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With only 5 months left until Christmas Day, prep for the upcoming Holiday Market Season is in full swing.
Similar to last year, there will be holiday cards, ornaments, magnets, and book marks available for purchase. New this year, I hope to add a few other little treasures such as wine charms and framed art.
So, mark your calendars! All my creations will be available to purchase at the following markets!
 I look forward to seeing you there, but if you can't make it to the market and would still like to purchase something, please contact me at dashtangles@gmail.com. I am taking custom and pre-orders starting today!
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This past weekend, I attended Tangle Island in Parksville, BC Canada for the second year in a row. Our CZTs, Jerryann Haggart and Nancy Dawes, introduced us to various new tools, techniques and materials. Some of the highlights of the weekend included... ...eco-dying and book binding... ...black ice (black tile, twinkling H2Os, glitter tapes, glaze pens, gel pens)... ...and playing with stencils, new tools, and tangles. As always, it is was so wonderful to be in a room full of like minded people who are passionate about tangling. I look forward to what is in store for us next year!
At the end of April, Momma Deb, Andrew and I travelled to Portland, Oregon so I could attend Tangle U, a "continuing education event" for CZTs. I had the opportunity to learn new techniques and ideas from master CZTs. There were close to 130 CZTs in attendance from all over Canada and the United States.
The CZT community is a very creative, supportive and welcoming one. It was so wonderful to have the opportunity to reconnect with some of the CZTs who I attended seminar 26 with, as well as those who I have met at other tangling events. It was also exciting to finally meet so many CZTs who I have only connected with online. Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures were everyone, but here are a few I remembered to take!
During the four day event, I had the opportunity to attend 6 core classes and 2 optional classes. Those classes included Marie Browning's Shading with TomBow Tutorials and Forest in the Park ZIA, Sampada Agarwal's Chalk Art, Tess Imobersteg's Don't Be Afraid of the Water, Eni Oken's Starfish, Annie Reiser's Charming Tiny Tangles, Kim Vanzyll's Linen Panel, and Brain Crimmins' Dynamic Dingbatz. I loved the opportunity to try new supplies and materials, learn new techniques, and observe and take note of master CZTs teaching styles. It was so exciting how much I was able to add to my skill set in just four days. Below are a few pics of some of the projects I began working on. I look forward to finishing them soon. If attending classes wasn't amazing enough, there was also a Zenbutton Swap, Pop Up Gallery Displays, a Sky Mall (a place for CZT to sell their goods), and Open Studio Time.  This year's swap was called "Circling the Word". Before arriving at Tangle U, CZTs created Zenbuttons, Spundalas, and Zendalas. Once at Tangle U, we handed our creations in and a beautiful mosaic was created.
The top row of Zenbuttons were created by me. The bottom row of Zenbuttons were created by Chris Titus (organizer of the swap), Angie Gittles, and Cassandra Sagan.
Karen Sandoval, Pegi Schargal, and Sue Jacobs all did wonderful displays for the Pop Up Gallery. Very inspiring!  I have so much gratitude and appreciation for having the opportunity to attend Tangle U 2018 in Portland, Oregon. It was four days filled with so much joy, growth, and creativity. I'm so intrigued and inspired to set up, plan, and organize future classes. I can't wait to share all my new knowledge with all those who are interested! Stay tuned!
April 12, 2018 marked the one year anniversary of receiving my Zentangle teaching certificate. Becoming a CZT was a life changing experience, and this past year has been amazing! I have so much love, appreication and gratitude for all the opportunities I have had, people I have met, and memories that I will never forget. I have so much to be thankful for.  To start, I have to say thank you to the MANY friends (and their children), family, and colleagues who participated in demo classes so I could build my confidence and skills to teach the method of zentangle. I taught 8 Zentangle Basics Demo classes, and I appreciated the opportunity to share my passion and knowledge as well as hear all the wonderful feedback. Next, I have to thank the tangle enthusiast who continue to take classes and share their love of tangling with me. This past year, I had the opportunity to teach 10 Zentangle classes including the Basics, Beyond the Basics (String Theory, Monotangles, and Shading), Black Tile, and Renaissance Tile. And finally, I have to thank all CZTs who either in person or online have supported me, answered my questions, and helped me develop various ideas for classes, marketing, etc. The CZT community is like no other community I have been apart of, and I truly appreciate being apart of it.
