Mary Bartrop, CZT

I’m a CZT® (Certified Zentangle Trainer™) who fell in love with tangling and loves sharing.
I started by wanting to find a way to meditate that worked for me.

Since I can remember, I’ve been an artist. I also am an intuitive teacher, able to convey concepts through clear, easily understandable instruction that anybody – from 4th grade to elder – can follow.

I’ve studied with some of the most wonderful teachers in fiber art, quilting, bookbinding,  I’ve made art in a range of media including quilting, jewelry, silversmithing, polymer clay art, multi-media, beads, drawing, and watercolor.  And I’ve taught quilting, artist bookbinding, polymer clay art, and now the Zentangle Method.

I found Zentangle® when I was drawn to a book that talked about meditative art.  I read about Zentangle and understood its possibilities almost immediately.

I went home and started drawing immediately.  I found the Zentangle website and was inspired by the tiles I saw there.  When I was recovering from surgery, tangling allowed me do something artistic and calmed me.  I was present for what was happening on the paper and got lost in the tangles, so I forgot about being anxious about my physical self.

I realized I’d like to meet Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas, the creator/founders of Zentangle, and signed up in May for a November workshop.  Alas, it was already full. I put myself on the waiting list and started saving for a workshop the following year.

Incredibly, I got an email that said there was a space available in November.  I went and fell more deeply under the spell of Zentangle, becoming a Certified Zentangle Teacher™ (CZT®).  I saw that the Zentangle Method combined my love of art with my love of teaching, and lent itself to my style of teaching – one step at a time.

I realized I’d found the art I wanted to share with many others, and the method I wanted to teach others who didn’t think of themselves as artists.

Zentangle transformed my experience of making art, and it allows me to help other people become artists for the first time in their lives.

Now, when I teach a Zentangle Method class, I see beauty emerging from each person’s pens.  I witness the creation of amazing art done by people who thought they weren’t artists.  Because the Zentangle Method breaks the process down to very doable steps, truly anyone can do it.   It goes way beyond “doodles” in order to build something beautiful.

With Zentangle, everyone is an artist.