Happy Zen Kin® December!

Hello Everyone! So glad to see you here. I have been having a wonderful time creating my Zen Kin® during this worldwide pandemic. I want you all to know that I am thinking of you daily as we face this pandemic together. My heart goes out to all of you who have lost loved ones to COVID19. There appears to be good news on the horizon of vaccines becoming available. In the meantime, please keep each other safe and keep following the guidelines of scientists! I dream of the day when we might all get back to “normal” once again. I am grateful to those who do the many jobs needed to keep the world running smoothly. I am grateful to those who take the necessary precautions to keep us safe. I am grateful to be able to have Zentangle® in my life to help me through this time and to be able to connect with so many other tanglers through Zoom calls, texts, and classes online and the many other ways we can keep close during this time. I hope you are not feeling alone during this and that you are using all the tools you have to connect with others.

What a wonderful time to be able to know the joy of tangling! It has been one of the tools to keep me feeling peaceful during this time. Tangling is something that is intentional to relieve stress for many of the tanglers throughout the world. I can’t imagine a better way for me to relax than to sit and watch a ZenKin® become a reality. They bring me so much joy! I hope my sharing these drawings might bring a smile to you as well.

I have just completed my third Certified Zentangle® Teacher Seminar. I first became certified in 2016. My daughter and I travelled to Rhode Island to become Certified Zentangle® Teachers and had a wonderful time. I became a CZT 22. I met so many wonderful people at that event and have kept in contact with many of them. I consider them true friends.

I returned to a certification seminar in 2018, again in Rhode Island. That seminar was held right before the Zentangle® event called ZenAgain. I went to that seminar to experience the joy of being there with like minded people who wanted to become certified. I met so many wonderful people there. Again, I have dear friends that I treasure from that event.

Because of the Pandemic we are all experiencing, Zentangle® decided to offer for the first time ever, a certification seminar online. My other daughter has wanted to become a CZT and this format was perfect for her. She signed up and I decided to experience it with her and we both attended online. This happened just last month. It was a wonderful experience even though it was held online vs. in person. I surely missed being able to have the social interaction with all the other attendees but it was a beautiful experience to be learning and sharing the seminar with more than 450 attendees from 32 different countries. What an amazing feeling to be a part of that event!

So now there are three of us in the family that love Zentangle® and are able to teach this wonderful method of drawing repetitive patterns that have been deconstructed. Beautiful art is a product of the meditative and deliberate stroke of the pen on paper, one stroke at a time. There are no mistakes in Zentangle® and only opportunities. The founders and their family and staff are so generous and caring and it is an honor to be a part of the Zentangle® family of CZTs. I am now CZT 22,32, and 36. I am proud.

It is winter in Indiana, where I live. Many have their holiday decorations in their yards and snow falls gently from the sky every few days here. It seemed that the leaves clung to the trees one day and the next the trees were bare. The bare trees are never more beautiful, in my opinion, than when they have a light dusting of snow clinging to their branches. I am about ready to sit down and make a Zen Kin® that will be festive and represent the December here in our neighborhood. I think I will include some kind of greenery and decor.

I have taken some wonderful classes via Zoom with some wonderful CZTs during this Pandemic. If you ever wanted to get a beginning lesson or more advanced lessons in using the Zentangle® method of drawing, now is a perfect time. So many CZTs have begun teaching online and you would only need to look on the internet to find many opportunities to connect with others while learning or practicing this art form. Be sure to check out the official Zentangle.com site to see what it is all about. There you will find a list of Certified Zentangle® Teachers and many have listed where you can access an online class with them.

I have included here some photos of ZenKin® that I did for a project in October called Inktober. The prompts of the tangles to be used were published in Facebook groups throughout the Zentangle® community. I took those prompts and used the tangles for hair for my Zen Kin®. It was so much fun! The little book of tiles I used was a gift given to me by a fellow CZT. I hope you enjoy these October, Inktober Zen Kin®!

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Please know that you are not alone during this Pandemic. Reach out to others. We are all in this together. My Zen Kin® are joyful and here to make you smile whenever you choose.

I hope your life is tangled up in joy! Thanks for stopping by!

Katrina Thiebaut CZT 22/32/&36