March started off with the "Dash it All, Let's Tangle" Challenge entitled "Magnification". Tanglers pretended to use a magnifying glass on one of their favourite tangles. Then they added more tangles in the little spaces that are not usually available. Big THANK YOU to Emily for coming up with such a creative challenge idea and the sample tile.
 To kick off Spring Break, Emily and I attended Jerryann Haggart's Dr. Seuss Garden Workshop at the MacMillian Art Centre in Parksville, BC. I really appreciated the opportunity to explore various techniques using my Tombow Dual Brush Markers. They are amazing markers. As always, when I travel to Parksville, I really enjoyed meeting new tanglers, and catching up with those I had met in previous trips. They are a special, creative, and talented group of people.
The Dr. Seuss quote I choose for my piece was "Today was Good. Today was Fun. Tomorrow is another one!" I thought this quote was fitting as I really enjoyed the workshop (it was good and fun), and the next day, I would be heading to Las Vegas with my husband, Andrew (which would be another one- good and fun).  I was in love with all the beautiful art and inspiring patterns I saw while in Las Vegas. I have been to Vegas many times before, but this was the first time I had been there since being introduced to Zentangle. Talk about pattern overload! There were also many interesting pieces that I thought might look cool in one of my Dr. Seuss Garden pieces! This March (spring break), marked the two year anniversary that I launched Dashtangles on social media. The first week I launched my Dashtangles Facebook Page, I had 50 followers. I remember feeling so ecstatic. Today, two years later, I have 200 followers, and I am over the moon! In the social media world, this number might be small, but for me, it's nothing but love and gratitude! Thank you to all my amazing followers.
Just like that, February is done. Where did that month go? It has been very busy and super productive. The month started off with the "Dash it All, Let's Tangle" Challenge. Tanglers chose two tangles they love and created a "duotangle" tile. For an added little festive feel, in honour of Valentine's Day, tanglers incorporated a heart in their tile. Here are some of the contributions from the Dashtangles' Tanglers FB group page.
One area of tangling that many enthusiast find challenging is shading. When I first started tangling, I had no idea where to begin. It wasn't until I read Cris Letourneau's book Made in the Shade: a Zentangle Workbook that it made more sense.
The more I practice my shading techniques the more amazed I am at how shading can completely transform a tangle, and this month I had the opportunity to share my knowledge of shading with fellow tanglers at a Zentangle 102: Beyond the Basics- Shading class. If you are interested in taking a Shading class or purchasing Cris' book, Made in the Shade, please contact me.   In support of my upcoming Zentangle Workshops at Karen Magnussen, I was featured in a NVRC Active Living Blog post. You can read it here!  Friday, February 23 was a professional development day in the North Vancouver School District. I attended an Artist for Kids watercolour workshop. We used the Roy Henry Vickers Print " Twin Sister" for inspiration. I really enjoyed the workshop and the opportunity to experiment with watercolours. I have taken a couple watercolour classes in the past and I look forward to offering a watercolour Zentangle class in the near future.
To wrap up this whirl wind of a month, I taught a Zentangle Basics Workshop at Karen Magnussen Recreation Centre. Not only was it my first time teaching a class through the NVRC, but it was also the biggest adult class I've ever taught, with nine people, and I did not know a single person prior to teaching the class. The 2.5 hour workshop flew by and the artwork created was fantastic! I look forward to my upcoming workshops with NVRC at Karen Magnussen. Check out the NVRC leisure guide for upcoming dates and times for kids and adult workshops!
And finally, the Dashtangles' Online Store is officially open in February! Click the picture below to check it out!  A great friend and fellow tangle enthusiast, Emily, messaged me the other day and asked if I wanted to do a tangle challenge together. In the past, we have done these little tangle challenges together with different focuses and really enjoyed the whole process of coming up with the challenge, doing the challenge, and then seeing how different, similar and beautiful our tiles turn out.
