A look into Mandalas and Zentangles after a reader's question.
Howdy !
In response to last week’s Zen Carving, Jim wrote in with a great question about chip carving styles:
"Has anyone tried doing a mandala or Zentangle type chip carving? Maybe just on a flat surface though."
A mandala, in art, is a geometric set of patterns and shapes—usually arranged in
a circle and radiating from the center. The Pattern Archive has a few mandala-inspired designs that work beautifully for chip carving.
I wasn’t as familiar with Zentangle patterns, so I did a little research. Zentangles are typically abstract, made up of repetitive lines and shapes—think of them as structured doodles (at least the doodles that have filled my notebooks over the years 😂). What surprised me was how much they have in common with chip carving: both rely on repeating patterns, and both look fantastic with a combination of positive
and negative space for contrast. I’ve seen some fun examples online, and I’m tempted to try a few of these doodle-inspired patterns in a future project.
POPSUGAR Photography | Jenny Sugar
If you’ve tried carving mandala or Zentangle patterns, I’d love to see your results! Send them to troy@mychipcarving.com.
August's Monthly Project
2025 Christmas Ornament
This year's pattern is a combination of straight and curved cuts. The curved cuts help create the diamond shapes. A horizontal hole is drilled in the sides at the peak for a ribbon to pass through.
You may be interested in a current display our club, Flickertail Woodcarvers of Bismarck, ND, has at our local library. Our club shows carvings done by our members at the Bismarck Public Library every year. We pick a theme of our carvings such as bark carving, love spoons, etc. This year our theme is chip carvings. I think
your followers may enjoy this short video of our display located at this link.
Bob
Clicking the picture below will open a YouTube video in a separate window.
Thanks Bob!
That's an impressive display of excellent chip carvings!
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Have a great week, !
A distinguished look from Mia. Not really sure what was behind it... 🤷♂️
