Category Archives: Artist Focus

Art, Artist Focus, Tangles, youtube.com, Zentangle Method

Artist Focus: Tomàs Padrós

January 30, 2018 The Tireless Tangler 17 Comments

Hello everyone! Welcome back to The Tireless Tangler! This week’s artist in focus is the incredibly talented Tomàs Padrós! In keeping with my new format, this week there will be 2 YouTube videos featuring Tomàs. One will have most of the text found here in addition to art not found in this post. It is a bit long (just under 20 min) and some sections are difficult to keep up with because of the amount of text and the editing program used to “move the pictures” tends to be a problem with the text. A 2nd video is available if you want to zen out to music and incredible art but don’t want to read while watching. The normal written version is still available here, but what is special about the whole project, is Tomàs has helped to write and edit this post as well as working with me to choose music that would reflect his taste (although copyright laws make it difficult to have exactly what we want, I hope it will keep the flavor of his taste in music, which is exquisite!). Since I also have a background in Fine Arts and music, it was nice to share ideas about what to choose. Tomàs continually impressed me with his knowledge and compassion. His joy in Zentangle is clear and if you pay attention you will see he has a fun side as well. You will want to be sure to watch the video because it is packed with more art than we could share here! It is lovely and I am so excited to share it with you all! I have said before what a humbling experience it is learning about the artists in focus, and not only is Tomàs an accomplished artist and teacher, his work in his community humbles me greatly. It is with great respect that I present you the art, patterns, and story of Tomàs Padrós!

Note* you might have noticed that the accent on his first name appears differently several places. Tomàs tells me he “feels” the Catalan as well and he doesn’t mind either way. (I had to research the Catalan language, which led me to a region in Spain and surrounding areas called Catalonia, of which Barcelona is the Capitol if my readings were up to date. Catalan is not related to Spanish as many believe but is a rare Latin-based language that stems from the Roman occupation of the area. The people in Catalonia are actively encouraged to speak Catalan.)

Tomàs this last summer

“My name is Tomàs Padrós Cruz. I was born and live in Barcelona. I studied Fine Arts, as did my mother, and I’m a high school and college teacher. I have been teaching visual education, technical drawing, and the History of Art for 26 years. My father was an excellent literary writer, my grandfather was a musician, my great-grandfather, a painter and my brother makes illustrations. My brother and I also studied music. My family loves art. In the left photograph we can see, my mother, my brother and I in between. In the next photograph, I show you, my father.

Mi nombre es Tomàs Padrós Cruz. Nací y vivo en Barcelona. Estudié Bellas Artes, como mi madre, y soy profesor de secundaria y bachillerato. Enseño Educación Visual, Dibujo Técnico y Historia del Arte desde hace 26 años. Mi padre fue un excelente autor literario, mi abuelo fue músico vioinista, mi bisabuelo pintor y mi hermano hace ilustraciones. Mi hermano y yo también estudiamos música. A mi familia le encanta el arte. En las siguientes fotografías podemos ver a mi madre mi hermano y yo en medio, y a mi padre aparte.

Over time I was losing contact with other artists. I suffered a disappointment when I drew many drawings for a project that was canceled. I’m not a fan of social networks either. I didn’t use Facebook, Instagram or know Pinterest, etc. I simply disconnected progressively from art practice.

Con el tiempo fui perdiendo contacto con otros artistas. Sufrí una decepción cuando dibujé muchas ilustraciones para un proyecto que se canceló. No soy fan de las redes sociales. No usaba Facebook, ni Instagram, ni conocía Pinterest. Simplemente desconecté de la práctica artística.

I met the world of the Zentangle by chance in the Holy Week of 2016. I’m a Catholic and I‘m involved in groups of preaching and other parish services, especially listening to and accompanying homeless people. We welcome these people in a space that used to be a chapel and now it serves so that they can rest, feel covered, have a coffee, water, juice or cookies and talk. If we can, we help them or we can refer them to the appropriate social services. In the photograph, you can see me and many homeless brothers in an image of the interior of the church during the celebration of the first anniversary of this “Campaign Hospital” in which we have converted the Church of Santa Anna in Barcelona.

Encontré el mundo del Zentangle por casualidad en la Semana Santa de 2016. Soy católico y estoy implicado en grupos de oración, primer anuncio y otros servicios parroquiales, especialmente escuchando y acompañando personas sin techo. Acogemos a estas personas en un espacio que antes servía de capilla y ahora sirve para que descansen, estén a cubierto, tomen un café, agua, zumo o pastas y puedan charlar. Si podemos, les ayudamos o los derivamos a los servicios sociales apropiados. En la fotografía me podéis ver con barba rodeado de hermanos sin-techo en el interior de la iglesia durante la celebración del primer aniversario de este “Hospital de Campaña” en el que hemos convertido la iglesia de Santa Anna de Barcelona.

One day, I entered a religious bookstore without looking for anything concrete and I found myself with a Zentangle book at eye level. The cover was attractive and it caught my attention. The book was: The Great Zentangle Book by Beate Winkler. I fell in love at first sight and started drawing when I got home.

Un dia, entré en una librería religiosa sin buscar nada concreto y me topé con un libro justo a la altura de la vista. La cubierta era atractiva y me llamó la atención. El libro era: El gran libro del Zentangle de Beate Winkler. Fue amor a primera vista y empecé a dibujar nada más llegar a casa.

I have always liked to draw patterns. The method and philosophy seemed great to me. I spent more than a year practicing patterns and revising or designing mine with a Zentangle mentality and drawing just a few tiles.

Siempre me había gustado dibujar patrones. El método y la filosofía me parecieron geniales. Pasé más de un año practicando patrones o revisando y creando los míos con la mentalidad del Zentangle. Solo dibujé algunos pocos azulejos.

My brother, Esteban Padrós, makes fantastic illustrations for pleasure and publishes them on Instagram and I decided to do the same. This has become a great impulse to draw tiles and systematize my patterns. This happened this past summer, in June of 2017. In just a few months, I have met a lot of wonderful Tanglers from all over the world from whom I learn a lot by sharing. In the image we can see my brother and me, this summer, drawing to post on Instagram.

