Tuesday, April 17, 2018

"It's a String Thing" #238 Tiles

What a fabulous week this was as emails came through every day with spectacular tiles featuring my new tangle Mack.  It is such an incredible perk I am afforded in hosting IAST, isn't it?!
I am one grateful tangler...


The first tile arrived from Western Australia - Di wrote ~
The mornings are starting to feel a little cooler here in Australia - some mornings are not t-shirt weather anymore.
Mack is a fabulous tangle, full of endless combinations of patterns and angles. Upon seeing Mack, it being such a symmetrical pattern, I almost immediately knew I wanted to experiment with negative imaging. I particularly wanted to see how shapes would change when black met black and white met white and I achieved that somewhat, but for that to fully occur I would have had to eliminate the demarcation lines in the diamond shaped centre, and I had already inked them in. It gives me an opportunity to explore more with this pattern in the future.
If I look at this image for too long, I get dizzy.
Adele, do you recognize one of the tangles in the centre section? Your orange tree is still yielding fruit!
Thanks for heaps of fun with Mack.
 Tangled Tidbits -
Thank you for that sweet thought!
*striking black and white contrasts
*angled outer lines


From Jane (Dorking, Surrey, United Kingdom) ~
Thanks for the preview of your fab new tangle with such a great step out and lots of variations. Your attention to detail is admirable! I will certainly try #mack again as a monotangle as I love to use a wonky grid. This time however I framed it with #shard and added lots of rounding.
 Tangled Tidbits -
Thank you, Jane.
*remarkable results with rounding
*highlighted frame - as though Shard is under glass - accents Mack beautifully


From Ria Matheussen, CZT (Belgium) ~
Congratulations with your new pattern.
It is a very interesting tangle with lots of possibilities. I used it in a few different ways on this tile with also Mack as a string.
I have chosen for a combination of Mack, Featuring Ribbon and Sea Weed.
Almost I delivered a black/white tile but at the end I couldn't resist to add a little accent of fresh green.
Thanks again Adele for a wonderful challenge that I enjoyed very much.
Warm regards from Belgium
 Tangled Tidbits -
Thank you, Ria.
*varying direction and beautiful finishes for Mack
*pretty pops of green, shading, and highlights


From Nor'dzin (Wales, United Kingdom) ~
Thank you for the interesting new tangle. I’m not entirely happy with my tile this week, but here it is anyway. Thank you and good wishes to everyone.
 Tangled Tidbits -
Thank you, Nor'dzin
*Mack in Mack - how fun!
*spiral provides contrast in color and line



From Baafke (The Netherlands) ~
Congratulations on your beautiful new tangle!
I really enjoyed making this tile.
And I am very curious about all the results.
 Tangled Tidbits -
*radiating grid lines from a center Mack - wonderful wonky-ness!
*string line highlighted in yellow and tangles reach to the edge of the tile


From Shirley Wohlsen (Queensland, Australia) ~
Wow! What a super Tangle is ‘Mack’ I love it Adele, there are so many wonderful variations possible,
I can’t wait to see everyone’s Tiles. I have submitted two entries, the second one being the expansion of the tangle I drew.
Thank you so much for your new tangle Adele
Tangled Tidbits -
Thank you, Shirley.
*tangles in each Mack section move from light to dark and accent the widening lines
*elegant lines, shading, and tangles - so crisp!



From Hilary (Italy) ~
Greetings from sunny Italy! We are staying in Salerno and it really is sunny, such a nice change from what we left in Chicago.
Congratulations on your new pattern! It’s a great one, with so many mesmerizing possibilities. I tried it this way, but I kept thinking about other ways I could be doing it. Those are the best patterns!
 Tangled Tidbits -
Thank you, Hilary, the Italian sun shines in your tangles.
*beautiful Renaissance tile and coloring
*shading and highlights together add great depth


From Lisette (Switzerland) ~
Thank you so much for your new pattern! Herewith my entry for IAST #238. I had a lot of fun although I usually prefer wavy lines. It’s always a challenge to leave your comfort zone.
Hugs from Switzerland (finally Spring is coming)
 Tangled Tidbits -
Thank you, Lisette.
*stunning Mack variation enhanced with orbs and lines
*wonky grid for Mack looks like its lifting off the paper



