[If you’re scratching your head and wondering, “Zen-what?”, start here.]
I wear a few hats: recovering lawyer, mother of adult sons and one fur child, daughter of a soon to be 90 year old mother, blogger and trailing spouse. The last is why I found myself attempting today’s Diva’s challenge in a Starbucks in Bethesda, Maryland. Yesterday, during a multi-state ice storm, we took the train (Amtrak) from Philadelphia, to Union Station in Washington, D.C. and from there, hopped on the METRO red line out to Bethesda, Maryland. It was a really good day not to have to go outside. The most harrowing part of our trip was walking outside for the 200 yards from the METRO station in Bethesda to our hotel, on a sheet of ice.
Mr. Excitement is here for a mesothelioma conference at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). I’ve traipsed around the world with him enough that I now also have friends in the science world and I enjoy catching up with them at dinner. I also enjoy having some free time away from the horror show that is my desk at home.
This morning, I hunkered myself down in the local Starbucks and fortified with what felt like some extra strong brew, I tackled today’s UMT (Use My Tangle) challenge which is to use the tangle Unbatz, by CZT Sandy Hunter.
I started out by trying to cheat and use a grid. This resulted in a lot of wasted paper and a few bad words — muttered under my breath so as not to set a bad example for the toddler at the next table. I finally went with a freehand version with just a few lines for guidance. I was almost ready to pack it in when I convinced myself that if the Diva (Laura Harms) could post today’s challenge despite a week that included two emergency room visits with her son, Artoo, then surely I could come up with something I would not be too embarrassed to share. I’ll let you be the judge as to whether “sharing” was a good idea. (The first person to identify where I had to compensate for some mis-steps wins—well, doesn’t really win anything except the satisfaction of knowing they were first).
Bonus content: If you have children or grandchildren (or can borrow some), check out my review of a cute children’s book published by Montecristo, my favorite Canadian, long-haired chihuahua, travel blogger.
{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }
After your comment on my blog, I thought you couldn’t do this tangle. Nonsense!!! I think it looks great. If it makes you feel better, I tossed my first one too LOL! Stay warm 🙂
Have fun on the following, of Mr. Excitement! What mistakes…. there are no mistakes in zentangle! 🙂
Lady Kate, that’s why I called them “mis-steps” instead of mistakes — because there are no mistakes in Zentangle, but they don’t say there are no mis-steps. I’m a recovering lawyer. I like to slice and dice words. Bill Clinton was also a lawyer; hence, he was able to say with a straight face, “It depends on what your definition of “sex” is?”
I like the way you shaped the little ‘flowers’…reminds me of a dress I had when I was a kid. Don’t beat yourself up…you have a good eye for symmetry and contrast. Looks great to me.
Sandy, coming from “the horse’s mouth” (as it were), I truly appreciate your comment.
Sharing was definitely a good idea 🙂 I like the composition of your tile; don’t worry about any mis-steps!
Suzanne, you sure gave Unbatz many faces. I like them all, you did a great job. I had to to smile a lot by reading your post. thanx for sharing your great tile.
I love the variations of Unbatz you made! They are so nice ! And the contrast of your tile is gread, really beautiful 🙂
Hi Suzanne,
Like Jean, I thought you’d had a problem with this one but it looks lovely to me! And if Sandy says it’s good, then it’s good! I found it a little difficult as I couldn’t think how to give it depth but what I like about yours are the variations on a theme.
Axxx
Its a very beautiful tile with much variations on Unbatz. I didnt eather draw a grid, but i did it first in pencil and then with inkt. Thanks for sharing the story and lovely tile.
I so enjoy reading your blog. It always makes me smile. Your tile? It’s great! If anyone has to look that hard for the ‘mis-steps’, it’s not a ‘mis-step’ at all 😉 Another joy of Zentangle!
Hi Suzanne,
For me, this pattern falls between a grid and freeform, making it doubly difficult for me to get a grip on. I haven’t put mine on yet because I’m not happy with it but you’ve shamed me into it!
