Try It… You’ll Like It!

"Don't fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things. The saddest summary of a life contains three descriptions: could have, might have, and should have."   Louis E. Boone 

I started out this week doing the Zendala Dare, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, where the object was to make two completely different sides to the zendala. It sounded like a lot of fun. However, I was very unhappy with my resulting zendala. So unhappy that I'm not going to even share it. I think the problem is that I really like symmetry in zendalas, and trying to make something asymmetrical that in my mind should be symmetrical, just doesn't sit well. So...I moved onto something new...the Diva's challenge. 

I was a little wary about that one too, because the tangle pattern to use this week was Henna Drum, by Jane MacKugler, CZT. Jane, should you be reading this, please don't be offended, and please continue reading, but it was a tangle that I have not tried because it never called out my name. But try it I did, and I'm so glad! 

I really love the look of my finished piece. It is more flowy and organic looking than a lot of my Zentangles, and it's just the kind of look that I am trying to incorporate more into my work. I used a red Sakura glaze pen to color the flowers which gives them a wonderful sheen, which of course the camera loses completely. Then I went over my original swirly line of Henna Drum with a black glaze pen to make it thicker and shiny also, since I thought it had gotten a little lost in the tangle of patterns (trying to be clever!). I had so much fun with this that I decided to try another one (see Jane, I told you to continue reading!). 

For the second one I decided to go white on black so I pulled out one of my Ranger black tags (I'm still waiting for my black paper journal which had to be back-ordered). I used my amazing white Uni-ball Signo UM-153 pen along with a white charcoal pencil for a little shading, and put a halo around each of the flowers. Adding a touch of color to the flowers with a green metallic gelly roll pen gave them just a little pop.

Lesson learned. Even when I see a tangle pattern that I don't particularly like, I need to make myself give it a try. Maybe I will discard it, but maybe, just maybe, I will find a new pattern that I love. Thank you Jane and Laura for pushing me to try this.

And maybe next week I will do better on the Zendala Dare.