From VenaC (Whitby, Ontario, Canada) ~
This tile is in gold and green, the team colours of the Humboldt Broncos and is in memory of the 16 young lives lost as they were on their way to an ice hockey match in rural Saskatchewan when their bus was hit by a big truck last Friday. Canada is in mourning. Flags are flying at half mast and hockey sticks are being placed in public places and also on front porches of private homes. May their parents, family and friends find the strength to get through this. I can't end this post on such a somber note. The catkins are for the first little fuzzy "flowers" of spring. The lilacs have buds and the green leaves of the tulips and daffodils are popping up. I like your tangle Adele, but I did find it needed a lot of concentration. The string is a bit hidden, but I did start off with it.
 Tangled Tidbits -
Thank you for the mention and tribute those lost in the terrible tragedy.
*large dark center spaces for Mack
*colorful surrounding tangles compliment Mack


From Ilse Lukken (The Netherlands) and here on her blog ~
Somehow I didn’t participate in your challenge for a while, but I’m back :-)
Mack was quite a discovery ;-) and it inspirerend me to add patterns that also have straight lines and black little squares.
The combination with Flukes and Capeangle is maybe a little dizzying ;-) but I like the result, which is on my blog as well
 Tangled Tidbits -
Welcome back, Isle!
*line thickness, direction, spacing - all wonderfully changing from grid section to grid section
*shading accents angles


From Lynn G (Florida) ~
Absolutely love Mack! I trimmed with some Mehndi.
 Tangled Tidbits -
Thank you, Lynn.
*so many glorious details and accents for Mack and beautiful Mehndi
*three small corner Mack



From Mariam G (Port Hueneme, California) ~
I love your new tangle 'Mack'. So much fun to play with that I rather lost control of it all! Can't wait to incorporate it into more scenarios. Thank you for the pattern and for the challenge. Oh, and happy Friday the 13th!
 Tangled Tidbits -
Thank you, Mariam.
*lined, lightly penciled, and boldly penned sections of Mack
*Mack border direction flows from the upper left corner


From Susie (Thailand) ~
I love that new tangle of yours. I instantly had to try it out in a wonky grid, partial, overlapping, with a different kind of stroke....and then I realized, I forgot to draw the real Mack. I promise (! cross my heart and hope to die!) I will do so on a later tile. So attached my packaging Mack monotile.
Thanks for this wonderful challenge, Adele, and Mack!
 Tangled Tidbits -
Thank you, Susie - as the host on an old television show used to say, "Will the real Mack please stand up?"
*Mack variations shine with highlights and golden hues
*wonderful deep black sections


From Jutta Gladnigg, CZT (NRW, Germany) ~
Thank you, Adele, for introducing us to ‚Mack‘, a new member of your great pattern family!
My tile this week remains unshaded, nevertheless at close sight there are different 3D-perspectives to be recognized.
I was inspired to this by the latest art exhibition in Düsseldorf, Germany, “Pictures without Shadows“.
As explained there the paintings do not have shadows because what they show is independent of the real world and has an existence of its own.
Those pictures represent a state beyond time.
 Tangled Tidbits -
Thank you, Jutta.
*cheerful colors mixed with white and black spaces - love that inspiration
*larger, independent triangles mix with large and small Mack



From Laurel Davis, CZT (New York) ~
Congratulations on designing this fabulous new tangle! I love grid designs and this one is so bold and dramatic. What fun!
 Tangled Tidbits -
Thank you Laurel - this looks like fun!
*bold and colorful Mack - lovely contrast of color against black and white
*larger Mack divided by random lines - very dramatic


From Susie (St. Louis, Missouri) ~
The black and white tile is way too busy, so I decided to try another. I’m not sure I like it. Before I shaded it, it was OK, then I kept darkening the shading a little at a time, then was too dark so I added a touch of white. EH!!
Oh well, always next week...
Tangled Tidbits - 
*three pretty variations of Mack - can't even pick a favorite!
*open triangles give the illusion that the vertical lines of Mack tuck under the horizontal ones



From Lin H, CZT (Florida) ~
Adele, I love your new tangle pattern, Mack. Was fun embellishing it with other tangles like Barberpole by Suzanne McNeill, plus an original pattern Emingle and some orbs. Thanks for sharing Mack!

Tangled Tidbits - 
Thank you, Lin.
*bold, elegant, beautifully embellished Mack
*softly blended shading


From Margarete Gilge (Germany) and here on her blog ~
Mack is a wonderful pattern. I enjoyed to play with it and so I drew three versions. I send you the second one, the two others you can find on my blog...
Thank you very much for this interesting challenge!
Best wishes from Germany
 Tangled Tidbits -
Thank you, Margarete.
*pretty tangles fill Mack spaces
*clusters of smaller, embellished Mack in each of the string's sections


