Boomeresque:Definition
1. Adj.: Describing a person born between 1 Jan. 1946 and 31 Dec. 1964
2. Adj.: Description of a person, place or thing possessing Baby Boomer je ne sais quoi
3. See also, Boomer, Esq.: A Baby Boomer who is also a licensed attorney (See, e.g., About).

Friday Zentangle®Challenge #1: Back to Basics

by Suzanne Fluhr on June 21, 2019 · 12 comments

Zentangle tiles

Some Boomeresque readers know that in addition to being addicted to Zentangle®, I’m also very fond of Mr. Excitement, travel, sunsets, flora (even though no plant species is safe in my care), and dogs. Most blog gurus strongly recommend niche blogs; that is, pick a narrow topic and only write about that. It turns out, I’m just not a narrow topic kinda person. So, Boomeresque, is more of a webzine where I write about various topics, but mostly travel and Zentangle. One of these days, I’ll get to the site redesign I’ve been meaning to undertake — for several years.

Brigantine New Jersey sunset

Gratuitous photo I took just after sunset earlier this week. in Brigantine, New Jersey.

(If you have no idea what Zentangle is and you care, start with this post about Zentangle basics or this one where I explain more about how Zentangle drew me in — so to speak.

I first discovered Zentangle where else, but from a Google search I did in Hawaii in April of 2014. I was recovering from a brief hospitalization in Paradise and I had what I can only describe as an inexplicable urge to draw or doodle or something like that. Soon after, I discovered Laura Harm’s Zentangle Diva Weekly Challenges. Until this year, pretty much like clockwork, Laura found the time to post a challenge on her blog every Monday. In addition to challenging us to explore  particular tangles or a technique, Laura used her weekly post as a compelling diary that made us care about her and her family.

Laura let us know she needed a break from her weekly challenge post. She last posted a challenge in March of this year, an impressive 387th challenge! Since then, I’ve checked on Mondays to see if she resumed her challenges, but there have been none since then.

Why I’m Starting a Friday Zentangle Challenge

I realize there are a gazillion Facebook Zentangle groups, and no doubt virtual Zentangle gatherings on other social media and websites, but I decided to see if I can resurrect a weekly challenge along the lines of what Laura did for several reasons:

  1. I consider this a character flaw, but I do best with externally dictated deadlines. This might be the result of practicing law for over 25 years or I selected myself into that profession because it fit my personality. (The old chicken or egg conundrum.) When I did Laura’s weekly challenges, they inspired me to write a blog post virtually every week which usually verged somewhat into what was happening in my life and travels. I’m hoping I can resurrect the discipline by posting an unimaginatively named “Friday Zentangle Challenge” each week — on you guessed it, Friday. I figure that gives people a chance to work on them over the weekend if they are so inclined.
  2. I miss my Zentangle Diva Challenge peeps. Through viewing and commenting on other people’s responses to Laura’s challenges, I felt a bond with many of the “regulars”. I even met some of you IRL (in real life): for example, Margaret in Birmingham, England; and Charlotte in San Diego, California. It’s a small Zentangular world.
  3. The weekly challenges inspired me to go to Providence, Rhode Island in April of 2015, to do the Certified Zentangle Teacher (CZT) training #18 where I met trainees from around the world. I even visited one of them, Alicia, in Spain.
  4. Zentangle and Zentangle Inspired Art has proven vital in preserving at least some of my sanity as I watch too much cable TV news. Maybe my challenges will help others get through what seems like an especially fraught time in my country and the world.

Friday Zentangle Challenge #1: Back to Basics

My first Friday challenge is inspired by Debbie New, CZT from Singapore. I met Debbie in Providence, Rhode Island at our CZT 18 training. On Facebook, Debbie encouraged other members of our group to do a tile reflective of the number 4 because we met at our training in April of 2015, and April is the fourth month, and 2019 is the fourth anniversary of our training group.

I actually worked on my tiles during April, but that was also the month we moved, so I never managed to share it. If you’ve ever moved, you know how disruptive and exhausting that process can be, especially for members of the baby boomer demographic. We are usually downsizing which calls for a lot of mental and emotional exertion as we decide whether we really should hold onto Grandma’s china and those letters from our first boyfriend.

For my tile for Debbie’s challenge, I decided to revisit the first tile we did in our CZT training. We were told to use a “Z” string and to use the tangles Knightsbridge, Crescent Moon, Printemps and Hollibaugh (links to step out are below). These were all tangles first introduced by what I call the “Zentangle Mother Ship”. Most people refer to tangles deconstructed by Zentangle® founders, Maria Thomas and Rick Roberts, as “official” Zentangle tangles.

For this week’s challenge, incorporate the 4 tangles Knightsbridge, Crescent Moon, Printemps and Hollibaugh into a composition. You don’t have to use a Z string, but that’s an easy way to divide a tile into four spaces. This is also what I have my Introduction to Zentangle classes do.

