PreStrung Fun!

We recently learned of a fun Zendala challenge organized by three Certified Zentangle Teachers, Deb and Anica, and avid tangler Jem. We asked them to share with the Zentangle Community a little bit about their experience and how others can participate.

We are excited to share with you this guest blog post. Enjoy!

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Jem, Deb and Anica write...

We all have favourite tiles - certain shapes, sizes or colours we reach for most often. Perhaps we also have those that stay overlooked and rather neglected? For some tanglers the pre-strung Zendala tiles are used less frequently, but a recent project has shaken up renewed enthusiasm for them.

A fleeting remark in a comments thread was the seed that began this adventure. Jem observed that she rarely used pre-strung Zendala (in eight years of tangling she'd only tangled about three) - but she'd long wondered what would happen if many tanglers all worked on just one string and then compared their results. Anica and Debbie quickly saw the potential and the three of us devised and polished the idea of #prestrungfun.

We vowed to keep it simple, not wanting rules or restrictions to over-complicate the process. Just an open invitation to use one chosen pre-strung tile, picked by us. No pressure, no competition, any colour, or no colour. No requirement to share your tile in any particular place, just the request to add the hashtag so we can all find and admire each other's work.

We set the date to share our tiles a few weeks ahead - in part so no one had to rush, Zentangle should never be rushed! But also we encouraged people to resist sharing before that date, because we were intrigued to see what we would each create without being overly influenced by others artwork.

On June 6th tiles started appearing on Facebook, Instagram and the [Zentangle] Mosaic app. Over 60 worldwide tanglers shared their results, with some offering multiple tiles as once they started they couldn't stop! The variety was astounding – colourful, classic, bold, elegant, simple, complex and everything in between. On some the string was still apparent, others less so, and some it disappeared altogether. Collectively we clearly proved that from one string there are limitless possibilities. Feast your eyes on the gathered splendour by searching for #prestrungfun on any of the platforms mentioned.

In addition to the obvious joy on their tiles people commented on how much they'd enjoyed the process, and often how they'd not particularly connected well with pre-strung Zendala before this project. There were a number of requests to repeat the challenge and so in August we will be sharing a new string and inviting people to tangle along once again. We hope you feel inspired to join us.

-Anica Gabrovec, Debbie Huntington and Jem Miller

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If you would like to join the next #PreStrungFun challenge, they have selected the Zendala string below to tangle. Upload yours on the Zentangle Mosaic app or other social media outlets using the hashtag #PreStrungFun beginning August 22nd!

*Banner Images taken from the Zentangle Mosaic App. Artists left to right: @NormaJeanZen, @HirokoMCZT32, @dlhuntingtonCZT, @zen_Linea

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Thank you to everyone who shared there tips for going beyond the basics with us and sharing your tips and ideas in our last blog. What a wonderful resource to share with tanglers when they need it. We have randomly selected Mary Ellen F to receive a Zentangle Kit - Classic! Please send your snail mail address to julie@zentangle.com