Sandy Steen Bartholomew is a Certified Zentangle Teacher, an illustrator and a mixed-media artist. She also designs rubber stamps and paints furniture.
Zentangle is meditation achieved through patternmaking, allowing
you to focus, relax your mind and boost your creative confidence.
Zentangle is the perfect exercise to keep that big muscle inside
your skull flexible. Yoga for the Brain pages are jam-packed with
Zentangle ideas, tips, projects and 60 new tangles.
When I first heard the term, Zentangle, I thought, "How fun and
creative! I've just got to learn more about this." What I soon
discovered, is that Zentangles are merely a form of doodling (an
art form that has been in existence for centuries), in which you
put together various doodles to create one, more complexed piece.
The key, and the reason for the term, Zentangles, is that by
incorporating various doodles into one piece, you are exercising
the brain in such a way that it literally helps you become more
calm and relaxed de-stressed. So when I heard about the book, "Yoga
for your Brain" I was excited to see just how various
pattern-drawings can work together to help the brain relax, calm
down after a long day, and de-stress after a an emotionally trying
experience. Sadly, I learned none of these things. "Yoga for your
Brain" isn't about showing you how to use various pattern-drawings
during various situations in your life, and it explains absolutely
nothing about the Zentangle method other than a brief recap of what
a Zentangle is (which is located in the beginning of the book). But
wait! The book's not a complete loss. If you are familiar with
Zentangles (which the book presumes you are), and you already
understand its concept, then this is a great follow-up book. It
takes you step-by-step through 60 new pattern-drawings. In the book
you get a quick refresher course on the basics of Zentangles, how
to use shading to enhance a pattern, how curves help accent a
piece, and how to use small boxes to break down a complicated
pattern and make it manageable. There's even a few tutorials on how
to create a circular mindmap, transfer images using Sheer Heaven,
create foam plates, use foam plates for printmaking, and make
sculptures out of rocks that have been drawn on. And the best part
is that it is full of sketches and photos, making the process of
learning these 60 new pattern-drawings a breeze! Based on the
contents of the book alone, and not what I had hoped the book to
be, I could say that it's a book worth purchasing if you're ready
to take your doodling to the next level, that is!
I'm starting a new, irregular feature here at Four Rooms -- the
Saturday Review. There are so many wonderful resources that I come
across that I'd love to share with you all that I've decided to
institute a series of book reviews, to be written as the mood
strikes! The first book that I'd like to share deals with the
artistic habit of Zentangles. If you haven't heard of Zentangles
before, they're a kind of formalized doodling created by Rick
Roberts and Maria Thomas ..... check out the Zentangle website and
blog to learn all about this wonderful art form. Sandy Steen
Bartholomew is a Certified Zentangle Facilitator and an artist who
has added her flair to this new craft, and created a how-to book
that goes in new directions. In her book, Yoga for the Brain, the
basic forms of Zentangling are enhanced with ideas on how and where
to find patterns to incorporate into your tangles (hint: nearly
everywhere!) and ideas on how to use this technique in new ways --
for example, in portraits, for transfers, printmaking or to
decorate your journal pages. It takes the contemplative notion of
zen doodling and adds some alternate routes for creative
expression. I admit, I like Zentangling. And so I read this book
with keen interest. The only problem I had with it was that I read
it in e-format. It's not great in that format; I wanted big pages
with colour, pages that I could flip back and forth as I explored
and cross-pollinated ideas. So I am pretty sure I'll be searching
this one out in regular old book form -- it's one that I think I'll
be referring to for a while! It is fun, colourful, cheery and rife
with possibility. I love to see Zentanglers adding their own touch
to the basics. This book is recommended for those who already have
some familiarity with basics of Zentangling.
When I first saw the book and the pictures, I immediately thought
of quilting. I am a quilter and many of these patterns (bales &
botto) match patterns in quilt tops or blocks (Pumpkin seeds &
Drunkards path) and in the quilting that joins the sandwich of the
quilt. Bellaposa is very much like a quilting feather pattern. The
main difference between Zentangles and quilting would be the small
detail lines that only a prize winning (read insane) quilter will
sew into a quilt due to the time it would take. The author does
mention quilting as a source of inspiration for her "Ballenchain"
taken from the "Wedding Ring" block/pattern. The author makes an
assumption that if you're reading this book, you already know the
basic Zentangles, which I didn't. She does cover some of the basics
but also uses terminology for beginning designs that I haven't seen
to know what she was talking about. There are oodles of references
to the doodles (Zentangles) in previous publications. I do like
many of her names for her Zentangles - Ballenchain (Ball and chain
based on the wedding ring - bad marriage experience?) and Pingline
(penguins in a line). The reading is easy and light. The author's
style is fun and whimsy. She covers more in this book that I first
realize. Beyond drawing fun patterns, she discusses ... - shading -
finding and copying new designs - ways to track your designs -
journaling - ways to develop new ideas for patterns - how to use
drawing to clear your thoughts and track your to do's - how to
transfer your Zentagles onto other surfaces with useful tips -
printing your design multiple times - using alternate materials -
drawing on rocks instead of paper Extra items in the book that I
appreciated is an index to find an example of that design and even
more, explicitly mentioning what product or tool she used to
achieve the shown Zentangle with URLs to the products. Very helpful
if I wanted to achieve the same look. I'd recommend the book to
long-arm quilters and doodlers who want to up their game.
With a name like "Yoga for Your Brain" I expected it to be some
sort of guided meditation and brain workouts - more of mental mind
games, or visualizations. Well, it's pretty visual, but it's more
active than I expected. The book takes you through making
"Zentangles " which are quite neat works of art. The author's,
obviously, look wonderful and are mesmerizing. Mine? Not so much. I
have a good eye for art, but terrible hands for creating it. But
that's not the point - the point is the process. If you like the
idea of meditation for relaxation but are unable to really clear
your mind of external thoughts, try this book. By thinking about
the art you're creating, you really do lose sight of other
stresses. If you already do meditation but want to try something
new, or you love creating art and want to get into meditation, this
book is perfect for you too.
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