An Update
Hello!
I have not written here in a very long time. That doesn’t mean that I haven’t thought about it or you in that time. I am a creative person and my creativity takes over my organizational skills. I am here now and ready to update you all. I hope you are all well and enjoying September so far. The end of summer vacation always catches me off guard and this year is no exception.
As I have mentioned many times here that I love to tangle and love the Zentangle Method of drawing. My latest passion has been drawing on wooden orbs. It has taken me away from doing as many Zen Kin as usual but I love the feel of the wood and love the meditative act of tangling on the round surface.
I am grateful that I am going to be guiding a class of students to make Zen Kin Cousins online because it has brought me back to my Zen Kin. I continue to have a love and passion for bringing these characters to life with pen and paper and it will bring me joy to share this with these artists.
I am so happy to know that there are more than one thousand Zen Kin Cousins that have been drawn using my instruction. I have fellow Certified Zentangle Teachers that have taught this to many of their students and I always ask that they do not accept payment. I appreciate that they are willing to take their time and energy to do this.
The whole purpose of Zen Kin and the Zen Kin Cousins is to spread joy and foster community. We are all cousins in this world and for those that have drawn a Zen Kin Cousin it is another way to have a connection with others. These whimsical characters are recognizable as family members because they share certain characteristics and like people, there are no two that are exactly alike. Each are as unique as the artists that draw them. I feel so happy that there are so many that find joy in creating and sharing them.
The CZT community is so important in my life and I have many CZT friends from all over the world. I was able to be with several of them at zenAgain this year. zenAgain is an event opportunity given to CZTs by Zentangle. It is a multiday event with plenty of time to tangle all together and to fellowship with others. The commonality is Zentangle and the friendships made and rekindled reach into all aspects of our lives. I love the opportunity to be able to share passions and stories with people from so many different countries and with such varied life stories.
There are so many special people in this world and it is with gratitude that I am able to be a part of this specific group of people at an event that is designed to be a reunion of CZTs. The CZTs have a strong desire to keep their students interested and engaged in classes. Much of the reason for this is the joy, relaxation and beauty that comes with practicing this method of drawing. The gratitude and appreciation that Zentangle fosters is something that is felt by all the CZTs for their students and tanglers worldwide.
As you may know, I did a project during COVID that involved artists from 11 different countries which included 720 different Zen Kin Cousins drawn by them and sent to me for a Wall of Cousins. I am trying to tame all my ideas for a new project so that I can present it to you for your participation. The goal of the last project was to spread joy and foster community during a worldwide pandemic when communities throughout the world were experiencing feelings of separation and unease. I want to have an enticing theme for this new project and I would welcome any ideas or thoughts you might have for such. You may email me at Katrinamom@live.com with your ideas. As a matter of fact, I would love to hear from you anyway. If you have been touched in any way by Zen Kin or Zen Kin Cousins I would love to hear about it.
Thanks for reading my thoughts here today. I do hope to be more regular at posting in this blog but one never knows what shiny butterfly will get my attention on my way to the keyboard. Please know that I appreciate you all. You have all impacted my life in many different ways. I am so very grateful to have Zentangle and tangling in my life and I am grateful to have my Zen Kin. I appreciate that you care enough to follow this journey.
I hope you are finding joy in your days and moments.
Fondly, Katrina
