Sandy Steen Bartholomew is a Certified Zentangle Teacher, an illustrator, and a mixed-media artist. She also designs rubber stamps and paints furniture.
Give your kids the Zentangle series of books and watch them turn
their doodles into a whole new art form. The technique is simple:
start with a shape, such as a square, then mark off sections within
the shape and fill in each with an intricate design - either your
own or one of the dozens illustrated. The books also offer
inspiration for decorating cards, paper dolls, and more.
'Zentangle for Kids' is the new book from Sandy Steen Bartholomew.
It has the basic Zentangle philosophy that we all know and love but
the artwork and tangles chosen will definitely appeal to kids. It's
a lot of fun. Sandy even inspires kids to find their own tangle
patterns by comparing the treads on the bottom of their shoes. New
tangles, presented step by step, will keep kids busy for hours,
days, weeks, and months!
is CZT Sandy Steen Bartholomew's latest Zentangle book. Using a
comic book style, written and illustrated by Sandy, Sandy helps
kids discover how to draw "cool stuff". Cute cartoon characters,
named Alex and Lilah after Sandy's own children, guide kids through
the easy steps of creating a Zentangle , and patterned drawings
that requires nothing more than a pencil, pen, paper. Zentangle for
Kidz! is full of colorful kid-friendly illustrations that kids will
find fun to follow and explore their own imaginations through
drawing. For those curious about the tangle patterns, by my count
there are 47 tangles of which 17 are official Zentangle patterns
(including the first appearance of instructions for Dyon) and the
rest are from Sandy's previous books, Totally Tangled, and Yoga for
Your Brain. Sandy illustrates the steps for each tangle and uses
tips and a variety of cartoon characters to help children make
their way through the instructions. She gives tips on shading,
adding auras, using shapes and letters for strings, and drawing
basic zendalas. Unlike Sandy's two most recent books, Zentangle for
Kidz! is the larger Zentangle-series (by Suzanne McNeill) physical
dimension of 8.5 x 11-inches, and contains 20 pages including
covers. "Speaking in language all kids can understand and will
appreciate, this new book provides everything your child needs to
try their hand at drawing, while keeping it fun, easy and
stress-free." Zentangle for Kidz! makes a great gift for any young
child and might just spark a generation of contented tanglers. What
could be wrong with that?
This comic-style guide teaches children how to create tangles and
draw cool stuff! Kids will love craft time!
Interview with Sandy Steen Bartholomew Sandy Steen Bartholomew is
an author, illustrator, mixed-media artist and a Certified
Zentangle Teacher (CZT). She also runs a Creativity General Store
(Wingdoodle), a studio (BeezInk Studio), an Etsy shop (Bumblebat),
a teaching studio (The Belfry), and a blog (Beez in the Belfry).
She is inspired by juicy, jewel-tones, rusty-crusty, peeling,
earth-covered... things. Magic, mystery, bits, pieces, and weird
little creatures. If it sits still, she'll paint it. Sandy lives
with her two kids (Alex and Lilah) and her cat, Lilo, in their
colorful, mixed-media house in New Hampshire. How did you get
started in your line of work? I have been an illustrator my entire
life. I drew on walls as a kid, did cartoons for a local newspaper
as a teen, and started sending out my children's book manuscripts
when I was 15. I also wanted to be an Egyptologist (Indiana Jones).
I went to Brown University for the archaeology, then dropped out to
go to the School of Visual Arts in NYC, then back to Providence for
Rhode Island School of Design. What was your path towards
publication like? I have been sending out manuscripts for most of
my life, but one thing or another always happened to throw a wrench
into the process. After I had kids, I stuck the ideas in the flat
file and tried to "move-on". After I learned Zentangle, I started
working on a little book called AlphaTangle which I self-published
with a local printer. I brought the sketches to a Zentangle
training workshop, where I met Suzanne McNeill from Design
Originals. After I got up enough courage to actually talk to her, I
showed her my sketches and she said, "So tell me about your book."
I almost keeled over when I realized she meant a different book,
not AlphaTangle; a new book. One I had never really thought about!
