Category: Artist Focus

Artist Focus: Ching Weng

art, Artist Focus, Artist Focus, Pattern-collections, Zentangle Method

我備感榮幸可以為這位禪繞畫認證教師同時也是藝術家的Ching Weng(白雪老師)寫一個專題。她來自台灣，我覺得在不同語言中要一起努力合作是很有趣也富挑戰性的。我們都是用Google翻譯來溝通，雖然常常翻譯不精準，我們還是試圖用這個方法一起合作完成這篇文章。
以下是這位亞裔藝術家Ching Weng(白雪)用她的語言-中文，翻譯給使用中文的人們閱讀的，包含他的家人、朋友與粉絲們。在中文文章的下方，是我用英文撰寫的文章給所有Ching Weng(白雪)在英語世界的粉絲與朋友們閱讀。(希望也有一點我的粉絲)
我當一位翻譯者已經許多年。當然，其中不包括中文 ! 對我來說能夠用這種方式跨越文化跟語言的隔閡真的十分有趣。
這裡有翻譯的按鈕可以給讀者直接點擊，但是基於我想要能妥當的傳達在這次合作中的文化多元性，我希望讓白雪老師親自用他的母語來撰寫翻譯中文版本。再者，儘管距離很遠，但是在心靈上和冥想作畫以及畫禪繞圖樣的方式也會是大家所能共享的一個經驗。也許這些文化與地區的不同就是所有禪繞畫愛好者最大的共通點。

I am incredibly honored to focus this week on Certified Zentangle Teacher, and artist Ching Weng (Snow).  She is in Taiwan and it has been especially fun and challenging working between languages! We are using Google Translate to communicate and while it isn’t perfect, we’ve still managed to come up with a post by working together. Below is Asian Artist Ching Weng(snow)’s translation in her language for her friends, family and fans! Following the Chinese post, is my English translation for her English speaking friends and fans (and hopefully a few of mine)! I’ve been a translator/interpreter for many years! Not in Chinese of course! This is so fun for me to cross language and cultural borders in this way! I have a translation button here for people to use but I felt to adequately convey the vast cultural diversity in this case, I wanted Ching Weng to have the chance to have this in her language first! More telling, perhaps, than the differences are the similarities between tanglers, despite the vast distances, in spirit as well as in the shared experience of meditative drawing and the Zentangle ® Method.

CZT, Ching Weng in Taiwan

白雪的禪繞寶石作品是我看到過最可愛的寶石設置！她精確的線條和細膩的優雅帶給了大家一場視覺盛宴！她是一個不可思議的藝術家，我愛她表達的言語和想法。這是藝術家和禪繞認證教師 Ching Weng(白雪)談到禪繞畫，藝術和她的生活！

These are some of the loveliest gem settings I’ve seen drawn! Her precise lines and delicate, graceful figures attract the eye to a visual feast! She is an incredible artist and I love how expressive are her words and thoughts. Here’s what artist Ching Weng (Snow) says about Zentangle, art, and her life!

我非常高興和榮幸能成為你藝術家專輯的焦點人物。

我一年前開始學習禪繞畫，禪繞畫改變了我的思想和生活，也使我更有自信，我在去年年底成為禪繞認證教師（CZT Asia＃1），現在致力於禪繞畫延伸藝術（ZIA )的創作與教學，特別是畫禪繞寶石，這是我想專研的藝術領域，希望你們能喜歡我的作品。

“I am very happy and honored to be your artist focus.

I started learning Zentangle over a year ago. Zentangle painted my mind and life, and made me more confident. At the end of last year, I became a Certified Zentangle Teacher (CZT Asia #1). I am now committed to creating Zentangle Inspired Art (ZIA) and teaching. I especially like creating Zengems, which is the art field I want to study. I hope that you will like my work.

嗨！我是Ching Weng(白雪),住在台灣，是一位高中老師和禪繞認證教師(CZT),熱愛文學與藝術，從小就很喜歡塗鴉，但是從來沒有接受過美術的訓練，後來因為升學考試的壓力，讓我放下了畫筆，也停止了藝術創作，甚至遺忘了畫畫時的平靜與美好。

I am living in Taiwan, and I am a high school teacher and a Certified Zentangle Teacher (CZT). I love literature and art. In childhood I liked free hand drawing but never received formal art training. Because of the pressure of an entrance exam, I put down the pens and pencils, but also stopped creating art completely, even forgetting that art can be calming and beautiful.

