Just Breathe...

This week's challenge from I am the Diva: "Breathe." 

A little back story... 

In April 2010, I fell in love with Zentangle. It was, indeed 'love at first sight' for me... exploring the world of tangles: because of the infinite possibilities; because it was truly about what is Reality in any given Moment; and because it narrowed my focus down to a 3.5" square of reality. 

Meditation – being still, grounded, centred, and (imagine me using Nigella Lawson's voice to say this last bit), "deep, deep contentment." Zentangle improved my focus, concentration, mindfulness, and – an added bonus – all my other artistic endeavours benefited from time spent tangling.

At times I have found I'm almost watching my pen to see what will emerge from my creative subconscious. Not directing the design but, one pen stroke at a time, waiting to see what happens... and then developing that idea (a great way to avoid rules!). This is something I learned many years back, when I first started studying Chinese Brush painting. That art form never really clicked for me until I just 'allowed' the brush to make the marks it was designed to make and stopped trying so hard to produce a specific effect.

I haven't felt, these last ten months, any hint of hard slog practice with Zentangle – only Play! And the more I play, the more I want to. I breathe, relax, let go and I allow the Zentangle or ZIA to happen – not stifling it with any rules that it 'ought' to follow, or preconceived ideas of what it 'should' look like when complete. I believe that, once an idea (artistic, or in any walk of Life) becomes a dogma it ceases to grow. So I push at the boundaries constantly. 

Back to the topic of breathing... these last few months I have also made new discoveries about the way I draw. For example, my pen will draw more flowing, 'dancing' lines on an exhaled breath (it's true!) than on an inhaled breath. So, by becoming aware of my breathing as I create each stroke, the way I draw has been transformed. Here is the Zentangle (traditional format) that I created for the "Breathe" Challenge. 

(Click on image to enlarge.)

Being reminded (once again) to observe my breath, I found that I was creating a very playful design (some elements of which weren't really 'proper' tangles!). Once I'd finished, I finally coloured the Laced blue, as it ran through, across, and around the tile. This brought all the various elements together, to create a linked harmony to the finished piece – and I (yet again) changed the orientation of my tile.


A little more on my philosophical wanderings through Zentangle land?

I've also studied what I watch when I am drawing. For example, if I'm drawing a line parallel to another, I look at the line I'm following (not the line my pen is making). What else do I watch? When I was speaking with a wonderful Chinese calligrapher (a Master of his art), William Lai, he asked me, "What is the most important thing about a beautiful vase?" The answer seemed obvious to me, so I answered, "The empty space within." He smiled his unique and twinkly, wise smile and I knew I'd said the right thing (I was rewarded with a Chinese candy!). So, when making pen strokes, I'm nearly always watching the white space I am drawing 'around'. This, of course affects not only the way that I draw, but also the way I think about the way I draw. (How very existential that is!)

As I contemplated this week's challenge, my mind kept coming back to the chorus of this song by Anna Nalick, "Just Breathe." Of course, while actually tangling, the song in my head was replaced with beautiful, tranquil, silence (tangling being one of the few activities capable of stilling my mind!).

Just Breathe

Because I have received a great deal of feedback about my inclusion in this blog of all the tangles I use, I have included a digitally edited version of this week's Zentangle, naming each of the tangles (if I have any of them incorrectly labelled, CZTs, please let me know!). They are: Laced, Verdigogh, Printemps, Jonqal, Ennies, Pokeleaf, Pokeroot, Fescu, Betweed, W2, Huggins, Cadent (those last three used the same grid, and flowed from one to the next).

(Click on image to enlarge.)

Now that I've bent your ear... I'll go back to my drawing board. For, as much as I love keeping up with what others are creating and sharing inspiration and encouragement (the reason I'm on the Internet so often), I am not able to resist the siren call of my first love for very long — tangling with paper and pen.