Going Opus

When teaching Zentangle classes we most often use paper tiles that measure 3.5 x 3.5 inches.  There are a couple of reasons for this.  First, it allows people to draw a variety of patterns but complete a work of art in under an hour.  Usually in my classes I send my students home with two completed tiles and that sense of accomplishment.  Secondly, a smaller tile is so easy to turn and move to and fro while executing one stroke at a time.  

Now I happened to learn Zentangle on a much larger paper tile, the Opus size.  It measures 10.5 x 10.5 inches.  The exciting thing about this size is that when it is finished it is always a framable work of art.  It's worthy of gifting, selling or simply hanging and enjoying in your home.  There's plenty of space to spread out and make large, free patterns or many smaller patterns.  So I have started offering Opus classes to my students once they've completed an Intro to Zentangle class.  My first Opus students got off to a great start as you can see.

Opus Tile Class

I find tangling so relaxing that I'm always working on a new Opus myself.  Here are a couple I completed last month.

Monochrome

Opus Blue

Art Therapy?

The month of October has seen my Zentangle classes take off.  I've done one-on-one sessions as well as group classes.  People are pleased with their art as well as the process of creating it.  However, I've noticed that there is sometimes more going on than people having a playful drawing session.  Some students put themselves down.  My role is to gently encourage them that perfection is not the goal with this art.  Lines are not to be perfectly straight.  Curves don't have to be perfectly symmetrical and round.  A misplaced line or curve is not a mistake... it gets transformed into the sum total of an intriguing nonrepresentational work of art.

As a new art teacher I have sometimes been surprised at the self-doubt and self-criticism of some students.  And in those moments I can see a fragile person who perhaps is very demanding of himself/herself in day-to-day life.  My art sessions may be rare moments when that person hears and is shown that he or she is fully-capable... there is no possible way to fail.  Sometimes it's hard to convince them that they're not failing in that moment... it's a new activity, a new artform for most.  So their frustration and negative self-talk flows out.  I've found that it's up to me to field those responses and without being fake, encourage the artists to be patient with themselves and trust the process.  My job is to remind the artists to BREATHE as they draw... and focus on making one stroke at a time.  When the entire art piece is completed and shaded, there is satisfaction and even pride.  Quite often students have shared that they caught themselves smiling as they got into that focused drawing.  Others finish the session with the words, "I'm hooked on this!"

Recently I was a bit too ambitious in thinking I could teach a large class how to execute the super-cool basketweave pattern called Huggins.  My first verbal instruction was to draw a nice matrix of small circles.  Before I knew it, some students had drawn tiny circles all over the place with barely any spacing.  There was no way to connect them properly to form the basketweave pattern.  So I simply suggested to those students that they continue to fill that space with circles, large and small.  Huggins became Tipple and all were happy with the effect.  No mistakes! 

What I love most about teaching Zentangle is the happiness it brings my students.  I love the smiles as they admire their art at the end of the session.  I love their sense of pride and accomplishment and discovery.  I'm gratified when students carry some of the relaxation ideas from the art session into their daily life.  

Some of My Students This Month

My First Official Zentangle Classes!

October has been an exciting month!  I set a teaching schedule and advertised it and students signed up!  There were three who came to my first class on October 3rd.  I gave them the history of Zentangle and why the art method works for so many people.  Soon we were putting pen to paper.  The artists did four and in one case five tangles on their tiles.  They came together so beautifully!  Crescent Moon, Hollibaugh, Print Temps, Florz and Flux.  We added shadowing to each tangle and they really popped!  The artists were all rightfully pleased with their work and finished the session with big smiles on their faces.  

Happily, all three of my first students have made plans to return for more art instruction. One came the very next week, joining with a new student.  So this time we played with different tangles than we used at the first class.  The ladies had such fun with Poke Root that it made them giggle with happiness as they looked at what they'd drawn.  Then we added some Poke Leaf, Paradox, Diva Dance, 'Nzeppel and some Zinger for good measure! As a teacher, I loved those quiet moments when the artists were watching their patterns emerge.  I'd hear sounds like, "Oh!" and "Wow!" and "I love this!"  As one of the students said, "I'm hooked!"

