Lately when I've been 'trying' to tangle, I have a lot of . . . do I know any tangles??? What do I know? I can't remember a thing! Has this ever happened to you? I am probably not the only person who has so many things going on in my life that my brain is just bogged down by the end of the day and I am left with - - - do I know any tangles???
Now. Rewind to May. I flew to Toronto to surprise a friend I had never really met in person - just online - who is really as close as a sister. While I was visiting Cindy, my CZT friend Cherryl Moote invited us to spend a little time in her home - and studio - and we did some fun shopping that I talked about here. One of the things Cherri showed us was a tangle book she was building in a moleskine storyboard journal. I loved what she showed us so much that I ordered my own journal from Moleskine and got started.
This is what one page looks like. This journal can be ordered from moleskine.com or amazon.com for around $15-20.00. It measures 5" x 8.25" and closes with an attached elastic band. Each of the 108 pages has four story blocks already drawn on the page like you see in the photo above.
From the first photo in this post you can see that I started by keeping primarily to the blocks. That extra space in the middle can be used to make notes about the tangles, or to sketch out the steps, or to say "hey! this is my absolute favorite!" By the time I got to this page I was regretting losing that space in the center and began filling it with tangles that needed more room than one box.
For me - this book isn't intended to show step-outs. This book is all about being something I can grab when I hit a brick wall and can't remember anything. It is a reference. A refresher. A reminder.
Being such, I want to fill it with my favorite tangles to draw. Not ones that I don't want to use, or ones that I can never get to look right. It isn't a place where I 'practice' - I do that in a different sketchbook. I want these pages to look pretty. I want to be able to flip through and have the tangles bring up good memories in my mind.
When I look at cat-kin I remember how I could never get that to look right until Meredith Yuhas taught us the steps in a Retreat to Paradise class.
When I look at verdigogh I remember that it is a cool, versatile tangle that adds a little spice wherever I can use it.
When I look at copada by Margaret Bremner - it reminds me of her little wonky houses - even though there isn't a single house in the tangle.
Anything by Michele Beauchamp reminds me of her beautiful spirals and I find myself trying to fit one in - even if there isn't enough space - just because I love them so much!
And when I see those awesome little Lilah Beans I just smile from ear to ear! I love those little beans!
And thanks, Cherri, for letting me take your idea and make my own book!
As a quick reference guide of tangles I am comfortable with drawing - this moleskine journal is awesome! Except for that whole quick part. Any time I sit down with this journal is good for at least 30 minutes because I just get lost in remembering!
Last week I attended a wonderful, fun-filled couple of days in Paradise! Paradise Beach in Florida that is, at the Retreat to Paradise. A fast-packed three days learning new techniques with some fellow tanglers - what an awesome time we had! This was the retreat's second year being held, and I'm fortunate to say it was my second year being there.
We had some real heavy-hitters for instructors! Margaret Bremner has long been my go-to artist when I look at mandalas and whoot! whoot! Margaret was one of our instructors! I can't even begin to tell you how excited I was to be in her class and learn from her. Over the next couple posts I will be able to show you a bit more of what I learned, but for today I wanted to share our first project. This one was a bit more structured than the other mandalas Margaret taught. As a retired homeschool mom I fully understand that different people learn in different ways. One of the things I enjoyed about Margaret's teaching was that she taught to different learning perspectives. She walked us through this project step by step. Draw this, do this, make this happen here. As I post the other two projects, you will see that the teaching direction took different forms, allowing us to take what we learned in making this mandala and make the other two with less direction. Pretty awesome stuff!
In building the above mandala, I learned a new tangle. One I don't think I've ever seen before. It's called crossview and it comprises that center focal point. Crossview was designed by Daniele O'Brien, CZT, and it was a lot of fun to draw! I love how dimensional the shading makes it! You should go to Daniele's blog link in pink just right up there and give it a go yourself! Now to finish up those other mandalas and get them posted!