This time, Emily thought it would be neat to pick the 20th and 18th tangles on a Zentangle list and tangle those. I liked the idea since it was the new year and the new year is 2018. Then I suggested we could pick the 20th and 18th letters of the alphabet (T & R) and using Linda Farmer's Website choose tangles that start with T & R to create a tile. Right away the first tangles that came to mind for Emily and I were Toodles and Rumpus, two new tangles released December 2017 by Zentangle HQ.
Emily and I decided we wanted to include other people in our challenge this time. So we opened the challenge up to the tanglers in the Dashtangles' Tanglers Facebook group. This group is for individuals who have taken a Dashtangles' class. It is a place to share information, make friends, and share artwork.
Once Emily posted the challenge to the Facebook group, she suggested we create our own challenges for the rest of the year! She came up with some pretty great names, too! "Saturday Morning Cuppa Tea and Tangling" and " Dash it all, let's tangle" were just a few. We haven't settled on a name yet for the challenges, but are having so much fun doing them.
Emily and I decided to do two tiles using the R & T tangles. The first tiles we did were done using tangles we had not practiced before. On my tile (on the left), I used Reticulated and Tizzy (a variation of it), and on Emily's tile (on the right), she used Rixty and Tidings.
Emily and I are hoping that once a month, possibly the first Saturday of each month, we will come up with a fun tangling challenge to share and invite others to try, so stay tuned!
Exciting news! I won a free table/one day fee (value 100$) at next year's Holiday Bizarre! Thanks to all those Dashtangles supporters who stopped by the 2017 North Vancouver Holiday Bizarre and used a 2 for 1 admission postcard with my info on it! Nothing but gratitude & appreciation!
So mark your calendars! I will be at the North Vancouver Holiday Bizarre Nov. 17-18 and Dec. 1-2 from 10:00am to 4:00pm daily!  It's that time of year, again! Starting December 11, 2017, Zentangle HQ hosted the "12 Days of Zentangle". The 12 Days of Zentangle is an annual holiday tradition where Rick, Maria, and the HQ crew playfully use a familiar holiday song to lead tanglers through twelve consecutive days of tangling together. Last year was my first year participating in the 12 Days. You can read about it here.  The theme for the 2017 twelve days was described in an email from HQs as follows... This year's theme will be a stroll down Zentangle memory lane. Each day in the series we will revisit moments in Zentangle history as we reminisce about the tiles, the tangles, and the techniques of the past while creating things completely new. Each lesson will explore different tiles and tools and guide you through the creation of your own tangled masterpieces…
I had a lot of fun doing the 12 Days of Zentangle this year. I felt each day, I learned something new, was pushed out of my comfort zone and ended up with a beautiful piece of art! Wishing you a wonderful Holiday Season! May 2018 bring much joy, happiness and time to tangle!
This past weekend was a busy one. On Saturday, December 2 from 10:00am- 3:00pm, I participated as a vendor at the Holiday Artisan Festival & Youth Market at Gleneagles Golf Course. I was very excited and a bit nervous as this was my first Holiday Market as a vendor and I wasn't sure what to expect.  Although I had spent weeks prior to the weekend prepping, designing, and creating, my one of a kind hand drawn Zentangle Inspired Art, I was going to the market with a mindset and goal of just informing people about Zentangle, let them know who I was and that I am a Certified Zentangle Teacher available to teach classes. Needless to say, I was deeply humbled and overwhelmed by the positive response people to my Zentangle Inspired Art. Many of the items sold our or were close to selling out, and there were a ton of people interested in signing up for classes. Although the market was on the small side (less than 30 vendors), I really enjoyed my day and felt that it was a great first introduction to the market world.
On Sunday, December 3 from 10:00am-4:00pm, I was a vendor at the North Vancouver Holiday Bizarre at Carson Graham. This market was much larger than the previous days with over 100 vendors.  I invited a lot of friends, family, colleagues, and students to come visit me at this market. Each person I invited received a postcard with 2 for 1 admission and when they used it, my name was entered into a draw to win a free table at the next market! I have so much gratitude and appreciation for everyone who stopped by to say hi and support me at the market. You know you have really great friends when they drive (over an hour) all the way from Maple Ridge and Langley to support you in your endeavours.  Overall, I had an amazing weekend! I was so inspired by the interest people had in my Zentangle Inspired Art and learning the Zentangle Method. I look forward to future opportunities to share my passion and knowledge of Zentangle!
