Review of new Zentangle Books

 FOUR new books came out at the CHA show that will definitely inspire all Zentangle lovers. I felt so lucky to get to see them all and spend time pouring over the pages.

'Zentangle 5' is the latest in the series of Suzanne McNeill's books. This one focuses on jewelry. There is a wide variety of jewelry in here. Leather, dominoes, resin, shrink art, polymer clay, and more are included. The pictures are detailed so you can really see what is involved. There are projects from a number of different artists (many CZT's) so each project reflects the different styles of each artist.  I'm prejudiced of course since my shrink art project is in here. There is an assortment of new tangles too, with step by step instructions.

'Zentangle for Kids' is the new book from Sandy Steen Bartholomew. It has the basic Zentangle philosophy that we all know and love but the artwork and tangles chosen will definitely appeal to kids. It's a lot of fun. Sandy even inspires kids to find their own tangle patterns by comparing the treads on the bottom of their shoes. New tangles, presented step by step, will keep kids busy for hours, days, weeks, and months!

'Zen Mandalas' has wonderful artwork from Margaret Bremner on the cover. When I first saw it my jaw dropped!  Both Margaret and Carole Ohl contributed to this book from Suzanne McNeill. The book goes into some of the rational behind why mandalas are so special. Throughout this book there are wonderful mandalas in both black and white and color. When I showed this to people at CHA the first reaction was "I could never do that!" But when you look at one section at a time and remember the Zentangle philosophy of "anything is possible, one stroke at a time", it all falls into place.  Instructions to create you own mandala are very clear.

'Zenspirations' by Joanne Fink is not technically a Zentangle book. But it is clearly inspired by Zentangle as she mentions in the beginning of the book. Her artwork and lettering use drawing techniques inspired by various tangles. She also adds color using a variety of Sakura products. It's now on my 'to do' list to go out and buy them all! By the way, you can see several videos of Joanne demonstrating on you tube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBlVBnVHHuE

All in all, I think each one of these books is a must have for a Zentangle lovers library! They are just coming on to the market now so all the retailers may not have them yet. Be sure to ask your store to order them for you!

Full disclosure - I was paid to demonstrate Zentangle techniques at the Design Originals/Fox Chapel Publishing booth at the CHA show. Even if I wasn't, you can be sure I would add these books to my library anyway.