Summer Tangles Challenge 2020

It's that time again--our third annual Summer Tangles Challenge! 

This year, I think we need some solace so we're focusing on comfort tangles for challenging times.  Simply take a look at the list, choose any tangles, create a tile with that tangle and others--and then share it at #summertangles2020.  If you don't see one of your favorite tangles, do it instead.  It's meant to be easy, enjoyable, and encouraging.  I'll be posting my tiles on Instagram @yankeetangler as well as on FB: https://www.facebook.com/summertangleschallenge

Hope to see your tiles this summer!

Zentangle™ as Spiritual Practice: A Drawing Meditation

Zentangle™ as Spiritual Practice: A Drawing Meditation

Jamie W. Johnson, Ph.D., CZT

Overview

Zentangle™is a fun and easy-to-use technique to create beautiful patterns with a focus on staying in the moment and mindfulness. In this particular lesson, you will quickly learn how to create an image using repetitive patterns around a word, phrase or symbol that is meaningful to you. While there are a plethora of fine art supplies available, I have suggested basic supplies to stress that you can practice this anywhere—all you need is pen and paper.

In Zentangle™practice, we say there are “no mistakes.” This is not about creating a perfect product but about how you feel while you draw, which is why I emphasize that it is a “practice.” Adults often say they are not artists, but anyone can learn Zentangle™. The prescribed 8-step process is designed by Zentangle™ founders Maria Thomas and Rick Roberts to help overcome artistic self-doubt. We also say, “Anything is possible one step at a time.” Follow the steps below and you will have a valuable experience with a final product at the end.

This particular lesson has been adapted from the original Zentangle™ method in order to accentuate the spiritual contemplation of the participant. In an unpublished research project, I found that 99% of survey respondents describe their Zentangle™ practice as improving their emotional well-being, while more than half specifically defined it as a spiritual practice.[1] As chaplains, spiritual caregivers, and mental health professionals understand, self-care is important in building resilience and coping with difficult events such as grief, loss, and trauma. Hopefully, this practice will become part of your spiritual self-care toolkit.

Supplies:

• paper
• pen
• pencil

Procedure:

*Please see the video that accompanies this lesson plan: https://youtu.be/J0PXO8T5mrA

1. Gratitude and appreciation: Gather your supplies. Take a moment of stillness and quiet before beginning. Breathe in, breathe out. Say a prayer or give thanks before beginning.
2. Corner dots: With your pencil, on your piece of paper, put one dot in each corner to make a square large enough to write and draw in. This will be your practice space.
3. Border: With your pencil, connect those dots lightly. The line does not need to be straight. While we call this the border, you do not need to stay in the lines!
4. String: Now with your pen, in the middle of your square, write a word (love, hope, joy, or even a short phrase or verse) or draw an image (heart, peace sign, star, cross, etc.), or combine the two. If you include words, you might want to outline the whole shape of the text. You can also subdivide the remaining space, with your pencil, to make smaller spaces to fill.
5. Tangle: Now add your patterns! A pattern (or tangle) is a series of repetitive steps drawn to create a beautiful design.
6. Shade: Add pencil shading to create patterns of light and dark. This does not need to create a sense of a single light source but is just another kind of pattern. Remember, you must leave some parts light to accentuate the dark shades.
7. Initial and date: You can even create a special symbol or signature for all of your drawings.
8. Appreciate: Look at what you’ve created! Give thanks for this time of meditation and creativity.

Suggested Online Resources

• Official Zentangle™ website: zentangle.com
• A treasure trove of tangle patterns with instructions (“step-outs”): tanglepatterns.com
• Google “Zentangle”—there are a multitude of resources on YouTube, Pinterest, and personal websites. “CZT” indicates that a person has received trainings and certification from the Zentangle™ founders

About Me

I am a Certified Zentangle™ Teacher (CZT) who practices and teaches in Connecticut under the name “Yankee Tangler.” I also hold a Ph.D. in art history and spent a decade creating and overseeing education programs in art museums. Now, as a student in the Masters of Divinity program at Hartford Seminary, I am journeying to become a hospice chaplain. As a Unitarian Universalist, I believe each person explores their own spiritual path of growth. Zentangle™ practice has been one of mine.  