  I really enjoyed working on so many tangles during the month of October. Some days it was more challenging then others to get the pen to the paper, but I did it! I look forward to doing this "challenge" every year! I found it to be very rewarding! To read more about Inktober, check out my first blog about it here.
 I am so delighted to have had the opportunity to be apart of a Canadian Zentangle Artist Exhibition hosted by Jasper Community Habitats for the Arts and curated by Susan Szathamary.
Celebrating Canada's 150th and Alberta's Culture Days, 35 Canadian Artist from Vancouver Island, BC to Kentville, Nova Scotia submitted over 150 pieces for the exhibition held September 30 - October 12, 2017. I only wish I had the chance to see it in person.  To see more art from the exhibition, check out the Canadian Artists Zentangle Inspired Exhibition Facebook Page  Goodbye September! Hello Inkobter! It is unbelievable that September is coming to an end, but I am super excited that the end of September means the start of Inktober!  Inktober is a yearly drawing challenge created in October 2009 by artist Jake Parker. Jake's goal was to complete 31 drawings in 31 days. He created the challenge to “improve [his] inking skills and develop positive drawing habits”. Since then, his challenge has grown worldwide, and every October, artist all over the world take part in Inktober. For those that struggle with coming up with 31 different ideas of what to draw, Jake has created an official prompts list to help generate ideas. You can use the prompts as inspirations for what to draw on that day.  The official rules of inktober include: 1) make a drawing in ink 2) post it online 3) hashtag it with #inktober and #inktober2017 4) repeat every day of October. New this year for Inktober, Stephanie over at Everything is Art has created “Inktober Tangle Prompts”. The official prompts that Jake created are more for illustrators, so, Stephanie created a new prompt list using tangles and the hashtag #inktobertangles  I LOVE this idea so much! I encourage you to participate and share your work! Without a doubt, it will be inspiring, challenging, and most rewarding! Happy Tangling!
This fall, along with teaching my regular classes, I will be partnering with North Vancouver Recreation & Culture and offering beginning Zentangle workshops to adults at Karen Magnussen. Registration is now open! 
They each did a similar string on a plain 3z tile. The tangle is Paradox.
 We used pop ups to elevate an Aquafleur bijou tile on a plain white regular tile tangled with Umble.
Last week, I had the opportunity to head up to Penticton and teach a few Zentangle 101: Demo Classes to some very special people.  A couple of Momma Deb's friends took a demo class.
Some of my very good friends from high school took a demo class.
And finally, I did an apprentice class with some of my friends' kids and their friends. Overall, it was a whirlwind of a week and we all had a really great time! I really appreciated all the feedback everyone gave me and I look forward to teaching many more classes and sharing my knowledge of the Method of Zentangle with others.
This past weekend, I attended Tangle Island in Parksville, BC Canada for the second year in a row. Our CZTs, Jerryann Haggart and Nancy Dawes, introduced us to various new tools, techniques and materials. Some of the highlights of the weekend included...  ...learning to use a parallel pen...  ...playing with gold leaf...  ...creating a never ending card...  ...and learning to quill. As always, it is was so wonderful to be in a room full of like minded people who are passionate about tangling. I look forward to what is in store for us next year!
The weeks following CZT Seminar #26 have been a whirlwind. I started by organizing all the supplies and materials I had purchased at seminar for future classes. As well, I needed to figure out what it would actually look like teaching a class in my condo.  I was most appreciative to have Momma Deb's help in this process. It was a lot of fun designing packaging and creating class kits together.
I designed and ordered contact cards, postcard flyers, and a couple of other goodies from Vistaprint. I am very pleased with how they turned out!
Something Rick Roberts' (co-creator of Zentangle) said during seminar really struck a chord with me. He said, "You only teach your first class once". His statement stuck with me for weeks following seminar. I am a very sentimental person and often times can be very emotional, so it was very important to me who my first students were going to be.