Mi hermano, Esteban Padrós Cruz, hace fantásticas ilustraciones por gusto y las publica en Instagram, así que decidí hacer lo mismo. Esto se convirtió en el gran impulso para dibujar azulejos y sistematizar mis patrones. Esto ocurrió el pasado verano, en junio de 2017. En solo unos pocos meses conocí a muchos maravillosos zentanglistas de todo el mundo y de los que he aprendido mucho compartiendo. En la imagen podemos ver a mi hermano y yo este verano preparando dibujos para Instagram.

In these images, I show some of my drawings before the Zentangle discovery. I love the drawing from life, especially the artistic nude. But I also like the more cartoon style. Here are sketches and finished drawings for various projects or gifts.

En las siguientes imágenes os muestro algunos de mis dibujos anteriores al descubrimiento del Zentangle. Me encanta el dibujo del natural, especialmente el desnudo artístico. Pero también me gusta dibujar en un estilo más caricaturesco. Aquí podéis ver alginos bocetos y dibujos acabados para varios proyectos y regalos.

I also like to design and build small polyhedrons and pop-ups. Then, my students suffer them as technical drawing exercises.

También me gusta diseñar y construir pequeños poliedros y pop-ups. Luego, mis alumnos los sufren como ejercicios de dibujo técnico.

On January 30, commemorating the death of Gandhi, we celebrated the day of peace and non-violence in my school (DENIP). Each year we paint a PART OF the schoolyard wall with the 16-year-old students. This was the first design. One student had the idea. I made the sketch and the students and I painted it on the wall.

El 30 de enero, conmemorando la muerte de Gandhi celebramos el Dia de la Paz y la No-Violencia en mi esciela (DENIP). Cada año pintamos una parte del muro del patio con los alumnos de 16 años. Este fue el primer diseño. Una alumna tuvo la idea, yo hice el boceto a lápiz y los alumnos y yo pintamos el muro.

Shortly after discovering Zentangle, I was also interested in the design of Mandalas and floral doodles that I met through Pinterest. So I spent a few months with this but I soon returned to Zentangle.

Poco después de descubrir el Zentangle me interesé también por el diseño de Mandalas y motivos florales que conocí través de Pinterest. Estuve unos meses con esto pero pronto volví al Zentangle.

As I said, it took me a long time to draw an authentic tile. I spent months drawing only patterns on my notebooks. I love all these exercises. When I can not think of anything, I look at my notebooks and always come up with some idea. In this picture, we can see some of the first sketches of Zenemone, Fringe 2 Fringe, Clorophylia, Fontana and other exercises.

Como ya he dicho, me llevó tiempo dibujar un auténtico azulejo. Estuve meses dibujando solo patrones en mis libretas de apuntes. Me encantan esos ejercicios. Cuando no me sale nada miro en mis cuadernos y siempre sale alguna idea. En esta imagen podemos ver algunos de los primeros bocetos de Zenemone, Fringe 2 Fringe, Clorophylia, Fontana y otros ejercicios.

Although I had done other tiles before with the basic tangles, this was my first tile with a tangle of mine. It’s in the center and it’s called Masx. We can also see Tipple, Crescent Moon, Punzel and a double Shnek frame. Next, I show the Masx step by step that I prepared a lot of time later to show on Instagram. It was the first tangle that I deconstructed to show.

Aunque ya había dibujado azulejos con los tangles básicos, este fue mi primer azulejo con un tangle mío. Está en el centro y se llama Masx. También podemos ver Tipple, Crescent Moon, Punzel y un marco con doble Shnek. También os muestro los pasos para dibujar Masx realizados bastante más tarde para mostrar en Instagram. Este fue el primer tangle que deconstruí para mostrar.

I drew this tangle soon after and I like it a lot. In it we see an edge with Flux. In the interior we recognize Pais and lobed leaves even without baptizing.

Dibujé este azulejo poco después y me gusta mucho. En el podemos ver un marco con flux. En el interior se reconoce Pais y unas hojas lobuladas sin nombre.

Maybe this is my favorite tile. Because the strings allow me to generate interesting feelings of superpositions and I love all the patterns. It was the first one I posted on Instagram because I like it a lot and it respects all of The Zentangle® Method’s requirements with well-known patterns. It seemed perfect to me as a presentation.

Quizás este es mi azulejo favorito, porque las cuerdas me permiten generar iteresantes sensaciones de superposición y me encantan todos los patrones. Fue el primero que mostré en Instagram porqué me gusta mucho y respeta todos los principios del Método Zentangle con bien conocidos tangles. Me pareció perfecto como carta de presentación.

I also felt very satisfied with this tile. It contains two tangles of mine: Membranart and Vertebraid. In the upper right margin, I show a kind of geometric cells that I have not named. I think it has a drama and an organic character that I love. Currently, I would intensify more its shadows in the lower layers.

También me sentí muy satisfecho con este azulejo. Contiene dos tangles míos: Membranart y Vertebraid. En el margen superior derecho os muestro unos compartimentos geométricos sin nombre. Creo que tiene contrastes dramáticos y un carácter orgánico que me encanta. Actualmente, intensificaría más las sombras en las capas inferiores.

I also like to play with well-known tangles, merge them or find new possibilities. In the first image we see how to draw an intricate Diva dance.

También me gusta jugar con conocidos tangles, fusionándolos o buscando nuevas posibilidades. En la primera imagen vemos como dibujar un Diva Dance intrincado.

In the next tile, I progressively merge Margaret Bremmer’s Diamond Panes with Jane Monk’s Trimonds.

En el próximo azulejo, fusiono progresivamente Diamond Pines de Margaret Bremner con Trimonds de Jane Monk.

Here I show the possibilities of a simple looping string adding auras. When I drew this tile, I thought it was a simple and original idea. But I discovered recently that this is called Courant and it’s an official tangle if I’m not mistaken. I happened more than once to “create” a tangle that already exists.

Aquí muestro las posibilidades de una cuerda retorcida añadiendo auras. Cuando dibujé este azulejo pensaba que había tenido una idea sencilla y original. Pero he descubierto recientemente que este diseño se llama Courant y es un tangle oficial, si no me quivoco. Me ha pasado más de una vez “crear” un tangle que ya existía.