A Zentangle Z string

This is an example of a “Z” string. For the uninitiated, a “string” is part of the Zentangle process where you divide your tile lightly with pencil into shapes that will guide where you place your tangles. Usually, the string will disappear as you work.

Official Zentangle tiles are 3.5 inch squares. I traced mine on white card stock. In addition to using 4 tangles, I decided to take the “4” theme one step farther and to use four tiles with my “Z” spanning all four. My first effort looked like this:

Zentangle tile using Knightsbridge, crescent moon, hollibaugh and printemps

For my first attempt, I drew a large Z string across all four tiles. Note: My Knightsbridge is really a tangleation (variation).

I thought this seemed somewhat ungainly, so I decided to try again with smaller zig-zags for the string.

Zentangle tiles

For my second attempt, I used thinner zig zags for my strings on each tile while still having them spill across all four tiles. (I like perfs in my Hollibaugh tangles. That’s not part of the original tangle).

If You Respond to my First Friday Zentangle Challenge, Please Share Your Work With Us

Please share a little about your experience doing this challenge with us in a comment below. If you would like comments from others about your work, include the URL to where people can find what you did in your comment below.

I am not using Laura’s “Mr. Linky system” because that is not a secure site. I’ll look around for something else as a substitute, but for now, please use the comment system below. For the first 2 times you leave a comment on here, I will have to moderate your comment, so it won’t appear until I do that.

When you leave a comment here, you are asked to provide your name and email. If you would like your comment to link to your website, you can also include the URL for that. PS: My site has a security certificate. However, if you prefer, your name can be Mickey Mouse and your email address can be: ThisIsNotMyRealEmail@gmail.com and you can leave the URL field blank.

Warning Tech-speak: I need to redesign the theme for my blog. Therefore, right now, you cannot subscribe by email to receive a notice when new challenges are posted. If you would like me to send you an email to remind you when the next challenge is posted (hopefully, next Friday), please send me an email to: Suzanne@boomeresque.com 

Happy Tangling!

{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }

Susan Kelley Pundt June 22, 2019 at 2:28 pm

Hi Suzanne. Amazingly, you have chosen the exact same prompt that Sandy Kelley-Jones posted last Monday in Today’s Tangles Keeping It Classic, a site which Anita A. Westin and I help to moderate. Since Sandy’s prompting posts come out on Monday and Chris Titus’s Square One Purely Zentangle “the One” posts appear on Fridays, I also recommend Tuesday or Wednesday as a posting day for your prompts. My tile for this challenge is on TTKIC. Not being tech savvy, I don’t see where to show it to you directly.

Reply

Suzanne Fluhr June 22, 2019 at 6:08 pm

Thanks for the heads up about the Today’s Tangles Keeping it Classic doing their prompts on Mondays. Square One does Fridays, so I’m going to change mine to the Hump Day Zentangle Challenge.

Reply

karen June 22, 2019 at 3:05 pm

I miss her and hearing all about her family❤️
please add me to your blog list!! xo
thank you for creating this!!

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Suzanne Fluhr June 22, 2019 at 6:05 pm

Will do! BTW, people have suggested I change my challenge day to Wednesdays because of others that occur on Mondays and Fridays. So, I am going to rename mine. Hump day challenge day.

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Susan Pundt June 27, 2019 at 6:11 pm

Where do I post a tile, please?

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Suzanne Fluhr June 27, 2019 at 9:22 pm

We have a FB group for this challenge. I’ll invite you to join. In addition, you’re welcome to post a link to it here.

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Cari Pollack June 22, 2019 at 7:45 pm

I love this and I miss you! I’ll do mine tomorrow 🙂

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Judy Engler Priddy June 23, 2019 at 12:53 pm

The smallest tiles I have are ironically sized at 4 x 4. To purchase these I had my Mr. Excitement drive me to downtown Kansas City. Local stores carry 6 x 6 tiles. Can’t forget this Grandma us Technology Challenged. I will do my best to try and keep up with all the Advanced participants.

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Suzanne Fluhr June 29, 2019 at 10:15 pm

I saw that on Amazon. The 3.5 x 3.5 size might be proprietary to the Zentangle Mother Ship or something. It doesn’t really matter. You can get started on a 4×4. I hope you’ll enjoy it. I see an overlap between Zentangle and quilting—-patterns. The good thing about Zentangle is that you don’t have to lug around a sewing machine. Everything you need can fit into a little pocketbook.

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HeidiSue June 26, 2019 at 4:41 pm

Ooh! I’m excited to find this! I miss the Diva Challenges too. I’m going to keep my eye on this, and I LOVE this one! the Z string across tiles. Excellent!

Reply

Suzanne Fluhr June 27, 2019 at 2:16 pm

Thanks, HeidiSue. If you want to, message me or email me your Facebook name so I can add you to the Hump Day Challenge Facebook group. And, you can leave a link to any work you want to share here.

Reply

Robin June 29, 2019 at 9:30 pm

My brother, Bruce, thinks #1 looks like two tiles are matchboxes. I think #2 looks like pinballs bouncing.

Reply

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