The short version? I’m a Certified Zentangle Teacher (CZT) living in the Parksville, BC area, and I love to share this world of Zentangle. Please check out my website, learn more about the Zentangle method, and if you live in my area, think about taking a class with me!
The bio version? I can tell you the exact day I got interested in drawing again after an entire adult life of thinking art wasn’t really for me. A conversation with my daughter, and a TED talk moved me from wishing to doing. On my daughter’s advice, I started a Tumblr blog and committed myself to posting my work. Here’s my first Tumblr post on July 13, 2014:
“I’ve been reading some articles and watching TED videos about creativity. Finally something clicked and I decided that if I need to draw 10,000 bad pictures before I get to the good ones, I had better get started! This is my first official digital sketch. Mr. Penguin.”
Flash forward to January 10, 2015. I was following some doodle prompts, and trying my hand at sketching from a book I bought at the store, but nothing was really sticking. I didn’t feel very good about my drawing, and there was some tension in putting up those posts despite the encouragement I was receiving from friends and family. The problem was I wasn’t happy with what I was doing, and I didn’t really feel like I was learning much. Then one day, I was cleaning out my workspace at home and came across Beckah Krahula’s book, “One Zentangle a Day”. When I bought a birthday gift for my niece that fall, I’d picked up a book for myself and tucked it away.
“One Zentangle a Day” was the catalyst I’d needed. I committed myself to doing the lessons in the book, and in actually doing One Zentangle a Day for the duration of the 6-week period the book laid out.
Well, long before the 42 days were up, I was hooked! Zentangle had shown me a way to connect to my creative side, to draw beautiful works of art with simple strokes, to feel good about my drawing, and to have fun! The meditative aspect was welcome; I’d tried meditation several times before but I could never sit still long enough. Zentangle allowed me to experience the meditative process while doing something that took me back to my childhood days where I filled doodle pad after doodle pad with my drawings, never considering whether they were “good enough”.
I was fortunate enough to take a class from a Certified Zentangle Teacher (CZT) fairly soon into my Zentangle journey. CZT Jerryann Haggart helped me to fill in the pieces you just can’t get from a book, no matter how good it is. I’ve taken many classes since then from Jerryann and from other talented CZTs, and it’s been great fun!
In April 2016, I finally got a chance to attend a CZT seminar taught by Maria Thomas and Rick Roberts, the founders of Zentangle. Here’s a post from just before I left.
The experience was phenomenal. I have never before been in a room with 110 other people from 15 countries, and while the lobby and restaurant resonated with chatter during meals and breaks, you could hear a pin drop in the sessions; we were all so engrossed in what we were doing. By this time I had taken the beginner class 3 times, but every time I took it, I picked up a nuance I’d missed before. This time was no exception. I came away with new friends, new skills, and an eagerness to share Zentangle forward. My B Ed degree and experience as a teacher helped pull everything together, and a week after I came home I taught my first class. I love sharing Zentangle! I welcome you to my website, and hope you’ll enjoy exploring this world.
For those of you who would like more specific information about my professional background, I invite you to check my Linked In account.
Have fun and Tangle On!
A Tangling Life 