In the following tiles, I just have fun with Septembies by Hanny Waldburger and I call it “Septembies vacation” or I play with the contrast of a rounded and a straight Ha-Krall by Holly Atwater.

En los siguientes azulejos simplemente me divierto con Septembies de Hanny Waldburger y lo titulo “Vacaciones de Septembies” o juego con el contraste entre un redondeado y un rectilíneo Ha-Krall de Molly Atwood.

Also we can see a tile on which I adapted to a hexagonal structure three tangles like X, ‘Nzeppel and Tripoli. Then, I show a merge between W2 and Weben.

Tambié podemos ver aquí un azulejo en el que adapto en una estructura hexagonal tres tangles como X, ‘Nzeppel y Tripoli. Luego, os muestro una fusión entre W2 y Weben.

I show you now a play with 3D-Room and Dex, a tangleation of Fleavy and an extreme tangleation of Weben, so far from the original tangle. I called it Lattice.

Ahora os muestro un divertimento entre 3D-Room y Dex, una tangleación de Fleavy y una tangleación extrema de Weben, ya muy lejos de su aspecto oroginal. La llamo Lattice.

My passion for the beauty of each pattern leads me to a certain tendency for monotangle, so from time to time I return to the traditional strings that delineate spaces that fill with known tangles.

Mi pasión por la belleza de cada patrón me lleva a cierta tendencia al monotangle. Así que de vez en cuando vuelvo a las tradicionales cuerdas que determinan espacios que lleno con conocidos tangles.

Also, sometimes I completely dispense with the strings and develop the drawing directly, step by step. In the first image, we see Dragoneye and Katerpy by Alena Light. In the second image I insert Katerpy and Bunzo-like shapes in a Fleavy tangleation.

También, a veces, me desentiendo de las cuerdas y desarrollo el dibujo de forma directa, paso a paso. En la primera imagen podemos ver Dragoneye y Katerpy de Alena Light. En la seguna imagen he insertado Katerpy y algo parecido a Bunzo en una tangleación de Fleavy.

In this one, I draw what I call Cross Braided ribbons. Here combined with Tipple, Bedlines and Up and Across.

En este otro azulejo he dibujado lo que yo llammo Cross Braided Ribbons. Aquí combinadas con Tipple, Bedlines y Up and Across.

But I guess one of the things I enjoy the most is designing or using my own patterns, such as already known Irradial, Membranart, Meshmerize or Chorus.

Pero una de las cosas con las que más disfruto es diseñando y usando mis propios patrones, tales como los ya conocidos Irradial, Membranart, Meshmerize o Chorus.

Finally, I show you more tiles to my taste, some with patterns of my own that are less known, such as Fontana (here merged with Maizie), Zenemone, Selfeat. Fringe 2 fringe, Vertebraid (with a Crescent moon touch), Buckled up! (here Hybridized with Vertebraid), ZigZagTrack, ZN-tangle or the fragments Mom’s clip, Bow-tie, and Neck-tie. These and some more appear with their steps in my Instagram account: @tomas-padros. I will also be uploading my drawings on Facebook. I have more patterns in reserve that I will show over time. See you!

Finalmente, os muestro más azulejos de mi gusto, algunos con mis propios patrones menos conocidos, como Fontana (Aquí fundido con Maizie), Zenemone, Selfeat, Fringe 2 fringe, Vertebraid (con un toque de Crescent Moon), Buckled up! (aquí Hibridado con Vertebraid), ZigZagTrack, ZN-tangle o los fragmentos Mom’s clip, Bow-tie y Neck-tie. Estos y otros más aparecen con sus pasos en mi cuenta de Insagram. @tomas_padros. También iré mostrando mis dibujos en Facebook. Tengo más patrones en la reserva que iré mostrando con el tiempo. Nos vemos!

It’s been great working with Tomàs. What an incredible, talented man! I am already a follower, and I decided to check out his brother Esteban’s Instagram account. He is also, amazingly gifted artistically. Follow Tomàs on Instagram @tomas-padros. (Esteban is @esteban-padros). If Tomàs accomplishes half as much in the next 6 months, we’ll be hearing from him for a long time in the future. Thank you so much, Tomás for sharing your life and art!

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

Artist Focus: Anica of Zen Linea

December 12, 2017 The Tireless Tangler 21 Comments

Hello and welcome to The Tireless Tangler! It’s been awhile since I posted here and a lot of changes are in the works! One thing that hasn’t changed and won’t change is the Artist Focus posts highlighting these incredible artists and the personalities behind the art. I’ll be honest and say that I sometimes am stunned and amazed at who these artists are and how they arrived on my radar! I’ve been admiring the artist this week for quite some time. Her lovely style and composition always combine to create something incredibly beautiful! As I prepared this focus, I was almost speechless at the wonderful person behind the art. This week’s artist in focus is the talented Anica of Zen Linea! Many of you will recognize her art from Facebook and Instagram. I will let you see for yourself what she has to say. Let me introduce you to Anica aka (also known as) Zen Linea!

“Hi, my name is Anica and I’m very happy to be the featured artist on thetirelesstangler.com.

I am a 42 year old living in Croatia. If you asked at least 90% of my friends and acquaintances to describe me, they would tell you that I’m a wife and a mother to a teenage girl, that we own a beloved Maltese dog. They would also know that I’ve been working in the financial industry for 15 years, taking the CFO roles for the past 12. My husband’s and my love for music and traveling has brought us to many cities, countries and a few continents, seeing dozens of concerts of our favorite rock bands and getting to know fellow concert goers with which we share our passion.

Then there is also that precious area of my life that I tend not to disclose to everybody. My nearest friends know just how passionate I am about arts and crafts, as well as those fellow artists that know me from some craft forums, closed Facebook groups or other social network outlets.

As a kid I loved to draw but my professional life took me into other directions so I doodled on every little paper at hand, while keeping my nose stuck mostly in spreadsheets or specific software I used for work. After I gave birth to my daughter, who will soon turn 16, I got the sudden urge to make something with my hands. I purchased some beads and wires and made a set of Christmas ornaments that I use to this day. Later I decided to develop the wire working skills and started making jewelry. I connected to a group of Croatian crafters through an internet forum and spent hours making intricate jewelry pieces. At that time I stumbled upon Eni Oken’s web page and invested in her stunning tutorials. After I decided that it is a shame to waste so much time on craft materials, I started purchasing silver supplies and gemstones and finally decided to take a formal class so I now own a title of a Contemporary Jewelry Designer that accompany my Master of Economics title. I was smitten with jewelry making for a few years, but my daily job started to occupy me more and more, which led to less and less jewelry making.

