Happy Halloween! I’m so glad to finally bring you a new artist focus and this week I have something really special to share. You will have to read on to see what I mean! These artist focus articles have become my favorite part of blogging. To discover such richness of art and especially a bit of the person, is a true gift and blessing. Each time I learn something new and interesting about someone, it’s a new insight into what brings art and artist into singular focus. Merging the amazing art and incredible stories is a wonderful experience and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to share with each of you!
This week is no different, as our artist in focus is an incredibly talented woman! This is Liz Brott, mom, professional architect, wonderful artist and incredible person! I met Liz in Eni Oken’s Art Club where we share a love of Eni’s art and teaching methods. Our current lesson is on fractalized tangles and I can imagine it is just perfect for Liz. If you are looking for an art exploration to enhance your drawing, you can join Art Club here!
“I am an architect, musician (flute and piano), and single mother of a wonderfully challenging 14 year old daughter.
I’ve been drawing all my life and have a passionate interest in art and science. Architecture became a natural path to follow as it falls at the intersection of the two. I specialize in healthcare architecture, designing hospitals and medical office buildings with the goal of creating healing environments for patients and healthy buildings for the families and staff who take care of them. I’ve traveled all over the world and always bring my sketch book. Little did I know that my favorite sketch pens, Microns, would become my go to pens for tangling!
One of my friends and hairdresser, Romi Marks, is an artist and CZT, and introduced me to Zentangle over the past year. You can find out more about her at tangledyogi.com. The timing was perfect as I had been dealing with a lot of stress in my personal life in addition to chronic pain and needed a creative distraction. I started slowly by buying the Yoga for the Brain card deck. That’s it, I didn’t know anything more about Zentangle. I flipped through the card deck over the weekend, but didn’t know how to use it, what pens to use or even the term “tile”! It wasn’t until I took my first class from Romi, a Zendala class, that I learned there was a method behind the patterns. My Instagram name, TangledRebel refers to the fact that when I started posting some of my tiles to the Facebook tangling sites, I received messages that I wasn’t following the rules. I didn’t know there were rules! I must admit to being confused and frustrated at first because I didn’t understand why there would be rules around art. However, I’ve since learned the guidelines for each site and respect each facilitator’s desire to define the types of tangling they wish to feature.
As an architect, I am most comfortable with the basics of ink and graphite. Romi introduced me to COLOR. I put that in bold, because Romi really pushed me into the deep end of the pool kicking and screaming, initially. And, with her encouragement and support as well as a reminder that there are no mistakes, only opportunities. Moreover, I think the best thing she ever told me was to “be curious” and that was all it took to launch me into the world of color. I now own probably 10 different brands and types of colored pencils from chalk pastels to watercolors. I’ve taken classes in all types of tangling including black and tan tiles. Romi also teaches “found poetry” by tangling in books. This made me curious about tangling over mathematical equations and formulae. I basically explore putting patterns on everything, e.g. my bull kelp obsession. I also have fun by pushing the boundaries of tangling by seeing how I can still follow the rules, but create a piece that is really on the fringe, e.g. my creepy “FLUX” or rotating Aquafleur.
When exploring all the Square One sites on Facebook, I discovered Eni Oken’s and really was intrigued by her work and her way of taking the two-dimensional patterns and making them into seemingly three dimensional art. Since Eni was also trained as an architect, I really appreciate her approach to Zentangle, her rigorous explorations and complex compositions.
Now, back to the card deck. Since I now bring a little tangling kit with me wherever I go, I usually use the Tangle Patterns app on my phone. However, when my daughter needed an MRI (3 hours long!) I wanted to draw in the magnet room. Since I couldn’t bring my phone inside the magnetic field, my card deck came in handy as they are non-ferrous. 😉
I try to draw every night. Inktober added the additional challenge of doing a tile every day. You can see my Inktober work on Instagram at Tangledrebel.”
I’m a huge fan of Liz’s now. She won me over when she chose one of my favorite classical pieces to match her ad. Rachmaninoff, Prelude Opus 3, no. 2, in c# minor. Check it out on my Facebook page and Instagram.
Next week, I have another focus you will all appreciate! But you’ll have to check back and see who’s next! Thank you Liz for opening your life and art up and sharing it with the world!
The Tireless Tangler 