It was a busy January and I’m JUST getting to a blog post again since the end of the 2015. We taught 3 successful Zentangle workshops at the Immanuel Retreat Center in Bellows Falls and are looking forward to 3 more wonderful events coming up there this month thru April!
Meanwhile, I hope that everyone had a lovely Valentine’s this past weekend, whether with your cherished self or loved one/s! Here chez TangleVermont we kept busy trying to keep us and our critters warm with the sub-zero temps! That also meant lots of chocolate!
This year I chose not to offer a “Valentangle” workshop, as we were finding our plates rather full with classes and workshops and life in the balance. But the call to play in my art journal continued, now that the The Journey Within 2016 e-course that I’m participating in is yielding an abundant supply of new art journals to fill up!
Heart labyrinth on toned grey with “Ziphart”, watercolor pencil and ink, Sadelle Wiltshire, 2016
I have been following a Facebook group called “Valentangle 2016” and while I haven’t had a chance to post really, between that and the Journey Within course I had plenty of inspiration for more creations. I still had a few pages left in my January e-course handmade journal, which happened to have toned gray pages in it, and of course needed to make another heart labyrinth. I love the multitude of heart -themed tangles out there, but as I was zipping up my coat to brave the elements this weekend, the thought came to me that my zipper kind of reminded me of staggered side by side hearts, one row up and one row down… I started digging into my Zentangle resources and didn’t find a tangle quite like what I had in mind, so I birthed a new tangle this weekend, that I’ve named “Ziphart” (you pronounce it any way you like!)
This was a fun tangle to play with… I did the grey journal page above first, and used my Caran d’Ache Supracolor II pencils to add most of the color elements including some highlights and toning part of the gray back to white-ish. I had to sneak in a “zen gem” in one of the hearts, just because! 🙂 I haven’t had a chance to fully fully explore this tangle other than the journal page and the step-out I created last night, but there a number of ways to make this tangle easier to execute:
First of all, I recommend starting from the bottom to create your series of “hooks” or angled U-shapes. Then, starting again at the bottom, create a mirrored row of hooks going up (you can also work downwards if you want to work without lifting your pen). When I’m connecting the centers, I take the opportunity to extend the center dip of the heart while drawing my mirrored stroke.
Next, FLIP your tile so you can start to work alongside the row you’ve just created.
Notice that I am starting my hook here with the left side of the heart shape, and fitting along the slope of the first upside down heart. You decide whether it’s more comfortable for you to make this stroke by drawing from the top or the bottom.
If you are right handed like me, I would suggest starting your first vertical row of hooks along the right side of your workspace rather than the way I did it. That way, when you flip your tile to create the next set of hearts it you will be working alongside the right rather than the left which will likely be more comforable. (This will make more sense when you do it, but I’ll try and get a video demo up in the next month!)
After making your series of nestled and flipped heart rows, one way to embellish it is to simply “round” off the central ditches and fill them in. You can also opt to leave those alone and just shade the ditches. I’ve included a few other ways to play with this pattern, but I know there are lots of other ways I’ve yet to explore… maybe YOU’ll find something different to do with this! If so, please do leave a comment and link!
I find the pattern to be a great fill as well as a border, and if you do just two vertical rows together and shade one side of the hearts, while filling in the empty spaces dark, it looks like a zipper! (Hence the inspiration for the name!)
Have fun with this and do leave your links if you try this! You can also post your tangled Ziphart art on our TangleVermont Facebook page, tag me @tanglevermont on Pinterest or @sadiavt on Twitter or Instagram!
Have fun!
December used to be one of those months I dreaded, the return of the cold, the least amount of light of the year, and the crazy commercialization of the season. But ART and sharing art has really changed that perspective for me. Staying centered and creative during this time really was key. I use my art, especially at this time of year, for reflection and the end of the year has me thinking of 
No time to do more tangling this week, but I’ve been meaning to show 
