Tag Archives: classes

July 17, 2017 · 6:00 pm

What is the Zentangle® Method™?

Want to unwind from stress, focus your thoughts, and explore your creative side? As a CZT (Certified Zentangle® Teacher), this is what I do!

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“A Therapeutic Process of Meditative Pattern Drawing” Designed for Everyone!

The Zentangle® Method™ offers a quick way to intentionally redirect your focus and allow you to enter a relaxed state, by drawing structured patterns (called tangles) while creating beautiful abstract art! Tangles are broken down into steps, making it easy for ALL ages and abilities to draw! Anyone can do it! As you combine these tangles together, you will be amazed at yourself when you discover that you are in fact an artist and you can draw and create your own beautiful and unique art!

  • Zentangle can change your life!
  • Enjoy the peacefulness and contentment of “living in the moment” (not yesterday or tomorrow)!
  • An easy, fun, and relaxing stress and anxiety reliever you can do anywhere!
  • Portable! Need only a pen, pencil, and paper!
  • If you can write your name, you can do Zentangle! No artistic skills needed!
  • Non-Technical!
  • No mistakes in Zentangle…only creative opportunities!
  • No right or wrong way!
  • Increases your sense of personal well-being!
  • Opens your mind and heart to new creativity, imagination, and intuition for people of all ages and abilities!

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8-Basic Steps in the Zentangle® Method™

  1. Gratitude and Appreciation
  2. Corner Dots
  3. Border
  4. Strings
  5. Tangle
  6. Shade
  7. Initial and Sign
  8. Appreciation Again

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Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas created the Zentangle® Method™ and Zentangle® INC. about 14 years ago. They offer four intense seminars a year, in Providence, Rhode Island (where they live), teaching those who want to learn all about Zentangle and become a CZT ( Certified Zentangle® Teacher).  We now have about 3000 CZT’s around the world!

Maria and Rick state, “As you practice the Zentangle Method, you discover that not only can you create beautiful art, you also can increase your focus and create a different mood and state of mind. We believe that life is an art form and that our Zentangle Method is an elegant metaphor for deliberate artistry in life. This Zentangle approach is not only easy and enjoyable, but also profound and uplifting.”

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Students are given the same instructions…but each Zentangle® tile is different!

So, give yourself the gift of Zentangle® art and take a class with a Certified Zentangle® Teacher!

Find a CZT near you at:  www.zentangle.com

Check out my website and classes at:  www.tanglealaska.com

♥ Donna


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June 25, 2017 · 2:38 am

Coffee Cups Competition

Hi! Before today gets away from me, I want to share a FUN project we did around this time, last June 2016. As you know I work for Blaines Art Supply, and last June, many art supply representatives came up from the lower 48 to throw a “Make it & Take it” event. I set up my tent, tables, and examples of my Zentangle® coffee cups I had done at home. I was so excited!!

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Blaines Art donated white coffee cups and black pens (there is a beverage bar inside the store). We were going to have a tangled cup competition and I was ready! There were lots of other tent “stations” like alcohol inks, painting sneakers, Gelli printing plates, lots of different types of pens, watercolors, markers, and papers too to experiment with. Many of the products were on sale.

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I had drawn some simple Zentangle tangles and their step outs on big pieces of paper and taped them to the side of the tent so people could follow step-by-step. I also had Zentangle books, supplies, business cards, and my up-coming classes. Everyone’s cup was sooooo different and creative! Some took their tangled cups home and some we displayed in the store and for the rest of the month people could vote on their favorite one! The WINNER got a goodie bag filled with awesome Zentangle supplies so they could keep tangling!!

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Even though it was a COLD day and my hands were frozen we all had a good time! Jake even took over the booth so I could go inside to warm up 🙂 I think we should do this again!

♥ Donna

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June 23, 2017 · 3:16 am

2017-Machetanz Art Festival

Hi! Let’s fast forward to today… I’m still living in Anchorage, Alaska, in the same house for 20 years, and I still LOVE teaching the Zentangle® Method™.  I have recently finished teaching my Fall/Winter/Spring Zentangle® art classes and now my summer begins. So now that I have more time, I’ll try to catch you up on some of the fun zen-happenings!

