Zen Tangles

For a while I have noticed a growing interest in Zen tangles or Zen doodling.  I have been fascinated by watching YouTube videos of people creating these; mesmerized by seeing the designs that are being created.  I decided that this same idea would transfer nicely to bead embroidery.  I taught my first class on it about 2 years ago, but I am now bringing it back to a new class.  The idea behind zen tangles is a form of art using repetitive lines, dots, and shapes within one simple shape to create a piece of art.  The “zen” part is the meditative feeling that you get as you create.  In my class participants will use the same idea, but the lines will be created by bead embroidery.  We will begin with a simple circle- a mandela.  Each person will let their creativity go wild while doodling with beads.  The result is always surprisingly impressive.  The photo below shows a result from my first class using a heart shape.

There are tons of examples of zen doodling designs to inspire but if you want to really get a taste of it, watch one of the many videos available online.