Yesterday, I taught a Zentangle® Class at Beverly's Fabric in San Diego, California. The class was so much fun. My favorite part of teaching is that usually the students have no idea what it is they are about to learn. When I start each class I asked if anyone has ever heard the word Zentangle. Not many folks answer "yes" -they might have heard the word, but have no idea what it is/means. Even on my computer it keeps underlining the word Zentangle on this page as if it is a misspelled word.
Zentangle has CZT's (Certified Zentangle Teachers) all over the world. I was in Zentangle seminar last year in Providence, Rhode Island for four full amazing days of theory, history, training, and practice, with 108 students - some were from Argentina, Korea, Hawaii, Australia and all over the United States. Here on the west coast, Zentangle is just starting to trickle into the media. One recent reason might be that Rosie O'donnell (on THE VIEW) was sharing that she has been tangling for ten years (yes, doing Zentangle is called "tangling"). Rosie had the whole cast tangling, even Howard Stern.
A decade ago, The co-founders of Zentangle®, Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas, came out with this amazing art method on the east coast of United States where they live. You might be wondering how they came up with this name - Zentangle? Rick was a monk for 14 years (so there is the Zen part) and Maria is a illustrator/calligrapher (there is the tangle (pattern) part. Thanks to now having a handful of CZT's in the San Diego area we are able to start sharing this amazing art form and meditative/relaxing/therapeutic experience during the process.
Every class I've taught, a student shares something they find this art method might help them with... Whether it is depression, anxiety, insomnia, pain management. non artistic..... My class yesterday, a student shared that her bursitis in her hip had been so painful for days and she couldn't be comfortable sitting. She said while she was tangling in class, her hip didn't hurt her. I rest my case. This art form is more than a beautiful piece of art. Also in this class, were several special ed teachers. They agreed this method of art would be beneficial to some of the students they taught to calm them down at high energy levels each day.
I remember, many years ago when I began my journey to becoming a hairdresser, I was taught the basic steps to a haircut. I remember thinking that it was going to be this difficult, hard, geometric, angles, secret, smoke and mirrors on how to and would I be able to do it? .... I'll never forget when Mr. Chico shared with me that there is no secrets, all it was - you start with a guide line and then you "connect the dots" from your first guide line. I couldn't believe what I had just learned. No secrets - not difficult. Zentangle motto is like that too - Anything is possible, one stroke at a time® . You start with a line "string", guide that directs you to the outcome. Just like haircutting.
After each class, I take a mosaic (picture) of the tiles my students created. One of the students saw that their tiles connected together. Here is our Zentangle tiles and how each student that day will be connected to each other with their very first Zentangle experience.
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HAPPY TANGLING !!!
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