Fast forward a couple of years and two years ago I came across Eni Oken again, only this time it was to find out that she switched from silver and pliers to pens and pencils!!! You can imagine my excitement when I found out that there is this structured doodle art form called Zentangle! I was immediately hooked, started an online search and tried to get my hands on as many books and art supplies as possible. I discovered many talented and supporting artists which inspire me on daily basis. So here I am today, with an album full of drawings, drawers full of supplies and a brain full of ideas.

I started from the old-school white tiles with black pen for line drawing and graphite pencil for shading. Then I discovered tan and grey tiles and fell in love with the use of white pens and pencils. Getting good quality art supplies can be a challenge in Croatia so on a trip to the US I purchased a big set of Prismacolor pencils. They sat on the shelf and challenged me to try them out for some time, before I finally grabbed them and fell in love with using them for coloring and shading tiles. It is so important to be curious and fearlessly try different directions. I find that my interest in art making is helping me face challenging life decision that not only affect my hobbies. I’ll try to explain why that is so and what Zentangle means to me.

There are many things that I love about Zentangle. Not being a patient artist who works on the same piece for days, weeks or months, I appreciate the small format with a standard 9×9 cm tile size. It is so comforting for me to see a small blank paper tile, as opposed to a big white canvas. You can have only a few fairly cheap supplies, carry them in a purse and draw almost everywhere. You can pick and choose among working on an intricate piece or a simple drawing that can end up being as impressive, or even more so. And even if you opt for a complex piece, you can finish it at one take, right after getting back from work. I tried meditation as a means to relax and recharge but I find my mind wandering and obstructing the process. With Zentangle I suddenly find myself breathing calmly, focusing on one line at a time and everything seems to be so peaceful and simple, just as life should be. My alias that I use on social media sites is Zen Linea (linea is a Latin word for a line) and I believe that those two words are the nucleus of Zentangle art form. There is a lot to learn from mindfulness practices, and Zentangle is a perfect choice for those who tend to express themselves through art. There are many who believe that they can’t draw even a straight line and change their mind while using Zentangle method, getting self-assured and taking back the power, not only to tackle paper and pen, but also other life challenges. That is the power which Zentangle represents to me.

My goal is to keep exploring, try new techniques and art forms and never stop being a curious child with a passion for making things. There is nothing more rewarding than taking something raw and simple, being that a pen and a paper, a piece of wire, an acrylic paint tube, some modeling clay, a piece of fabric or a wire, and turning it into something new, giving it a new life. That’s what everything is about and I’m confident that it pays off to pursue this passion and share it with others.

I have an Instagram account (instagram.com/zen.linea) and a Facebook page (facebook.com/zen.linea) so you can check and see what I’m up to. I am not a traditional artist by profession but I’ll be delighted if my work sparks someone’s inspiration for creating. I am so grateful to many great artists I stumbled upon through all the past years that led me to what I am and what I’m yet to become.”

Anica is so wise in so many ways! It has been a real honor and privilege to get to know her better! I’m a real fan of her art and I encourage you all to follow her social media! It’s always a wonderful surprise to see her newest posts! I also invite you to see my first video featuring Anica’s art on YouTube! This is where I beg you to like and subscribe to my channel! Anica’s art is so awesome with music! https://youtu.be/J-K6Tfdi5l4

I have so many new artists to share and you will love them all! As always, dont forget to leave a comment or like! That’s how I know I’m doing the right things, or complaints are also a chance for improvement! See you soon for the next Artist Focus!

About me, Art, Artist Focus, disability, Health Hurdles, living with the death of a child, Service Dog, TanglePatterns.com, Zentangle Method

About Me!

December 9, 2017 The Tireless Tangler 16 Comments

Hello everyone! Welcome to my website, thetirelesstangler.com! My name is Cyndee Pelley and I am the voice of this site. It is my hope that you will find this site useful and informative, but also meaningful! There are a lot of Zentangle sites around and most of them are amazing places. One of the things that makes this site special, I believe, is the artist focus posts. These written pieces about the life of the artist, mixed with the beauty of their art are often inspirational to me. I feel by sharing these things together we peek into the souls of these wonderful people. This leaves me feeling deeply privileged! The lives they touch and their personal philosophy can make you think twice about your pain or how tough life is for you, yourself! I know I’ve been personally humbled to know the people with whom I’ve spoken. Art has become my passion and I’m excited and driven to share something special!I have written, to date, 12 focus articles. The first on an amazing artist from the Zentangle®️ Mosaic App, Sarah Fowler, in the United Kingdom, but I also have written of artists from Spain, Canada, South Africa and Taiwan to name a few! I’ve realized this is something important I’m meant to do. I hope you will agree! A special thanks to each of the artists who’ve given their time and shared their art!

I also haven’t arrived here without a lot of encouragement from the wonderful Zentangle®️ Mosaic App community. CZT, Ellie Miller, Sarah Fowler, CZT, Terri Delaune, CZT, Jody Genovese, CZT, Laura Story, and so many more have all had a hand in giving me the courage to take this step! My life has literally been transformed by the caring support and encouragement of these people! I’m truly blessed!

So, about me!😊 I’m 56 years old and I’m a single mom of an 8-year-old boy. I’m an artist (you have no idea how hard it is to say that but it’s getting easier!), and a blogger. I’m also completely disabled with a degenerative spinal disease that has left me with nerve damage on my left side. This makes walking straight and not falling down a nice surprise every day! 😚 2 years ago, I lived in my room and didn’t leave the house. I was seriously depressed and hopeless. I felt without purpose and that I was a burden on others. I knew I needed help because I was in a dark emotional place. I signed up for a counselor and I’ve seen her ever since. My beautiful German Rottweiler, Simba, keeps me smiling! He never lets me sit too long without a break and is always encouraging me with his love and attention. He may never work as a public access service dog but he definitely qualifies as one as he can help me stand and walk straight. No words about me are complete without him in my life.

