Rick writes: I came across these gems while sorting through files of old pictures.  About eight years ago, Maria and I were in western Massachusetts. These beautiful manuscripts were in a restaurant where we enjoyed a lovely dinner. I took these pictures with the intent to share them with you. Well, better late than never. (Or, maybe I already did and we all get to enjoy them again!) I estimate that these manuscripts are from the 17th or 18th century. They are all hand-lettered on vellum, probably a sheepskin or a goatskin. The pen strokes were beautiful, so fresh and crisp, you wonder if the...

Rick writes... Maria and I always focused on the simplicity of the Zentangle Method. We often say that if you can write your name, you’ve already “drawn” all of the shapes or strokes you need to create Zentangle art. The basic strokes that we use to make all our tangles are: Dot Straight(ish) line Curved line S-shaped line Orb We now refer to those basic strokes as elemental strokes. This year is the 20th anniversary of the Zentangle Method, so it is a good time to tell the story of how the term icso came about. I remember exactly where...

Today’s world moves quickly. Sometimes, too quickly. We have become accustomed to having the world at our fingertips and immediate satisfaction. We can order something from certain online retailers and it will arrive at our door that very same day. Behind much of what we experience is automation. There are chatbots and AI, robots for warehouses, and sometimes it is very hard to interact with a real person that actually works for the company we are interacting with. Don’t get me wrong – automation and technology have its place and make our lives exponentially easier in many ways. But there...