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Sunday, March 30, 2014

Zentangle® Us on TV - Maybe

This is a copy of a letter that I sent to CBS. Rick and Maria, and the rest of the Zentangle® community, have high hopes of getting a spot on their show. Letters will come from all over the country from people like you requesting that the word go out. If you missed the newsletter from Zentangle, it is attached. Click here to read and participate.


April 1, 2014
CBS News Sunday Morning
Box O (for Osgood)
524 West 57th St.
NY, NY  10019
Re: Zentangle 
Hello,

I am a CZT (Certified Zentangle Teacher) living in the Phoenix area of Arizona. I think you would be doing a great service by letting everyone know about Zentangle. I am a former art teacher and I know how important it is, in this day and age, for everyone to have something creative to do. Zentangle is one of those art forms that needs no special equipment other than a pen, pencil and paper. It is easily learned and very satisfying.

Yes, I know that many compare Zentangle to “doodling” but it is such a far distant relative to doodling that there should be no comparison. Doodling is done while engaged in other activities, such as talking on the phone, while Zentangle is a very structured and mindful activity that brings upon a “zen” like feeling that is both calming and relaxing.

I recently gave a class at my granddaughter’s middle school. Her teacher requested that I come by after my granddaughter had excitedly told her that I was a Zentangle teacher. The class is a peer-mediation class that helps young people find ways to cope in today’s society without feeling such anger and despair. I had a class of almost 40 middle-schoolers. The class was attentive and completed a couple of tiles (the small paper 31/2 inch squares used to “tangle”) with enthusiasm. After the class, the teacher told me that she was totally amazed at the quiet and calm concentration that was observed. She marveled at the way some students, who were usually difficult to deal with and generally unruly, had settled into a peaceful state as they did the easily learned repetitive patterns.

Middle-School Student Work 
Zentangle is for everyone at any age and a calming meditative process that can be learned from a Certified Zentangle Teacher. Please help us (Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas, the founders of Zentangle, would love to share their story.) get the word out about this simple and effective technique that helps people find that quiet place missing in the rush and hurry of our everyday lives. And, as a bonus, they will create little treasures of beautiful art.

You are invited to contact Rick and Maria at (rickandmaria@zentangle.com) or 508-234-6843

Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Jean Chaney, CZT

I included this tile with some Rixty influenced Crimini:

And, this is the envelope that I sent it in. (I have blurred out my address. Yes, I love all my readers but can you imagine if everyone showed up at my house at the same time????)

Wish us luck! 

(If you plan to participate, Rick and Maria requested that all envelopes be mailed out on the 1st; so HURRY :) )

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Zentangle® Spiral, Inchie and Dangled Cat

Aprox. 51/2 x 41/2 inches. Wood, painted white, nose with glitter glue, dangles with black pen and colored gel pens. Also, a collar of "gems", a bit of Copic shading and a coat of clear acrylic.
I gave a class yesterday on Dangles like Joanne Fink does and it motivated me to do a kitty on a wooden shape as a sample of what you can do with these fun dangly  shapes. I have more classes on Friday and, if you look at my Workshop/Classes tab on the top, you can see one of the wonderful finished student dangles.

The Diva Challenge #160 was to use a spiral as a string. What fun this one was. I had so many wonderful things going in my brain but I never seem to get down on paper what is in my head. Nevertheless, I like what finally found its way to my tile:
And, for Every Inchie Monday, the prompt was "figure." I got so deep into "figure of speech" and finally settled on Onomatopoeia  (the use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to.). If you like to play with words, here is a great list of the different types of figures of speech. This one is saying "Wake Up!"

Monday, March 17, 2014

Zentangle® Rixty, St. Patrick's Day Rainbow, and an Inchie

We are having just a beautiful week here in the outer Phoenix area. Warm with a nice breeze, flowers and trees all in bloom. Perfect weather for going outside to tangle!

The Diva challenged us to get our inspiration from St. Patrick's Day. First, I thought of Shamrocks, no, too many will pick that. Then my thoughts went to mushrooms, no, I did that for my Inchie. How about a leprechaun? Right, me draw a leprechaun? Not happening. So, here is my rainbow:
Msst, Crescent Moon, Meer, Tipple, Static, Shattuck on Neocolor crayon rainbow with Copic for sky and grass.



And, my little Inchie from Every Inchie Monday with the prompt "forest":





And, finally, I had to play with the new tangle pattern from Maria in honor of Rick's 60th birthday called Rixty. I had a very small round piece of paper that I grabbed to play on and thought you might like to see it. At this point, only CZT's are supposed to have access to the step-outs. Find one in your area and take a class. Yes, there are lots of books and videos to learn step-outs, but you've missed out on a lot by not taking a class if you haven't; beside learning why Zentangle is NOT doodling, you will have a lot of fun!
Rixty and Pokeroot



Tuesday, March 11, 2014

A Zentangle®, Inchie, Challenge and One More

Afterglow, CO2, Msst
I'm still running a bit behind. Isn't it amazing how a few days away really makes such a difference? Well, I finally finished Erin's snowflake Zendala from The Bright Owl.  I really had to think about this one. Not too "snowflaky" but fun:








Laura's Challenge this week was to use Crescent Moon and Diva Dance. What a great combo. This one was a lot of fun also:

Every Inchie Monday called for "Engrave", so I thought I should "engrave" my chop:







And, finally, a tile done for my April Zentangle group using just the letter "C":
Cyme, Changing, Courrant






Thanks for stopping by :)

Saturday, March 8, 2014

Zentangle®, Inchie, Dangles, and Coasters

I know you are used to me posting early in the week; however, I have been on a bit of a holiday and just returned yesterday. So, making up for lost time, I did the challenge of "use my tangle" from the Diva. This week's challenge was to try Erin Olson's tangle: Charlie. I think I got just a tiny bit carried away LOL:

Every Inchie Monday asked us to use the prompt "Explode". This is my brain when I am thinking!



A trade going on in my Zentangle Inspired Art group on Yahoo is for ATC Dangles. I did one on white, one on cream and one using gel pens. I think I prefer the "traditional" one on white best.


And, finally, some coasters that I made as a gift to take to a Canadian friend who brought me TONS of Qiviut (rare and costly yarn made from the Musk Ox):
I can't wait to go see what everyone else has been up to this week. It may take me a few days to do that though :)