When I was young, I loved art. I was in several art exhibitions during high school and wanted to make art my life. Then I was robbed and my entire portfolio stolen. This caused me to withdraw from my artwork for many years.

Earlier this year, I discovered a new art form called Zentangle. This is kind of a philosophy combining art with meditation. It uses simple patterns, similar to random doodles. However, with Zentangle it's mindful doodles, rather than the mindless doodling many of us do while on the phone, etc.

I started doing this as a way to relax but it has re-ignited my love of drawing and passion for art. Now I'm back to working in mixed media and trying all kinds of new things.

Wow that's really interesting! I would love to see some (post them as works in the drawing area) some time . I can't imagine drawing like that at all ha ha.

I do plan on posting some of my pieces, Bunny, as soon as I can get them up on my Flickr account so I have an URL to use. I have some up there but nothing recent. It's my more recent works that I would like to share more than my older ones.

It is an interesting art form. You should try googling it and see what you think. I've seen people who never drew before creating some lovely pieces so don't let that limit you. That's what is so awesome about Zentangle - it doesn't matter if you're already an artist or if you can't draw a straight line.

Yeah it's a pain in the ass not being able to upload them here. I'm really sorry about that. We're TONNES of money short of being able to do that. In fact we're about to run out of funds and not make it to the end of the year (or anywhere into next year for that matter)....so I think I will just have to work extra hard to get things working how I want and then hopefully some rich artist/writer will come along and say "OMG where do I donate" and give us a million dollars ha ha. Hell, $1000 would basically have us there.

Anyway I think what's making me weird about this is I can't imagine doodling "mindfully". I am always off in my own little world doodling but at the same time my mind can be blank. Not sure how it would feel to be meditating and drawing.... ha ha

That word sounded awesome so I googled it. I can't believe there is a word for this! And it fits it so perfectly. I've been doing this for as long as I can remember. I was young and I saw my mom filling the back of a piece of paper with all these interesting lines and shapes and at the center where she started was a little heart with my initials. she doodled all around that in a pattern. Zig-zags, spirals, all kinds of lines and then she added another heart, like an anchor point with my brothers initials, and off she went again. It's been a favorite hobby of mine. I can't believe other people do this!! This makes me so happy! Zentangle! I would love to see some of your work!

Yeah I recently discovered Zentangle and I loved it. Didn't know that the doodles I have on my planner while waiting for creative juices to flow have names actually.  And it has a calming sound to it too.  Now, that adult colouring books are being the hype for stress relief, making Zentangle could give those colors and books a run for its money.