From Jody Genovese, CZT (New York) ~
I really enjoyed working with your new tangle/fragment. I’ve been playing with fragments a bit lately so the timing was perfect.
A happy birthday to your brother! It’s a great honor to have a tangle named for you.
Sending warm wishes your way!
 Tangled Tidbits -
Thank you, Jody.
*highlighted penciled Mack border frames the center grid - so dimensional!
*grid of bold Mack with larger single Mack center


From Jane (Boulder, Colorado) ~
A very simple version of IAST #238 with your very fun, very dimensional Mack...the striped kind below and and the inked kind above...and that's about it--:)
...Thanks for everything zentangly, always!
 Tangled Tidbits -
*shading add dimension along the long lines
*airy lined Mack


From Cyndee Pelley (Oklahoma) and here on her blog ~
Thanks for another great challenge! I thoroughly enjoyed playing with Mack! When playing with wonky grid I couldn't find a solution that pleased me, however when doing my tile I had a true Zentangle moment with a mistake. Because I kept drawing, reminding myself of the "no mistakes, only opportunities" rule. I know this rule but internally I still make "mistakes". Yesterday, after the "opportunity", I forged on and behold as I worked, the opportunity presented itself. I swear, my adrenaline spiked when I realized the perfect solution was there. A true opportunity. What a moment for me! Mack is a great Tangle and I can't wait to use it as I move forward!
 Tangled Tidbits -
Thank you for that wonderful reminder, Cyndee!
*tangle filled lines of Mack
*golden tangles glow with highlights
*blue layer of Mack rises over the embellished Mack below
*wonderful shading, overlapping, color, and highlights


From Karen Herstowski (Atlanta, Georgia) ~
You have hit a new tangle design pinnacle with Mack!! I LOVE THIS TANGLE !!!
This was a real challenge. When I did it straight I got it fairly quickly, BUT when I decided to do it on a wonky grid, that was a different story. It was so difficult to keep track of the pattern components. Took me several attempts to begin to see what was before me without getting confused. Grids are not the easiest patterns for me. There are still incongruities in the pattern. It was so much fun.
Love the way it turned out. I used a pattern on the upper center called Diskbee by Beate Wilkinson which is a great filler. The lobes in the left triad, are a pattern of mine that I use often. It is similar to something I saw Rick Roberts do in a tutorial a while ago. They remind me of slightly filled balloons. It is not an official Zentangle pattern but I refer to it as “Balloonies”.
Thanks so much for such a challenging and very engaging pattern.
You have so much talent!!
Tangled Tidbits - 
Thank you, Karen.  Balloonies come alive with color and shading, don't they?  
*wonky and wonderful Mack - in brown and black (Looks like a minty confection, doesn't it?!)
*silvery shading ties the string sections together, not to mention the corner details



From Tabitha Bedoukian (Montreal, Canada) ~
Lovely new tangle. I look forward to trying it out in it's more "regular" form! I'm not really a straight line kind of girl, so I tried to make sure that at least some of them remained straight. ;) I used the tangles Jalousie, Florez tangleation, headlines, Olé and Eddy/Henna Drum combo.
As a ballroom dancer, I also enjoyed your reference to the Waltz, which is still one of my favourite dances. I have always thought of the waltz as a curvaceous dance, but you have shown me otherwise. In the basic step, we create a box in our steps, and this is definitely a "box" tangle! Bonus! :D
I enjoyed this one. Thank you for all you do!
 Tangled Tidbits -
Oooh!  Thank you for that waltz connection, Tabitha.
*beautiful tangles mirror in the smaller string sections
*fancy tangles fill the larger string section
*wavy border makes an elegant frame


From Renee (Austin, Texas) ~
Well - Mack and I tangled but I am not sure who won. This is my first time back for a String Thing Challenge in many months. I have missed it.
 Tangled Tidbits -
And we've missed you - thank you for the smile, we'll declare you the winner!
*pleasing balance of size, color, black and white
*dot and dash aura


From Sra (India) ~
Here’s my entry for the week.
 Tangled Tidbits -
*four large Mack filled with tangles, pretty blues and greys
*lovely shading on perfs and throughout


From Sharon Fite (California) ~
Fun with Mack! So much so, I needed two tiles. As I was working on the first tile, I wanted to get out my striped fabric, cut it up, and re-sew into lots of triangles and then squares. As I was working hard on keeping those lines straight, I began wondering what Mack would look like with intentional wavy lines. So the second tile has a wavy Mack variation, along with Diva Dance and Squid. That's when you know you've got a really good tangle -- adaptability in lots of formats. Thanks for the inspiration, Adele!
 Tangled Tidbits -
Thank you, Sharon.
*multiple variations of Mack - a Mack quilt!
*shading in select elements adds emphasis
*wonderfully wavy Mack flows effortlessly into neighboring tangles


A very warm welcome to ARHuelsenbeck from Arizona ~
Hi, Adele! Here’s my offering for this week’s challenge. I did a straight set in order to get good practice on the tangle. Lovely pattern, but by the time I got to the shading stage, my eyes were about done in! Kind of a kaleidoscopic effect. Reminds me of quilt blocks pieced out of two different striped fabrics. Hmm. Now I want to make that quilt…
 Tangled Tidbits -
You will have to meet up with Sharon and quilt!
*mesmerizing, detailed grid of Mack
*shading adds wonderful depth
I found a spot where your name fit on our Tangled Map - welcome to the IAST community!



