Diva challenge - string layering - and YAY! Katie (me) is a CZT!

Hello, fellow tanglers! I had the most amaaaaaazing week last week in Providence, Rhode Island, at the Certified Zentangle Teacher training with 100 other wonderful women and men, the Zentangle founders Rick and Maria, the Diva Laura, and the glorious creative Muse in me that came out to play, create and make way for a magical experience!

Ah, but first, the Diva Challenge #174 for this week, featuring guest blogger Aimee Belair, a CZT from Sutton, Mass! I had a class with her this past January. 

Aimee asked the followers of the weekly Zentangle challenge to superimpose strings, and then tangle in those sections. 

As a wee reminder, the "strings" are the freehand, free-flowly lines that help segment the tile into different areas. Strings remind me of the "squiggles" that my dad used to draw for my brother and me on the back of paper placemats for us to make into shapes and scenes. 

No ups or downs

A beautiful thing about the Zentangle method is that there are no ups or downs, no "right way" to look a the tile. After I drew my string, and then added another string on top, and then filled the segments with tangles and shading, I held my tile at arms length to admire my work (an important step!). 

I turned it one way .... 

... and I turned it another.

And then another...

To me, depending on the way I looked at the tile, the composition magically morphed into something new. I found I could appreciate the piece no matter which way I turned it. Even if I didn't prefer it in a certain angle, I knew that turning it slightly would shift my view.

A life metaphor? Why yes indeed. 

Similarly, there was a day that I spontaneously decided to shift around the way my cubical at work was set up. I was fed up with the same-ol'-same-ol' and reeeeallyyyy needed a change. Or a way to procrastinate.  I found that a quick rearranging of my computer, my notepads and pens, and my chair helped shift my focus and mood in a positive way that lasted for weeks. And there was nothing special I needed to buy to make those adjustments. 

It was all in my control (when so much in life is not).

Another day I'll talk about my experience at the CZT seminar last week. It was, as I mentioned, incredible and possibly life-changing. I met friends who I felt I'd known forever, from across the world. I'm still feeling filled with love and hope and creative bliss!