When I returned from CZT #26, there was a lot of interest from friends and family to take a Zentangle class. There were even a few individuals who connected with me from referrals from other CZTs in other cities, provinces, and countries. I was so grateful for all the enthusiasm and even a little bit overwhelmed as well. All of sudden (almost overnight) I was finally going to be able to do what I had waited almost a year and a half to do, teach my very own Zentangle classes. Then it became clear to me, I knew exactly who my first students would be! The two people who have supported me so much through my whole Zentangle journey to become a CZT, Momma Deb and my husband Andrew.
Momma Deb and Andrew were great students and their Zentangle 101: The Basics tiles turn out amazingly! I appreciated their constructive feedback on the class, and they really helped me find my confidence to teach the Method of Zentangle.
Since my first class with Momma Deb and Andrew, I have taught two more Zentangle 101: The Basics classes which went very well!
 I am really enjoying teaching the Method of Zentangle. I find it very meditative watching others drawing one pen stroke at a time. I look forward to the future classes I have booked and I have been working on finding ways to let people know about Zentangle and the classes I am offering. I finally updated my CZT profile on the Zentangle Website, and I created an instructor's profile page on the Opus Art Supplies Website,
I have also been putting up postcard flyers and contact cards around town. Big thank you to my husband, Andrew, for being able to safely pull the car over when I (at the last minute) spot a community board to place my items! If you or someone you know is interested in learning the Method of Zentangle, please do not hesitate to contact me via email dashtangles@gmail.com or phone/text 604-219-2445 to set up a class. I look forward to sharing my knowledge and passion for the Method of Zentangle with you! Happy Tangling!
Wow! It's hard to believe that three weeks ago, I was in Providence, Rhode Island attending the first night of the 26th Certified Zentangle Teacher Seminar. The four days of seminar were four of the most amazing days. I have struggled since I got home to find the words to write to truly articulate my experience, and at this point, I feel like I just have to put pen to paper (or should I say fingers to keyboard), and see what happens.
 Since I had a little of time before my first session, I decided to meet up with my new canadian friend, visit the student gallery and of course...visit the Zentangle store!
I compare walking into the Zentangle store to the first time I walked into a particular teacher warehouse store in Vancouver, I got so giddy I almost passed out. During my first visit to the store (I think I visited the store 3 times a day each day during seminar), I picked up a CZT apron, and two books. There are many Zentangle books out in the world, but there are only two books written by Maria and Rick. I purchased The Book of Zentangle, and The Primer Vol. 1 in hopes that Rick and Maria would sign them for me.  At 4:30pm on Sunday, April 9, 2017, we started session one of Certified Zentangle Teacher Seminar #26. All 12 of our sessions were held in the most beautiful ballroom I have ever been in (and I've seen a lot of ballrooms from my days working at a party event/decorating company).
Each day was packed from morning to night with opportunities to learn, explore, experience, and connect. The entire Zentangle family (Rick, Maria, Molly, Martha, Sue, Jean, Julie, and the rest of the crew) were so amazing. I really appreciated how well everything was organized and I felt they were taking good care of us (the newest members to the CZT family). After each session, we would have some sort of a break, either a snack or meal. I was so pleased that there was always a gluten free option provided for me (and many others with allergies). Each time I returned to my seat after a break time, I was pleasantly surprised to see a new item at my spot that we would be exploring or learning about. It was like Christmas in April. Each time we completed a tile we would put them in a basket, and Sue and Jean would arrange them into a beautiful mosaic. One of the most beautiful things I have ever seens is a mosaic of tiles created by future CZTs. It always amazes me how different and unique each tile looks even thought we are all following the same instructions. I also found it ironic how difficult it was for me to find my tile. We created 25 tiles using 36 tangles over 4 days.
I was 1 of 110 people attending CZT Seminar #26. There were people from Argentina, Australia, Canada (only 3 of us), Colombia, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Macau, Spain, Switzerland, Russia, Taiwan, UK, and USA. Although I did not get to meet every single person attending the seminar, the people I did connect with were pretty amazing.
