Timeless Tangles: my first tangle

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My first Zentangle (#1)

My first zentangle, drawn March 2011, entitled Cactus.

How I came to Tangle

Throughout my middle and high school years, I have always been interested in art. Doodling in the margins of my paper was an everyday occurrence.

In 2010 I remember watching my 3 1/2-year-old son playing on his baby quilt and wanting to get back into making quilts, painting, and drawing. I grabbed one of my sketchpads and remembered reading about something called Zentangles so I thought I'd give it a try. I had read that it was a meditative practice with an "artistic" twist. With two little ones under foot, I knew I needed some meditation in my life!

I drew my first tangle in May of 2010 and haven't stopped. I may go months without drawing and then, in a matter of weeks, I may have a few dozen new tangles. I am up to about 140 tangles so it's going to take me a while to post them all here but I will try to post at least three a week until I reach my current one.

I have another website dedicated to my other artwork, but here I just want to focus on everything tangles.

Taken from The Beauty of Zentangle by Suzanne McNeill and Cindy Shepard

1. Tangle - A repetitious pattern that is used to fill a space, they can be simple or complex.

2. Zentangle - A true classic zentangle is created on a custom Zentangle die-cut paper tile measuring 3.5" X 3.5" or round 4.5" diameter. They are drawn with a graphite pencil and your signature should be in a pigment ink. The artwork is created using the Zentangle Method, a series of steps developed by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas that are designed to focus your attention.

3. ZIA - This is art that incorporates tangles but is not a true classic Zentangle.