About the Artist, About Zentangle®

What cello, drums, second alto, coloratura soprano, barbershop quartet, classical and contemporary music, wedding singers and coffeehouses…dance, choreography, voiceovers, theater, writing, linguistics, spoken word, poetry…watercolor, sketch art, page layout, graphic design, architecture, floor plans, curating, floral arrangement, jewelry design, mixed media and collage all have in common — is that kid in the photo.

Little Debby’s folks say she sang before she talked, danced before she walked, and loved to draw. Creative expression was always her default setting.

Default or not, though she was always told she was an artist, it took most of her life for Debora-Grace (she, her, hers) to become comfortable calling herself one, decades to finally identify herself as a vocalist and a poet who expresses herself in a variety of mediums, and to find her way to becoming a Therapeutic Art Life Coach and Certified Zentangle®* Teacher.

Recognizing the countless benefits of creativity, she enjoys helping others find it within themselves. And because of the significant therapeutic benefits, of all the creative mediums Debora-Grace could choose to do that with, the graphic art of Zentangle®* is often her medium of choice.

PICTURED ABOVE: MOLA-EVOCATIVE ZENTANGLE-INSPIRED ACRYLIC PAINTING PROTOTYPE BY DEBORA-GRACE TITLED PROTEA’S GARDEN:WHAT IS

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A NOTE FROM Debora-Grace:

If you want to see me cringe, call Zentangle ‘doodling.’

The Zentangle®* method — often mistakenly referred to as doodling — is a gratifying, if not therapeutic art technique for many people. Myself included. It is actually the opposite of doodling.

For one member of my weekly Tangle Tribe, “tangling” — drawing the repeated structured patterns that create images — suspends her hand tremors. Amazing. I’ve also heard folks say that it has helped them cope with a wide variety of conditions including anxiety, post traumatic stress, and ADHD. The University of Massachusetts asked Zentangle’s founders, Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas, for permission to study tangling’s effects on low-level schizophrenics. That’s the big stuff, but there’s the basic reality that for almost everyone Zentangle®* mindfully offers much needed respite, reset, and relaxation. It is a rewarding, therapeutic practice. THAT’S SOMETHING WE ALL NEED.

There’s also the bonus of creativity that most folks are surprised to find they have within them. Even and especially folks who can’t draw stick figures. And you can test me in this. Frankly, if you can write an ‘I’ a ‘C’ and ‘O’ or an ‘S,’ if you can write your name, you can learn any tangle. No. Experience. Required.

Zentangle®* is a gift that keeps on giving. I stumbled upon it about 2014 after receiving the call to teach. In 2016, I completed an M.Ed. in Elementary Education. A lifetime away from my A.A. in Music, my B.F.A. in the 80’s, and my print media work in the 90’s. And then I was thrilled to become certified in the Zentangle®* technique in 2019, because I had discovered its benefits and longed to share them with others. That was also the year I also became certified as a Therapeutic Art Life Coach.

Teaching aside, Zentangle®* is personally meaningful to me. It’s a part of a greater art practice, the whole of which offers me both spiritual connection and personal healing from trauma.

My personal mantra is: READ, WRITE, MAKE. The day starts off well when I can write or make something after reading a morning meditation. Because of my own experiences with anxiety and PTSD, if the MAKE includes a few minutes of tangling — drawing the patterns that center me and bring me calm — the day gets off to an even better start. If I’m lucky, I’ll get to tangle again before the day’s close.

Debora-Grace Stanczak, CZT