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Maria's Meanderings: Newly Minted

Maria's Meanderings: Newly Minted

Sometimes our tangles have stories or tales behind the pen strokes and sometimes our pen strokes inspire stories or tales. When Maria posts a tile on the Zentangle Mosaic App she almost always shares with us some sort of creative narrative. Her words range from inspiring thoughts to fanciful tales. We thought we would share with you some of these parings in a blog series we are calling Maria’s Meanderings.

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Maria writes (April 2023) ...

I was sitting at my desk the other day, working on some certificates. On my right was a beautiful bottle of Zentangle green ink, with the afternoon sun creating such a spectacular spectacle as it lit the bottle up like a Christmas light, only this was not a color one would associate with Christmas. This color was rich and complex, like a fine blend of merlots. . . if merlot was green. Wow! I thought. Maybe this is one of those moments I should pay attention to. Can you imagine a new winery bringing out a vintage like no other. Grapes, that perhaps were growing close to a field of rambunctious mint. Imagine what a bottle of that would look like sitting amidst all those “oh so ordinary” couleurs du vin. So I was daydreaming about the magnificence of it all, when BAM! my hand (oh so casually) bumped the magnificence out of the bottle, sending it spewing the Zentangle green liquid all over my tangled blotter. Wouldn’t you think that, in a case like this, the blotter would do its job (the only job, by the way, it has and was meant to do?!). You pay a lot for these desk enhancements and they just sit around all day twiddling thumbs! That is, of course, if it had thumbs, but I could swear it was in the description on the package. But, heh, no mistakes, right? After the (magnificent) ink became a permanent addition to the desktop, I began to tangle a line here and there, until my heart was happy. Maybe there’s a story here? Perhaps the bottles of this newly minted (🤔) wine would be even more interesting with a tangle or two. HUH! Well, please take a closer look at it and let me know what you think. Hmm.

 

Maria Thomas

26 comments

  • Such a lovely story, for me your tangle and story bring back memories of loosing time and space by being sucked into the world of a map/painting/patterns where my mind would create all these amazing adventures. Sometimes it still happens at 53 ❤️

    Camilla Søndergaard CZT on

  • I LOVE this story and the whole composition of this photo – all those beautiful treasures and your blotter is a work of art – magnificent!

    Michelle Dugdale CZT on

  • Cada vez que estoy enredando, vienen a mi mente historias, recuerdos, momentos vividos, anhelos, o sentimientos que también se enredan entre sí y dejan volar la imaginación, creando allí nuevas historias que los trazos me inspiran quedando para siempre en la memoria del pequeño Tile, o se los dejo a Bijou para que me los coleccione. Gracias María por tanta generosidad al compartir tu historia.

    Elsa Dueñas CZT26 on

  • I remember reading this meandering when she first published it; what’s jumped out to me is that both times I read it this time and two years ago, the whole bladder was just such a delightful explosion of creativity and beauty that I had to go back and look at the picture after I had read the entire meandering and zoom in to even find the spill that she talked about in the story; and after I found it, I realized it was what I thought was the most beautiful part of the picture.

    You called the color of the “ZentangleGreen,” – I would kill to have an endless supply of pens that tangled in that exact color!

    Bless you for being an ever-present source of artistic perspective that helps me see the world more beautifully

    Carrie on

  • Lovely & so inspiring! 🧚

    Rimona Gale on

  • I love “Maria’s Meanderings” … they are always soothing, inspiring and mood-lifting to me. I’ll be attending zenAgain this April and I’m excitedly awaiting another chance to immerse myself in the magic of Zentangle with you, Maria, and your inspiring family! I discovered Zentangle 12 years ago, was certified to teach it the following year, and it’s been integrated into my life ever since. “Thank you” doesn’t begin to express how Zentangle has influenced and guided my life ever since. <3

    Jan Brandt CZT12 on

  • Beautiful ink blotter, so many interesting items on the desk, and love the spilled ink story. Your appreciation and gratitude in this accident is a positive. Love it!

    Sandy Holt on

  • Beautiful ink blotter, so many interesting items on the desk, and love the spilled ink story. Your appreciation and gratitude in this accident is a positive. Love it!

    Sandy Holt on

  • I too found myself fascinated by both the drawings and the interesting items on the table! What a lovely space to work in. And how wonderful to be able to spill green ink and enjoy what comes of it.

    Dione Greenberg CZT42 on

  • Absolutely gorgeous, Maria. Cheers!