OK, Suzanne, I’m going to attempt to be first and say that one little Tipple-y slice on the right was supposed to be another variation of Unbatz…not judging…just saying… Great recovery! I love all your variations and I like how the dark arcs provide contrast to the lightness of your Unbatz patterns. Sandy is right – this does look like the old time dress fabrics I used to pick out at the Kresge Five and Dime with my grandma. Nice memories! I can so relate to that feeling of panic you must have felt on the ice! One reason I retired from my last job was that while only a half-hour commute from home, the last mile of the trip was an unincorporated road along an open field that became a sheet of ice in the winter. My heart was in my throat every day. My husband’s reason for moving to Arizona was simply “You can’t slip on sunshine!” Love your post!
Bingo!!
Good practice to mumble under your breath in preparation for future grandchildren!
I’m new to this zentangle stuff. I’ve seen it around and think it’s pretty. I do love to color mandalas and wonder if it’s similar.
Your creations are gorgeous, Suzanne. Impressive.
Lori–mandalas aren’t strictly done in the Zentangle method, but many “tanglers” do them.
hahaha…you are so hard on yourself! This is beautiful, but I know how it goes when you just want to “chuck” it and get on with something more zen. When I did mine I found myself just settling for what evolved and i guess that is Ok sometimes too. I don’t always have time to be totally content when it comes to a challenge. I guess sometimes I just want to take time for the things that i want to accomplish. I do the challenges for just that reason…to expand and try different things. It’s not always a good feel creation.
Wonderful variety of Unbatz! I like your tile!
You did a great job, Suzanne. Sometimes I’m not as pleased with my results as I thought I would be (added just one line too many, forgot to shade something – like this week’s vase, added something that just destroyed the whole composition…the list is endless), but hopefully I learn something each time…and, there’s always the Bronx Cheer. Enjoy! You do lovely work!
Charming post. I got a chuckle out of several portions of your icy life away from your desk (mine is a kitchen table…almost the same thing. Gives me heart palpitations just thinking about clearing it off…again.)
As for this tile, it is wonderful! You played around with the unbatz until they got it right and you did a good job of it. They look terrific. The sand swirls and onomato provide the perfect balance to the more structured unbatz. Nice work
Aha! I had no idea I was using a tangle called onomato. I thought I discovered something, but I think pretty much every tangle in the world has already been “discovered” (some of them, multiple times). 🙂
A beautiful result, Suzanne, I do like it. Nice to see that you used circles too -:)
Thank you for the comment on my blog. Nice to wake up; have a cup of coffee and read your kind compliment about my English. Here in the Netherlands (at least in my days) we started learning English in secondary school, so that was the base. Years and years later I became friends with people just coming from India and when together, we spoke Dutch for about an hour to learn and then English because that was so much easier for them. Still with my first husband I met some business relations of him that we spoke English with. Then my daughter went to UK for her study and later moved over there for a job and a guy 🙂 She is still with this guy and he is English and doesn’t speak Dutch. Since some years they live in Switzerland, but we still speak English when visiting.
In 2001 I met my husband, who is Dutch but also lived in UK, so a lot of English around him.
And …. on top of all this, a lot of the music we listen to and what we watch on TV is English spoken. Most of it is subtitled, but I think you listen more then you read.
Well, a long answer to explain how I learned English and do you believe I still prefer my own language?
I think this is quite amazing! Love the spherical corners! So cool!
Is a challenge to try new tangles. You did well with the variations. I am guessing that trying the variations was easier than negotiating the ice. We had Ice her on Monday also. I also think that this tangle is a little challenging. It is one that probably looks better if you keep things consistent.
So clean Suzanne, your work is so crisp, neat and clean and your Sandswirl is amazing. A really well balanced tile with great contrast and harmony. Well done 🙂
I think mine has “mistakes” in it too – but there are no mistakes in Zentangle! So no worries. Looks great to me. I like the variations you created!
Love the variations that you used in your Unbatz tile. It is so precise and well drawn and the corner circles were a wonderful surprize. Very well done.
P.S. I don’t think there are any “mistakes”…it just looks like a well drawn tile to me, not at all like the confusion that you described. It’s fabulous!