Combining Art and Zen: Artist Jean Stewart Teaches Others to Calm Their Mind While Being Creative

Combining Art and Zen: Artist Jean Stewart Teaches Others to Calm Their Mind While Being Creative

By: Elizabeth Covino

Jean Schwerdt Stewart of Andover has found joy and peace in the artform called “The Zentangle Method,” which encourages a calm mind. Jean has always been in touch with her artistic abilities. She earned a degree in Fine Arts and has taught oil painting, watercolor painting, jewelry making and now Zentangle.

“Years ago, I gathered my girlfriends together when I lived in Lawrence. We enjoyed creative time in my 2,000 square foot basement that I turned into a jewelry and art studio. I invited ladies every Thursday night to get together to paint. I did oil painting. Others did watercolor painting, or whatever they wanted to work on. One day, after a couple of years together, one of the women brought a beautiful Zentangle pattern she was working on. I found it absolutely fascinating!,” Jean said. “How had I never heard of this artform? I went to Michael’s Arts and Crafts and bought “The Great Zentangle Book,” and started creating small, inspirational drawings.”

That led Jean to the founders of The Zentangle Method, Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. After Jean’s husband passed away eight years ago, she was ready to channel her grief into this artform which brought her calmness and peace. She registered for the Certified Zentangle Teacher (CZT) multi-day workshop, which she considers to have been lifechanging. Jean spent four days at the Biltmore Hotel in Providence, Rhode Island, with dozens of other students from around the world. “I came away with my certificate and very excited to share this artform through teaching classes.”

The Zentangle Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. The patterns are called ‘tangles’ and you create tangles with combinations of dots, lines, simple S-curves and orbs.

According to Zentangle Method founders learning Zentangle art is non-representational and unplanned so you can focus on each stroke and not worry about the result. There is no up or down to Zentangle art. In fact, you can most easily create Zentangle art by rotating your tile as you tangle -- always keeping your hand in a relaxed position. You don't need to know what a tangle is going to look like to draw it. You just need to follow the steps.

The Zentangle Method works because:
• If you can write your name, you can learn Zentangle.
• It is fun.
• It is simple to learn.
• Each stroke is easy to draw.
• There are no mistakes.
• There are no preplanned outcomes.
• You always know what to do next.

The result is unexpected and beautiful and all this occurs with gratitude and appreciation for the opportunity to learn something new.

Jean has many inspirational moments from her time teaching Zentangle. There are two stories that stand out to her.

One of her students, Mary Todd, lives at Brightview Senior Living in North Andover, and has studied with Jean for five years. She went through two years of her husband Jim living in an Alzheimer’s community, first in a couple’s apartment, before he had to move to memory care. She shared with Jean: “I don’t know how I would have gotten through the last two years of my husband’s life without learning Zentangle with you in the midst of my grief.” Mary wrote and published a powerful book chronicling her husband Jim’s journey with Alzheimer’s titled ‘You Make a Big Good,’ which is available at Balboa Press, or anywhere online.

The second student that has made an impression on Jean is a man she met at her West Ossippee, New Hampshire, seasonal camp site. “When I met him, he had recently lost his wife and was quite lost without his her, after camping together for 25 years.”

Jean shared her Zentangle work with him and other summer residents. This led to her teaching small classes. This man started doing Zentangles on his own and would come back to Jean’s campsite and show her his work when she visited. Every weekend they would chat about his progress. He talks about his sad grief journey, but shared that Zentangle helps him find a calm and beautiful place to go. He cries every time they meet. “He’s very grief stricken, but the time he spends doing Zentangle pulls him out of the all-day-long grief he’s going through. Since he’s been doing Zentangle, some campers hear him playing music at his camp site. Zentangle is an amazing art form,” she said.

“For people going through stress, trauma, and anxiety. This takes them completely and totally away from their troubles for one or two hours. Just sitting down with a little piece of paper and a pen can clear your mind and help you refocus. You can take the art with you. I always travel with my pens and Zentangle tiles. I could sit down and do a class a coffee shop!,” she said.

Jean teaches Zentangle classes at local libraries, senior centers, and retirement homes. She also does private parties in people’s homes. Each month Jean teaches at the Andover Senior Center (on the third Friday each month from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.) Register for these classes through the Senior Center by calling 978-623-8320.

For more information, contact her at JeanStewartFineArt@yahoo.com.