That new thought eventually became Totally Tangled. What is your
biggest obstacle when it comes to pitching yourself as an author
and what steps have you taken to overcome that obstacle? I am an
introvert. Very introverted. When I took the self-test inside "The
Introvert Advantage"... they didn't have a score high enough to
rate me. Sometimes one obstacle or challenge can actually provide
the solution for another one. For example: I got divorced this past
winter. Not a good experience in itself or a great way to overcome
introversion, but I found I "needed" to earn money and I "needed"
to speak up and ask questions. So, I had to do a lot of things that
did not come easily to me and being introverted wasn't an excuse
anymore. I feel comfortable on the internet. So I pitch myself with
my blog, website, Facebook, etc. I still don't like talking on the
phone, though. How do you balance your life as an entrepreneur with
your duties as a parent or spouse? I don't balance my life. I think
my recent divorce proves that I failed as a spouse. Honestly, I
think I terrified my ex-husband. I am an idea person and my brain
generates new ideas faster than I can breathe. I exhaust myself,
and I can't multi-task. I need an assistant for my business and an
Alice (from Brady Bunch) for my home. Then I think I would be a
normal-ish human being. I think I am a good parent though. My
secret is to let go of the mommy-guilt. I learned when my son was
very little that I could not be a stay-at-home mom. I couldn't be
around people, even teeny ones that I adore, for more than a few
hours at a time. So I worked very hard at finding other people who
actually like playgrounds and story time and are more patient than
I am... to watch my kids. And then, when they are with me in the
afternoons or evening, I try to really pay attention to them. I
listen and talk and play and watch movies with them. My kids seem
OK with that set up. What is your best advice for getting past
writer's block? Writer's block has never been a problem. But there
are always two bad "moments" in every worthwhile project. 1.
Getting started - but once I finally picture the project and what I
want it to be - then things chug along. 2. The Mid-Life Crisis - at
some point I panic and think I've messed it all up. I throw things
around the studio, scream, stomp my feet, glare at the cat, eat
some chocolate, get a new idea, and get moving again. What was the
best writing-related advice you ever received? Write what you know.
The best, worst advice came from Natalie Babbitt. She was my hero
and a teacher got me an interview with her at her home in
Providence. I was thrilled beyond words. Just to bask in her
presence... she looked at my work and my portfolio and told me to
find another career. I was so mad, I vowed I would keep at it until
I was more famous than she was. So, if you were just wondering,
"Natalie who?" Then you made my day. If not, that's OK. "Tuck
Everlasting" is still a classic. What do you feel is the single
most detrimental thing an entrepreneur could do to destroy his/her
career? I'd say... letting your customers down. That's my biggest
fear. I don't want to disappoint people. Can you tell us a little
bit about your latest book? I love this book! It's only 20 pages
but it is packed as full as I could get it. It is called "Zentangle
for Kidz " It is a comic book introduction to Zentangle and
features my kids and cat. It was so much fun to draw and my son
wrote the intro and the bit on Mendhi tattoos. How did you come up
with the idea for your book? My publisher, Suzanne McNeill, called
me up and said put your other project on hold and do a book on
Zentangle for Kids. She wanted one that would fit into her
Zentangle Basics line, but that was "her" line, not mine... and I
am a bit of a pain. So I thought "20 pages. Stapled in the middle.
OH! (light bulb!) A comic book!" And I have always joked that my
children are more cartoon character than human. What was the most
difficult aspect of writing this book? Paying the hotel bill. Yes,
I am ashamed to say that most of my books are written in hotel
rooms. It works out OK when the deadline is "off-season". My hotel
of choice is the Beachmere in Oguquit, ME and I can't afford it
during the spring and summer! There is just too much going on
around me and I cannot concentrate in any of my work spaces, so I
run away to write and draw each book. I need to ask for a larger
advance! Or maybe the Beachmere would give me a free room if I put
"This book was set in Rockwell type, and designed on a king-size
bed at The Beachmere in Ogunquit, Maine." in the book. Did you have
to do any special research for your book? I did force my children
to draw Zentangles. And I convinced my son to do all the research
on the Mendhi Tattoos. But most of the information in my books
comes from my teaching experiences and my own experimenting with
materials. If you could choose just one thing for your book to
accomplish, what would it be? To give people creative confidence.
Everyone can do this type of art and I want my books to empower
them. I don't want to show off, I want people to think "Oooh, I bet
I could do that with some practice." I want to get them started and
then encourage them to find their own voices and styles and
passions... and to keep going! What's ahead for your writing? I
have an interactive, Zentangle, coloring book due next week! It's
called the "Tangled Fashionista". I can't run away to Maine in the
middle of Beach Season so I had better get to work! I have a
gazillion other ideas too.
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