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.
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!
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
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!!
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”!
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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Poke Root tangle, by Zentangle®
