For many years my focus in art was mandalas, and - consequently - circles. I love that they are a symbol for so many things I hold important: unity, eternity, safety, wholeness, oneness. At that time I collected a lot of quotations about the circle and its symbolism. I still create mandalas, and sometimes they show up unannounced.  "Until we extend the circle of our compassion to all living things, we will not, ourselves, find peace." Albert Schweitzer "Les Quartiers de la Ville"Commission for individual 2007, 24" square, acrylic; ©2017 Margaret Bremner "Everyt ..read more

Shaving: removing a small amount or a (thin) slice from the original form. Almost any tangle you'd care to draw can be changed considerably by shaving it, but I find this idea works best with tangles that are composed of lines, like Emingle at the top here, rather than tangles that already come with black areas.  I introduced shaved square grids here. Here's an example of a simple square grid (albeit curvy), shaved on two sides of the squares, with added Pearlz: I introduced shaved Paradox here. Below are tiles done at a workshop I gave. This technique can be used with lots of oth ..read more

Here are some of the final pages in my non-journal/non-sketchbook.  The Garry oak is native to this part of the world, and I used a leaf from a tree near me to prepare four 'starts' in a collaborative project. I did another in my Book, more or less duplicating what I did for the collaboration. Over the past decade or so I've depicted many onion domes and wanted to include these in my Book. I couldn't decide which of the three crescent moon shapes to include, so I included all of them and have called this piece The Passage of the Moon. I took an online class from María Továr about d ..read more

"Ancient Spirals" was created on paper I had eco-dyed some time ago. (Click on "eco-dyeing" in my subjects list on the right to see more about this technique.) It is also inspired by a compositional method I learned during a class from Lynn Mead through TangleU. It began with a sheet of paper I'd eco-dyed a while ago. In pencil, I divided it into 2" squares, leaving a thin border. Using the eco-dyed marks as guides, I added some arcs to create partial circles. I had noticed spirals in some places and decided to pursue that imagery. In pencil I indicated the spirals and som ..read more

Tangles: Bunzo, Ennies, Moon Pies, Pearlz It's a hashtag, too! #prestrungfun. Have a look on Instagram and Zentangle's Mosaic app. "Pre-strung" means that there are pale, gray lines provided on the paper so you have a string to start with. Zentangle(R) offers many tiles like this. This project ("challenge"), the brainchild of three CZTs, is based on one of Zentangle's pre-strung zendala tiles, pictured below. I admit, this is not one of my favorite pre-strung strings, but I had two white ones so I thought I'd do two. Why not? Sometimes an idea grabs my collar and whisks me away on a ..read more

Stoic is one of the original tangles from Rick and Maria, inspired by the pattern on a rug seen in Stowe, Vermont.  It's also known by some as Twile which can be found on tanglepatterns.com. Linda Farmer introduces it as, "...instructions for drawing CZT® Lesley Scott-Gilliland’s Zentangle® pattern Twile. Lesley unknowingly deconstructed the Zentangle®-original tangle Stoic." It has not been shared by Zentangle (to my knowledge) except with CZTs at seminars. I'm a CZT3 so it will always be Stoic to me. The tile at the top shows Stoic in its basic form. Below are a few variations u ..read more

A while ago I took an online class called Visual Haiku with Serena Barton (through TangleU). Serena uses traditional haiku poetry as inspiration for her non-subjective artwork and she took us through her process. I was looking forward to bringing in a lot of mixed media elements and trying some techniques I don't often use. Here is my completed piece, which looks nothing like Serena's work, and was not inspired by a particular haiku! ? ALMOST CLOSE ENOUGH TO TOUCH 8" square • acrylic mixed media The moon is a blob of dried paint that I'd peeled from the lid of a paint j ..read more

I'm involved in a collaboration among four artists. The other three are from Queensland (Australia), Labrador (Canada), and Oregon (USA). Each of us has begun four artworks, and has sent one to each of the other three, keeping one for ourselves. Now we'll each complete four pieces. We decided to do something with leaves from our own area, and I chose the Garry Oak. Before the last ice age, Garry oaks were part of an extensive hardwood forest in British Columbia and points south. Their range was wider during a warm, dry period after glaciation, but it has diminished in the current wet and ..read more

I'm nearing the end of this not-a-journal/not-a-sketchbook that I began in the summer of 2018. There are only a few pages left.  I used the retail sock hanger in which I always see an elephant... ...to do an elephant page. I had purchased this book at zenAgain 2016 and had stamped the first page with the logo. Recently I added a two-pencil string. I was going to add a tangle to the ribbon, but decided I like it simple. I might change my mind. I had begun a picture of a table for four viewed from above. I planned to use (for the first time) some interesting colored pencils with three co ..read more

Take time for yourself. Chill out. Breathe. Recompose. Mental health awareness is the inspiration and theme of this project pack, and how art and Zentangle can be beneficial to well-being. Included in the pack is a booklet - in which we did our drawing - of quotations about making art. Also, a medium gray Moonlight pen and a metallic green pen! DAY ONE Noom (aka Noom Repus) and ribbons. DAY TWO Striping (I did Striping with a twist), Sampson, Tipple, and a loopy little edge. DAY THREE Paradox, Hollis, and Moon Pies. Plus an illuminated letter, and a tiny pink heart. You can see he ..read more