Sacred Spaces

That was lovely, so personal! Thank you. My desk is my special place, I call it the study as it has many shelves of books and space to dance. It is connected to the living room so I still feel like I am a part of stuff going on in the house but my 3 boys are living their adult lives in warmer climes so it is pretty peaceful with large windows looking out on our forest yards. Birdsong and the occasional deer , porcupine, fox and bear grace us with their presence. So grateful!!!!!!!!

What a lovely post! So inspiring. It was wonderful seeing Maria drawing in her sacred spaces.
This is a tough one for me, I have moved several times in the past 5 years, trying to keep up with the needs and demands of my parents in their final years. Now, since their passing last year, I still find myself searching for home. If home is where the heart is, I’m still lost. My husband passed away 11 years ago, my children and grandchildren are grown and settled … I am free to do whatever I like. No constraints, no elegance of limitations. It’s very challenging. Currently I am on the road, visiting family and friends around the country. Driving is one of my sacred spaces, even though I cannot draw while driving, I do collect vibes from the scenery. At the various places I stay I can tangle, but find it difficult to sit still after driving. I think it will come to me later. There have been museums, tourist attractions, rest areas, national parks, and quilt shops that have added to my visual library the past few months. The road ahead, the scenery flashing by and the time alone to gather my thoughts is a privilege after years of coping with responsibility. I hope to return to California with a clearer head and a direction to go into the future with Zentangle being my companion.

Two years ago, I downsized from a house where I had lived for 30 years, moved to a new town and purchased a new apartment. Part of that move involved setting up a spare bedroom as an art studio. One of the things that makes my studio extra-speical is the artwork on the walls. I am very selective and only hang original works of art. Zentangle tiles make that objective precious and affordable. This is my favorite place to spend my tangle time.

My favorite sacred space is my garden. I too love to tangle in museums, at the beach or anywhere out in nature. Thanks for the mindfulness back to these sacred spaces:)
Joni

I used to love to tangle in the hospital waiting rooms at U of C ..while my brother was going for chemo and radiation.

One family drove in from Michigan but the machine for their treatment was down so they had to go home …they commented on how lovely the zentangle tile looked that I created so I gave it to them! The woman said “This made the trip worth while.” With eternal gratitude, your humble apprentice

While I can happily tangle away in my sunny studio surrounded by my art and supplies, I love taking my work with me to the dining room table. Our home is open with lots of massive windows, and it’s like living in a glass bowl surrounded by our forest. I can spread out and tangle and look up to see birds and squirrels and visiting wildlife like rabbits, deer, bears, coyotes and so much more. It’s deeply relaxing and I can tap into the flow of my tangling.

I like to tangle in the historic cemetery where I am a tour guide (Laurel Hill Cemetery East and Laurel Hill Cemetery West in Philadelphia PAand Bala Cynwyd PA). Quiet, beautiful works of art monuments, trees and flowers. As a CZT, I also run a seminar using patterns from stones as inspiration for patterns.

What a lovely post, Maria! And I’ve enjoyed reading everyone’s comments (including one from one of my students!) 18 years ago, when we bought our home in the Sierra Nevada mountains (in Nevada, between Reno and Lake Tahoe), I wondered what we would do with a small (13’ sq.) room between our dining room & master bedroom. For 7 years, we had our desks & computers in there, but … soon after I discovered Zentangle … it became my studio. With a “project table” in the middle, plus a desk and various bookcases lining the walls, it was my Zentangle haven. Then, a couple of years ago, we added a “loft” over our 3-car garage. It’s where I teach now! It’s also my favorite place to tangle … with lots of windows, lots of quiet and lots of space … :)

A few years ago my husband helped me convert our old falling-apart garage into a bright, airy studio space. I have a view of my garden and the critters who share it with us, mostly birds, squirrels and neighbors’ kitties. We have even been visited by Percy the Peacock who lives nearby. It is a peaceful oasis in a busy city.
I can tangle anywhere (planes, trains, waiting rooms) but I love to spend hours in the “zone” in my quiet little space drawing to my heart’s content when time permits.

Yes Maria, this is very true. It harkens back to my school of art days which I continued through the years locally as well as on my travels visiting cathedrals & art museums in the world. Art museums are inspirational which quiets the mind when viewing as well as to create. An art supply shop offered a Zentangle class in the early years of Zentangle. I enjoyed that introduction class since it reminded me of my design class assignments using pen & ink for our sketchbook studies that we narrowed down for our final assignment criteria on illustration board. I usually like to Zentangle in between my watercolor or oil paintings to still my mind in the land of no mistakes. I thoroughly enjoyed reading your very relatable blog this morning. Thank you Maria.

I don’t have much free time apart from work and family. That’s why I tangle wherever I have to wait in everyday life, e.g. at the doctor or hairdresser. I sometimes wish it would be a long time before I’m called. But my favorite place to tangle is the beach. I live very close to the Baltic Sea, but I don’t get there often enough. I really like sitting in the great outdoors, enjoying the fresh air, birdsong or the sound of the sea and taking the time to tangle.

