Beech Bowl with Zentangle (R) Pyrography

[Eric Holmquist]

Beech Bowl with pyrography. Finished with Bush Oil and Polyurethane. Around 8" (20cm) across. My first attempt at embellishing with Zentangle (R) patterns.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8222/8417845288_bf28f2c180_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/79751797@N04/8417845288/)
Beech ZIA Bowl 01 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/79751797@N04/8417845288/) by Eric Holmquist (http://www.flickr.com/people/79751797@N04/), on Flickr

[charlie knighton]

very nice, beech needs a little something, can you expand on the Zentangle (R) patterns, who, and when did they live. totaly ignorant about these patterns, but they attractive. what does the (R) stand for? its not copyrighted is it????

[Eric Holmquist]

very nice, beech needs a little something, can you expand on the Zentangle (R) patterns, who, and when did they live. totaly ignorant about these patterns, but they attractive. what does the (R) stand for? its not copyrighted is it????

Zentangle (R) is a registered trademark for a meditative drawing technique that can produce some amazing patterns. One is free to use the patterns on other art forms (Zentangle Inspired Art). There are numerous books on the subject.

[Michelle Rich]

I have no clue as to Zentangle..but the design is appealing, and gives the bowl a step up in interest.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I agree that the design is really appealling and really nice bowl.

[jwjerry w kowalski]

I really llike it, makes an ordinary bowl into an elegant art forum.

[Timothy Mann]

That is very nice Eric, first class pyro work.

[James Roberts]

Very nice Eric, this art form definitly dresses up an otherwise unassuming piece of wood. While the form, finish and the bark inclusions might have carried this piece on their own, your embellishment elevates it to an objet d'art. I looked at the website for Zentangle (R) and I am intrigued by the possibilities. While I am not currently set up for pyrography, it is certainly something on my "gotta try that" list.

[Alan Zenreich]

Nice bowl, and Zentangling can be quite compelling. I showed a couple of Lauren's tangles in a recent post, and will be demonstrating it as part of our demos at the AAW symposium. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?196916-A-few-pendant-photos

[Alan Zenreich]

One thing you might want to consider is putting more detail into the tangles. Your spaces between your lines would be a great canvas for smaller patterns and solid areas.

[Eric Holmquist]

Thanks everyone!

Zentangle (R) patterns on turnings or flat work have pretty decent potential. I tried using fine line markers (Copic Multiliner) on wood and they bleed too much (Tried on hard maple pieces) so I went with pyro using a medium spear tip. This limits me to patterns that do not have a lot of tight radius curves, but there are enough patterns with mild curves to have a lot of fun. If I used a small ball tip, I could get the same effects as paper and ink, but I struggle to get smooth lines / curves with pyro unless I have a spear or skew tip.

What Google searches I've done seem to indicate that the few people who play with Zentangle (R) patterns on wood, do so with pyro, probably for the same reasons I went that way. I have not given up on pens, I'll give Sakura Micron and Statdler a try and see if I can find some technique that lets me get crisp lines.

[Eric Holmquist]

One thing you might want to consider is putting more detail into the tangles. Your spaces between your lines would be a great canvas for smaller patterns and solid areas.

I agree, but for now I am keeping it fairly simple while I get comfortable with using pyro instead of a pen, but hope to branch out and start laying down a "thread" and tangling around the thread for a more organic look. I'll probably do a couple more pieces with variations on this pattern before moving on.

[Alan Zenreich]

Eric,

Lauren is doing fine with the Pigma Micron pens and 'brush' pens on maple.
We tried sealing the wood first with shellac, but she actually preferred the way the pens flow on raw wood.

[Eric Holmquist]

Eric,

Lauren is doing fine with the Pigma Micron pens and 'brush' pens on maple.
We tried sealing the wood first with shellac, but she actually preferred the way the pens flow on raw wood.

Thanks for the info, I tried a Pigma Micron 01 and liked the results, no bleeding of the lines. Now I have to play with finishes over the ink to see how that goes.