Here’s my best friend and companion, Simba!

My first sketchpad was dedicated to my counselor because it was she who put me on this journey. We have tangled together a couple of times because I feel it’s so important she be aware of the positive effect of Zentangle for others like me she may come across in her practice!

Skip the adult coloring phase and go to drawing my own pictures (although I learned a LOT about colored pencils and blending.) I was drawing a dragon for the grandkids and wanted a pattern to put on her wing. You may notice she is unfinished because here I found Zentangle!

Fast forward through Pinterest and to TanglePatterns.com and there I found the Zentangle®️ Method! How that moment fundamentally changed me. I began drawing patterns about 18 to 20 hours a day. This is how my blog was named. Drawing became my sole focus. It was like a dam burst and suddenly I was free! My art wasn’t very mature (still isn’t) but it’s improving! Here’s the first thing I uploaded to Mosaic.

This is called a ZIA (Zentangle Inspired Art). Meaning it’s a mix of patterns and ideas based on the Zentangle Method but not conforming to the structure and rules of it. Like adding color.

My next pivotal moment was reading Dr. and CZT, Ellie Miller’s blog post (tanglesxm.com) about the Zentangle Primer, vol. 1 and why it was the best Zentangle purchase she had made. I finally spent some precious cash and there, I truly began to understand the Zentangle®️ Method. It is a method and not just for drawing. My most important attitude shift happened with this beautiful book, whose dustcover had to be removed because I was using it constantly.

My first Zentangle Primer lesson.

My second try! After this, my addiction to Zentangle and art were permanent! After, buying Eni Oken’s books and joining Eni Oken’s Art Club, I am finally courageous enough to say “I’m an artist”.

Last year, I experienced the tragedy of suicide, 3 times in 6 weeks. It was months before I was calm enough to draw, much less write this blog. I didn’t think I’d survive. But I kept trying, thanks to my counselor and the Zentangle community, I’m back and determined not to give up. My life is unrecognizable from last year at this time. It is always filled with adversity but I have managed to find my joy again thanks to Zentangle and the support I can always find with you, my dear readers! 💔 Thank you for making my life rich and full again. Each of you is dear to me!

This is my disclosure section: unfortunately, I now need one, but it is a sign of progress.

I am currently an affiliate marketer for Amazon (US) but i hope to add the UK, CA, and DE.

I’m also an affiliate marketer for Eni Oken’s Art Club.

What does affiliate marketing mean? Basically that I host ads for things I think are useful to the artistic community, or, as with Eni Oken’s Art Club, I may earn a small commission if you join art club using the link on my website, or make a purchase on Amazon using my link.

I am in the process of branding this website. Making choices in how I want it to look and be set up. Please give me your feedback if you love or hate anything. If something doesn’t work, I want to know so I can fix it! It will probably undergo several transformations before I’m happy with it. I would ask your patience for my growing pains. I want to switch to a business plan and I need to figure this out before I begin offering anything. Being an affiliate may help pay for some of my costs moving forward.

Most important is to tell you that this site and blog are mine. The decisions on what to write and what to say are solely mine. Neither Amazon.com nor Enioken.com is responsible or liable in any way for my words or mistakes. All content is my responsibility alone.

Lastly, and most importantly, if you’re enjoying the posts here, please leave a like or a comment so I know how I’m doing! I’m very close to 15,000 views and I would love to reach that goal before January 1st, 2018.

Thanks to all my followers and readers! You make this worthwhile!

This picture is my pride and joy. Thank you Eni Oken for this amazing lesson! Tangled Dragons

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Artist Focus: Philippa Napper

November 9, 2017 The Tireless Tangler 11 Comments

Welcome back to thetirelesstangler.com and also pattern-collections.com. I have another terrific Artist Focus post for you. Many months ago, I did my first artist focus on a friend from the UK, Sarah Fowler. This week’s artist in focus is Philippa Napper, who is my 2nd artist from England. Philippa is an artist for whom art seems instinctual. (This is my impression) She seems to know which direction to go while I’m floundering for understanding. It is true that she has some education in the arts, but she seems to follow her heart and the results are absolutely amazing! Here’s what Philippa shared about herself, her family and her art!

“I am 42 years old and live in Birmingham, England. I went to University in Liverpool to train to be a PE teacher, but I also had Art & Design as my second subject, although I didn’t actually teach it until my 14th year of teaching! I teach in an inner-city Church of England School in Walsall – just north of Birmingham, which is predominantly Muslim. This might sound odd, but the families really respect the Christian values, which are essentially the same for any faith, and so they send their children to us. It gives us all – pupils and staff – a really good lesson in respect, tolerance and understanding of the differences which make us who we are. We accommodate children from all around the world who, at the last count, speak 67 different languages! I absolutely love the kids at our school.

During school holidays my husband and I head off to a place called Snowdonia in Wales and we walk in the mountains with our dogs or spend time on the beach. On rest days we sit outside in the sun – reading, listening to music and tangling. This is when I am at my happiest..

I first heard the term Zentangle when I visited the art department of another school. One of the teachers was telling me how the children were making 3D sculptures of beetles, covering them with plastic and then decorating them with Zentangle designs. This was in 2014 when adult colouring books were becoming HUGE in the UK, so I was enjoying switching off by doing this, but found myself thinking that I wanted to draw the designs as well as colour them in. I never got round to Googling Zentangle though…

In the Spring of 2015 I discovered a Zentangle ‘bookazine’ by CZT Anya Lothrop. It was really influential because it had step-outs and examples so I now had some context.

It was this that started the Zentangle journey for me. In the beginning I drew in an A6 sketchbook that I took everywhere with me. Often while the kids were getting changed for PE I’d be hunched over this sketchbook grabbing 5min here and there. Staff meetings were great because I’d sit near the back and just tangle away. I’m sure I’m not the only one amongst us that will testify how tangling actually helps you listen and retain information too. I’d look to something I’d drawn and could remember exactly who was talking and what they were saying at that point. Shame it’s hard to convince people of this!!

This (Above) was my first ever proper composition. I hadn’t heard of strings at this point so I just drew instinctively. The second one is supposed to be my take on Umble. I did most of it during parents evening waiting for my appointments to turn up!!

