March 29 Zentangle 1 class

My first Zentangle 1 class (and perhaps the FIRST EVER Zentangle(R) class in Asheville?) was a lot of fun for everyone, including me. Thanks to all the students and their mini-masterpieces shown in this "mosaic."

An online tangle resource--and it's FREE

All of us who do Zentangle(R) owe Linda Farmer, CZT, the biggest "Thank You!" possible for founding Tangle Patterns. She has gathered together and also publishes in her annual e-book all of the public and official Zentangle patterns as well some of the hundreds of others that individuals--CZT or not--send to her each year. 

You can also subscribe to her daily email featuring tangle patterns during the week and strings (see my terminology page) on the weekend. 

Or, you can go to her website, pick out a tangle, and see all the steps for creating that tangle. 

I am honored that Linda chose to publish one of my tangles, Panthe.

Where did the name "TangleArden" come from?

As a CZT(TM) (Certified Zentangle Teacher), I agree to help protect the Zentangle(R) trademark by not using it as part of my business name. "Tangle" is a generic term that anyone can use. So I combined "Tangle" with the place (not a town or a village, just a place) where I live, "Arden." I had thought about reversing those two elements, making "ArdenTangle" but I could see how some people would see it in all lowercase letters as "ardentangle" and think "ardent" "angle" or maybe even add an "r" at the end making it "ardent" "angler." Because a lot of fishing goes on in this area, I just didn't want to step in the fishing pond with my business name. So TangleArden it is, and it's not a hair salon, either!

There's no critique in Zentangle

A college art instructor asked me if a Zentangle(R) class included a critique at the end as did the college art classes she taught. The answer is an unequivocal NO. Zentangle isn't about comparing your Zentangle to someone else's or to someone's standards. Zentangle is about expressing you own innate creativity, line by line as you draw the patterns. Otherwise, we might as well have a rubber stamp or a stick-on something and call it done.

Zentangle flow

Others besides me have reported the phenomenon of "being in the flow" when drawing a Zentangle(R). I'm usually not aware of until I'm finished with it. I'll look at my tile and wonder how all those lines got on that paper so beautifully and evenly. Sometimes it seems that the Zentangle draws itself. It's that "lost in the moment" feeling that one of the Zentangle creators, Maria Thomas, described when she was drawing patterns as background for illuminated letters. It's this phenomenon, similar to Zen meditation and identified by Rick Roberts, the other Zentangle creator, that became the "Zen" part of the Zentangle name. And that's the beauty of Zentangle. I find that the more I practice the more Zentangle flow I experience. And it doesn't have any calories, either!