Putting the "Zen" Into Zentagles

    Recently I've had the opportunity to take a college course that includes learning about and making Zentangles as part of the class content. For those of you who don’t know, Zentangles are small, quick doodles done by following specific criteria. They are meant to be relaxing to the artist when executing, while also giving a sense of accomplishment, as they don't take a lot of time to complete. The tangle describes the line or design part of the practice and the zen describes the meditative feeling they are said to evoke.

                  This has not been my first experience “tangling”. I’ve been a part of an informal art quilting group in the past, and at one point we had decided to start utilizing this practice. It was an easy way to have something small and quick to complete while enhancing our design skills when it came to our textile creations.

                  As intended, we followed the four dots in the corners of a three and a half inch square tile to connect with “no need to be perfect” lines and always used a "string" to divide the space. However, as this was a casual practice, I personally did not follow the specific tangles known to Zentangling. Instead, I doodled whatever shapes and lines and patterns my heart contented.

                   In this course, I haven't been able to be so liberal with my tangling. We follow a book with a "Zentangle A Day” schedule. Each day there are specific, traditional tangle designs that we must follow.

                  To be honest, I didn't love this at first. It felt constraining not to have the freedom to just doodle as I pleased within the parameters made by the “string”.

                  After following along in the book for several modules, I realized that I was looking at it all wrong. The act of using already designed patterns can help lead to the “zen” part of the zentangle. It takes the pressure out of coming up with a new pattern, yet it still allows the doodler the freedom to choose how they would like to use the designs in their compositions. Once many designs are learned, there is also the opportunity to select which previously learned tangle you may like to add to the new ones you are learning that day.

            As the book states, zantangling is a great way to get focused and relaxed. It works great to get grounded before working on a bigger project. For these reasons, as well as the pure enjoyment of doodling, I am hoping to continue my zentangle journey long after this course concludes.