The Diva's Challenge this week is as follows:
... to create a Zentangle environment where fairies would feel at home. There are lots of tangles that have full fairy approval and affection! Have fun!
Well, I guess I'm getting old or something because I haven't talked to the fairies for many a year and I was stumped. I made a few new tangles that Birdie told me were definitely NOT fairy-like. I even went through some of my older "unpublished" tangles. Nothing.
Finally, in exasperation, Birdie told me, "Fairies like flowers. Tinkerbell LIVES in a flower."
With that to go on, I drew a very swirly string and started with Enyshou, thinking the fairies would like something soft. Things went downhill from there. When I finished, I still didn't think it was very fairy-like, so I thought instead of shading it with regular pencil, I'd shade it with pink. I may be old, but I do know that fairies like pink! Then I decided that there was a need for highlights, so I got out the yellow pencil as well.
I still don't like it, but I think it was because of my expectations for what it SHOULD look like. Very un-Zentangle. I tell my students that their work will always look like a Zentangle and they shouldn't have expectations. That way they will be surprised by the result. I need to listen to myself!
Michael Landon said it best: Dreaming is one thing, and working towards the dream is one thing, but working with expectations in mind is very self-defeating.
Here's hoping that you will let go of expectations and enjoy the process. That is truly fairy-like.
... to create a Zentangle environment where fairies would feel at home. There are lots of tangles that have full fairy approval and affection! Have fun!
Well, I guess I'm getting old or something because I haven't talked to the fairies for many a year and I was stumped. I made a few new tangles that Birdie told me were definitely NOT fairy-like. I even went through some of my older "unpublished" tangles. Nothing. Finally, in exasperation, Birdie told me, "Fairies like flowers. Tinkerbell LIVES in a flower."
With that to go on, I drew a very swirly string and started with Enyshou, thinking the fairies would like something soft. Things went downhill from there. When I finished, I still didn't think it was very fairy-like, so I thought instead of shading it with regular pencil, I'd shade it with pink. I may be old, but I do know that fairies like pink! Then I decided that there was a need for highlights, so I got out the yellow pencil as well.
I still don't like it, but I think it was because of my expectations for what it SHOULD look like. Very un-Zentangle. I tell my students that their work will always look like a Zentangle and they shouldn't have expectations. That way they will be surprised by the result. I need to listen to myself!
Michael Landon said it best: Dreaming is one thing, and working towards the dream is one thing, but working with expectations in mind is very self-defeating.
Here's hoping that you will let go of expectations and enjoy the process. That is truly fairy-like.
Lovely. Very intricate and delicately drawn lines. I can see Tinkebell flitting in and out of these tangles!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Tricia.
ReplyDeleteYour process and Zentangle are lovely. Pink and flowing, what more could a fairy ask for? I think I see one nestled in the corner :)
ReplyDeleteIt is a FLOWER fairy :-) (Thanks!)
ReplyDeleteListening to oneself is a very hard lesson I'm currently experiencing... Your tangle is lovely..itlooks like a bird's eye view of a garden with paving, flowerbeds and a lovely willow tree...!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Penny for the encouragement and the fresh perspective on my tile. I like your interpretation. It makes me smile.
ReplyDelete