We first met Debra Castaldi in the “How Zentangle Changes Lives” series when she shared her touching personal story about losing her eldest son Austin a year ago from Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.
Debra has since attended the CZT#8 training seminar and Unme is her first tangle on the site.
Debra is currently “working on setting up a program in the homeless shelter for women I volunteer at here in Boston MA which is called The Women’s Lunch Place. They concentrate on providing a healthy breakfast and lunch, creative outlets, showers and washing machines along with computers and telephones and a lot of advocacy in a safe environment for women and their children.
Debra explains her tangle inspiration, “When Austin was about 10 years old I bought him a chain necklace which he wore almost everyday for the remainder of his life. He was unable to take it with him so I have been wearing it as a bracelet in honor of him. The name of the tangle unme translates to ‘you and me’ as that is how he always thought of this gift from me to him.”
Although her Unme tangle is based on an object Debra has translated it into an abstract pattern that is easy to draw. I left my example quite plain with just a bit of shading, but as you will see below Unme has lots of possible variations. It’s just one simple pen-stroke, repeated, and it makes a great border tangle.
Debra’s instructions for drawing her Unme tangle are shown below. She also gives a tip for drawing Unme: “Hint: I find it easier to draw one side all the way from top to bottom then turn page and work the other side from top to bottom.”
Check out the tag debrac for more of Debra’s patterns on TanglePatterns.com.
I was powerfully moved by your story Debra. Thank you for sharing it, along with this tangle, so filled with meaning. I enjoy the sensation of drawing it–the curves and the easy way it wanders. Beautiful.
That’s really, REALLY nice–and so “variable”. Thank you so much. Yet another wonderful tangle to play and, well, grow with.
Thank you for sharing this. I love this story and the way she is sharing this art form with others.