Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Class scheduled!

Just a shout-out to those of you in the Loveland, Colorado area. I will be teaching a basic (beginner) Zentangle class on Saturday from 1:00 - 3:00 at the High Plains Environmental Center.

Who can do Zentangle? Anyone! If you can draw a line, a circle, you can do Zentangle!

Come and learn about this wonderful art form which:
** Reduces stress
** Increases focus and creativity
** Provides artistic satisfaction
** Increases sense of personal wellbeing

Come join the fun!

Please comment below if you want directions or further information!

Why "Tangle Your Bliss"?

I have been asked about the name of my blog. It comes from the interviews that Bill Moyers did with Joseph Campbell. Out of these interviews came the book, The Power of Myth.
The following quote sums up the idea of following your bliss:

“Follow your bliss.
If you do follow your bliss,
you put yourself on a kind of track
that has been there all the while waiting for you,
and the life you ought to be living
is the one you are living.
When you can see that,
you begin to meet people
who are in the field of your bliss,
and they open the doors to you.
I say, follow your bliss and don't be afraid,
and doors will open
where you didn't know they were going to be.
If you follow your bliss,
doors will open for you that wouldn't have opened for anyone else.”

― Joseph Campbell

Zentangle can be a way to connect with that bliss, or calm center where you don't have a sense of time or stress. Tangling can give us a taste of bliss, if only for the 15 minutes it takes to complete a tile!

Soooo, this week, my Zentangle journey has continued with the birth of my new business named (surprisingly enough!) "Tangle Your Bliss". I feel as though I'm being somewhat swept along with the whole process, and discovering as I go along. I had no idea what was involved with establishing a business, registering with the state, etc! All of this in preparation for my first class on Saturday! "If you tangle they will come!" At any rate, I'm having fun with the whole process . . . . and teaching my first class will, I think, be a blast!

. . . . and some samples:
Normally, my ZIA's are abstract pieces, but I wanted to try a whimsical fairy-type house. Below is a ZIA I did a few months back, first in black and white, and then in color ~ Enjoy!

Thanks for visiting ~~ I would love to hear your comments, ideas, etc!

Monday, November 10, 2014

New class, new business, new ZIA, oh,my!

Since I returned from Providence, RI for the CZT training, I've started my 'official' Zentangle business, registering with the state, filling out forms, etc. I've also scheduled a class on introduction to Zentangle, which I'm very excited about! It will be held at the High Plains Environmental Center on Saturday, Nov 22 from 1:00 - 3:00. I know that as the time draws nearer I'll be nervous, but for now I'm just excited to share Zentangle with people who haven't done it yet.
For the past month or so, I've been tangling on the original Zentangle tiles, which are 3.5" x 3.5". This has been inspired by the Facebook group, "Square One: Purely Zentangle". It's been great to get back to the basic traditional tile, using only the black Micron pen. As someone commented, "having the boundaries makes us push the creativity a bit more".
That being said, I felt the need to go back to my larger paper and do a ZIA (Zentangle-inspired-art) piece. I've worked on this for the past 3 days, and am pretty happy with the result. I love the process of transitioning one tangle into another, and balancing the composition. (At least, it's a good brain challenge!)

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Some musings from a new CZT

WOW! I had such a wonderful time at the CZT seminar in Providence, RI. The seminar was so beautifully planned and presented, and I'm still processing all of the wonderful energy, friendship, and ideas that made up the 4 days.

I loved the technique of Zentangle before, but now I feel that I'm in the process of gaining a deeper understanding of it. I like to look at the different layers: the simple process of putting your pen to the paper, the act of focusing and being in the present, slowing down to "one stroke at a time" . . . . and the ways that this can apply to life in general! Rick and Maria emphasized the low-tech aspect of Zentangle. It's a reason to turn off the phone, computer, television, etc. along with all of the thoughts that race around our heads. It lets us be comfortable with silence, and "just be".

Some people have confused Zentangle with doodling. Zentangle is done mindfully, with intention. Each stroke is deliberate in itself. The outcome is unknown (as in life!), and unplanned, but the end result of each tile is unique and beautiful.

Over the past three years of tangling, I've loved seeing and recognizing different styles of Zentangle artists. It's like personalities or handwriting. Even though similar tangles (patterns) might be used in separate pieces, the style of each person is uniqely individual.

So . . . . that's just the tip of the iceberg but I'll stop for now, and show you some photos of the weekend!