Not long afterwards I found out that our inspiring headteacher was leaving the school. He was such a big part of my professional life I wanted to use my brand new Warm Grey Copics to create a piece for him incorporating the work ‘Magnificent’ which he always used to say to us in staff briefings. Despite this being my first big piece it’s still one of my favorites. Sadly I forgot to take a photo when it was complete so in this picture the orbs are white. Luckily you can’t really tell its incomplete!

After this I kept on tangling at every opportunity – Friday evenings became my ‘art night’ when I would shut myself away upstairs, put on an audiobook and draw for hours!

The next big ‘breakthrough’ was in the summer of 2016 when I started drawing lots of Marie Penzing’s tangle ‘Zing Zing’. I produced a tile using my new Polychromos and I just thought ‘this one is a bit special’. Thankfully I managed to churn out another two to make a Zing Zing triptych! This was also the first time I started doing Sandswirl in the way that I now call ‘Sandswirl 3D’ because it uses echo lines like Eni Oken’s ‘Mooka 3D’.

Since summer 2016, the last 12 months have been largely about colour, and distressed tiles in particular. I’m not a massive fan of graphite – I’d rather use grey Copics for shading, or go full on colour; either watercolour, pencil crayons, or coloured Copics.

This is Zing Zing, and the ribbon is To-To (my only tangle to date!) Done with Copic Original Markers on A4 special Copic suitable paper.

Couple of Tangle It! Facebook group #Go-To tiles from Summer 2017.

This is my absolute favorite colour piece: Drawn on A5 watercolour paper with Inktense Blocks that I just swirled around on their side to create some blocks of colours, and then just got the water brush and mixed them all together. Then used different coloured microns and polychromos.

It’s framed in my study!

And finally, my two most recent, and arguably best, tiles.

I have to say I am so thankful to have come across Eni Oken on Facebook. I have stated elsewhere that I believe the art we produce in the ‘Shading and Exploring Zentangle’ group has really taken Zentangle to another dimension, with regard to the 3-dimensional pieces that are being created. I absolutely adore it – it’s exactly the kind of art I love to produce. With the addition of Art Club Eni has helped me to add those tiny details that make all the difference – weighted lines, darker lines for outside edges, dramatic shading. It’s like the marginal gains maxim in sport. “His belief was that if you improved every area related to cycling by just 1 percent, then those small gains would add up to remarkable improvement.” ( https://jamesclear.com/marginal-gains) – talking about British Cycling coach Sir Dave Brailsford)

Zentangle has become a huge part of my life and I wouldn’t have it any other way. As for the future, I would really like to attend the CZT training one year. I would like to go into Old People’s homes and teach Zentangle as a means of keeping their minds active and maybe with the patients with dementia, art may be as effective as music is for unlocking them, just for that moment. I don’t know but I feel it’s got to be beneficial. That would have to be voluntary as there would be no money in it, so for now it’ a future plan.

Just got to get a passport and start that ball rolling…….”

I think Philippa AND her art are extraordinary! The fact that she added the pictures of her kids (dogs) and said they were rescues, told me she is a kindred spirit. She is currently rehabbing her foot which means we get to enjoy her online a lot right now, so I am enjoying the interaction while we have her before she returns to work. Working with such a diverse group of children must be extremely rewarding! I feel quite blessed to have another friend from “across the pond”!

Enjoy Philippa Napper’s art and don’t forget to check out her new pattern “To-To” in my Tangle Step Outs in the above menu or here at Pattern-collections.com.

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Artist Focus: Liz Brott

October 31, 2017 The Tireless Tangler Leave a comment

Happy Halloween! I’m so glad to finally bring you a new artist focus and this week I have something really special to share. You will have to read on to see what I mean! These artist focus articles have become my favorite part of blogging. To discover such richness of art and especially a bit of the person, is a true gift and blessing. Each time I learn something new and interesting about someone, it’s a new insight into what brings art and artist into singular focus. Merging the amazing art and incredible stories is a wonderful experience and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to share with each of you!

This week is no different, as our artist in focus is an incredibly talented woman! This is Liz Brott, mom, professional architect, wonderful artist and incredible person! I met Liz in Eni Oken’s Art Club where we share a love of Eni’s art and teaching methods. Our current lesson is on fractalized tangles and I can imagine it is just perfect for Liz. If you are looking for an art exploration to enhance your drawing, you can join Art Club here!

“I am an architect, musician (flute and piano), and single mother of a wonderfully challenging 14 year old daughter.

I’ve been drawing all my life and have a passionate interest in art and science. Architecture became a natural path to follow as it falls at the intersection of the two. I specialize in healthcare architecture, designing hospitals and medical office buildings with the goal of creating healing environments for patients and healthy buildings for the families and staff who take care of them. I’ve traveled all over the world and always bring my sketch book. Little did I know that my favorite sketch pens, Microns, would become my go to pens for tangling!

One of my friends and hairdresser, Romi Marks, is an artist and CZT, and introduced me to Zentangle over the past year. You can find out more about her at tangledyogi.com. The timing was perfect as I had been dealing with a lot of stress in my personal life in addition to chronic pain and needed a creative distraction. I started slowly by buying the Yoga for the Brain card deck. That’s it, I didn’t know anything more about Zentangle. I flipped through the card deck over the weekend, but didn’t know how to use it, what pens to use or even the term “tile”! It wasn’t until I took my first class from Romi, a Zendala class, that I learned there was a method behind the patterns. My Instagram name, TangledRebel refers to the fact that when I started posting some of my tiles to the Facebook tangling sites, I received messages that I wasn’t following the rules. I didn’t know there were rules! I must admit to being confused and frustrated at first because I didn’t understand why there would be rules around art. However, I’ve since learned the guidelines for each site and respect each facilitator’s desire to define the types of tangling they wish to feature.

