Monday, July 2, 2012

Cool WiP & Fi di Pi & Cintronica

WiP: Work in Progress. Need I say more? Of course I do. Even if I don't need to, I will.  After all, that's why I have a blog: to elaborate on my ideas with anyone who cares to take the time to read them. :-) If that's you, then thank you for reading!

I have just returned home from a delightful family vacation...I thought I'd be blogging from the beach condo, and tangling up a storm, but that didn't happen. Instead I read...and shopped and dined and slept, and took in a show (SHOUT! The Mod Musical), and enjoyed time with my inlaws and nephew as well as my husband and kids. So now I feel very relaxed, but also waaaaay behind on Diva challenges and blog posts, as I was already behind before I left on vacation!
My next few entries will feature unfinished tiles--ones that I started for various Diva challenges, including this week's challenge, UMT v. VI: Fiore di Pietro (Challenge #77). Fiore di Pietro is a new tangle by Rho Densmore, CZT, in memory of her brother-in-law who passed very unexpectedly a mere two-and-a-half weeks ago. It's a beautiful tangle, full of possibilities to explore. Click here to link to directions. This first tile in which I've utilized Fiore di Pietro is incomplete in that I haven't yet shaded it...but I am so eager to get a post up, after skipping a few weeks, I want to go ahead and share it! I'll post it again after I've shaded it. (DONE! 7/10/12) I love seeing other people's work mid-process, so I hope you can enjoy mine in stages.
Tangles used: Fiore di Pietro, Pweeko, Ving, Tipple
And here's the finished tile. Rho, you are welcome to use this, if you wish.
Also in the WiP category--make that the Cool WiP category; I wouldn't post something if I didn't think it was cool--is a glorious new tangle from Zentangle! It is currently nameless. (!!!!!!) Rick and Maria posted it to the Zentangle newsletter and blog last week and challenged us to name it and draw step-outs (the diagrams that break down a tangle into simple steps). 
My proposed name is Cintronica, after Tina Cintron (see explanation below). I completed these step-outs super fast on vacation at Hilton Head Island on the coast of South Carolina last week. I jumped right to task as soon as I saw the newsletter about the new tangle and the name/step-out challenge. I had to rush through them for fear that I'd peek at directions if someone else posted their version before I'd finished mine. I allowed myself very little time to do this, as our family was about to head out for an afternoon of kayaking. (Our first ever kayak excursion...and it was WONDERFUL! Our tour group enjoyed the presence of a lone dolphin who surfaced in our area numerous times...once a mere 15 feet or so behind me!)

My step-outs, messy thought they are, and crudely photographed with Caroline's iPad, are as follows:


About the name I propose, Cintronica, and it's origin: Tina Cintron has an instructional DVD that I purchased for use in my classroom. The DVD's focus is on watercolor resist techniques, but a bonus feature is that she shows how to draw basic Celtic knots using a configuration she calls "Headless Dancing Man." Headless Dancing Man is a square whose sides are extended in four different directions, as seen in the first diagram of Step 2 of my step-outs above. If that figure is turned diagonally, it really does look like a block-bodied stick man that is missing his head and doing the can-can. Or about to do a cartwheel.

Headless Dancing Man is a great way to start an endless number of Celtic Knot design variations...and as such, has become an important figure in my teaching. Thus, when I saw this new tangle that utilizes the concept I learned from Tina Cintron, I wanted to propose a name that honors her. The "ca" I added at the end of my proposed title is short for "cabin," as in "log cabin," the tradition quilt block construction method that utilizes strips of cloth. My daughter Caroline has a tangle that we call DecoLoCa (see it used here on the egg), which is short for Deconstructed Log Cabin, which is also inspired in part by the log cabin quilt block.

About my Cool WiP concept: This past school year our PTA adopted a food/cooking theme for the annual back-to-school activities and membership drive. It was a fun theme; I thought of our art room as "Smorgasbord Studio," though I never officially named it that by making a sign. I also tried to think of unusual ways to work the theme of "food" into the art curriculum. I  had a lot of ideas that never made it to fruition (note the pun I worked in there? FRUITion?!), but one of my ideas that I did bring to life is the Cool WiP board: Cool Work-in-Progress. I had a bulletin board that I would occasionally post impressive artwork-in-progress by my students. Sometimes I even gave out a Cool Wip wristband that I made up as an award that students could wear home to show their parents that their artwork had been honored. I didn't get it going until late in the year, though, so it wasn't a main feature of the artroom and class routine...but next year I want to carry on with it and make a bigger deal about it to get the students excited.

Thanks for reading if you made it this far! As always, any comments you post are cherished. 
Happy tangling!





17 comments:

  1. I like the use of auras in your tile. Can't wait to see it shaded.

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  2. What a gorgeous approach to Fiore di Pietro! I am really loving this design!

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  3. Wonderful approach! I dig the use of other tangles in this tangle too!

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  4. Beautiful, a unique take on this tangle.

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  5. Thank you all! I hope to get it shaded today...I was very pleased with the linework, which was so fun to do, and now I'm eager to carry it further.

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  6. Your rendition of the challenge is beautiful. Shading will only enhance it more. Also really like your celtic knot tangle instructions.

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  7. Thank you, Linda. After I finally had time to post my version of step-outs for the new tangle, I allowed myself to see how others had deconstructed it...and realized that I was waaaay off! I had a good laugh at myself, but I don't regret my version. Because my approach was off, I don't think my suggested name is a good one for the new official tangle, but I like the idea that instructions I posted can help others to draw Celtic knots. :-)

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  8. Wonderful job on the challenge tile. I think it looks fantastic. Good job on the step-outs too, I'll be back to check them out again. :)

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  9. Made in silver or gold your Fiore di Pietro would make a super brooch!

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    1. Ooooohhh! I like the way you think, Shelly! Thank you!!! I wish I had a way to make that happen.

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  10. Your Zentangle seems to float on your tile -- your interpretation is great!

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  11. I love your Zentangle it's line quality is beautiful.

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  12. haha! sounds like you had a great vacation and hit the ground running once you got back home! i like your step-out on the new tangle. i can't wait to really use it and understand it, i am looking at your step-out in full screen. thanks :) and tell caroline thanks, too :)

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    1. Alice, my step out approach is not at all on target with the new tangle! Once I saw how everyone else broke it down, I couldn't believe how off I was...you can read more of my response at the Zentangle blog...it's at the very end of 108 comments! But I'm glad you like what I did...thanks for commenting! I'll tell Caroline. We'll do some official step outs for DecoLoCa soon.

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  13. Really beautifully done tile. Can't wait to see your shading. I like your step-outs and name for the Zentangle contest,too!

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  14. This is a great tile! Way to go!

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  15. Hi I'm very interested in the PTA Cooking/Food theme idea. I've had this idea for awhile and would need to "sell" it for it to fly. Can you share a few ideas of what your PTA did? Thanks in advance!

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