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...