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Zentangle Diva Challenge #242 – “Gourdgeous” Post-Halloween Edition

by Suzanne Fluhr on November 2, 2015 · 19 comments

[If Zentangle is a new concept for you, you can read about it here.]

I suspect this pumpkin accurately represents how some Halloween revelers felt as the night wore on.

I suspect this pumpkin accurately represents how some Halloween revelers felt as the night wore on.

It is after Halloween, and we’re expecting a high of 75 degrees Fahrenheit (24 degrees Celsius) later this week which is kind of freaky for this part of the world in November. (Based on my Google research, the average high temperature for Philadelphia in November is 57 degrees F.) Nonetheless, there have been plenty of suitably autumn-ish gourds and pumpkins around.

We are grandchildless empty nester curmudgeons, living in a Center City Philadelphia high rise apartment building that is home mostly to graduate students and old people like us, so we weren’t in on any active trick or treating. However, judging by the street noise on Halloween night, there was plenty of revelry being celebrated by those more intoxicated exciting than we are.

And just so you can wipe your memory of the image on the right, I’ll share this one of more “appropriate” pumpkins.

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Orange and white pumpkins for sale near Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia.

In keeping with the season, the Diva’s challenge this week was to use a new tangle from the Zentangle Mother Ship called “Gourdgeous”. I thought the titles of tangles are not supposed to be representational, but this one is definitely all about gourds. I had hoped to have this finished early in the day, but I got a little micro with the background. I think this motif could make for an interesting ZIA (Zentangle Inspired Art) that used more “gourds” in different orientations—but alas, there are only so many hours in the day.

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My most recent travel blog post might have some crossover appeal to Zentangle aficionados. I finally visited a 3,000 square foot art installation I’ve been meaning to get to—-like, for years. It’s called Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens by an eccentric mosaic artist, Isaiah Zagar. I think I can best describe it in words as a Magical Mystery Tour, meets Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, meets Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso. Of course, as is usually the case with art, the photos are worth a thousand words. If you have time, please check it out and let me know what you think.

In the United States, the Halloween custom is for children to dress up in costumes and go house to house soliciting candy. They say, “Trick or Treat”–i.e. give us candy or we’ll put toilet paper all over your trees. The wee ones out with their parents are cute, the drunk college students—not so much.

Do they celebrate Halloween where you live? If so, how is it celebrated?

{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }

Laurel Regan November 2, 2015 at 9:44 pm

Very nice Diva tile – love the colours! I went with white on black for mine, which will be up on tomorrow’s Tangled Tuesday post. That mosaic wall is gorgeous – I will definitely check out the rest of the photos!

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Suzanne Fluhr November 2, 2015 at 11:10 pm

Thanks, Laurel. I’ll look for your post. Thanks also for your comment on my Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens blog post.

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Annemarie November 3, 2015 at 2:33 am

Your gourds (I thought the same as you about the names of tangles) are very pretty and I love the circles around them.
Here in the Netherlands Halloween is not yet really celebrated but more and more each year. I did not hear about children going from door to door, but maybe in other towns.

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Yorkshire Tortoise November 3, 2015 at 3:19 am

We have just had officially the hottest November day on record here in Ireland too so that means the wonky temperatures are across the globe. Goodness knows what is happening with global warming. The last two days have been lovely, better than anything we had in the summer this year.

Halloween is celebrated much the same way here now, dressing up and trick or treating has become a big thing which didn’t happen in my youth. We just had pumpkins and stuff. What I have seen quite a lot of here in Ireland, as opposed to England, quite fun bits in the street. I don’t mean just blow up spooky ghosts, but things that thought has gone into. For example there were a few years were a witch on a broomstick was put up a lampost, with the lampost between her legs as though she had just run smack into it on her broomstick. Then came the year she was up the lampost but there was also a ladder against the lampost with a fireman climbing up to rescue her. Hilarious lol. I wish I had a photo to show you.

