A New Chapter in My Tangle History

So in January, I started taking classes with Sharla Hicks, CZT, up in Anaheim. I figured I needed to get more practical experience since I signed up to go to CZT (Certified Zentangle Teacher) training in June. And boy, did I bite off a big bite there!

I tend to stay in a comfort zone, and rarely waver out of it unless I've done a lot of practice and research (hence not having very many tiles to show for my effort!) Sharla has a tendency to really push her students to the very limits of that comfort zone, and in some cases, well beyond it.

I have learned more about shading, line control and being freer with my composition than I though I could. And I think my work lately really shows it.

And I've started to play more with color...

And colored tiles...

And more organic shapes...

And have come up with some really pretty things lately...

And then this just practically drew itself in my sketchbook last Sunday (Feb 23rd) while I was listening to motor control lectures online!

I'll post some more pretties as I get a chance!

The oh so long Christmas Break!

I can honestly say, I was relieved when the semester ended and I for a nice fat 5 whole weeks off from school. All I really wanted to do was not think about anything to do with school, kinesiology, biology or anything else that would tax my already strained brain.

I went to Arizona and visited...Quartzsite...Mindy and Andy in Phoenix...mom and Lori in Tucson. Got to spend Christmas day with Mike and his family in San Diego. It was nice, and when Mike was at work, I had some quite time to work on my sewing room/studio. It was a hot mess, and made me not want to work in there. Caused more stress than creativity.

So...I literally emptied out the room, made a trip to Ikea, and put it back together again. I sold the old sewing machine tables, put in some new shelves and new chairs, and organized everything to work better.

I think it came out pretty good. When I want to tangle or work on jewelry, its easy access to my work table and lamp, and those tractor seat chairs are very comfy (the drafting one at the work table hadn't come in yet when I took the pictures.)

The nice part is that the room now makes me want to be in it. I love being in here, and I have so much more room to work!

But all my fun had to end sometime, and school started back up toward the end of January. That's also the time when I started my classes at Soft Expressions in Anaheim with Sharla Hicks, CZT.

Part 3...a Journey into ...nothing...

Ok...so to pick up the Zentangle story where I left off.

After I took the class in July 2013, I really didn't do much with it. I obsessed a bit, read a lot, looked at pictures, and generally thought my work wasn't good enough (keep in mind, I had only done 4 tiles by this time, and I hadn't really practiced much.)

And then...school started. I was stressed, and inundated with homework, so I pushed it to the back burner, all the time toying with the idea of becoming a Certified Zentangle instructor (after all, I have a degree in education, I like teaching, and this is good for a lot of things, like depression and PTSD.)

In my excessive reading, I found a couple of blogs I really liked. One of those blogs led me to a weekly challenge, which I found...intimidating...but challenging. So I tried one. I didn't finish it in time to send it in, but here was my success.

Tickled to Tangle - String-Less Thing #19 - December 2014

I emailed it to Adele anyway, late, and she thought it was cool. So I went back and did #20, but I still didn't submit it (again, I thought about it way too long before I had a chance to do and email it in by the Saturday deadline, but here it is for the first time in public.)

Tickled to Tangle - String Thing #20

Ok...so I am getting the hang of it. I didn't do the next couple of them, I was a little intimidated by the tangles I didn't know and I was remodeling my sewing room (more excuses.) But I did pick it back up at #24. And this time, I sent it in, on time!

Tickled to Tangle - String Thing #24

So for Christmas, I had bought myself a copy of the book The Beauty of Zentangle. While perusing this beautiful display of Zentangle Inspired Art (ZIA for short,) I came across a Certified Zentangle Teacher (CZT) in Anaheim who's work I found rather interesting. Sharla Hicks, CZT, of Soft Expressions (www.softexpression.com) has some wonderful ideas in color, and is a very diverse and eclectic soul (like me!) I was hooked, and I signed up for her entire series (at the time of this writing, I have completed 6 of the 8 classes...and the rest is next Saturday.)

So, remodeled sewing room/studio...tangled some more...took some classes...and will pick this up again and show you some more. But I will leave you with another challenge piece (again, I sent it in!)

Tickled to Tangle - String Thing #25