Along with many beautiful tiles and mosaics we created, we also collaborated on a beautiful piece. One person won the original, and the rest of us received a print of it.
 During one of the evening festivities, Rick and Maria held a book signing session. I had them sign my Book of Zentangle and Primer Vol. 1  The last day of seminar was an emotional one. I was filled with so many emotions that even now thinking about it I can't really articulate it. Graduating from Zentangle Seminar #26 was one of the proudest days I have had so far in my life.
I have nothing but appreciation and gratitude for the opportunity I had to be part of Zentangle Seminar #26. I am over-joyed to be apart of the CZT community and family. I am so looking forward to sharing my passion and knowledge of the Method of Zentangle with others, and I really look forward to see what opportunities unfold in the coming years. 
At first, I was disappointed that seminar was moving to a different location. I had read and heard so many amazing things from past CZTs about Hotel Providence where the first 25 seminars had been held. My disappointment faded when I read that this year's seminar would include lots of new material including two more class segments! And my disappointment was completely gone once I did a little more research into Hotel Biltmore. It looks stunning! It will also be neat to be apart of the first group of CZTs to graduate from the new location. After a very quick phone call to the hubby at home, and a brief chat with Momma Deb (she was on the ferry with me) I registered to attend CZT Seminar #26. Shortly after, I received an email from Martha, at Zentangle Inc., confirming my registration and outlining various details. Then, I joined the CZT #26 FB group. This FB group is for future CZTs registered to attend the training seminar. It has been fun getting to know my fellow tanglers before the seminar. I try to connect with each person who comments in the group. There are people from all over the world, including Australia, South Korea, New Zealand, Germany, UK, Russia, Taiwan, and the USA. Of course, I am totally that girl posting a count down just in case people forget how many days are left until seminar. The thought of spending four days with like-minded tanglers who are passionate about learning the Zentangle Method leaves me feeling giddy.
A couple weeks ago, I received my Zentangle Seminar #26 Welcome package in the mail! It was a very exciting moment, and it just made everything coming up seem that much more real.  In preparation for the CZT Seminar #26, I have been working on creating tangled bookmarks that I can give out to people I would like to keep in contact with after seminar. It is not clear how many people will be attending my seminar, but in the past I have heard there can be well over 100 people. My goal is to create 100 tangled bookmarks that will include all my contact information on the back. I got a good start on my goal, while attending the BCTF AGM over Spring Break, but I still have many more to do.  Preparing for CZT Seminar #26 also inspired me to download/purchase the Zentangle Mosaic App. At first, I was a little intimidated by the app, the art work being posted was out of this world (it shows up on the "waterfall"). For me, I felt it was important that my entire collection of completed tiles be uploaded to the app. This took a long time to do (hours and days to be specific), but I am so happy I did it because now, when people ask me about Zentangle, I take my phone out and bring up the app. They can look at every single tile I have ever created, as well as beautiful art work from others. I was very nervous to post my first tiles I completed in my first basic Zentangle class, but I got over that as I was delighted to see how my tiles have evolved and changed over time. All my tiles are grouped into "mosaics". See a sneak peek below.
Within the app, you can "appreciate" an artist, or their tile. You can leave comments on other's tiles, and you can send private messages to an artist. I know there is much more I still need to learn about the Zentangle Mosaic app and I'm hoping to talk to others at the CZT Seminar #26 about their experiences with it. If you are looking for inspiration, I encourage you check out the Zentangle Mosaic App, and if you want to check out some of (or all 197 of) my tiles you can find them under Dashtangles. Happy Tangling!
I have been so busy starting various Dashtangles projects this month, and I am so excited to see how these projects unfold in the coming months. Next, I have been developing classes that will focus on teaching children and adults the Zentangle Method. These classes might be called... Zentangle 101: The Basics or Zentangle 201: Beyond the Basics, etc. Furthermore, I have been looking at various available spaces to teach (ex. after-school programs, community centres, public spaces, and my home). Where would you like to learn to tangle? I'm open to suggestions.
I have to say, I'm not the most tech savvy person, and there were definitely some challenges in setting up all of these projects, but I'm pretty proud of myself for persevering through and succeeding!
