Rick writes:
In 2007, we started BLOG Zentangle and began our enjoyable series of conversations within our Zentangle community. In reading through these blog posts with their insightful comments, we decided to bring a few of them to your attention from time to time. It is easy, for me anyway, to sometimes think of old information as stale information. But these insights and conversations are anything BUT stale!
Today, we invite you to revisit this blog with us from August 2017...
-- Begin Previous Post --
Molly writes...
In the famous play, Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, Juliet speaks to Romeo,
“What's in a name? that which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet.”
I love this phrase. It makes me ponder many things. I think about what a beautiful thing it is that people and many animals alike have developed sophisticated ways to communicate. I think about the complexity of both the spoken and written word. I think about how practically everything has a word or a name that labels it or describes it. And then how different words are used in different languages, cultures, or geographic locations to describe the same thing. And to think about this system again ... does that "thing" change at all without that label or word to identify it? Do we see it differently? Does a different word change or alter its existence? We use words to inform, identify, educate and communicate, but as Juliet says, "What's in a name?"
For instance, here is a word that is frequently used and has very important meaning in so many places across the globe. In English we call it love, but in other languages you will see it as basque, voljeti, обичам, estimar, voljeti, láska, elsker, liefde, armastus, rakkaus, amour, amar, liebe, αγαπώ, szerelem, elska, is breá, amare, mīlestība, meilė, сакам, imħabba, elsker, люблю, љубав, láska, ljubezen, amor, älskar, любов, caru, ליבע, 爱, and 愛. And this is only to name a few. Each word identifies the same thing but the word itself that is used is different in each language.
Another example is when I was a little girl, my mother would make this casserole made with layers of ground beef, corn and green beans and topped with mashed potatoes. It was called Pâté Chinois. I thought our family invented it. Years later I was at school and on the menu was this thing called Shepard's Pie. When I saw what it was, I thought, that is not Shepard's Pie! That is Pâté Chinois! Did they steal our family recipe and change the name? How dare they? So it turns out my family did not invent this recipe, they didn't even name it. It is a very old recipe. With more than a handful of names and variations. Does what it is called change the way it is made or alter the flavor? Perhaps in our heads a little ... but not really.
What does this all have to do with the Zentangle method? Well I think about the vocabulary of Zentangle. How we have such fun words to reference techniques and terms and we have names for all these amazing patterns we call tangles. This language is so helpful to identify, communicate and learn the Zentangle Method. We use language to teach this method. And we love to use it, but can we learn it and use it without any language at all? YES! We totally can! That is what is so amazing about this method. It can be beautifully understood, practiced and shared without a single word ... written or spoken. It crosses cultures, continents, religions, and generations. Zentangle art becomes a language in itself.
We put names on tangles and their step-outs so that we can identify them and learn how to create them. It does not mean that we invented the pattern or that we were the only one to ever discover it or create a step-out for it. Are their some tangles that are perhaps original patterns? ... maybe? but many of our tangles are beautiful patterns rediscovered from history and nature. We just come up with a way to draw them and identify them. So is it possible for one tangle to have more than one name? Sure it is. Is it possible that the same tangle has multiple step-outs? Of course. Can there be multiple variations of the same tangle? Yes again.
So...
“What's in a name? that which we call crescent moon
By any other name would still be the same beautiful tangle”
Tangle on my friends.
JessicaLDykesCZT39 on
Jennifer on
MaryAnn Scheblein-Dawson, CZT 1 on
本部からのメールを拝見するようになったのは最近ですが、ゼンタングルに込められたメッセージや哲学にとても心惹かれます。
今日のメッセージもゼンタングルから感じる全てがメタファーであり、それを考える時間をもらえて感謝です。
Morley
Moriley on
This concept reminds me of learning to teach my son who is terribly color blind. Try describing the sky and clouds without using colors. How can you convey that ground beef is cooked without using the word pink. My son only sees black, white, and shades of gray. At 37 yrs old, he has learned to identify colors by the shade of gray, the tones but still has trouble with some. Blue and purple confuse him and he sees little difference between red and orange. I think his vision is much like zentangle – black pen, white tile, and graphite. He sees the beauty in my artwork.
Chris Kwiecien on
Brenda Shaver on
Rimona Gale on
Dione Greenberg on
LOL … I am Mom, Mrs. Baum, Annie, Annma (my favorite) or even Phoebe. Depends on where I am and who I’m with. Thanks for giving us food for thought today.
Ann Baum, CZT36 on
Peyton on
Another thing that struck me yesterday as my understanding of the language of Zentangle continues to expand. During PP29’s day 4, Arukas was mentioned and I did fully recall Molly sharing how it came to called such, in a YouTube video, demonstrating same. What threw me and delighted me was the off hand comment about the tangle Hurry. The reference was about a rush seat chair. And, once again, I found myself marveling at the clever, whimsical, often funny and just plain creative this language is that we share.
With gratitude,
Pam
PamS on
Sharon Wrench on
Enjoyed reading this. It really makes you stop and think.
Tammy Elliott on
So beautifully written and summarized. So very inspiring, thought provoking and philosophical. Thank you for sharing this again. Molly, you are an exceptional woman.
Terri Delaune on
With eternal gratitude to all of you!
Mary Ellen Ziegler on
Susan on