As an architect, I am most comfortable with the basics of ink and graphite. Romi introduced me to COLOR. I put that in bold, because Romi really pushed me into the deep end of the pool kicking and screaming, initially. And, with her encouragement and support as well as a reminder that there are no mistakes, only opportunities. Moreover, I think the best thing she ever told me was to “be curious” and that was all it took to launch me into the world of color. I now own probably 10 different brands and types of colored pencils from chalk pastels to watercolors. I’ve taken classes in all types of tangling including black and tan tiles. Romi also teaches “found poetry” by tangling in books. This made me curious about tangling over mathematical equations and formulae. I basically explore putting patterns on everything, e.g. my bull kelp obsession. I also have fun by pushing the boundaries of tangling by seeing how I can still follow the rules, but create a piece that is really on the fringe, e.g. my creepy “FLUX” or rotating Aquafleur.

When exploring all the Square One sites on Facebook, I discovered Eni Oken’s and really was intrigued by her work and her way of taking the two-dimensional patterns and making them into seemingly three dimensional art. Since Eni was also trained as an architect, I really appreciate her approach to Zentangle, her rigorous explorations and complex compositions.

Now, back to the card deck. Since I now bring a little tangling kit with me wherever I go, I usually use the Tangle Patterns app on my phone. However, when my daughter needed an MRI (3 hours long!) I wanted to draw in the magnet room. Since I couldn’t bring my phone inside the magnetic field, my card deck came in handy as they are non-ferrous. 😉

I try to draw every night. Inktober added the additional challenge of doing a tile every day. You can see my Inktober work on Instagram at Tangledrebel.”

I’m a huge fan of Liz’s now. She won me over when she chose one of my favorite classical pieces to match her ad. Rachmaninoff, Prelude Opus 3, no. 2, in c# minor. Check it out on my Facebook page and Instagram.

Next week, I have another focus you will all appreciate! But you’ll have to check back and see who’s next! Thank you Liz for opening your life and art up and sharing it with the world!

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Artist Focus: Tracy Lucero, CZT

October 15, 2017 The Tireless Tangler 5 Comments

This week’s artist focus features CZT, Tracy Lucero. She’s a bit of a mystery and tends to stay in the background! But when she does post, WOW! It’s something spectacular! I had no idea she was a Certified Zentangle Teacher (CZT)! I first became aware of Tracy’s art in Eni Oken’s Art Club. Tracy’s art had a polish to it that you don’t usually see in beginners like myself. I began to watch for her posts. When she joined the Facebook group Tangle It! Pattern Club, I started planning this article! I love merging the art with the artist!

Here is what Tracy shared about her art, life and the Zentangle ® Method.

“Hi everyone! I’m Tracy Lucero and I live in Overland Park Kansas, USA. I have a wonderful husband, 3 boys, a lovely daughter-in-law, 2 Great Danes and a cat. I’ve been interested in art for as long as I can remember. Drawing, painting, crocheting, mosaic, etc. The list is long and I love trying new things. Probably the one thing I’ve always done though, is doodling. Drawing on pretty much anything I could get my hands on – even things I shouldn’t be drawing on. 🙂

I don’t quite remember how, but I found a book online called, “One Zentangle A Day” by Beckah Krahula, CZT. The introductory pages talked about the creators Rick and Maria, the history of Zentangle and most importantly, the Zen that comes from tangling. I was hooked. I worked on the lessons each day until I finished the book. It was so much fun and I loved the “structure” of learning each tangle and creating little pieces of art combining different tangles together. I joined the Zentangle blog and when the Seminar dates were announced in 2016 to become a CZT, I knew I had to go. I have an extremely stressful job, so when I got done with Seminar, I couldn’t believe something in this world could be so uplifting and people could be so kind. I hadn’t felt that happy and at peace in a long time I realized. It was quite literally, one of the best experiences of my life. The positive, creative energy from CZT Seminar #23 was so wonderful. I’m pretty sure I drove my husband crazy when I got home and went on and on about it.

One of my favorite things about Zentangle isn’t just the art, it’s the sense of community, love, friendship, and positive support from people I don’t even know. It doesn’t matter if you’re from Kansas City, Canada, Switzerland or anywhere across the globe, everyone is just there to be encouraging and helpful. I went to ZenAgain in Nov 2016 and it too, was such a great experience. I joined Eni Oken’s Art Club this year and I find I really enjoy the structure of learning a specific lesson and working on that challenge until the next one comes out. The positive feedback and “caring critiques” have really helped me to grow as an artist. Seeing all the stunning artwork posted is so much fun. It’s not always easy to post my artwork online, but it’s getting easier and more fun as I become more confident in my ability. I look forward to more learning, meeting new people and growing as an artist.”

Tracy is another member of this great, compassionate community, that continues to awe me with it’s creativity and warmth for others. If you would like to follow Tracy’s Facebook page, you can find her here! There are many, many stories like Tracy’s, and each one is full of encouragement and hope! Take a moment and visit Zentangle.com. Find out for yourself why this Method has changed so many lives!

Adult Coloring, Amanda Rose Rambo, Art, Artist Focus, Artist Focus

Amanda Rose Rambo: Faceted Gem Masterclass

October 6, 2017 The Tireless Tangler Leave a comment

Water color gem by Amanda Rose Rambo — Faceted gem done in watercolor by Amanda Rose Rambo

This week I am honored to focus again on the Gem Queen, and my friend, Amanda Rose Rambo! This artist never stops producing quality products for teaching gem art. The above gem was done with watercolor! It’s one of the loveliest gem renderings I’ve seen done free hand.

In the artist focus I did on her a few months ago, I learned she had a Facebook group dedicated to those passionate about gem drawing. I immediately joined because well, her art is amazing. She frequently adds video tutorials and exclusive content just for her “Gem Ho’s”, and I am happy to be one. Amanda’s new Gem Coloring Book is getting ready for publication, and we’re currently having an exclusive coloring contest, the winner of which will have their art published on the cover, runner-up may be featured on the back cover. I’m totally focusing on gems for the next week!

In this post, I wanted to highlight her Faceted Gems, Master Class. It’s on etsy.com here. Amanda graciously allowed me participate in the master class and it is terrific! Below, find the art, both before the class and after, of several of Amanda’s “gem ho’s”, including myself!

Amanda’s Faceted Gems Master Class is a 3 part series of videos accompanied by a short ebook that includes links to the videos and material lists, as well as some really great coloring pages for practice. Amanda takes you through 3 different gems types using her technique for faceted gems.

