Opus Tiles . . . and Tangles that Tango!

Last year, to help celebrate the 10th anniversary of Zentangle, Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas released the new Opus tiles. The word "Opus" refers to "an artistic work, especially on a large scale". These beautiful tiles are made of the same museum-quality paper as the original white tiles . . .  and in addition, Maria has inscribed the edge of the back with beautiful reminders of the benefits of practicing the Zentangle Method. 

    Here is a peek at one corner of the back: 

The Opus tiles measure 10.5" X 10.5"

I was so excited to see these beautiful tiles, because I love to work on larger Zentangle-inspired art pieces. The larger surface lets me be more expansive, and fit more tangles in!

The Zentangle-inspired art piece above is done on an Opus tile.

The spiral in the lower left of the Opus is an example of a technique that I love: morphing one tangle into another. Here, I started with the tangle Narwal in the center, and then changed it over to Aquafleur on the outside of the spiral.

 Narwal and Aquafleur. 'dance well'
because they each have
flowing ribbon-like lines what wrap around the main shape. 

On Linda Farmer's great site, TanglePatterns.com, she has a post on the vocabulary or terminology of Zentangle. (It really is something of a new language!)   http://tanglepatterns.com/zentangles/zentangle-terminology

Tango

” ‘Tango’ is our new term for two tangles dancing together. Just as in couples dancing, in tangle tangos, one tangle is more likely to lead and the other follow.” Zentangle Newsletter, November 18, 2012.

I love the image of two tangles dancing together! Just as good dance partners have similarities, and are compatible with each other, so it is with 'dancing tangles'. I love to look at the similarities between two tangles and see how they can blend into each other without "stepping on each other's toes". Do they both have curving lines? Are they grid-based? Do they spiral? 

Clearly, Narwal and Aquafleur both have flowing ribbon-like curves that seem to wrap around the central shape. 

This type of "dance" is just another characteristic of Zentangle that makes it a creative process. Here's to endless possibilities!

Just for fun, here is another example of tangles "dancing together".

Here is the original 11" x 14"

 . . . and here is a section of some tangles doing the tango. Mi2 dances well with:
 Raddox, Leaflet, and  a tangleation of (I think!) Jane Monk's Scrumble.

Happy tangling!