I just returned from teaching a Zentangle Basics 101 Class at the Machetanz Art Festival, in Wasilla/Palmer, AK. This was my third year teaching there and I absolutely LOVE going there! It’s held at Mat-Su College (UAA), in the beautiful Mat-Su Valley. The campus is lovely! It’s about 1-1/2 hours away and one of the most gorgeous drives you can imagine with huge snow capped mountains everywhere you look! The people are so friendly and the life style is slower than Anchorage (more zen…I like that)! The last two years I got to teach two Zentangle classes, but due to budget cuts this year, the art festival was only one day. I felt very honored to have been asked back again! Thank you!! ♥ 

There are lots of different art classes offered, like painting (oils, acrylics, pastels, watercolors), alcohol ink, encaustic wax art, wood burning, Zentangle and more.

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This year I had the most awesome group of students who were soooooo excited to learn all about Zentangle! We had a blast! It was very relaxing, as this year I prerecorded 5 hours of “zen music” on my mini-iPad and I bought a small but powerful speaker for it. It was perfect! In the “basics class” we learn the Zentangle® Method™, history of the art, language, the many benifits, and we create two beautiful Zentangle art tiles using six simple tangles. Each tangle I chose teaches something different that they will use often.

I’ve got to admit that I’m pretty spoiled as the room has a camera, computer, and TV so I can tangle right along with the students in real time! But I always have my backup easel and pad!

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AND I’ve gotten the same room for three years!! It’s at the end of a long hall, hidden away so it’s very quiet and peaceful! AND I’m right next door to Rex who always helps me with the computer and equipment

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When the class is done, we go around and collect all the tiles and put them together and create a big mosaic. Below is this year’s mosaic! It is truly magical to me that I give the same directions to everyone but each tile is soooo incredibly different and unique!! It’s exciting and so much fun!!

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The best part of the day is when everyone hovers over the mosaic trying to find their tiles! And guess what…many can’t find them because they ALL are so beautiful and creative!! Most of the students at the beginning of class said they couldn’t draw, but as you see everyone drew beautiful art pieces and walked out as “artists”!

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To see more mosaics from previous years, go to “Student Art” on my website www.tanglealaska.com   I hope I’ll get to come back again next year! I LOVE teaching Zentangle®!!

Keep tangling!

♥ Donna

 

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December 14, 2014 · 4:05 am

Certified Zentangle Teacher

Hi! I’ve recently returned from Providence, Rhode Island. I know, pretty amazing for me! Those who know me, know that sometimes I can’t even get out of my house 🙂  It happened very suddenly when I got a newsletter from zentangle.com that there were 4 open seminar spaces available…first come, first served! This was my dream, to go to seminar to become a Certified Zentangle® Teacher but I figured I would have to wait until 2015 (it’s very hard to get in!). I would be trained by the founders of Zentangle®, Maria Thomas and Rick Roberts. Well a long story shortened…I emailed but the 4 spaces were already filled and I was #15 on a waiting list. I was so disappointed to think I almost had a shot of getting in!

About two days later I get another email and I GOT IN!!  That is, if I could fly to Providence, RI, and find a hotel in less than a week! The seminar is at the Providence Hotel but they were booked solid. Before I knew it I was on a plane and off to become a Certified Zentangle® Teacher! No time to think how terrified I was to fly and fly so far from home for 6 days. I’m talking about Alaska to Rhode Island! It took me all day to get there, starting at 3:30am (Sat)and finally got to bed at 4:00am the next day (Sun).

But I did it! I made it to Providence only to find out they did not have a room for me! Yes, NO ROOM!! I had a total meltdown (and I mean it was bad!) and was driven across town to another hotel. I had absolutely no idea where I was or who I was with. They fortunately came back to get me the next day (I was crossing my fingers that they would!). I emailed Martha (Maria’s daughter) to let her know what happened and checked into the seminar that evening. I stayed at Biltmore that night, alone and scared.

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The next morning (Mon) after the morning class, Martha took me aside and said there was a vacancy at Providence Hotel and they were working on getting me over there with everyone else. OMG! I was soooooo excited, so relieved, so grateful, so exhausted! From then on I had the most FANTASTIC and AMAZING time! It was like I was living in a magical dream-world filled with beautiful tangles and warm and wonderful people. Maria Thomas and Rick Roberts and their entire Zentangle® family were unbelievably so kind and giving.

Me, Maria, and Rick

Me, Maria Thomas, and Rick Roberts

I met so many people from around the world. We had 13 countries and 22 students from Taiwan who became my friends (kneehow). I had so much fun and learned sooooo much!

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When I got back, Blaines Art Store asked me to teach Zentangle® classes and I start in January 2015 (another dream come true!). I can hardly wait!!!! I am now a Certified Zentangle® Teacher!

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CZT

See you in class 🙂

♥ Donna

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