Follow me at:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YankeeTangler

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yankeetangler/?hl=en

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNZ_Z35hvmpit2maO6DpExA

Blog: http://yankeetangler.blogspot.com/

[1] Jamie W. Johnson, “Zentangle™ as Spiritual Practice: Surveying a Community,” Hartford Seminary, unpublished paper, December 19, 2019.  See abstract at https://yankeetangler.blogspot.com/2020/05/abstract-zentangle-as-spiritual.html

ABSTRACT Zentangle™ as Spiritual Practice: Surveying a Community

Zentangle™ as Spiritual Practice: Surveying a Community[1]

Jamie W. Johnson, Ph.D., CZT

tile by the author

Abstract

Created by Maria Thomas and Rick Roberts, the Zentangle™ method is a fun and easy-to-use technique to create beautiful patterns with a focus on staying in the moment and mindfulness.[2]  Thousands of adults have been trained as Certified Zentangle™ Teachers (CZT), offering classes to students and practicing the art form all over the world.  While Zentangle™ is promoted by companies selling supplies and workshops, including the official Zentangle™ headquarters, as meditative and stress-reducing, I set out to investigate how practitioners themselves view their Zentangle™ practice.   My main research questions were “Do Zentangle™ practitioners view their experiences as spiritual?” and “How do online communities contribute to their Zentangle™ practice?”  Utilizing an online questionnaire, I surveyed 82 “tanglers”—people who practice the Zentangle™ method—about their artistic practice, its personal meaning for them, their online habits, and their own spiritual or faith practices.  Overall, my research project found that 99% of the respondents described Zentangle™ in terms of their emotional well-being.  Words such as self-esteem, satisfaction, pride, relaxation, calm, and peace appear repeatedly.  Many participants reported that they viewed Zentangle™ as a spiritual practice in which they engaged to maintain that sense of calm throughout their lives.  Even more than that, some people indicated that their Zentangle™ practices had wide-ranging, transformative effects on their lives, from living with physical pain to coping with the death of a loved one. As a transformative spiritual practice, Zentangle can best be understood using functional sociological frameworks.  As sociologist Nancy Ammerman describes in her introduction to Everyday Religion: Observing Modern Religious Lives, “We do not assume that religion is always about ‘eternal truths’ that divide the saved and the damned.  Nor do we follow rational choice theorists in positing that religion is always about ‘supernatural rewards’ . . . . religion is bigger than the theological ideas and religious institutions about which typical surveys have inquired.”[3] There was, however, a distinct group of responders, about a quarter of participants overall, who rejected the spiritual notion of Zentangle™, seeing that idea in conflict with their own, more substantive, definitions of religion.  This parallels the larger trends in American society, with religious manyness and secularization not only encouraging a wide variety and definition of spiritual activities but also creating discomfort for those with more traditional views of religion. 

---

[1] Jamie W. Johnson, “Zentangle™ as Spiritual Practice: Surveying a Community,” Hartford Seminary, unpublished paper, December 19, 2019.  The author was awarded the Hartranft Scholarship for this paper at Hartford Seminary’s commencement, May 15, 2020.

[2] “What is it?” Zentangle, https://zentangle.com/pages/what-is-the-zentangle-method [accessed December 3, 2019.]

[3] Nancy T. Ammerman, “Introduction: Observing Religious Modern Lives,” Everyday Religion: Observing Modern Religious Lives (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006); 5-6.

Summer Tangles Challenge 2019

It's the second annual Summer Tangles Challenge!!  