直到2016年的5月，我任教的學校舉辦了一場Zentangle初階研習,當時的我對Zentangle 不了解也沒有興趣，但是因為我14歲的女兒想參加這個研習，我就陪她一起上課了，經過了四個小時，我對Zentangle深深著迷，愛上了畫畫時專注而放鬆的感覺。之後我每天都會抽空畫畫，我的女兒也不斷給予我鼓勵，還建議我設立FB的粉絲專頁，讓我透過分享作品而得到更多成就感和創作的動力。


In May 2016, I taught at a school that held a beginning Zentangle class. At that time, I did not understand Zentangle and was not interested, but because my 14-year-old daughter wanted to participate in this course, I accompanied her to the class. After four hours, I was deeply fascinated by Zentangle, and fell in love with drawing and focusing on the feeling of relaxation. After that, I took the time to draw every day. My daughter also continued to encourage me, but suggested that I set up a Facebook fan page that lets me share my work and gives me more of a sense of accomplishment and motivation.

 

      從此我的創作能量又被重新啟動，並源源不絕，因為創作和分享讓我變得更有自信，生活也更豐富充實。

Since then my creative energy has been restored, and is endless. Creating and sharing my art allows me to be more confident, as well as enriching my life.

Shih Misha是我在禪繞延伸藝術(ZIA)上的啟蒙老師，她的作品和為人都很有個人風格，她曾經跟我說：「如果你想成為一位傑出的禪繞藝術家，就要保有自己的風格和特色，不要盲從，也不要隨波逐流。」這番話對我影響很深，也讓我更清楚自己的路要怎麼去走。

https://m.facebook.com/groups/1645269925730856

And instgram: shihmisha

CZT, Shih Misha is the teacher who inspired me to start creating Zentangle Inspired Art. She focuses on ZIA (Zentangle Inspired Art) creation as well. Her art and demeanor have a bold personal style.  She told me, “If you want to be an outstanding artist, focus on your own style and characteristics, do not follow blindly like sheep, do not follow the crowd.” These words affected me deeply, let me know how to go my own way.

在我的創作歷程中，我最喜歡畫禪陀羅(Zendala)和禪繞寶石(Zengem)。我喜歡禪陀羅的均衡美，而寶石和禪繞圖樣結合之後，會顯得更有生命力，因此我的作品中，大部分都會出現寶石。許多人稱讚我的寶石畫得很逼真，其實這是不斷練習而成的，我至今已經畫了超過300顆寶石，只要你有熱情並且能堅持下去，一定能畫得跟我一樣好，甚至更好。 

In my art career, I like Zendalas and Zengems. I am obsessed with the balanced beauty of the zendala. After combining Zendalas and Zengems, the combination is even more beautiful. So in most of my work, gems will appear. Many people have praised my gems as being very vivid. In fact, this is from constantly practicing. I have already painted more than 300 gems! As long as you have the enthusiasm and can stick to it, you will be able to draw as well as me, and maybe even better! It is good.

不為自己設限，就能創造無限的可能，將心動化為行動，就能看到人生的另一片風景。


Without placing restrictions upon yourself, you have the potential to do anything. Actions speak louder than words, and if you put what’s in your mind into practice, you can know this world from a totally different perspective.





感謝Cyndee Pelley的賞識，讓我可以在這裡和大家分享我的故事，如果你們喜歡我的作品，歡迎到我的粉專和IG看看。 ”

Thanks to Cyndee Pelley’s appreciation so that I can share my story here with you. If you like my work, you’re welcome to visit my Facebook and Instagram to see.”

Facebook Fan Page: https://m.facebook.com/Snow.creationpack/

or my Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/zendala.snow/

Author’s Note:

Author: Ching Weng (Snow)

Author : Cyndee Pelley (Thetirelesstangler.com)

Translator extraordinaire: Simon Hsieh

這個專題是從一篇小文章開始的。我原本完全沒料想到要完成這項任務是那麼的艱鉅且耗時，然而Google翻譯軟體於中文翻譯上的謬誤與文意不通使我們的合作更加困難。不過我有幸得到Ching Weng(白雪)的兒子的貼心相助，協助我們在語言的溝通上更為順暢，這意味著我們可以對文章加上一些細微的修改而讓文意更通順、也更貼近中文表達的美感。

This article began as a simple profile. I had NO idea how difficult and time consuming it would be. Google translation and the Chinese language do not work well together! I was very lucky to have Ching Weng (Snow)’s son, Simon Hsieh, volunteer to help with the translation. This meant that we could add subtle nuances and stay closer to the beauty and meaning of the Chinese language and culture.

Thank you to Ching Weng and her son Simon Hsieh for making this a wonderful project!