Training in Providence Rhode Island to Become a CZT

What a marvelous experience it was to go to Providence to learn Zentangle teaching techniques from Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas, the creators of the method.  I joined with 150 other enthusiastic artists from 40 countries for 3 days of nonstop drawing.  We couldn't get enough!

We were in a gorgeous ballroom in The Graduate, a Sheraton hotel built in 1921.  The entire hotel was filled with art inspiration.  Patterns were everywhere!

Each tangled tile that we created was placed in a basket on our way out to our breaks and  by the time we went out for a subsequent break, they were hung in a beautiful mosaic.  Seeing each individual tile become part of a larger whole stunned us all with how gorgeous it all was.  Every person's interpretation of an assignment was unique.  Combined with all the others... well it all just fit in such a lovely way.

As new CZTs we came away from Providence not only knowing how to teach the techniques of drawing, but also the calming and peaceful thoughts that come with the Zentangle philosophy.  "No mistakes"... there's nothing to fear in doing art.  "One stroke at a time"... allowing oneself to slow down in this way not only produces beautiful art results but puts you in a healing and relaxed state.  So much more!  

I left so enthused to share this with everyone.  And now my art teaching journey begins...

I Want to Teach!

It was after my second Zentangle class that I started wanting to show this art to all my family and friends.  They were amazed at what I was creating and wanted to try it too.  My first student was my friend who came to my house for lunch and a leisurely afternoon of drawing.  At first she started reaching for an eraser and a ruler (we are both engineers by training and past occupation).  I told her that a big part of Zentangle is that we work entirely freehand and there's no need for an eraser because there are no mistakes!  It's all part of the freedom of the art.  Any line or curve placed somewhere we hadn't intended is simply an opportunity to see something new and unique emerge!

Here's my friend's first Opus tile.  I think it's amazing!

Next I traveled to my sister Mary's home.  She had mentioned that another teacher at her school had provided a very brief lesson on Zentangle but Mary didn't get it and was a bit frustrated that she couldn't execute a drawing.  So we sat together at her dining room table and drew, one stroke at a time.  When she finished she was so pleased and I told her to sign her art and go show her boyfriend what she'd done.

Here's Mary's first Opus tile!

And then I knew... if I was going to continue teaching I wanted it to be official.  I wanted to be trained by the Zentangle founders and be certified to teach their methods.  Fortunately a CZT seminar was being held a month later in Providence Rhode Island.  I enrolled, bought my plane ticket and wondered excitedly at what was to come... 

My Second Zentangle Class

A week following my first Zentangle session with Linda I went back to her home for a second.  She had a second blank Opus tile waiting for me and about five new patterns to show me.  I was struck by how simple it was to place a dot in each corner and then connect them to form a frame.  Then a freehand string to divide up the drawing space and it was on to the pen and the patterns.  Since the Opus tile was too large to complete in a 90-minute drawing session, I took it home to finish.  I enjoyed the drawing so much that I finished it that evening.  And here it is:

At our next session I was able to try using colored ink along with the black.  And I learned five more patterns as well!  I was delighted with the result...

At this point I knew a couple things.  I knew I had framable art.  And I knew I wanted to teach other people how enjoyable it is to draw this way. I had started showing my sisters and friends what I was doing and they in turn were asking me to show them how.  And my sisters started putting dibs on new drawings I did.  Maura got this Opus-size Zentangle:

And Mary got this one:

My First Zentangle

In March 2019 I looked up a local watercolor instructor I'd studied with years ago.  My hope was to get a refresh on the painting techniques that are her own unique style.  But I found that she was only offering classes in Zentangle drawing at the time.  This was something I'd never heard of before but I figured it would be good to learn whatever it was that Linda was teaching now.

What a relaxing treat it was to learn how to draw in this way.  We sat at her dining room table with a Zentangle "Opus" tile in front of each of us.  This is a 10.5" square piece of cotton Italian paper that feels much like watercolor paper.  We use Sakura ink pens and put down predefined patterns within "strings" we lightly drew with pencils.  These strings formed segments that would be filled with different patterns.  We focused on each stroke or squiggle or curve one at a time.  Within an hour or so I had produced my first Zentangle shown here and was just so pleased!