Faintly Freaky But Kinda Cool, Nevertheless

Here's a postcard I received from Rebecca in Zurich. (I belong to Post Crossing.)

The picture struck me as some weird kaleidoscopic giraffe part. I flipped the card over to read the description. It said that the image is of Polyplectron bicalcaratum... sounds faintly chemical in nature... but NO! It turns out to be a type of pheasant, and this image is a magnification of the feathers.

Look closer... there are patterns everywhere.