I found the first video the most important as to the techniques used. I’ll admit, my first try was disappointing but, practice makes everything better and after the 3rd try they started to improve. The 2nd and 3rd parts talk about shading and highlighting incorporating different shapes, colors and facet configurations. These are my weakest areas for sure and I feel it’s intimidating to most people. Amanda and I have agreed to disagree about which pencils rule! I am a Prismacolor Premier Soft-core pencil lover (but I own both) and she swears by Faber-Castell’s Polychromos oil-based colored pencils. Amanda recently borrowed a full set of Prismacolors and used them exclusively for a month, so i can’t truly complain about her preference. For me, my Prismacolors are soft and smooth on like silk. Using odorless mineral spirits helps to dissolve the binding agents (here it would be wax or oil) and unlock the pigments on both but the Prismacolors seem much richer pigmented to me. This is an ongoing disagreement among colored pencil artists and one that wont be solved today! Here’s an example of both pencils in similar colors blended with odorless mineral spirits.

Here is my practice page for the gems covered in class. By the time I did the last green, I felt I was getting the hang of it. It’s not very good but given it’s copy paper (the cheap kind) which limits the amount of layering it would accept from the pencils, maybe you can understand.

Once I finished the videos and practice sheet I was ready for something more challenging. Here’s my work in progress on one of the contest pages. There is a huge difference in my confidence and understanding of how faceted gems are drawn. They attracted me but intimidated as well. I have put off learning this for some time and now wish I’d done it much sooner! Of course, now I want to learn the watercolor gem at the top!

I love Amanda’s tutorials because her presence is so relaxed it reminds me to have fun and take my time. I’m pretty pleased with this one, though the white lines are a true challenge for my shaky hands.

This next art is by colorist Sonya Griffin, also in Amanda’s Facebook group.

This last one will be stunning when finished! I love the ice blue gem!

Next is colorist Kim Henderson. She is really good at these!

Lastly, we have colorist Mara Lula, who definitely has a talent for these gems!

Thanks to all the artists in the Gem Ho’s Facebook group who allowed me to share their art with you! Amanda’s Faceted Gems Master Class is a perfect course for the gem enthusiast!

Being in Amanda’s Facebook group is a great way to get advice, see exclusive content and videos and even receive discounts on her merchandise. I was also was given a sneak peek at some of the coloring pages from Amanda Rose Rambo’s newest book, Color a Creation, Gemstones Volume 5 being released soon at Amazon.com. These pages have an elegant look and lots of creative room to explore.

Here is a preview of some of the pages.

You can find Amanda Rose Rambo on facebook at facebook.com/vitruvianart

On Youtube at http://youtube.com/c/vitruvianart

On Etsy at etsy.com/shop/vitruvianart

Now newly on Patreon/vitruvianart

And on Instagram @vitruvianart

Dont forget to come back to see the contest entries!

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Artist Focus: Debra Huff

September 25, 2017 The Tireless Tangler 11 Comments

Welcome to thetirelesstangler.com! Home to some of the greatest abstract art you’ll see anywhere! (Oh and some of my art too! 😀) This week’s artist does not disapoint with her incredibly beautiful work! I think besides her art, what I love about Debra is that she struggles with the same insecurity as I about displaying her art. Once you’ve seen it, you will be amazed at this but it’s how most of us feel. Now imagine this blogger is bugging you for art and a bio and you’re really stressed! Thank you Debra, for sharing your beautiful art and story with us all. You inspire me.

I’ve been a fan of Debra’s art for some time. She seems to hide in the background but when she posts, its always stunning. She has an innate ability that brings out the grace in patterns and finds organic ways to combine them that is, well, inspiring.

Here’s what Debra shared about herself, her art and the Zentangle ® Method.

“Hi, my name is Debra Huff. I can overcome my fear and call myself an artist.

I stumbled on Zentangle about two years ago. I have an auto-immune disease that affects my lungs, heart and other systems. I had a sudden decline with my heart and felt a driving need to find something new I could learn and grow with as well as reduce stress while living with very limited activity.

I came across an article in Psychology Today about meditative drawing called Zentangle. I googled the word and saw images that reminded me of childhood squiggle drawings that I would fill in with shapes and patterns. I read everything I could find online about Zentangle, bought a multi media journal and began drawing.

I found Zentangle Facebook groups and challenges. I lurked trying the challenges and filling pages. It took a lot of courage for the first posting, but there was such a positive response I continued.

The lessons, feedback and suggestions on Eni Oken’s Shading group spurred my growth and ignited my passion to learn more and more.

The community/world connection was started with Stephanie Jennifer‘s Traveling Tangle Project. I couldn’t get enough of holding this beautiful start from someone halfway across the world, that was made just for me.

Each group I am part of holds that special community. There is compassion, connection and love that fosters hope in the craziness of today’s world through the Zentangle meditative art.”

You can find and follow Debra on her Facebook page here.

I chose Debra this week for a couple of reasons. First, of course, her artwork is incredible. To know she’s been drawing for just 2 years means there may still be hope for myself and others who struggle with calling ourselves artists. The second reason is that she mirrors the struggle that I, and so many other new artists, have in trying to appreciate and share their own art and ideas. She is as supportive and compassionate to others as they are to her. After all, we all share this journey. Some are more successful than others, that’s true, but the real lessons and values found in the Zentangle® Method aren’t really about art at all. They’re different for each person, as we each gain something intensely personal from Zentangle®. As different as we all are, this shared journey is cherished by all of us. It’s what makes this community so special.

A few of the Zentangle groups Debra and I share are:

Eni Oken’s Art Club on Facebook (Art Club members) (enioken.com)

Tangle it! Pattern Club, Pattern-collections.com on Facebook

Shading Zentangle and Beyond (Eni Oken) (those who follow Eni’s ebooks and lessons) enioken.com

Square One: Purely Zentangle

Zen and Zin Facebook group (DrShazia Azmi)

The Traveling Tangles Project (Stephanie Jennifer)

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Artist Focus: Ching Weng

September 13, 2017 The Tireless Tangler 2 Comments

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!

Edited with BlogPad Pro

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

Eni Oken’s Art Club

August 30, 2017 The Tireless Tangler 4 Comments

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!

"Creativity takes Courage" Henri Matisse