How it all began

My journey into Zentangle began roughly a year ago and what can I say, I am still into it, very much so, which is not always a guarantee with me. I might get interest in something very quickly and get bored with it. But it feels like I found my true calling. In the next days I'll try to work a bit on a proper blog entry. Why is Zentangle so important to me and show some of the results and my latest works.

I want to concentrate on:

- Daily/weekly challenges- 

Book reviews- 

focusing on becoming a CZT next year- 

post and learn about new tangles

The last years have not been the easiest in my thirty years of existence. Ups and downs on the job front, burn outs, frustration, a suicide in the family, accepting that depression is and will be a part of who I am and so on. Especially the stress at work back then took its toll on me.
I heard about zentangle online, but never really took a closer look at it. I always used to love to draw when I was younger but I often felt that my creativity and inspiration got lost somewhere along the road of becoming an adult.
At some point I just gave Zentangle a try. Mistakes are allowed? You don't need to be perfect? "Awesome", I told myself. That is just what you mean. I think I owe a lot to Rick and Maria, the founders of the Zentangle method. Did they save my life? Maybe not, but they gave me back a part of my sanity, thought me that it is ok to make mistakes and work with them. A tangle is not perfect? Screw it and work with it. I am loving it. Over the past year I tried out lots of books, paper, pens and tangles. I don't even want to know the amount I spend on materials, but that is ok. I finally have a hobby that makes me happy.
I find that ZIA, Zentangle Inspired Art, works the best for me. I like to work with the original tiles, but I always lust for something bigger. I like to work with a string, but I find that it sometimes limits me. Freestyle is more my thing. And that is ok. I also learned to love to use color. Sometimes I still prefer black and white, sometimes the renaissance tiles and sometimes it has to be colorful. VERY colorful. Just the black tile and the white gelly roller are not my best friends yet.
The newsletter from Zentangle announced today, that Finland got its first official CZT. It stung a bit, that is something I wanted to become, but hei, someone was faster than me and maybe I can even take a class if she lives nearby. I still plan on taking the seminar next year. I am not sure if I want to teach, but I want to learn. I am hoping that I can use zentangle with studying to become a practical nurse. I start school for that next month and yes, I am nervous, but I am also bursting with ideas, on how I can combine a job at a psychiatric ward or with the elderly with zentangle. I want to give back a bit of what I have gotten out of it.
Mostly, I just do it for myself. I calm down, I get focused, my brain shuts down and focuses on "anything is possible, one stroke at a time".
I feel like my surrounding always looks funny at me. Oh, she draws these weird kinds of patterns, why? Nobody really dares to give it a try. "No, I can not draw". Of course you can. I today "taught" my husband's uncle and cousin and even if it scared them a bit, they got the hang of it. I don't care if others get it or not, I know what it means to me, a whole lot!