My Newest Passion

Have you ever tried something new and it turned out to be something totally awesome???

A framed Zentangle grouping.

It all started on this website that i get a weekly email from called Joggles.com. It is a place to buy supplies for all kinds of art products, books, and magazines about/for the arts. They started talking about Zentangle this and Zentangle that and finally broke down after ignoring the links to Zentangle for months. i went and looked at the tutorial they had on Zentangle. i thought, no, i have way too many other things i'm working on. i can't add another thing. So i put it off another couple of months and then they had an awesome SALE! so, of course, i started looking at the sale items and lo and behold there were books and pens to do Zentangle. So i placed an order for one book and a couple of pens. When it came i was SOOOOOOOO hooked!!!

I started going Zentangle patterns left and right, did searches about Zentangle on the Internet and became obsessed!!! i ordered all the other books they had and a lot more pens. i went to Michaels and bought drawing tablets. i spent every free moment doing this wonderful new art.

What is Zentangle you ask? Well, there are officially 102 patterns and it was started as a way to relax. It definitely relaxes me...and it is very creative and you don't have to make it look like anything....only what comes out of your head. 

A blue Zentangle.

 

i sit down with a blank piece of paper on my lap and usually start with a pencil...i just let my hand do whatever it wants to create the initial outline of the pattern...be it a 3"x3" square, an 8"x10" piece, or a canvas. Then i take my pen (officially they are only black ink on white paper) and divide up the space inside into pleasing shapes and start in one shape with one of the official (or one of the many unofficial) patterns. It is akin to doodling...but more sophisticated. There are no two Zentangles alike, ever. Each Zentangle i do is a one-of-a kind, an original, never to be repeated again.

I titled this Zentangle "The Mystery Van" (grin)

i did a lot of cards...about 100 of them before Christmas and used and sold most of them. i have done everything from a tiny gift card to a 24"x24" canvas. The canvas i did in acrylics and added the inner workings of a clock for a Steampunk look. i plan on putting these art pieces up on ArtID.com and Artfire.com (under Handcrafted Art Works) to see if i can sell them. Some are framed and some not. i have noticed that my eye/hand coordination is getting better and better. 

 

 

 

One of the few Zentangles that actually looks like something familiar.

You see, i had a stroke when i was 37 years old and lost all ability to paint or draw. Up until that time i was really into oil painting. Several years later i started dabbling in crafts and now i am back to being able to paint and draw. i'm so thankful!!

 

 

 

A recent work - one of my favorites.

I hope that you find something that fills your need to be creative....because i believe it is within all of us. Photography, Painting, Drawing, Quilting, Sewing, Crocheting, Knitting, Crafts of all kinds....whatever it is, let it grow and it will make you a better person. i know that if a day goes by and i haven't been in my Studio or worked on a Zentangle that i feel a form of emptiness. It is something i need and i hope that my art will bring some enjoyment to others as well. 

 

Do have a creative day!!  janie