Suzanne McNeill - Joy of Zentangle

Special thanks to Cindy Fahs, CZT, for providing expert advice and invaluable feedback during the development and creation of this title. Your efforts were truly above and beyondthank you!

Special thanks to Meredith L. Yuhas, PhD, LPC, NCC, ACS, CZT, for providing material to help develop the first chapter of this book.

Suzanne is often known as the Trendsetter of arts and crafts. Dedicated to hands-on creativity, she constantly tests, experiments, and invents something new and fun.

Suzanne has been the woman behind Design Originals, a publishing company dedicated to all things fun and creative. She is a designer, artist, columnist, TV personality, publisher, art instructor, author, and lover of everything hands-on. Visit her blog to see events, books, and a Zentangle of the Week. She also shares her techniques and ideas in YouTube demos. You can contact Suzanne at .

Sandy Steen Bartholomew is an author, illustrator, mixed-media artist, and a Certified Zentangle Teacher. She ran a creativity general store (Wingdoodle), a mini-gallery (The Beehive), and a rubber stamp company (Bartholomews Ink). Currently, she runs an art studio (Beez Ink), a teaching studio (The Belfry), and an Etsy shop (Bumblebat). Her life looks like a Zentangle! She is inspired by juicy jewel-tones and rusty-crusty, peeling, earth-covered things. Magic and mystery, bits and pieces, and weird little creatures. If it sits still, shell paint it.

Sandy lives with her two kids, and a cat in their colorful, mixed-media house in Warner, New Hampshirea town full of introverted artists she has never met. Visit Sandys website at www.sandysteenbartholomew.com.

Marie Browning doesnt recall how early in life her passion for crafting began, but she knows it is definitely genetic! Her family, full of quilters, woodworkers, and artists, helped her develop a respect for human creativity. She finds the more she progresses along the technological path of todays computerized society, the more she values those honored skills of the imagination worked out through human hands in the form of arts and crafts. You can contact Marie and view more of her work at www.mariebrowning.com.

Anything is possible, one stroke at a time.

Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas

This book will change your life.

If you try Zentangle for even a few minutes, youll find yourself getting calmer and more focused. Youll feel more like yourself when you are at your best. Do a few more Zentangle pieces and youll begin to notice the world around you in a different wayit will seem brighter, more colorful, more in focus. Youll see patterns and beauty everywhere you go. Youll find yourself becoming less stressed, judge yourself and others less, and feel happier and more content.

I know these are big claims for such a simple, humble action as tangling, but they are true. You can prove it to yourself very simply in less than an hour by following the instructions for creating your first Zentangle in .

Within the pages of Joy of Zentangle, youll learn more about the how and why of the Zentangle method. Your guides will be the top authors on the subjectSuzanne McNeill, Sandy Steen Bartholomew, and Marie Browning, all CZTs (Certified Zentangle Teachers). Other CZTs from around the world share their artwork and inspirational stories on these pages as well.

To understand the phenomenon of the Zentangle method, it is also important to understand the motivation and personalities of its creators, Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. Eager to meet them in person after reading the many Design Originals Zentangle titles and having created a few Zentangle pieces on my own, I wasnt sure what to expect. I had found my limited time spent drawing on the Zentangle tiles to be very relaxing, but also more than a bit confusing. After our meeting, it become clear that the confusion was of my own makingId been too focused on mimicking a certain design rather than trusting the Zentangle process.

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

Leonardo da Vinci

The hours Rick and Maria graciously spent with me went by quickly. Their lovely home is filled with beautiful art of their own making, as well as antiques and artwork by others. My time with them in their own native habitat was a heady experiencesomething guaranteed to stimulate ones creativity. Through our conversations it became clear to me that helping people grow and develop their own inner talents is Rick and Marias deepest heartfelt wish and purpose.

Both their concept of tangling and the way Rick and Maria have chosen to run their business is so simple and unusual that it took some getting used to before I understood what its all about.

The creative inspiration behind what is fast becoming a worldwide phenomenon of creative expression and personal freedom started with the simple wish to help others discover their inner artist. Maria is an accomplished artist. Her calligraphy has been commissioned by top institutions, art collectors, and celebrities. For several years, Rick Roberts handcrafted Native American-style flutes out of gorgeous woods. Later, before Zentangle, Rick and Maria had a successful series of booths and exhibitions at art and craft shows where their work was well received. Marias hand lettering in flowing script on her artwork attracted crowds of people to their booth. Customers loved watching her work.

Thats been one of my mantrasfocus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But its worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.

Steve Jobs

The pair noticed how often people would say: I wish I could do that, but Im not creative at all; I cant draw; or I could never do that.

When Rick and Maria came up with the idea that became Zentangle, they realized this could be a way to address all those excuses they heard from these wonderful people.

I dont have the time to be an artist.

I dont have the money to take up art.

I dont have space to set up a studio.

Like all good ideas, it can seem obvious after the fact.

Feel like you will never have the time to experiment with drawing? A Zentangle tile can typically be completed within fifteen minutes.

Is money tight? All you need to tangle is a pencil, Sakura pen, and Zentangle tiles. These essentials can be purchased for less than $10. Each blank tile is less than $1.