Week 14--Cake

Our inbox has been filled with delightful stories and some very yummy offerings.

Ann in Denmark got her daughter involved--while Ann drew her twinchie, her soon-to-be ten year-old daughter actually baked a cake! She said by the time she finished drawing, the house smelled heavenly. YUM!

Cake
by Ann

Sarah shared this story from Michigan:

This year a very special thing happened while at lunch on my birthday. An older lady was having her birthday at the restaurant with a group of people. She was in her late 70's, and I was turning 38. I waved at her and wished her a happy birthday and said 'me too!' And she smiled. A half hour later one of the older ladies friends brings my Mom and I each a piece of coconut cream cake. 

I will treasure that moment as I said thank you, and the old lady waved and smiled. Definitely the best birthday cake ever. 

Cake
by Sarah

From Arkansas, Freebird sent a slightly off-centered wedding cake:

Cake
by Freebird

Our official response to the challenge is:

Cake
by Cheryl

This weeks offerings made us very hungry! It just happens to be a birthday WEEK in our house, but EVERY day is cause for celebration, isn't it?
Be sure to check out what all of these talented artists are doing--it's typically a LOT! And join in the fun, won't you?
Until next time....Let them eat CAKE!

It's Almost my Birthday!

Gil's fifty-one year-old sister has Down's Syndrome. Her birthday is in June and she'll remind you every single day that it's, "almost June." And every day after her birthday means that it's almost her birthday.

Even if it's 364 days away.

My children are both August babies and then there are just a slew of them in the family one right after another...and then there's mine. After six weeks of cake (and pizza or pizza and cake...), it's time for something different.
Growing up in New Jersey, there was really only one answer: apple pie!

From the foodnetwork.ca
YUM!

Thankfully, Gil is a baker and makes a mean apple pie! Because it's still summer in Phoenix, we're not cranking the oven up until about Thanksgiving. But, it's so good, I can wait!
In the meantime, we can dream of cakes!

(If we did that, we'd burn the house down!)

Or we can draw visions of cake! Or for the tanglers in the bunch, "Cayke, " by Rose Brown. 

The closest I can get to attribution of the art is via tanglepatterns.com, THE repository for Zentangle patterns, and Linda Farmer has done a nice interpretation there. I found this blog post by "Trish," as illustration:

Cayke Walk
by Trish

Hearts and flowers! How sweet!

So...how do you celebrate YOUR birthday? What kind of cake do you like? 

And more importantly, is there vanilla ice cream involved?!

Show us your "Cake" twinchies! Send them to:

1xeritas@gmail.com by 2PM Tuesday, September 22, 2015. 

We'll just have ONE BIG BIRTHDAY PARTY!

Rain on Me!

We have heard that the Navajo Nation have twenty words for "rain." We don't know about that, but there are plenty in the English language: rain, storm, downpours, drizzle, showers. There's fat rain that comes down in big splats; puddles, trickles and floods. There's lightning and thunder that can turn a simple rainstorm into something very spectacular.

Nice Lightning Storm One Night
Author Unknown

Here in Arizona, rain can become so rare that we all stop to watch. And because it rains in a big way when it does finally come, we have to stop what we're doing as we're not going anywhere for a while.
Last summer, we received thirteen inches of rain in August, more than the previous three years COMBINED. Let's just say it got a little too exciting at our place.
Twice.
As we compose these notes a Pacific hurricane named Dolores is planning to visit and all the news is about the potential for rain. (She did wreck havoc elsewhere, but we didn't get much more than a few drops. And Humidity with a capital "H.").
But we digress.
One of our favorite artists creates amazing paintings that depict Arizona scenery and weather in abstract fashion. This is Ed Mell and this is his rendition of rain at the Grand Canyon:

Rain Spears
Ed Mell

For all the tangly people in our midst, there are "Rain" and "Msst," two official and weather-related tangles. CZT Jean Chaney and fellow Arizonan created this "monotangle" for "Rain" last May:

Diva Challenge 168--"Rain"
Jean Chaney/Tangle Street Studios
Provided with Permission, All Rights Reserved

Henri Cartier-Bresson photographed what he called, "the decisive moment." He caught plenty of Parisians jumping over puddles and you just KNOW they're going to get wet!

Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare
Henri Cartier-Bresson
1932

We'll add one more inspirational work from Belarus-born Leonid Afremov:

We're pretty sure he uses ALL the crayons in the box, given the chance. 

Dig out YOUR crayons, pencils, markers or camera and show us your RAIN twinchies! 

Send them to:

1xeritas@gmail.com

by Tuesday, July 28 at 2PM Arizona Time. 

Usual parameters apply (see "The Rules" Any questions? send to same email).