Like last year, I've drawn the tangles from the current TanglePattern's 2019 Tangle Guide so that everyone has access to the step outs; the list of tangle creators is included in this wonderful resource (I highly recommend supporting Linda Farmer's efforts by purchasing the guide.)  Some are old, some new; some "official" from Zentangle HQ, most not.  There are grids, organics, fillers, borders, and more.  For the most part, I chose tangles that I have either rarely or never used so that I can add to my comfort repertoire.  I've also chosen a few techniques, or trends, popular among CZTs (Certified Zentangle Teachers) and other tanglers, such as marginalia, inkless tangling, and Zentwining.  I'll post my tiles here, on my FB page, and on Instagram ("yankeetangler"), and encourage others to post their own, using #summertangles2019.  Below I include an explanation of some of the terms, with links and examples.

The Zentangle Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns.  It was originated by Maria and Rick Thomas.  For more information or to find a Certified Zentangle Teacher near you, visit Zentangle HQ.

Have fun experimenting and spread the word!

July 4:  Ellish

July 5: Icantoo

July 6: técnica seca*:  María Tovar's inkless tangling

July 7:  Bilt

July 8: Counterpoint

July 9: Surf’s Up

July 10:  Wholly Hollibaugh

July 11:  Marginalia*: decorative borders or embellishments

July 12: Andante

July 13: Enthatching*:  Hatching technique described in Twelve Days of Zentangle video

July 14: Ticking

July 15: D’eneh

July 16:  Ribbon Rose

July 17: Cindyer

July 18:  Cartouche*:  A decorative frame highlighted in Zentangle Project Pack #5

July 19: SlowPoke

July 20:  Antique

July 21: BRRRST

July 22: A-frame

July 23: Copada

July 24:  Beadlines

July 25:  Sproing*:  A tendril-like aura, introduced in Twelve Days of Zentangle video (around 5:40)

July 26: 1 2 3 O’Leary

July 27: Fe-ba

July 28: Dewd

July 29: Frunky

July 30:  Cirquital

July 31:  Ratoon

August 1:  Zentwining*:  See Lynn Mead's tutorial

August 2: Mazorito

August 3:  Tamisolo

August 4: Avreal

August 5: Dooleedo

August 6: ½ Orbs

August 7: Scarabou

August 8:  Cookie Cutter string:  see my upcoming post

August 9:  Double Double

August 10: Knyt

August 11:  Gutz

August 12:  Barquillos

August 13:  Well Well Who

August 14: Eleganza

August 15:   Rose Window*:  See Melinda Barlow's video

August 16: Narwhal

August 17:  Caracole

August 18: Zig Zag Track

August 19: Alaura

August 20: Crezendo

August 21: Loop

August 22:  Dingsplazt*:  See this Kitchen Table Tangle video

August 23:  Hexonu

August 24: Konked

August 25:  Pendrils

August 26:  Blankett

August 27: Swimz

August 28: 8C

August 29:  Roscoe

August 30: Vea

August 31: B-Leaf

September 1: Romanancy*: a technique now named for the late Nancy Sampson

September 2:  Courant

Zentomology Today

I spent a rainy, chilly day in the glorious mansion, Ochre Court, in Newport with Zentangle founders Maria and Rick Thomas and daughters Molly and Martha and about 40 of my fellow Zentanglers.  We were there to learn about classifying and deconstructing various tangles--"Zentomology"--along with an exploration of the mansion looking at all the craftsmanship--and patterns--in wood, ironwork, gold, stone, plaster, cement, and paint.  It was a wonderful afternoon with great people and inspirational practice.

Because Zentangle HQ has asked us not to share certain details, I'll focus on the patterns I found.  I believe they will be publishing aspects of Zentomology soon, as well as some of the patterns they deconstructed.

Look at the inside--gorgeous materials, intricate patterns, huge space; it's the second-largest mansion in Newport, just behind the Breakers.  It's now the administrative center of Salve Regina University, which has preserved it beautifully.

The grand staircase at the entrance

The main foyer

So many patterns to work with! This is the fireplace in the room where we worked.

A variation of Florz, with squares at the intersections and auras.

The braided beard of a figure on a mantelpiece--looks like Ragz.

The dragon in this medallion seems to be sitting on Spoolies!

