How to draw JOY

This lovely simple tangle pattern, Joy, is from CZT® Joyce Block and this is her first pattern on TanglePatterns. Joyce is another of my CZT #7 classmates and she’s teaching “in the heart of Wisconsin’s Lake Country” in the Oconomowoc – Milwaukee area with CZT Don McCollum.

Joy is a little bit like the official tangle pattern Ahh but it’s different enough to be included in our collection.

Now I know this will sound silly but I found it a challenge to keep the “J” strokes, as Joyce calls them, all going in the same direction and also to keep the strokes curved. I drew eight (!) different versions of this before I had one that does justice to Joyce’s tangle. Too many things on my mind and not enough focus! I finally reminded myself: breathe, smile, and take it one deliberate stroke at a time. I added a little drop shadow to my version here.

“A year and a half ago I retired from teaching, not without anxiety over what I would do with my time. My friend, Don McCollum CZT3, introduced me to Zentangles and that really relieved that anxiety. I have been tangling since then and love it. Don likes to tell the story in our classes that he showed me a few patterns there at the coffee shop and I said ‘Well, I have to go home now and clean the house.’ 8 hours later I called him and said that my house was not clean and that I had been tangling all day. I really have not stopped tangling since that day but I have stopped to clean my house. :). I have been helping Don teach classes for over a year now and in October I was in Providence and was certified so now Don and I are equals.

The story about Joy is a simple one. About a year ago now I spent some time with my neighbor, Barb, tangling. I was experimenting with a few things as she was working on her tangles and came up with Joy. After looking at it, Barb said its name was ‘Joy.’ I have been using it quite a bit since then. I have experimented with Joy by hooking one ‘j’ into another to start the pattern in a different spot.“

Joyce illustrates the steps for drawing Joy here. She also shows Joy in a Zentangle here where she takes on the Fibonacci sequence and writes a clever Fib – you’ll have to read it. If you’re in the Milwaukee area, check out Joyce and Don’s teaching schedule and sign up for a class.

Check out the tag joyceb for more of Joyce’s patterns on TanglePatterns.com.

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