I have been reading that Zentangle starts becoming a bigger trend. A good way to describe it is creative meditation. Actually the word “Zentangle” sounds already like a Mantra to me. Can you imagine Leonhard Cohen whispering that word in your ear? Goosebumps guaranteed.

Yesterday I tried Zentangle out for the first time. The few rules are very easy to adapt and you don’t have to be good a drawing. It is almost just like doodling. Everybody got a very small paper tile, probably 4’’x4’’, and a pen. It made me a little bit nervous that we had 30 minutes to draw on this tiny little piece of paper. Being used to rather large canvas paintings I normally cover an area this size before I am able to finish a sentence. But well…

I am one of those people who have a hard time meditating. My brain just won’t shut up, like an old chatterbox. But when I use my hands to do something creative somehow my mind magically calms down. I have experienced that many times with painting. But even here, while I was planting minuscular little knots on this small paper, my mind stopped wandering around. It really works. And what was most surprising to me: it actually DID take me 30 minutes to be done with my tile. The only negative side effects were a stiff neck and a sore hand – I guess it takes a while getting used to it.

What I really like about Zentangle is how easy and accessible it is. You can do it where ever you are: waiting at the airport, or watching your daughter’s dance class.

Here you see the results of the whole group yesterday. Almost nobody had zentangled before.

If you want to learn more about the patterns this is a great website:  https://www.zentangle.com

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