There are many people in my life who gave me inspiration, encouragement, support and love while I was on my journey to find confidence in myself to become a Certified Zentangle Teacher and start teaching.
My young friend Hana is someone who has always been special to me, and unknowingly she gave me the extra push that I needed. I met her on her first day into this world, and she has special place in my heart ever since.
About three and half years ago, she was diagnosed with Pilocytic Astrocytoma, a type of slow-growing brain tumor. She underwent surgery, rounds of chemo therapies and of course many tests. She has had more than enough prodding and poking by medical professionals, and now struggles with anxiety.
One day, I was with her family and it was a little stressful situation. I could tell that Hana was trying her best to stay calm. So I decided to pull her aside to a somewhat quiet space and asked her if she wants to learn something I love called Zentangle. She was not really excited about it. I understand that learning something new when you are already feeling stressed seems overwhelming. But she was willing enough to let me start guiding her.
We had a rough beginning because she was already in an agitated state of mind. She was easily frustrated and saying she couldn’t even draw nice shapes that she wanted. I kept reminding her to focus on one stroke at a time and that she doesn’t need to worry about how it will look. As her focus shifted, I could see her shoulders relax and her lines became less shaky. In about 15-20 minutes, she finished her first tile. The sparkle in her eyes was back, and she was very pleased with herself.
This special moment made a deep impression on me. I was on a fence about getting certified as a CZT at that time, but all my doubts disappeared after this experience.
I haven’t seen Hana for several months but I just found out from her mom that she’s tangling on her own using the tangles she learned and taking them to another level. She doesn’t know that what she is doing is called tanglations, but she figured them out on her own. I can’t wait to show her more tangles and see what she will do with them!
Hana recently finished 4th grade and still courageously fighting her battle. You can read her story on Hope for Hana.
Take a deep breath and be grateful for the opportunity. Also, take time to appreciate the tools in front of you. The Zentangle tiles are a heavy-weight and acid-free paper made out of 100% cotton. The edges and corners are left uneven to remind us that we are not pursuing perfection. The 
With a graphite pencil, draw four tiny dots near each corner. There’s not a whole lot to elaborate here… As long as you have four dots somewhere near each corner, you are good to go. Easy enough?
Connect dots with a graphite pencil to create a border. The line doesn’t have to be straight. It can be wavy, curvy… (wibbly, wobbly, timey wimey as Dr. Who might say). I went for straight-ish lines in my example.
Just draw a few random lines with a graphite pencil. The lines can cross each other, loop around… however you feel like. Don’t overthink it. Pretend you are 3 years old and go for it! The string will create smaller sections on your tile and free your mind from worrying about composition. I drew a zigzag on mine this time.
There are many beautiful doodle arts and Zentangle inspired arts (ZIA) without any shading. But shading definitely adds depth and drama to your piece, and provides an opportunity to make the piece uniquely yours. You can see the difference it makes in this example.
You are almost done! Now it’s time to put your signature on your art like a pro. For a small piece like the Zentangle tile (3.5 inch square), it’s probably more fitting to just initial than sign your entire name.
We are so accustomed to go from one thing to the next. Let’s take a moment to appreciate your art, your friends’ art, the uniqueness of each person and their art, and your experience above all.
Pebbles & Drops 