Zentangling master

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This article was published 21/11/2016 (3462 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There’s doodling, and then there’s Zentangling.

Carol Graham is Winnipeg’s only certified Zentangling teacher (CZT), and through her classes Graham says she is able to bring out anyone’s creative side. Worldwide, there are 2,593 CZTs, almost all of whom had to travel to Providence, Rhode Island to become certified.

“The basic Zentangle is a white tile with black ink and then there’s black tile with white ink,” Graham said. “It is something so simple, so easy and that was one of the things that the creators were after.”

Graham’s students normally complete two 3.5-inch tiles per class, on which they try their hand at a specific Zentangle pattern as directed by the instructor. The patterns must only involve six steps or less to be an official pattern. The whole point, Graham explained, is simplicity.

Maria Thomas and Rick Roberts came up with the idea when Roberts observed Thomas working on her calligraphy.

“Calligraphy if you think about it, it wouldn’t be a relaxing job,” Graham said. “Everything has to be perfectly centred and spelled right and you could spend hours and spell a word wrong at the end and have to start all over, so it’s not a relaxing art form.

“(Roberts) spent time living on a monastery so he had a meditation practice. He noticed that when she did the illuminated letter that has the fancy patterns, when she’d be working on that, her whole countenance would be different. Her shoulders would be relaxed, she’d have a peaceful look on her face.”

The couple came to the conclusion that when Thomas was in the zone with her work, she was practising a form of meditation. Zentangle was a way to combine art and mindfulness for those who didn’t subscribe to a religious philosophy or consider themselves advanced artists.

“A big piece of paper can be intimidating, so they came up with the tile,” Graham said. “It fits into a man’s shirt pocket.”

Graham said while there is equipment one can buy for Zentangling, the basic form is simple enough that it can be done by anyone, anywhere. Graham said it’s an opportunity for people to get creative, even when they don’t consider themselves to be.

“I think that’s sad,” she said. “As humans we need that outlet to be creative. Everyone is, in their own way.”

Graham has had a variety of students in her classes, including a legally blind woman who has low levels of vision in one eye but is an especially enthusiastic student.

“The best thing is when someone says they have no artistic talent or they’re not creative, and you can see that they’re not-so-secretly thrilled with what they did,” Graham said. “There’s no better feeling than watching that happen to people.”

To see when Graham is teaching, visit tangledinklings.ca