From Verena (Germany) ~
Really enjoy your new tangle. It is so wonderful and really relaxing. It is like meditation by doing the single lines....one, two, tree.... Mack will be in my top ten tangles.
Best wishes from very Sunny Germany.
 Tangled Tidbits -
Thank you so much Verena.
*captivating juxtaposition of lined, large and small Mack
*each Mack shaded to accent a different element


From Sharyn Penna, CZT (Massachusetts) ~
A few years ago my brother passed away ... his nickname among his friends was Mac. Your tangle warms my heart!!!
I used Mack as a fractal in a single orientation throughout the tile. I dressed it with perks; added Knightsbridge; gave a curved grid to the large section. This is one versatile tangle who promises vast interpretations!
I can see it as a celebration of patriotism... red, white, blue ... so it’s appropriate that Mack was presented this week! Monday is Boston’s state holiday, Patriot’s Day (Paul Revere’s Ride) marked by the annual Boston Marathon which has become a worldwide symbol of physical and spiritual resilience.
So, cheers to you, and to all that is good ... Mack lends strength this tangled world!
 Tangled Tidbits -
Yes, cheers to all that is good - thank you for that, Sharyn.  I will always remember your brother and mine when I draw this now.
*fabulous fragments accented with orbs and squares
*curved, bold lined fragments look like a standing stack of Mack


From Ragged Ray (United Kingdom) ~
I hope this is a case of better late than never! Not as much time as I would have liked this week. But getting to know Mack has been a joy. Such calming precision in those lines. I need to know Mack better before I start wild variations. So a simple tile - with a main section of basic Mack, with one Cubine moment, and then a band of Beadlined Mack. A wild application of graphite. And there we are. I hope you like it! And I can't wait to see where others take it to!
Tangled Tidbits -
Thank you, Jem.
*breathtaking beauty of line and shading
*rounding of the lines on the outer rims - an incredible enhancing of the tangle



From Sue Agnew (Tucson, Arizona) ~
My sister has been here visiting and time got away from us this weekend, so I know I'm past the deadline, but I couldn't miss sending you a tile with Mack. How funny is it that last week (knowing you were working on a new tangle but not knowing anything about it) I sent you a scan of a table runner at Crate & Barrel that's made up of squares subdivided into twos, threes, and fours. Mack takes a different approach than the Crate & Barrel design, but the beginning thought is the same. My sister and I did go to the nearby Crate & Barrel store and found both a pillow and a napkin with that pattern, but still couldn't determine the motifs' repeat (and the sales associate thought we were nuts). The thing I like about Mack is it's folded-ness (like a pocket square), so I tried to retain that, rather than mirroring the fragments which creates an "op" effect.
Congratulations on your new tangle!
Thank you Sue, it was a happy coincidence.

Here is the photo Sue sent of the pattern referred to in her note ~ quite a beautiful pattern, isn't it?


 Tangled Tidbits -
*...and those fragments fill in a line space
*sparkled lines and detail lines


From Gabi (Germany) ~
Thanks for that challenge and the new pattern :))
I don’t like grid patterns and so my first thought was: what a f.... ascinating pattern.
But surprise: so logical and easy in construction and a nice by-the-way 3D-effect so I did the pattern without any variations. Made three different versions but this is my favourite one (posted the others at Instagram).
Sunny greetings from Germany
Tangled Tidbits - 
So very happy to know that Mack won you over.
*bold and beautifully shaded Mack
*sparkled Printemps with a dotted reverse under the clever curls



Thank you all so much for your enthusiastic responses to Mack - my heart is full. 


Check back Tuesday afternoon for "It's a String Thing" #239!

2 comments:

  1. Hi Adele! I didn't say anything about the tile as I was so focused on making the IAST deadline this week (I Googled 'Time Now in Florida' because my regular mail didn't cooperate the previous night). This was the first time I was using a blue pen!
    Such a wonderful crop of Mack this week! I loved Nord'zin's idea for her tile!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow! Beautiful tiles! What a creative group this is!

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