My sacred space is a corner of my room where there are lots of color pens, coloured pencils, and tiles to pour my thoughts. I use the flute music by Rick, which helps me navigate my thoughts more deeply, and tiles capture my ideas. As a Mental Health professional, I do encourage whoever I meet, patients and clients, to make a space, sacred enough to secure all the thoughts and emotions, a safe space to navigate vulnerability and grow stronger. And I have seen very good results in the improvements in others’ lives. This motivates me to pen down as I’m navigating mine. Greetings and Hugs to Rick, Maria, Martha and Molly to roll out ideas that soothe the Soul.

Thanks, Maria, for your thoughts about where to tangle. I get inspired to draw when i go to museums, but my favorite place to draw is at our daughter’s vacation home in northern lower Michigan. I sit at the dining table and draw for hours. I may see families of deer sauntering past, watch the snow fall in winter, and enjoy the sounds of vacationers and boats on Lake Michigan, just a stone’s throw away.

I appreciate a quiet creative space for art-making. I have a home studio and a studio space in an art community in a nearby town. However, I am also able to zone out while a t.v. Is on or music, or even other people in a coffee shop. It’s all in a focus, no matter where I am. That’s the beauty of tangling with a focused purpose, ANY location and atmosphere can become a “sacred place” to tangle.

My favorite place to tangle is my dining room with big windows open to my garden with whispering trees and sounds of silence….and sometimes some soft beautiful music in the background…thank you for your inspiration Maria!
Mary McAllister June 17,2025

My favorite and peaceful place for me to create is in my new art room. There is no TV, I can leave my phone somewhere else and turn my computer off. Sometimes I like the quiet for me to think, other times I put on my favorite music. It’s a place I can go into and have my dogs keep me company in their beds. I can leave my started projects out on my many tables and come back to work on them when I have time and no one will mess them up. I have all my supplies within easy reach and labeled. Everything has a place and I know where to find it and where to put it back. I have a lot of my pens laying on my desk just waiting for me to pop in and start a project or just to relax by doing a mono tangle or an elaborate drawing. This is my space and I have it just the way I want it and it works perfectly for my needs.

How apropos! My first encounter with Zentangle was at the National Museum of American Illustration in Newport Rhode Island, where you, Maria, and Rick were speaking at a Summer Lecture Series. Rick narrated while you tangled on a big screen. The lecture was standing room only! At the end, you presented the owners with a gorgeously framed museum quality tangle that included elements from many of the paintings and illustrations surrounding us! It was a magical moment for me, and I’m sure for many others who were there that day! As a student and former docent, I’ve spent many happy hours in galleries, sketching, taking photos, talking with other visitors, and just absorbing the ambience! Museums are my happiest place. But I can sketch, draw, paint, or tangle almost anywhere…kitchen table, park bench, art desk, classrooms, museums, boat docks, buses, trains, they are all escape routes for me…

I am fortunate to be one of the librarians in the small town where I live. I am at the library each week. There are not many “customers” or patrons so I usually have several hours to delve into creative tangle time.

My favorite place to tangle is my study room at home. It is comfortable, safe, and convenient for everything. My tangle tools are all around me, so I can grab whatever I need and it is quick and time-saving. If I want to stop to eat or go to the bathroom, it is very comfortable. Speaking of “safety”, I think tangling can make me very focused and forget myself, so a “safe” place is very important. I will also take 15 minutes to tangle bijou tile when I am doing extracurricular activities, especially near the end. However, so far, I still feel shy and dare not tangle in public places. I hope I can overcome it.

I have a studio in my home that is surrounded by windows and overlooks our backyard woods. I see deer, hawks, blue heron, ducks, squirrels, groundhogs, butterflies, our garden, trees, flowers, and the creek flowing along the edge of a field. It’s a wonderful magical space that has all my supplies, my art all over the walls, and and old dollhouse with dolls and puppets I made for my daughter when she was little. I can’t wait to get up in the morning, make a cup of coffee, and get into the studio to work. I also think I’m going to go to our local museum, now that I’ve read Maria’s blog!

This blog rang a bell for me. While my husband is teaching Tai Chi, I have 45 minutes free. I take a study room in our library, not so far away. Enough quiet uninterrupted time to focus on tangling and surprise myself with my paper and pen.

I imagine coming around a corner in a museum filled with art and seeing you sitting there tangling. You, being the work of art that you are, sitting quietly connecting the tanglers from all over the world by continuing your Zentangle®️ journey. We truly are all connected to you and grateful for your vision and your generous sharing! And then to see Rick approach with his quiet demeanor full of loud and exciting thought running through his creative and analytical brain! It would be a canvas to remember! I find solace in tangling in the places that can sometimes annoy me. When I pull out my tools in a crowed waiting room the world and the wait seem to disappear! It is almost a disappointment when my name is called and the tangling needs to stop.

I can so relate to this blog. Museums are such wonderful places to draw and draw on inspiration. They need to be preserved for future generations.

Danke liebe Maria für deine Anregungen und Inspirationen.

What lovely thoughts Maria. I will be heading to a local museum now to see if it works for me too.
Currently my sacred place to tangle is a bench close to a fountain. That place soothes my soul and my tangles turn out so much better!