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Suzanne Fluhr November 3, 2015 at 6:14 pm

Sounds like the Irish have the right Halloween spirit.

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Yorkshire Tortoise November 3, 2015 at 3:22 am

Sorry, I got so carried away, chatting about your interesting post that I forgot to say your Gorgeous Mandela is beautiful. I love the colours and you have managed to make it look really artistic. I will have to practice more.

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joanne Faherty November 3, 2015 at 4:44 am

Love your tile for this weeks diva challenge I love the mandala behind it. The art wall looks cool too I hope I get to check out your other post. Reminds me of Gaudi too.

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Annie November 3, 2015 at 5:22 am

I had to scroll past that pumpkin!!! Yeuk, yeuk.
I do like your gourds and that fantastic detailed background. And what an amazing mosaic you have in Philadelphia…I love it! Reminds me most of an extension of Gaudi’s work in Barcelona and other places in northern Spain.

Halloween is beginning to take hold here in Spain but no one really knows why or what it is. English teachers are explaining it to the children in school and they think it sounds like fun, but mainly it is a commercial thing….Axxx

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Ulrike B November 3, 2015 at 7:33 am

very nice, beautiful colors

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Carmela November 3, 2015 at 11:16 am

Lovely tile, i found it very difficult to draw.

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Jacqueline Gum November 3, 2015 at 1:32 pm

Love the tile, and especially the colors. No Halloween in my building or in my old neighborhood in Florida. I feel badly that the kids today can’t celebrate the way we used to:) So much fun in the dark with our pillowcases full of goodies, some of them even homemade! Popcorn balls were my favorite:)

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Suzanne Fluhr November 3, 2015 at 6:12 pm

You’re right. It did seem more fun when we were young. (Wow. Just saying that makes me feel old.) I used to secretly start throwing out our kids’ take little by little. They never seemed to notice. Our leftovers went straight to our places of employment—-except for the few little Snickers in the freezer. 😉

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Jean Chaney November 3, 2015 at 6:38 pm

What surprised me most when we moved to the Phoenix area from NJ many years ago, is that nobody here has even heard about “goosey night”. It was so much fun, but today people might not look so kindly on youngsters writing all over their cars with soap. I found the numbers down this year too. Must be the state of the world. Anyway, your gourds are quite nice and I agree with the comment about them being very representational.

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Suzanne Fluhr November 3, 2015 at 11:59 pm

If you just asked me about “goosey night”, I also would have told you I’d never heard of it, but we have (had) the same thing except we called it Mischief Night—-for obvious reasons. Nowadays, in the US, I’d be afraid someone would get shot making mischief. I never even let our sons Trick or Treat by themselves. This year, there were local reports of people finding sewing needles stuck into candy bars. The times they are a changing.

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Devin November 3, 2015 at 10:47 pm

That first pumpkin–hilarious. OTOH, your mandala was exquisite and must certainly have taken hours to do. I plan to go read your recent blog on the mosaics first thing tomorrow when I’m fresh. I really enjoy your blog.

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Suzanne Fluhr November 4, 2015 at 12:02 am

Thanks, Devin. The mandala definitely took more time than I was planning to spend on this week’s challenge. Oh well. I actually find that many of life’s projects and tasks take longer than i think they will. By my age, you would have thought that I would have figured all this out already. Thanks for stopping by my other blog post. I’ll be curious to read what you think of Isaiah Zagar’s mosaic (etc.) work..

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Annette P. November 4, 2015 at 2:14 am

Your Gourdgeous´s are wonderful! I like your choice of tangles for the circles, too!

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Sidney November 6, 2015 at 10:00 pm

This is a beautiful tile! I love the mandala, and the colors of the gourds.

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LezliB November 9, 2015 at 4:08 am

I really like your composition. This could be hung on a wall and be a focal point. The colors that you used catch the eye, and leave the background where it should be … in the background. The tangles you used for the background seem to indicate perhaps a woven basket that the gourds are in. Anyway, Beautifully done!

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