Plan a little downtime this holiday season and join me to learn how the Zentangle Method can enhance your creativity. Or bring a friend to enjoy a shared break with an evening of mindfulness and relaxation.

I am excited to partner with MiY Studio in Snoqualime to bring a little quiet and focus to the holiday season.  Join us to take a break from the hustle and bustle, slow down and learn a new artform.  Register with MiY Studio through the links below.

@ MiY Craft Studio, Snoqualime

Tween + Teen Introduction to Zentangle Workshop,

Friday December 7, 4:00-6:00

Adult Introduction to Zentangle Workshop,

Friday December 7, 6:30-8:30

 Questions?

On the 12th day of tangling I used a gigantic tripoli as my string, with huggins, shattuck, diva dance, poke leaf and knightsbridge filling in space. Molygon is falling off the page, and drawings and icanthis, auraknot and marasu are “laying” on top of the others. And of course the little golden tipple is filling in the blanks.

It has been really fun trying so many new tangles and fitting them all together in new ways. The possibilities are endless! I linked all the tangles above to the Zentangle blog post to make it easy for you to find the step outs – and try a few yourself.

If you want to know more about Zentangle, need a refresher or supplies – I am happy to help. Behind the wonderful artwork is a very relaxing process that I find so beneficial and I am reminded by students all the time, how much they get from the process of putting pen to paper.

Happy Tangling!

Kellie

This morning I created the most amazing tile.  The strokes flowed from my pen with ease, and I immediately fell into the meditative zone that I love about the Zentangle Method.

I have had some ideas/conflicts/questions brewing in the back of my mind for a while, and  sitting in the cool morning air, I lost myself in the strokes of ink on my paper tile.  I found clarity for a few things that were bothering me. I resolved an issue by just letting it rest as I gave myself permission to really focus on the tangles I drew.  I could almost feel the worries disappear little by little as the long strokes of the Fescu tangle ended in a seeded punctuation of resolution.  It seemed as if the structure of another item on my mind found its shape as I filled my string with the woven shapes of Keeko.

This little piece of art is not beautiful because I agonized over the composition, nor because I wanted to post something as visually stunning as the overwhelming number of images that come through my social media feeds every day.  This little tile will be added to my ever growing collection of tiles and only I will know how really beautiful the lines, dots and curves are, because of how I was able to find a bit of relaxation, mindfulness, peace and resolution.

This feeling is what I love about Zentangle. Occasionally there are some stunning visual results, and that is certainly what attracts a lot of people to the art form. It is so much harder to explain the feeling you can get from approaching Zentangle as a process, focused on each stroke and giving yourself permission to not worry about the outcome.

The 8-10 year old kids came in after recess bouncing off the walls and hyper about our session being the last activity of the last day of school before the weekend.  After some necessarily loud words from the teacher to settle down, we got started with tangling.

Immediately you could hear a pin drop in the classroom as the kids settled into learning the Zentangle method. We started with the basics as I explained the dots, the string and they all became lost in their own tile as they focused on each tangle we learned this day.    Each artist found their own language to interpret the tangles, making each tile its own unique piece.

Just like with adults, some students needed a little extra reassurance that there really are  no mistakes with Zentangle. We won’t erase it, but we can look at it and figure out how to move forward.  Lets see what opportunities there are to work with what you have done so far. We worked through each fear of doing it “wrong” and in the end all of the students were so excited about what they had created, the room erupted in chaos again.  Good thing it was time to go home.

We have a four week session to practice the Zentangle Method, and I can’t wait to see how the kids confidence progresses!

At a cursory glance, many people assume Zentangle is like doodling.  In that both use a pen and paper this is true, however to participate in the practice of Zentangle is completely different from a doodle on a note pad, telephone book or sneaker.  It is like a morning stretch compared with practicing yoga.

For people out of practice in creating art in their daily lives, taking pen to paper can be daunting, especially if you believe you need to made something representational or every stroke should be pre-planned.  There can be pressure and fear in getting it right.

With the Zentangle method, strokes are not meant to be representational, each line and curve only represents a moment in time, and comes together to create a beautiful pattern. Each mark is made with deliberate intention. By focusing on each stroke, you are freeing your thoughts to relax and unwind and not worry about the end result. And the end result will surprise you, it will be beautiful.