One year ago today, I took my first Basic Zentangle Class with Aleesha Sattva. In some ways, I'm like, “WHOA, one year already? That went so fast! I have so much more to learn!!!” Then, in other ways, I'm like, “WHAT? Only one year?!! It feels like I’ve been doing this much longer!”
My first Zentangle tiles from my first Zentangle class  Needless to say, the last 365 days have been a whirlwind. When I reflect on the last year, two words that come to mind are love and gratitude. Every day since that first class with Aleesha, my love for this art form has grown deeper and deeper. The love and gratitude I have are influenced by the people I have met, and the opportunities I have had along the way. Some highlights from the last 365 days include…
My life has become more enriched in the last 365 days from my desire to learn the Art of Zentangle, and I can feel my desire to share the Art of Zentangle with others growing stronger as well. Therefore, in just over 80 days, I will be travelling to Providence Rhode Island to attend Zentangle Teacher Training (CZT#26), and become a Certified Zentangle Teacher. Oh, man, as I am writing this I’m crying. My husband is chuckling at me. He wants me to write why I’m crying, but I don't think I can find the words right now...  To add to this amazing opportunity, after I am done Zentangle Teacher Training, I will be spending a few days in New York City. To top it all off, momma Deb, the person who first introduced me to Zentangle, will be joining me on this whirlwind adventure! For those who know us well, know how much we love our adventures.  I have some big ideas, goals, and plans once I am a Certified Zentangle Teacher, and I can’t wait for what the next year will bring and how the next 365 days will unfold. I am truly grateful to have a creative outlet to help me through all the ups and downs of my wonderful life. I appreciate how it has helped me take time to notice and reflect. It has helped me have more patience with myself and it has built my confidence as an artist, although, I am still very hesitant to use that word to describe myself. In conclusion, as I embark on the second year of my Zentangle journey, I think it is important to express my gratitude and appreciation to all the wonderful people who have supported me this past year. Thank you to all the creative Zentangle artists I have had the privilege of getting to know (in person and online). These artists have truly inspired me through their art to push my own creative boundaries. Thank you to all the Dashtangles followers who have followed and liked my social media posts on Facebook, Instagram, etc. Thank you to all my family and close friends who have spent time looking at my creations, listened to me ramble on about my new projects and future plans; and of course an extra special thank you to momma Deb and my husband, Andrew for always being supportive and encouraging along the way.
To get into the holiday spirit, I decided to participate in this year's Zentangle "12 days" series. For the past couple of years, the creators of Zentangle have used the traditional holiday song The 12 days of Christmas as a fun way to explore and create amazing zentangle-inspired creations. This year, The 12 days of 3zs celebrated the new three-sided tiles that were introduced at ZenAgain. For twelve days, we focused on one tangle a day. Those creating the tiles at Zentangle used the day's tangle plus any of the other tangles we used on previous days (like how it goes in the song), but I choose to simple focus on the one tangle of that day for each tiles, I also used regular square tiles as I do not yet have the 3z tiles. The details outlined on the Zentangle blog went as follows...
My completed 12 days of 3zs...on regular tiles 
On the first day of the Five Days of Mandala Magic, we began with an introduction to the mandala, and the significance of the circle as symbol. We drew various circles free hand. Some spiraled out, some spiraled in, some we continuously filled in, and we reflected on each circle as we drew it. Next we used the compass to draw a circle, and learned about the trinity. I do not have a very good compass and was getting very frustrated with it. Note to self...pick up new compass. We also had a brief introduction to Dr. Carl Jung and his mandala work.
On the fifth day of the Five Days of Mandala Magic, we were introduced to the Flower of Life symbol and Julie gifted us a Guide/Summary Book of the workshop with step by step instructions for each tutorial! So grateful to have so I can look back and remember all the steps and history. *** Update Dec 2016- momma Deb is here visiting for Christmas and she surprised me with a little project. She brought four canvases, acrylic paints and brushes. We each created two pieces based on our teachings from the five days of Mandala. I think they turned out pretty well, and we had so much fun!  |
