This Should Have Been My First Post...

... but it wasn't. Because I was too excited about putting up my responses to the Diva Challenge.

And this should have been my first post because this is the "why this blog" post.

So, why this blog?

I have two other blogs, but they are quite particular. One, History in the Making, is for my genealogy stuff. I really need to get back to that. It's been four months since I last wrote on that. Slack, but there are reasons, just not very good ones. The other, Grasping Nettles, is for my art production, keeping myself on track by going public with my progress. That gets used a lot. This one, Catching the Bug, is specifically for things Zentangle.

There are some tangle posts on Grasping Nettles, in the context of exhibitions. You can read them here, here, here, here, and here if you are interested. But I came to the conclusion yesterday that if I am going to regularly do the Diva Challenges, which is my aim, and as I want to post more Zentangle-related things, I could do with a specific blog. So here it is.

And the title? I am a punner and my son is a literalist. So we have been joking around since January with the idea of the Tangle Bug that I caught being an actual little bug, or beetle. Then Maria Thomas introduced the world to Bijou, so I felt inspired to bring the Bug to life on paper. And now it's gone virtual.

The thing about bugs, and it holds true for this, is that sometimes they are beautiful and fascinating and just what you need in your day, and other times they are really irritating and won't let you be. And won't go away. I have a few bugs, the Tangle Bug being just one. Sometimes I feel like Charles Darwin, one in each hand and one in my mouth, just so I can carry them all (yes, he really did. Boys).

So here's to bugs. And lots of tangling.

Tangle Bug, Megan Hitchens 2014, Bijou tile

Betwixt and Betweed - Trying a Diva Challenge

Finally got up the courage to try a Diva Challenge. Using only Betweed.

I had a lot of fun looking through what other people had done. I love doing that, it's a great way to see a familiar tangle afresh as people have all sorts of ways of using it. It got me all fired up and raring to go.

The black tiles have been a bit of a challenge for me. I did a class with the lovely Lianne Woods (CZT), which helped a lot but I still view them with a bit of trepidation. Still, in for a penny, in for a pound. So I decided that, as I was having my first go at a challenge (something else trepidatious), I may as well combine the two. And came up with this...

 

Is it just me, or do other people have trouble with photographing or scanning drawings and tangles on black? The Zen stone particularly seems to be highly reflective and what is a soft luminous grey on the tile turns into a strong, defined blob or, as in the image above, almost non-existent. In real life, the entire tangle has a soft glow of  soap stone around it. Not so much in the photo.

While waiting for the white ink to dry so I could shade without smudging, I got out a Bijou tile  and went to work again. All my Bijou tiles I sign with the Tangle Bug rather than my monogram. Don't know why, I just like to do it. Each bug (so far) has an individually decorated shell. We'll see how long that lasts.

 

Anyway, the Challenge was fun and I'm actually looking forward to doing another, and doing some more Tangles on black. If anyone finds this who is thinking about joining in on the Diva Challenges but isn't sure, give it a go. It's not so scary once you get started.