The Secret to the Universe

Somewhere in a stack of design books, we found a very simple rendition of the "Flower of Life." We know you know what that is, but perhaps you didn't know it had a name. At it's most basic, it looks like this:

Fiore della Vita

It gets more complicated with each set of circles, all interlocking on centers. The more circles, the more "flowers." We've seen a battery of tutorials on how to draw it, and we've posted one here, that doesn't require a compass, whittled down to size for the TwobyTwo.
The geometric pattern has a long human history and in some faiths is considered sacred. We found this explanation a quick study and this one is a bit deeper, still just a tip of the iceberg of its religious and mathematical implications.
Can you spot the pattern in this image of silver Shi, the Chinese Guardian Lions?

We can honestly say that this blog adventure started with drawing some doodles and finding out about the Zentangle (R) method. From there, we found all sorts of tangly people on line and a very long story short, found the work of Margaret Bremner. Margaret did a study on the Flower of Life in mandala fashion, including this beautiful Zendala:

Flower of Life
by Margaret Bremner (c) 2013
Reproduced with Permission

For those who practice Zentangle, Margaret (whom you may know as the Enthusiastic Artist) offered a gentle reminder that there is an official Zentangle tile called, "Bijou" that just happens to be two-inches square! And, there's also an official tangle by Molly Hollibaugh called, "Fife," patterned after the Flower of Life. What a perfect combination for the TwobyTwobyTuesday challenge! (You can find a Certified Zentangle Teacher near you who can hook you up with materials).
And while we're talking about art-stuff, Sarah shared with us some yard sale finds:

You can never have enough gizmos, can you? These are Fiskars templates and can be found at a craft store near you.
And true to form, we found something way off-base for this challenge:

Flower of Life
Manga cover
 Fumi Yoshinaga

A lot of inspiration can be found that starts with one little circle. It just begs modern artistic interpretation, doesn't it? 
Show us your "Flowers;" send them to:
1xeritas@gmail.com by June 30, 2015 at 2PM Arizona time. Creations will post later that day.
Thank you in advance for participating and creating. Spread the word so more artists can try their hands at the TwobyTwobyTuesday art challenge.

Week 7--Amoeba

Zentangle figured prominently in the responses to this week's challenge of "Amoeba," and a few of the responses broke out in color!

First in from Sarah in Michigan, this interesting couple:

His and Hers Amoebas
by Sarah

Next, a warm welcome to Margaret, CZT from Canada! She was inspired to create not just un, not deux , but trois Bijoux, the perfect little Zentangle tiles:

Amoeba x Three
by Margaret

This offering came from Ann in Denmark:

Amoeba
by Ann

Freebird stitched her interpretation with happy coloured beads!

And our official responses:

Amoeba 001

Amoeba 002
by Cheryl

If there appear to be similarities between some of these teenie artworks, it's possible that the artists started with Amoeba on Tanglepatterns.com. Be sure to check it out and the blogs of the various artists presented here. Messages left here can be passed along to the individuals or the group at large and are greatly appreciated. Pass the word along so more can participate. And perhaps try the challenge yourself? 

Until next time....

Week 5--Wildfire

Hmm, we seem to have experienced some technical difficulties last week, but are hoping that hasn't dampened anyone's enthusiasm. And if you're just tuning in, you're still more than welcome to join in on the creating.
Indeed, as you answer the challenges, send us an email and we'll add your "twinchie" to the week's post to save for all posterity. And always, links to your own creative blogs and websites are welcome.
First up is Ann in Denmark, whose bright colors look like a hundred candles burning:

JL Johnson sent her drawing of a wildfire, flames whipping wildly: 

Here is an innovative approach by Freebird:

(My apologies for a late posting as this landed in spam-o-la)

And our official responses (also on this blog):

Thanks so much to the artists that are working on their two by two-inch art and for the hundreds of visits this blog has received. Take the time to visit the artist's blogs--links are over in the right-hand column. Please spread the word so more can create twinchies. We accept all art forms--we're just looking for two-inches of art every two weeks (it's okay if you miss them). 

And if you have any ideas for the word prompts, we're already working on the list for 2016. We're crazy like that!

Until next time...

Week 4--Royal

We could not be happier for the British royal family, with the arrival of a daughter, Charlotte Elizabeth Diana to Will and Kate this past weekend. It's big doings for Windsor Castle as the princess will retain her succession rights even if they have another child (until now, all male children took precedence over their fair siblings).
Thus far, the participants of the TwobyTwo are all girls...so it's a big WOOHOO!

And without any further ado, the results from the "Royal" challenge:

From Zoe in Australia, who wishes everyone a winning hand:

A Hand-crafted Royal Flush
by Zoe

From Ann in Denmark, who created TWO TwobyTwos:

Royal Copenhagen's Blue Pattern and
a Royal ZIA
by Ann

From Sarah, Michigan/USA, who was also inspired to create TWO!

Two Zentangly Illustrations
by Sarah

JLJohnson created this collage with images from Realm Magazine:

Royal Collage
by JL

And TWO more from Cheryl, Arizona/USA:

Fleur de Lis and
Good to be King
by Cheryl

An effort fit for a king, or future queen, was made by all of the participants this week, don't you think? Be sure to visit each artist's blog to see what else they've been creating!

Until next time...