Eni Oken’s Art Club

art, Artist Focus, Eni Oken's Art Club, Zentangle Method

Recently I wrote briefly about artist and CZT, Eni Oken and her new Art Club. In this post I want to highlight Art Club, show the amazing lessons offered and share the art I’ve produced since practicing Eni’s wonderful techniques. Eni is a talented artist with a real gift for teaching. My favorite part of this post, however, is the opportunity to learn more about Eni and what brought her to Zentangle. Thanks Eni, for sharing some of your personal history as well as your teaching methods. I’m just an amateur artist but I’m quite pleased with how my art has progressed since starting Art Club. My journey started with Eni’s ebook 3D Tangles: Shading Fearlessly.

 Then I went through her ebook 3D Tangle:  Overlapping Zentangle®. 

Upon finishing these books, I drew this tangled flower inspired by CZT Helen Williams’ Ribbon Petals. With shading and Overlapping techniques from Eni’s books, I felt I was finally making some progress artistically with these techniques. There is always room for improvement of course! 

I was dying to try more of Eni’s lessons but to purchase them all separately would be expensive and take time. Eni’s art has fascinated me since I started tangling and I think I was just waiting for her to start Art Club. The Art Club experience starts with her most recent book or video then everything new she publishes thereafter. I started with her video on Mooka 3D and Dingbatz. 


I loved it! Since then, her Mooka 3D has shown up in my art over and over becoming one of my “go-to” patterns to draw. Here’s an example of Mooka 3D in a Dingbatz.

 

Next I did Twisted Ropes which I loved as well! It’s not a big secret that I love them all! I was absolutely addicted to Twisted Ropes, and drew it over and over until the next lesson was released! This twisted rope mess is so busy it loses the eye but I had such fun embellishing the ropes I just enjoyed the process and didn’t worry about the composition. I love tangling on cardboard! Recycling at it’s best!

 

 

Ribbon Showgirl is one of my favorites! I’m using the ribbon techniques everywhere! Plus there’s a companion ebook that goes with the video lesson!



 The next lesson was a different way to tackle the very difficult pattern, Peanuckle (by Molly Hollibaugh). At least, it was tough for me! After the Peanuckle video lesson, it’s another go-to pattern for me. 

 

 

It took a lot of practice but now I can do Peanuckle all day! There are more lessons but these were the most successful for me. Even more important, these lessons got me drawing again and that was the biggest job of all! 

The most recent to video to date is on Tangled words. It’s my favorite, of course!


This was a great lesson and though I struggled to draw the letters small enough to fit on a standard tile, I loved how this project turned out! These will make great gifts for the holidays!

 

I’m always interested to know how such talented people come to the Zentangle ®  Method.  Eni was kind enough to share some of her personal history with me for this article. It constantly amazes me how so many people come to the Zentangle ® Method through illness, tragedy or trauma. Let me share a bit about Eni Oken in her own words.

I was born in Brazil, but came for the first time to the US at only 6 weeks of age while my parents attended school in Berkeley. After returning to Brazil, my mother and my grandmother were incredibly encouraging of my inclination to arts and crafts. My first memory of being thinking of myself as an artist was at the early age of 8 years old. My grandmother was especially dedicated in teaching me all types of arts and crafts, knitting, drawing, lace-making, embroidery, you name it. 
 
For some bizarre twist, I ended up getting a degree in Architecture, but that was never my first desire. I continued to work with anything and everything that was related to the design and arts, illustration, window dressing, model making, computer graphics, video game design, jewelry design, costume design, dollmaking, fashion, sculpting, so many I can’t even remember. 
 
About 22 years ago, I came back to the US to live and was one of the early adopters of using online environment to work as a self employed artist. I worked creating fantasy environments for video games, and won a number of awards during that time.
 
Teaching art always came naturally to me, it was almost as if creating art wasn’t complete without the teaching component. I explore art and then have this incredible need to teach what I learned to others. I started teaching art very soon after college and have continued to teach in one way or another throughout my entire career. 
 
Eventually I switched from the grueling schedule of computer graphics to jewelry design, and I developed a very successful educational website called jewelrylessons.com. My path was suddenly interrupted by discovering stage 4 cancer in 2010. During the years of treatment, I could hardly work, could not teach or even produce art. 
 
At the recommendation of my oncologist, I started to draw again while in bed — a collection of works called “muddyglasses”, depicting aspects of the treatment. These were gruesome and weird, my oncologist then encouraged me to find some happier themes 🙂 and that’s when I found Zentangle.”

I got to the end of this post and realized I sound like an advertisement for Eni! This post was my idea as I intend to share more of my art using Eni’s techniques as I move forward. The truth is that I am thriving artistically on these lessons and I just can’t say enough about them. Eni has a dedicated Facebook group just for Art Club members where we can share our trials and finished projects, ask for help in the group, and best get feedback from Eni Oken real-time! I’m looking forward to seeing what is coming up next. I know there is a tangled letter lesson and one on making distressed tiles. 😊 I can’t wait!