Map Tangling

Hi and welcome back to the Chrissie Murphy Designs Blog. I recently tried Map Tangling for the first time and I‘d like to share more about it with you today. It’s a technique that I am quite enamoured with, and hopefully by the end of today’s post, you will be too.

The Expressive Bits

What inspired me to create this Map Tangling tile?

Again it was a who, not a what that inspired me to create.

The Instagram Tangle Community would have to be my most favourite place to be. It is a place full of tangly creatives who love to spurn each other on in the craft.

An artist by the name of Marion van Exter caught my eye with her beautiful map tangling. Here are a few images of her work.

Marion advised she learned the technique from Henriette Robben CZT of Zentangleyeart. Here are a few images of Henriette’s work.

I’m sure you agree – their work is exquisite. I was so inspired to give it a try.

What techniques did I use for the Map Tangling and why?

Well it’s a technique unto itself. Henriette offers workshops to learn the technique, so I won’t go into it fully in this post. If you want to learn more about map tangling, visit her website.

Having said that, I worked in watercolour, ink and coloured pencils using my normal tangling techniques. There was nothing new that I incorporated in that regard.

What does it mean in terms of my artistic work as a whole?

Map Tangling touched on something I haven’t shared about before and that’s artistic development.

As artists it’s important we keep expanding our capabilities, because doing so enhances our expressive abilities.

There’s so much more I want to convey in my work. As creatives made in the image of the Creator, we are vessels of endless imagination. There is no beginning and end to how we see things, feel about things and contemplate things and because of that, there’s no end to how we can express things.

As the Lord speaks something upon our heart, our ability to express it is limited (ONLY) by our capability.

Developing ourselves artistically opens up a greater capability for expression. We will never know it all, but what we can do is pursue greater capacity to express His goodness however we can. For me, it was giving Map Tangling a try and adding it to my tool belt of artistic capabilities

How can you take this idea and be more Expressive?

Maybe it’s not Map Tangling, maybe it’s Gel Plate Printing, Card Making or Macrame. Maybe there’s been something else you’ve seen and been inspired by. Don’t ignore the desire.

Push into it and pursue that new thing. Give it a try, watch some video’s, take a workshop or sign up for a class. Add that new thing to your tool belt of artistic capabilities. You’ll never know when you’ll need to call upon the capability, but knowing you have it is everything!

The Factual Bits

The materials used

• Paul Rubens Watercolour Paper 50% Cotton Round
• Kuretake Gansai Tambi Watercolours
• Artline 200 0.4 Fine Felt Tip Marker in Blue
• Prismacolor Premier Coloured Pencils
• Grey Copic Markers in C3, C5 and C7.
• White Uniball Signo Gell Pen
• Kaisercraft Glitter Gel Pen in Blue

The tangle patterns that were used in the Map Tangling

• Tangleation of Flux by Zentangle
• Onamato by Zentangle
• Paradox by Zentangle

How big is the tile?

The tile is about 10.5cm in diameter.

Want to be more Expressive?

Join the Expressive’s List to begin to learn ways you can start to express yourself creatively. With the Lord there are no moulds or limits, just possibilities, and the promise of unearthing who you were created to be.

Expressive Subscribers receive an email each month that contains creative inspiration and ideas, links to helpful resources and a month’s worth of journal prompts to stimulate creative expression. These prompts are a great way of learning to express yourself when you’ve never really tried it before. Fill in your details below to sign up.

First Name Email Address Sign me up!

Until next time, listen to your heart and sharpen your coloured pencils. A masterpiece awaits!

Bless you my friend

Chrissie xx