Rick writes:
Gratitude has always been the foundation of the Zentangle Method. Perhaps that’s because it has always been the foundation of Maria’s and my worlds.
I remember when Maria and I were teaching a workshop in New Hampshire. Some of the attendees wanted to know how they could also teach the Zentangle Method. That request inspired our Certified Zentangle Teacher (CZT) seminars.
When we announced our first seminar for February 2009, people asked what qualifications were necessary to attend. Immediately we responded, “Passion and Gratitude!”
Our reasoning was that if you had passion and gratitude, then we knew we could teach you everything you needed to teach the Zentangle Method. We also assumed that we were not equipped to teach you how to be passionate and grateful.
Over the years, we learned we were not entirely right about assuming we couldn’t teach passion and gratitude. Because we’ve seen how people who said they couldn’t even “draw a straight line” began to revel in the beauty of the Zentangle art they were creating. They became passionate. They became grateful.
So perhaps, we did indirectly teach passion and gratitude. I say indirectly, because what I think happens is that the Zentangle Method opens a door to a person’s innate creativity. It wasn’t what we taught that made the difference, it was what people discovered about themselves that made the difference.
Once you experience creativity flowing from within you, through your pen and onto the paper, you discover how wonderful it is. And soon, you have a passion to experience more of that and witness the beauty that is coming from within you.
And then inevitably comes the gratitude . . . gratitude for the simple things . . . like pen and paper, and a chair to sit on at a table in a room that is warm and dry.
And the more you create, the more you want to create. And the more you are grateful, the more you find to be grateful for. It is a beautiful self-reinforcing cycle.
I can’t think of another artform or practice in which fully one quarter of the steps have to do with Gratitude and Appreciation.
After I wrote the first draft of this blog, I sent it to Julie. She replied, “I think this is a good start, but I’d like you to focus more on why Gratitude is the first step of the Zentangle Method since that is this month’s theme.”
I called Julie and told her that I don’t remember Maria and I ever discussing it. Gratitude was just always the first step. It was self-evident to both of us that Gratitude was the foundation of everything we were doing. Maybe it was because we were, as we often say, “taking dictation,” as we wrote down the method that wonderful weekend in western Massachusetts. I know that Gratitude was not an add-on after we came up with the method. It was always Gratitude from the start.
Welcome to the world of Zentangle. First step . . . Gratitude!
Maria adds:
I always felt that I was the luckiest person on earth. My family, friends, home, my passion for art, I could go on and on here, but I’m guessing you get the picture. Don’t get me wrong, we were not wealthy. I just believed we were. I was grateful for so much and thought about it all the time. So, it was just natural for me/us to begin a class with gratitude. Rick and I were never teachers. We made up our own rules of how we would teach.
It was so natural to be grateful for the opportunity, for our paper, so beautifully crafted in Italy, for our pencils with just the right type of graphite, and for the pens. The pens were a dream come true for me after having struggled for years with Rapidograph technical pens.
In my perspective, an artist should always use the best supplies possible, and we wanted to communicate that perspective to our students. Because of the small size of our tiles and the few tools we used, drawing with the Zentangle Method was a modest investment even with the best possible materials. It was natural to feel gratitude for the beautiful paper and elegant tools.
And also, gratitude for our students who helped us spread the Zentangle word, for our family and friends who supported us throughout our beginnings, and for each other. Zentangle would not have happened had Rick and I not met shortly before this magical journey. So, thanks Ricky. (There’s that gratitude, again . . .)
Julie adds...
When I asked Rick and Maria to write the story of why they chose Gratitude as the first step, I was not surprised when he told me there wasn't really one - it was just the obvious first step.Gratitude really is the forefront of everything we do here at Zentangle, Inc, so when we began to map out what this year-long celebration would look like, it was clear that the first blog had to be about Gratitude. It is the first step in whatever we do.
In honor of the first step of the Zentangle Method, I would like to take a moment right here, right now, for gratitude. If you are journaling along with us this year, I encourage you to take a page to dedicate to this very important first step in the Zentangle Method... Gratitude.
You can also leave your thoughts about this step in the comments below. We will be choosing one commenter at random to receive an 8-Steps Print.
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If you would like to know more about the image above, visit this blog.
Gouri Krishna on
I find that most negative emotions seem to melt away when gratitude is slathered over them. Zentangle found me (it was rather magical) during a season of profound grief. It helped me reframe my sadness by recalling what I was grateful for in the time I had with my loved one. Gratitude is a lifeline that pulls us out of despair and keeps us moving forward — stroke by stroke. Forever grateful for Zentangle. ❤️
Leslie Barr on
Mary Lindeblad, CZT32 on
Mary Lindeblad, CZT32 on
Jackie on
I am most grateful for that!
Linda Hunter, CZT31 on
Explaining gratitude is almost impossible for me. Demonstrating gratitude by showing genuine delight in what they create, thanking them for their efforts, and praising the artwork in specific language … It takes more time, but it’s worth it.
My students flourish when I tell them I like a certain stroke or shape. They shine when I compliment the way they organize their tools, or how they sit. It’s the little things that add up to a whole lot of gratitude.
I love sharing Zentangle with my students. And they are neverendingly thrilled with what they create. Gratitude all around.
