Greetings and welcome to our Wednesday tangle, just six weeks to the day before Christmas! (Shocking, isn’t it.)
Our curly tangle today is Beard Flower from Japanese CZT Naomi Horiguchi and it’s her first on the site. Naomi is a member of the CZT#41 certification class and lives in Kazo, Japan.
Naomi introduces her tangle,
While practicing curling tangles, I would like to introduce the tangle that was born. I gave it such a name because the beginning of the step-out looks like a beard.
I like the finished original because it looks like the autumn flower “Manju Shaka” in Japan. You can also enjoy the arrangement by changing the length of the petals.
Manjushaka is a Buddhist term for imaginary flowers that bloom in heaven, and is also the name for the cluster amaryllis. The flowers that bloom on earth are said to be as beautiful as those in heaven, and they burst into bloom and turn fields red. The petals are delicate and deep red, and picking them is said to be as passionate as one’s heart.
From what I learned when I was researching “Manju Shaka”, it appears to be known as both a cluster amaryllis or spider lily from the genus Lycoris:
Also known as the hurricane lily or red spider lily, the cluster amaryllis is a flowering plant native to Asia. The plant produces trumpet-shaped flowers in a variety of colors, including red. It is a bulbous plant with green leaves that grow in two rows. Amaryllis plants are generally easy to care for, but they can be toxic to people and pets.
The finishing parts of Beard Flower are reminiscent of Danni O’Brien’s Zenplosion Folds from the early early days of the site and also the more recent Zentangle®-original, Wyfore. You’ll notice for my example I mirrored it to result in a focal type image with no “up or down”, Zentangle-style.
Naomi illustrates the step-by-step instructions for drawing Beard Flower below and she shows a few ways to explore her tangle.
Image copyright the artist and used with permission, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. These images are for your personal offline reference only. Please feel free to refer to the images to recreate this tangle in your personal Zentangles and ZIAs. However the artist and TanglePatterns.com reserve all rights to the images and they must not be publicly pinned, altered, reproduced or republished. (Small side note: if you look at the legalese in Pinterest, you are legally responsible for obtaining permission to post every photo that gets ‘Pinned’. Giving credit or sharing the source link doesn’t count.) Thank you for respecting these rights. “We must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy.” ~ Albus Dumbledore
As you enjoy any of the tangles on the site, please leave a comment of thanks and encouragement to show the artists you appreciate them for sharing their creativity to inspire yours. Your thanks helps motivate them to continue to share! And please share a link to your favorite tangles on social media. Thanks!
Check out the tag naomih for more of Naomi’s tangles on TanglePatterns.com.
Why Art Matters (Now More Than Ever)
“A passionate abstract artist and educator” Louise Fletcher posted another of her thoughtful articles on her blog and I especially appreciated reading this one. I’m thinking you might too so here’s the link to her article Why Art Matters (Now More Than Ever). Digging around on her site we learn Louise is originally from Yorkshire in the UK and has also lived in Canada and the USA.
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Share your tangle on TanglePatterns
Everyone is invited to share patterns on TanglePatterns.com, you do NOT need to be a CZT. In order for patterns to be considered for publication they must be submitted to me by email. In other words you have to let me know about them.
For a submission to qualify as a tangle it must be a genuine pattern (“a repeated decorative design”) and not “a thing to draw”.
From The Book of Zentangle:
“Keep it Non-representational. Zentangle artwork is intended to be non-representational. Zentangle’s elemental strokes are also non-representational.
We don’t teach complex elements such as hearts, stars or flowers. Tangles are also non-representational.”
Remember that tangles never start with pencil planning.
"A tangle has no pre-planning with pencil guidelines, grids or dots, no erased lines."
If you need a refresher on what makes a tangle, read the A PATTERN IS NOT ALWAYS A TANGLE page on the ZENTANGLES menu bar at the top of any page.
For details on how to submit your pattern for consideration visit the SUBMIT YOUR PATTERN page on the top menu bar of any page on the site. On that menu you will find these two pages:
The first page includes instructions on how to prepare and send your JPGs. (Please save me time and do not send PDFs). It also includes a link to this PDF submission form.
When your examples include additional tangles from the site, please list them in your email. (This saves me time and my memory some wear and tear.)
If your pattern is posted on your blog, attach your steps and tile JPGs to your email and be sure your email includes the direct URL so I can link to it.
And remember, to quote Zentangle's co-founders Rick and Maria: tangles should be "magical, simple and easy to create", non-objective patterns of repetitive strokes that are easy to teach and offer a high degree of success to tanglers of all ages.
"Keep the tangles as little like 'drawing something' as possible."
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Related Links
- Looking for tangles by Artist or Type? For details visit the ABOUT > HOW TO FIND TANGLES BY ARTIST OR TYPE page on the top menu bar of any page on the site.
- What is a Zentangle? — if you are new to the Zentangle Method, start here for the fundamentals.
- Zentangle terminology — a glossary of terms used in this art form.
- How to use the site — an excellent free video tutorial showing how to use the site as well as pointing out lots of useful features you might have missed.
- Linda's List of Zentangle-Original Patterns — here is the complete list of original tangles (aka "official tangles") created and introduced by founders Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas, including those not published online. If you are new to the Zentangle Method I highly recommend learning a few of the published Zentangle classics first.
- "A Zentangle has no up or down and is not a picture of something, so you have no worries about whether you can draw a hand, or a duck. You always succeed in creating a Zentangle." Thus patterns that are drawings of a recognizable naturalistic or actual object, figure, or scene, are not tangles. A pattern is not always a tangle — here's what makes a tangle. TIP: tangles never start with pencil planning.
- Un motif n’est pas toujours un tangle — Qu’est-ce qu’un tangle ?
- Un diseño no es siempre un tangle — ¿Qué es un tangle?
- How to submit your pattern deconstruction to TanglePatterns
- For lots of great FREE tutorials on TanglePatterns, click on the TUTORIALS link in the pink alphabetic menu bar below the tangle images at the top of any page.
- Strings! Have we got STRINGS! Click on the STRINGS link in the pink alphabetic menu bar below the tangle images at the top of any page for 250 different (free) Zentangle-starters. More than enough for any lifetime!
- Never miss a tangle! FREE eMAIL NEWSLETTER - visit the SUBSCRIBE page on the top menu bar of any page on the site and sign up to get notices delivered free to your inbox.
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November 13, 2024 | 
More like this: 
Such a pretty, organic tangle, Naomi! Cute name too — although I think step one looks more like a mustache! I’m looking forward to playing with this graceful tangle. 🙂