Foxfire Daily: Zentangle, and a note on Artist's Sunday

So I didn't post on Sunday. I know, I know, your dear wildland Fox promised a scheduled post every Sunday, paying it forward to other artists' works, but I was at my mother's on Sunday, with my computer... but without a power cord. (And the battery had done its slow-motion-explosion thing for the second time since I have owned my Mac, and I can't afford to replace it right now... argh...) So there was no Artist's Sunday because I am a forgetful Fox. My apologies. The regular scheduled Sunday will resume this weekend.

Zentangle by Khuce on deviantART

With that out of the way... Zentangle!!! What the devil is that, you ask?? Well, I asked the same question. Turns out that a lot of the pattern doodling that kids just *did* in class when the teacher wasn't looking is now considered an abstract artistic therapeutic expressional technique for men, women, boys and girls of all ages and all walks of life. But Fox, what does that mean in not-artist and not-therapist language...? *ahem* It means that it's an art form that is now used by therapists (and parents, and kids, and... well, you get the idea) to draw out things from the subconscious. Call it artistic meditation, if you like. Turns out there are special techniques and methods, and you can get certified as a teacher of this Zentangle technique, and there are special kits you can buy, and all sorts of money-making mumbo jumbo...

It's also *just* an art form, but then aren't most art forms more than one thing anyway?

Frame Scape by gisellemendes on deviantART

And here I thought it was just abstract pattern art that I (and everyone else in my class) doodled as a kid. It's turned into its own art form, much like the classical styles, and people are making money off of teaching other people how to do it, and selling "kits" to "tangle" with, and...

I suppose my point is, I don't know how to feel about this - the moneymaking part of it, anyway. I loved doing it as a kid, but I feel like I've lost the trick of it... but would I pay someone else to help me re-learn how to do it? Would I spend money on a "kit" to teach my kids how to "tangle"? As well ask if I feel it's necessary to go to art school to be an artist (but that's a whole other post...)

kalabalik by peymane on deviantART

Now, don't get me wrong; I've seen what people are doing with these techniques and some of it is absolutely fantastically awesome. But I find it hard to believe that it's necessary to charge for learning this sort of technique. Do a Google image search, and I bet you could learn just as much...

So what do you think? Is Zentangle legit? Is it worth spending the money on classes or kits the same way one would spend money on, say, a chainmaille weaving class, or an oil painting seminar, or a sculpting class?

Paisley Peacock by Ladyegg on deviantART