A Holiday Special Thank You

Yes...I'm on the sales bandwagon! Anyone who buys one of my tangling workbooks from my website before December 25th, will receive a tangling booklet free, along with a free gift. That's right, this is my gift to you for the holiday season for supporting my efforts to share the art of Zentangle with anyone and everyone.
It takes quite a lot of work and attention to detail to produce a book. A challenge that I thoroughly enjoy. If you haven't rated my books, go to Amazon's website and please do so. I appreciate positive comments and the rating. It helps me to fine tune new books.
Thank you everyone for chiming in and supporting me.

Jeanne, CZT5

Zentangle & Tweens

A week or so ago, I had a chance to teach at Laurie's Art Studio in Westerly, RI. Among the students was this 12 year old girl who listened intently and paid attention to every mark I made on my tile. The class was 2 hours long. Every now and then, I would walk around to see what each tile looked like. The differences were enormous, as they should be, but this young girl, Kelli Gentile, worked feverishly to create her Zentangle. Frankly, I found her enthusiasm very inspiring. The other teens and tweens in the room were enthused as well, but Kelli was taken by this art form. At the end of the evening, she thanked me for the class and left.

A few days later, I received a message from the studio owner, Laurie MacKenzie, who attached the drawing Kelli had done in her usual art class. I was thrilled. After I requested permission to put the work up for all to see, I waited patiently for an answer. Kelli has agreed to share her Zen Fish with all of you. I hope you like it as much as I do. You go Kelli!! Great work!

Interview with Sue Jacobs

This past week, I had a chance to visit with Sue. She shared some wonderful information about her life as a tangler and the opportunites it presented her. I asked if I could post our visit here and she readily agreed.
I am so glad you could join me, Sue.

How and when did you first become interested in Zentangle?

I found Zentangle on the internet by chance. I got into it quickly, so I don’t really remember exactly where I came upon it. I spent hours online, drawing out every tangle pattern I came upon.

How long have you been a tangler?

Actually less than a year. I started my blog in November of 2010, but didn’t really start until early January 2011. I’ve always been into art, though. I doodled in grade school and have always had pads of paper by the phone. I love decorative painting, (acrylics) and watercolor painting.

Have you been published in any books?

I connected with Suzanne McNeill when I offered to help demonstrate Zentangle at the CHA show in Chicago. (Craft and Hobby Association). That connection led to my doing shrink art jewelry that was featured in the ‘Zentangle 5’ book.

Was that exciting for you?

Of course! The CHA show is a trade only show so it was fun to wander around there. And that is where I first saw the finished ‘Zentangle 5’ book. It was thrilling to see my name and my artwork in print.

I’ve created a few tangle patterns on my own. I put the designs and steps on my blog. It is amazing to me how others pick up on the designs and use them in their own work. I feel like a proud mama! Additionally, my patterns will be picked up by other bloggers. Thankfully, they will leave a link back to my page. It’s so amazing to see the spike in my blog view numbers when this happens. On one of those days I had over 1700 page views! Being published on the internet is a big deal too!

Do you teach the art of Zentangle?

That’s one of my favorite parts. I get such a kick out of seeing students get ‘turned on’ to Zentangle.
I teach wherever they will have me. I first started at a shop that I’ve known for over 20 years. Banbury Fair in Bartlett, IL. I started with them as a decorative painter. Their shop has evolved into so much more over time. I love wandering around the place myself before and after classes. I have classes scheduled there in the next few months.

I’ve taught at a local Art League, a decorative painting club, and I’ve done several home parties. I try to post the information about my classes on my blog under the tab for my classes.

I noticed that you have a new design everyday on Facebook, where do you get your inspiration for them?

I try to have new designs frequently. I tend to work in spurts. When I get an inspiration l will usually do 2, 3 or more at the same time. When I do my watercolor backgrounds for tiles I have a whole area of my studio set up with tiles in various stages of completion. It’s so much fun to experiment with colors, and different techniques to see how many different results I can get. Different materials and different media create different results too. Sometimes I feel like a mad scientist.

How has Zentangle influenced your life?

I love the fact that I can be creative any time, anywhere. I always have Zentangle supplies in my purse. I love how Zentangle has me looking around wherever I go and being inspired by the oddest things. I am a Gemini and one of the traits that applies to me is having lots of projects going at one time. What I love about Zentangle is that finally, I have FINISHED projects! I can get a tile done at one sitting, and usually I’m pretty happy with them. It gives me a lot of satisfaction.

I also love that, as a CZT, (Certified Zentangle Teacher), I get to share Zentangle with others. It’s also nice that I can make some money doing it, too. I hope that my blog will someday provide some income, too. I hear about others making money but I haven’t figured that part out yet.


You asked me about my favorite Zentangle. It’s hard to choose one. They all represent different phases of my growth in Zentangle. They are like my children – it’s hard to pick your favorite.

Thanks Sue, for spending some time with me and my readers. I look forward to your tangles everyday when I am on Facebook. They are so beautiful and inspiring.