I liked the tri-partite medallion in the balcony. I think those are the windows into the room where we were.

I liked that the entwined strands in the upholstry are different.

Looks like a Bales variant!

This ceiling decoration looks like the current Dingbatz Doors trend, with its subdivisions.

Florz with fire and a wonderful slinky-esque design.

Can you see Cadent?

This grate with its Green Man and multiple patterns covers a heating vent!

And these are just some of the photos I snapped.  Literally every surface was decorated, the exact opposite of our modern love of minimalism.  And that doesn't even include all of the housewares and decorations long gone, much less the clothing!  Quite the horror vacui.    I can't imagine living in such luxury, much less this just being the beach house for summers; I wonder if the occupants, used to such extravagance, even noticed the details.  As we wandered around--looking closely, even touching! so much better than your average docent tour--and I had a chance to sit by myself, I could take it all in.

As much as I can admire the craftsmanship and luxury and be intrigued by the history, another part of me is fair disgusted by the excess and equality gap. (And politically and economically, I think we are returning to this time of robber barons and poverty.)  But I put some of that aside in my study of the patterns, which I have been playing with.  We'll see what it amounts to, besides lovely memories.

Tangles from Ochre Court: Beaucourt, Alexem, Romo, and Magong

Summer Tangle Challenge 2018 Wrap-Up

Whew!  I've been tangling a tile for every day between July 4th and Labor Day.  It's been a glorious 60 days, which I'm finishing a bit early because of the chaos of the beginning of school.  I've tried new tangles, learned more about social media posting, joined Instagram, met new people on various Zentangle forums, completed a presentation Opus tile of all the tangles (but not the techniques), and expanded my practice.  It's been a wonderful experience.

And I will do it again!  Next year, I'll design the second-annual Summer Tangle Challenge.  I've already started a list of tangles and techniques.  I liked that it was not only patterns but trends in tangling.  I'll be more careful creating the list, though; this time, I had some duplicates.  I also realized I had more "ribbon" tangles than "fillers."  I'll keep the FB page and Instagram going for the challenge and get the list out earlier so more people can participate.  And I might do mine in a Tangle-A-Day  (TAD) calendar, as so many do. 

It really was rewarding and inspiring to see people embrace the challenge and make it their own--so much creativity!   Check out facebook.com/summertangleschallenge or search using the hashtag #summertangles2018 to see some of the amazing artwork.

Some of my own favorite tiles (due to intellectual property, I won't post other people's tiles here):

I liked the shading of this tile, which made it looked rounded.

Inspired by Marguerite Samana's Delft Delights, this tile has a Gingham background,
one of my new favorite tangles.

Spoolies, sandswirl, and printemps

Zenith is the tangle of the day, but I liked the whole thing.

A Zen Gem Zendala

This Zendala has a Maryhill center.

Dex and Diva Dance, with dewdrops

I liked how this turned out, a bit of a different style for me, with contrasting
large and small tangles.

 I don't usually use color, but when I do, it's a rainbow.

I had rushed to set up the schedule and accidentally repeated some tangles;
those days became choose-your-own.  For one day, I did a quilt-inspired tile with favorite
tangles I sometimes forget to use.

All of the tiles (in an un-water-marked photo, because the mark
somehow reduced the clarity of the whole thing.)

My 10.5"-square Summer Tangle Challenge Opus tile

Happy Tangling!

My New Tangle: NATHEA

At a friend's lake house for a summer party, I spotted this pattern draped across a chair.

I was inspired and spent the next several days playing with the pattern.

  

Until it became NATHEA!

The template is coprighted by Tangle Patterns.com, where I'll be submitting this soon.

This is an organic tangle that can also be adapted for a grid or even border.  I leave the inside of the tangle empty in the step-out so that you can add your own patterns to the middle; I've tried orbs, petals, lines, and auras.  I hope people will find many possibilities in this tangle.

With more practice, I think a grid of Nathea can become a meta-tangle with hearts--NATHEARTS!

The non-representational name is a combination of the names of my twins, who turn into teenagers next week!