Zentangled

     I think of myself as an crafter with ADD...I jump from one activity to the next.  My workspace is usually an utter mess, with several projects going at the same time.  A couple of days ago, while surfing online for images, I  became impressed with some doodle art.  One thing led to another and I was at the Zentagle homepage.  What is a zentangle? Here is a quote from the Zentanlge website:

"Zentangle is an easy to learn method of creating beautiful images from repetitive patterns. It is a fascinating new art form that is fun and relaxing. It increases focus and creativity. Zentangle provides artistic satisfaction and an increased sense of personal well being. Zentangle is enjoyed by a wide range of skills and ages and is used in many fields of interest."

This is my first attempt at a zentangle.  Even though I am an avid doodler (at work, on the phone, in meetings...) I have to admit that I had to search within to come up with more patterns to add to my doodle.  The whole process was sort of hypnotic - so I guess it met the criteria of "fun and relaxing".  It definitely got the creative juices rolling, but the jury is still out on "artistic satisfaction" and "personal wellbeing".  I am also not sure how it stacks up in terms of the accepted method of zentangling, but it was a good opportunity to try out something new. 

There are lots of zentangle images out there.  Since flickr is usually at the top of my list to check out what others are doing, I found several zentangle groups which offered lots of zentangle eye candy.  If you are interested, here is the list: 

• The official Zentangle group (I think it is official because they use the little zentangle icon)
• Zentangle Mania (this one only has 19 members...so I think it must be for the hard core zentanglers)
• Zentangle Love (I joined this one to post my "artwork" since it has the most members and had some fun discussions going on.)

This morning, I worked up enough courage to show my zentangle to the ultimate critic, my 12 year old son.  He looked at it for a long time, seemed a little impressed, but didn't have a lot to say about it.  I think he was hypnotized by it.  I tried to get him interested, since he is a bit of a doodler himself.  His reaction was that he didn't think he could do it.  I told him it looks harder than it really is, you just have to start drawing, and then make lots of patterns. We were running to get to school on time (we were late), so I am going to work on him later tonight.  This one is to be continued...