(Note: This post contains some Amazon affiliate links. If you make a purchase from this link, Boomeresque receives a small commission that does not affect your price.) I’m Baaaaack Actually, I was never physically away even though it looks...
(Note: This post contains some Amazon affiliate links. If you make a purchase from this link, Boomeresque receives a small commission that does not affect your price.)
I’m Baaaaack
Actually, I was never physically away even though it looks like I last posted a Hump Day Zentangle Challenge for Valentine’s Day. My body has remained at home, my brain—-not so much. Judging by my Facebook Newsfeed, I’m not the only person whose brain has been off somewhere else as it deals with the new abnormal imposed by the Covid 19 pandemic “Stay at Home” orders.
I’ve been under a double Stay at Home order as my problem with vertebral compression fractures has not resolved. Until mid-February, I felt my back pain was growing ever more tolerable, and I had resumed some of my duties such as walking the dog and cooking. However, one day I had such intractable back pain that we had to borrow a wheelchair and go to a hospital emergency room. My husband, a physician who used to work in emergency rooms, would rather have 4 simultaneous root canal procedures than go to a hospital emergency room, so I must have convinced him that I couldn’t handle the pain at home.
I had an xray, and the attending physician who saw me thought my thoracic compression fractures had extended. He sent me home with some narcotic pain medication that I reserve for very special pain occasions; that is, when the pain makes me somewhat really, really unpleasant to live with.
About the time my upper spine started feeling better, I felt something “snap” in my lower spine as I was getting dressed one day. Now, I rarely bother getting dressed. I can get around our apartment, using our wheelchair as a walker. While most people aren’t moving about their living space using a wheelchair as a walker, from what I read and see, I am not alone in thinking it’s not necessary to don street clothes because I’m staying at home. Those who have to participate in video conference calls for their jobs may brush their hair and put on a presentable shirt, but chances are they’re still wearing pajamas on their bottom half and may be cradling a small child or cat on their lap.
My world has become very small. I alternate between bed and the couch, occasionally making a foray to walk in the hall outside the door to our apartment. I still watch too much cable news. Zentangle helps to keep me somewhat sane.
Hump Day Zentangle Challenge #31 – Paisley
(If Zentangle is a new concept/word for you, start with this: What is Zentangle and Is It Habit Forming?)
If you look at my last few blog posts, you’ll see I’ve been pretty much Covid 19 obsessed. So, for this week’s challenge, I thought it would be good for my mental health (and maybe yours) to forget about the pandemic for a time. I’ve decided that this week’s challenge is to use the paisley form in our tiles. Most people know what the paisley shape looks like, but I was having difficulty characterizing it. Given that this is not a paper for a school assignment, I turned to Wikipedia which has a fairly in depth exposition about the paisley form and its history:
Paisley or paisley pattern is an ornamental textile design using the boteh (Persian: ????) or buta, a teardrop-shaped motif with a curved upper end.
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Although the pine cone or almond-like form is of Persian origin, and the textile designs cramming many of them into a rich pattern are originally Indian, the English name for the patterns derives from the town of Paisley, in the west of Scotland, a centre for textiles where paisley designs were produced.[3]
As often happens to me, I became fairly paisley obsessed, using the paisley shape as a string, but I bet some of you can find other ways to incorporate it into you composition.
My first tile uses the Zentangle method mostly and uses paisleys as a string. I did this on a blank Strathmore Watercolor postcard.
Then, I decided to cheer myself up with color. I used Castle Art colored pencils for the first time. I was looking for a colored pencil as an alternative to Prismacolor Premier colored pencils which put down rich color, but don’t last that long. Further, I’ve had trouble when sharpening them. I found the significantly less expensive Castle Art pencils to still have a soft core of color, but they are a little harder and, therefore, hardier.
I used the Castle Art colored pencils and Sakura metallic gelly roll pens for the background. This was done on a 6 x 6 inch Strathmore Bristol Vellum artist’s tile.
I then went a little crazy and did this, again on a 6 x 6 inch tile:
I admit to being pretty bad at remembering the names of tangles, but I know I used Sand Swirl, Cadent, Phirst, N’zeppel, Noom, Tipple, Slinky (which may also have another name), Knightsbridge, and a modified Printemps. Again, I used the Castle Art colored pencils and Sakura Metallic Gelly Roll pens for the background.
Share Your Work
I would love to see what you do with Paisley themed tiles. Please share your responses to this week’s challenge with us in the Hump Day Zentangle Challenge Facebook Group and/or on your Instagram, Twitter or Flickr feeds. Use the hashtag #hdchallenge31 on your social media posts. If you’re not a member of the FB group, ask to join and I’ll be happy to add you. The more the merrier. Please also feel free to leave the URL to your blog or website if you post the challenges there.
