When I first saw this challenge I thought - yuck, I'm too busy this week to this one anyway. Of course when I expressed that to my husband, he gently reminded me that part of the challenges is to do them - even the ones we don't like. Well, as usually happens, I learned A LOT by doing this challenge. I'm particularly interested in the therapeutic applications of Zentangle. About 6 months ago I visited my cousin in Vancouver who has lost the use of her dominant hand because of a stroke. Her therapist was trying to get her to practice writing with her left hand but she was resisting. I tried to show her a couple of tangles, Bales being the first, and both of us ended up being frustrated. What I learned from this exercise is that I should have shown her how to do it, using my own non-dominant hand! Yes, the lines are wobbly and uneven. But I learned that pulling the pen toward me was easier than pushing away, and that if I went too slowly and thoughtfully, my lines were more crooked than if I drew firmly but steadily. And, the more I did, the "easier" it got - not that it was ever "easy". And then I did a bit of shading with my non-dominant hand. It's far from perfect, but I actually quite like what I ended up with. It reminds me an awful lot of when I first tried macrame, and macrame with beads! (It also occurred to me that I probably shouldn't have pushed her to try Zentangle - she has never had any interest in doing any form of art, and was only trying it to please me. This was another gentle reminder (in hindsight) that not everyone will be as interested in learning to tangle as I am...)
Monday, August 19, 2013
Zentangle Challenge #132 - Non-Domontangle - Bales
When I first saw this challenge I thought - yuck, I'm too busy this week to this one anyway. Of course when I expressed that to my husband, he gently reminded me that part of the challenges is to do them - even the ones we don't like. Well, as usually happens, I learned A LOT by doing this challenge. I'm particularly interested in the therapeutic applications of Zentangle. About 6 months ago I visited my cousin in Vancouver who has lost the use of her dominant hand because of a stroke. Her therapist was trying to get her to practice writing with her left hand but she was resisting. I tried to show her a couple of tangles, Bales being the first, and both of us ended up being frustrated. What I learned from this exercise is that I should have shown her how to do it, using my own non-dominant hand! Yes, the lines are wobbly and uneven. But I learned that pulling the pen toward me was easier than pushing away, and that if I went too slowly and thoughtfully, my lines were more crooked than if I drew firmly but steadily. And, the more I did, the "easier" it got - not that it was ever "easy". And then I did a bit of shading with my non-dominant hand. It's far from perfect, but I actually quite like what I ended up with. It reminds me an awful lot of when I first tried macrame, and macrame with beads! (It also occurred to me that I probably shouldn't have pushed her to try Zentangle - she has never had any interest in doing any form of art, and was only trying it to please me. This was another gentle reminder (in hindsight) that not everyone will be as interested in learning to tangle as I am...)
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10 comments:
Nice post! Like your tile too!
Very thoughtful post, and I experienced the same things. Some very good ideas for when I hope to teach to people in situations like your cousins, thank you
There is magic in non-dom challenges and your tile expresses that perfectly! We would never be able to do with the dominate hand what we do in the non-dom and I love the results. Maybe it is good to let go of perfection and just find out that beauty doesn't have to be perfect!
I like your tile very much. Nice.
Wise words!!! It's true, we learn a lot from this challenge.
Thanks for sharing your experience and yes a good reminder that perfect isn't necessary at all. Love the beads.
Great story to read in your post. And with all those things you said I had to agree, that I had the same feeling like you. Your tile is great.
I like your drawing very much. Imperfection is often much more interesting and of more expression, as the lines are more sensitive. Well done!
I like the simple line work. I had similar thoughts as you about this challenge and I was glad that I persevered. Like the subtle shading on your bales.
I agree, it's ok to fail! We learn, we experience. Absolutely nice tile!
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