    Katie Crommett, czt 15 on

  • Love the blotter, thumbs and all, but the best thing about it is the fabulous tangles. Wonderful meander Maria. ❤️❤️

    Kathleen McMurtry. CZT on

  • Hi There, I love the blotter, exactly how a blotter should look. And I chuckled with I saw the dish with the putty eraser, paint pan, dinosaur head! and battery. random selection of stuff that needs a home. But I am wondering what the copper coloured disc with the numbers on it is!!! (on the right hand side) ;-)

    Claire Thurstan CZTEU4, 42 on

  • I’m seeing a Project Pack being conceived! No rush.

    Roberta Strickland,CZT #32 on

  • Happenstance strikes again
    When one is willing and open to accept what IS
    its fabulous

    Carol Moffatt CZT42 on

  • Joyful Bliss ……..i love it when an unintended plan is started for me. So beautiful!!! I see a 12 Days of Zentangling right there. Thank you for your share Maria.

    Bonnie Ostroski on

  • What a Beautiful, inspiring desktop! I would love to explore all of the wonderful objects that you have collected to fuel your creative genius! It is like your Christmas Twelve days of Zentangle. The pictures are crammed full of items that I would love to examine individually and as a group. I can imagine that you have a decorative container full of dip pens, jars of assorted styles of pen nibs, and unusual ink bottles from around the world! I, too, had a cream sheet of pastel paper on my desk. It waited patiently for me to make my mark. . . Enter my fearless granddaughter! Watercolors, left unattended, were soon randomly sprinkled across the surface. . . No longer faced with a pristine surface, Grandma could happily tangle the surface to her heart’s content. Yours is much more elegant than mine, but then we are neither one done with them. May the Lord continue to bless our artistic efforts! I am tremendously grateful for the influence you and Zentangle has had on my life!

    LLS on

  • Your blotter is a true work of art and an inspiration. My first glance brought me to all the “eyes” peering out to see what was coming next. So beautiful! A very happy accident indeed

    Lesley Goldberg on

  • What an amazing scene you created on that “blotter” ! As I looked at your beautiful creations I saw the ocean bottom with lots of eyes looking back at me. Such an amazing creation. Maria I love your beautiful mind!

    Sandy Fisher on

  • I frequently describe Zentangle as ‘glorified doodling’. This blotter show the full Glory of our structured doodles…

    We should all do such a blotter as a tangle chooser- drop your blank tile somewhere and use the tangles it lands on…

    Susan L. CZT 37 on

  • Thank you again, Maria, for reminding me of the “no mistakes” philosophy we apply to our tangles. I realized by your response to the minty spill accident, how redeeming “no mistakes” is. Just like that unplanned spill, life can get so tangled at times. I wonder if by embracing the mess, seeing it for what it is, and applying a little grace, love and gratitude to it, might we be transformed into containers of beauty and blessings just like that dark blot on your blotter? I’ve seen that happen to me. So many metaphors live in Zentangle. My practice has brought me, and several I’ve gotten to share it with, so much joy!! Thank you❣️🙏

    Susan Talbot on

  • Would your bespoke wine be a Zenfandel or perhaps a Zintangle? Personally I’d like a glass of Tanglaria. The labels would be gourdeous, of course!

    All kidding aside … a sense of whimsy does seem to be part of my Zentangle world. Thank you for validating this, perhaps hidden, step in the Zentangle Method. It’s somewhere between Step 1 and 2 for me … where I suspend reality, and just let the ink flow, along with any cares or worries, onto the paper.

    Ann Baum, CZT36 on

  • The tangling creation is a beauty. You inspire me to accept just what happens and go with it. It’s like life, try to enjoy every moment. Thank you for this post.

    Nanc Needler on

  • Beautiful blotter and even better story. And it has been my story too for a long time. If there is a spot on something just tangle or paint a design over or around it and boom something fun and happy! I’ve been doing this with fabric paint on cloths for more then 40 years! And now with Zentangle for 10.

    Sue Lesle CZT on

  • Maybe we should all spill a little ink and see what comes of our tangling imagination.

    Tiffany Larsen on

  • I believe everything happens for a reason so the spilt green ink ✍️ was meant to happen. It created a new tangled image on your desktop. Voila! And inspiration and creativity was ignited you became happy once more. Appreciate and have Gratitude for the little life’s messes that gives us our inspiration to fix them. 🤗❤️

    Cheryl K. Jensen on

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