New Year, New Challenge, New Blog

Hello, blog-poppers!  Thank you for stopping into my little corner of the blogosphere.  I have been dared to publish a blog by a friend and hopefully this will lead to more friends, who'll lead to more friends, and so on and so on....you know, just like the commercials used to say (I really hope SOMEONE out there remembers those old shampoo commercials....).

I have been called a bottomless font of useless trivia and a relentless optimist.  I have made art in many forms since I have any memory at all.  At present most of my creative energies go to beading, Zentangling and mixed media.

With the start of 2011, I have been challenged to make a resolution to publish at least one aspect of my artwork on a regular basis.  I have chosen to begin by sharing my Zentangle journey and will bring other elements in as the whim takes me. 

At Christmas a year ago a dear friend introduced me to the art of Zentangle (thanks, Ruth!).  I didn't have time to pursue it immediately, but it resonated with me and about six months later (gee, only six months ago?) I began to make a proper research of this art form.  I began with the official site, http://www.zentangle.com/, and by making a careful study of its pages and following numerous hours online researching the concepts, patterns, CZT sites, etc., began to discover what Zentangle can be for me and my art.  I am attending a workshop in February 2011 after which, if all goes well, I hope to be accredited to teach others this fascinating artform.

In the meantime, to fulfill the challenge posed to create this blog, I have chosen to begin by sharing my own response to a challenge posted by Laura Harms, a CZT from Saskatchewan (hooray for a fellow Canuck!) on her blog, I Am The Diva - CZT at http://www.iamthedivaczt.blogspot.com/.

Her Challenge #3 for Monday January 3, 2011 was to try tangling a string drawn WITH YOUR EYES CLOSED!  I had a chance to check her site only today on my lunch hour and was so intrigued by the idea that I had to give it a go right away.  As a result the design is not on a proper tile and was done with a rather wide (1.0 mm) gel pen shaded in pencil, drawn on a scratch pad.  Despite the most basic of materials, I rather like the result!

What do you think?