My tangled hand...

During the end of the school year I asked my grade 7 art class to trace their hand and then express what comes out of their hands without using symbols. In general, the students struggled with this exercise as they wanted to draw hearts, flowers and other symbols rather than abstract lines and designs. I told the class that I would do the assignment to help me understand the challenges they had. Well....this opened up a whole new world of expression - as I filled my page with design I realized how visually limited I was when it came to showing what came out of my hands. I began researching design and came across an amazing art form called ZENTANGLE. It involves mindful drawing of design that looks very complicated, yet, when broken down can be done by anyone. It took me hours and hours to finish my hand drawing but it was worth it - I have now embarked on a new and exciting journey, one which will stretch my mind yet hopefully help to focus it. Here is my finished hand; I can see tons of room for improvement but part of the process of ZENTANGLE means appreciating what I have done rather than judging it.