Ann Baum on
Gratitude is a lifesaver… literally. It was gratitude and humor that got us through Greg’s liver transplant and recovery 6+ years ago. It was gratitude that guided me through so many of my own hardships all these years. Every day begins and ends with it and I believe it is the light that shines within the beauty of life. It is no wonder to me why gratitude is the foundation of the Zentangle Method and it remains the fundamental reason I chose to become a CZT.
Letitia Minnick CZT41 on
Ginny Lockhart on
Katrina Thiebaut CZT on
Jane Laycock CZT 40 on
Last year my ‘word of the year’ was gratitude. I spent a few minutes searching for quotes about gratitude every month. And I put them in my bullet journal, together with a Zentangle tile.
My favorite quote is by John Ortberg:
‘Gratitude is the ability to experience life as a gift.’
And Zentangle helps seeing life as a gift as well.
Happy anniversary!
Doris Bisschop, CZTEU1 on
Mindy Shapiro on
Susan L on
Wendy Holtzman on
GRATITUDE
G iving
R ecognition
A bsolutely
T enaciously
I ntensely
T ruthfully
U nconditionally
D eliberately
E agerly
Christine Gott Dickemper on
Kathy Cody, CZT 37 on
Gratitud a una inolvidable profesora de pintura decorativa que un día me dijo: “Mira esto, es un método que se llama Zentangle, inténtalo”. Me impactó tanto que busqué, y busqué y encontré a Rick&María en Providence, en la primavera del 2017|. Invertí ,mis ahorros y tomé el seminario 26 en Rhode Island, en donde hallé el norte de mi vida. Desde entonces, mis manos, mis bolígrafos, mi mente, mis amigos virtuales, los packets, los tiles, Bijou, R&M, Julie, Martha, son mis eternos compañeros de vida con los que cada día producimos una pequeña pero grandiosa obra de arte llena de paz, alegría, investigación, creatividad, que hago extensiva a mis alumnos y amigos de Colombia. Gratitud, gratitud , gratitud por siempre a los creadores del método que nos une en la distancia y que nos fortalece y enriquece interiormente con elementos tan sencillos como un pigma Micron, un lápiz, y una pequeña superficie de 9×9cm.
Feliz Aniversario 20 con mi deseo de espacios de paz y prosperidad para los años venideros, siempre en vuestra compañía. Gracias, gracias, gracias desde Bogotá, Colombia.
Elsa Dueñas CZT 26
Elsa Dueñas CZT26 on
Gratitud a una inolvidable profesora de pintura decorativa que un día me dijo: “Mira esto, es un método que se llama Zentangle, inténtalo”. Me impactó tanto que busqué, y busqué y encontré a Rick&María en Providence, en la primavera del 2017|. Invertí ,mis ahorros y tomé el seminario 26 en Rhode Island, en donde hallé el norte de mi vida. Desde entonces, mis manos, mis bolígrafos, mi mente, mis amigos virtuales, los packets, los tiles, Bijou, R&M, Julie, Martha, son mis eternos compañeros de vida con los que cada día producimos una pequeña pero grandiosa obra de arte llena de paz, alegría, investigación, creatividad, que hago extensiva a mis alumnos y amigos de Colombia. Gratitud, gratitud , gratitud por siempre a los creadores del método que nos une en la distancia y que nos fortalece y enriquece interiormente con elementos tan sencillos como un pigma Micron, un lápiz, y una pequeña superficie de 9×9cm.
Feliz Aniversario 20 con mi deseo de espacios de paz y prosperidad para los años venideros, siempre en vuestra compañía. Gracias, gracias, gracias desde Bogotá, Colombia.
Elsa Dueñas CZT 26
Elsa Dueñas CZT26 on
Thank you for this. Having a moment of gratitude before “tangling” is always a great reminder to have gratitude for everything in my life….for waking up each day, for breathing, a house to live in, my community and not least, Zentangle. It took me 8 years of practicing Zentangle to suddenly decide to become (that I HAD TO BECOME) a CZT last year.
That experience was most life changing for me. Forever grateful to Rick, Maria, Molly, Martha, Julie and everyone else that makes the seminars, the videos, the store etc happen.
June Kamerling (CZT40) on
Thank you for this. Having a moment of gratitude before “tangling” is always a great reminder to have gratitude for everything in my life….for waking up each day, for breathing, a house to live in, my community and not least, Zentangle. It took me 8 years of practicing Zentangle to suddenly decide to become (that I HAD TO BECOME) a CZT last year.
That experience was most life changing for me. Forever grateful to Rick, Maria, Molly, Martha, Julie and everyone else that makes the seminars, the videos, the store etc happen.
June Kamerling (CZT40) on
I love reading all of these comments and how fittingly serendipity often seems to be associated with the Zentangle Method. I will always be grateful for that afternoon so many years ago when my dog’s grooming appointment took so long that I wandered across the street into an art store and lingered at the Micron pen display. A store employee noticed and said, “Oh, you must do Zentangle.”
“What’s Zentangle?”
Becky Ruiz Jenab, CZT 32 on
Molly Siddoway King, CZT36 on
Diane Harpster on
This isn’t a book about just art, a voice whispered, and I read on. It spoke about No mistakes!
I started drawing. One tile a day. And soon I knew, this was one thing I had to learn. And teach. It fit right in with my credos in life. And Gratitude has always been at the top of that list!
Before I knew it, I was at Rhode Island.
I met the Zentangle family.
So words of gratitude are enough to express
Rohini Singh on