I discovered Zentangles a few months ago and was immediately intrigued by the possibilities. So for Christmas I asked for (and received) several "how to" books so I could learn the techniques and explore some "tangled" ideas. Above are a couple of my early attempts. I am definitely hooked!
My original thought was to figure out a way to utilize these intriguing designs in my quilting work. But I have since learned an additional, unexpected benefit of this wonderful "doodling" technique.
For several weeks before and after the holidays I felt like I had lost my creative spark. Nothing came to me and I had little or no energy to come up with new ideas. In fact I was feeling a bit burnt out, perhaps because I had been pushing so hard to meet various deadlines before that.
In any case, I started, quite tentatively at first, to try drawing some Zentangles, and to my astonishment, before long I was over run with ideas for new quilt designs and patterns! There is something about the process of stilling one's mind and focusing on drawing the intricate designs that make up a single Zentangle. I don't understand what happened but it was like a dam burst that had been blocking my creative juices from flowing freely. So many ideas kept popping into my conscious thought that I had to start writing them down or sketching them out so as not to lose them!
I will remember, now - whenever I start feeling creatively blocked - I will get quiet and start "tangling"!
Thanks Mark and Maria! Go to their
website and
blog to learn more. You can also sign up for their monthly newsletter which is a fun and interesting read.
