Ambitious....ME??

Not normally could I be considered an ambitious person. So when I embarked on this project, it was with fear and trembling -- well, not exactly; but definitely with a fear of failure.

'They' say that when you are 'tangling' (which is what this art form is called, by me anyway), there really are no mistakes. The patterns are very forgiving and because this is your own design, you can take great liberty in turning a mistake into a new pattern...and no one but you would be any the wiser!  And I have done that many times...but I have also made horrible messes that could not be redeemed and resulted in my effort going in the garbage. That's not so bad, if you are working on a small design. But I ambitiously decided to work on an 8.5 x 11 page for the first time ever. Early mistakes can be redeemed by beginning again, if necessary, but as the design progresses and begins to fill the page -- well, let's just say that it would be heartbreaking to make an unredeemable mistake.

(there is a sermon here: how grateful I am that there are no unredeemable mistakes in God's eyes - He is all-forgiving!)

So, being the cautious creature I am, at certain points in the design I took photocopies, so if I did make a horrendous mess, I could continue to work using the photocopy. Amazing!  I really didn't need to do that...no unredeemable mistakes!  But the photocopies did come in handy for practising new or more complicated tangles.

This actually only took me a few hours spread over two days, and having the photocopies completely relieved any anxiety and made it such  pleasant pastime.

For those who might wonder where I find the time for this, if we calculate how much time many people spend watching TV, this comes in way under the radar! It doesn't deaden the mind and has something beautiful to show for all its efforts. Perhaps it even helps to stave off Alzheimers...we'll see!

click on the picture to enlarge