Have you ever caught yourself doodling on a notepad, drawing across the page as you go, slowly tuning out of the world? There’s a word for that: You’re “tangling.” And you’re not the only one who finds it meditative.
The Zentangle method, or the act of drawing patterns and filling those patterns in with more patterns, has been used by many people worldwide as a form of meditational therapy.
Trish O’Leary is an expert Zentangle teacher in The Villages, spreading the love of this art form.
“What Zentangle is, is a way to calm yourself,” said O’Leary, of the Village of Piedmont. “All you need is a piece of paper and a pen. You’re drawing patterns, and that frees your mind somehow. It leaves you open to become peaceful.”
Meditating since about 1975, she was intrigued when she first learned about Zentangle in The Villages.
“It’s a nice way to get to be mindful,” O’Leary said. ”I could see its benefit immediately. When I first saw it, I thought, ‘Oh my God, this is fantastic.'”
Ideas for designs can be drawn from everyday objects in the home, from the design of a tissue box to the shape on the back of a dining room chair.
O’Leary works on patterns in her sketchbook; she uses separate watercolor paper if she wants to frame any piece. One of her framed pieces has six separate paper discs arranged into a larger design with hints of green.
O’Leary also leads the Tangling in the Zen group, which marked its first anniversary in February 2020, to halt meeting because of the pandemic until last October.
Group members meet on the first Friday of every month from 2 to 4 p.m. at Fish Hawk Recreation Center. Online tutorials also help her figure out different Zentangle patterns and methods to draw them.
“It looks difficult, but it isn’t,” O’Leary said. “Even if they do the same pattern, everybody’s squares still look different.”
“I enjoy seeing the smiles on the students’ faces, the ‘aha’ moments,” she added. “That makes me feel good. I’m amazed at them.”
It all began in 2013 when she went to a class at a local resident’s home. There, she drew two pictures on 3.5-inch-by-3.5 inch squares using a line, a dot, the letter C and the number zero, within 20 minutes.
“That’s all you need,” O’Leary said.
Earlier O’Leary was drawing with watercolors and oils as well as knit and embroider items. For few years, she also worked as a graphic designer in an advertising agency in New York.
She discovered that Zentangle not only connected with her meditation, but it followed the same track in her line of work as a massage therapist.
“There’s that mind/body connection,” O’Leary said. “All that fits in.”
Lynn Fine was getting a massage from O’Leary when she first came to know about Zentangle. Before this, she was not involved in any art groups.
“I have a science background. I’m more analytical,” said Fine, of the Village of Oscoela Hills at Soaring Eagle Preserve. “I appreciate art; I love to look at it.”
Fine soon joined Tangling in the Zen at the time it was formed. Following O’Leary’s footsteps, she is also planning to become a certified teacher and form a Zentangle group south of State Road 44.
“Trish is very much into Zen and very serene,” Fine said. “She doesn’t take herself seriously. That makes people who are trying to learn something new feel more comfortable.”
– Attributed Source, The Villages Daily Sun