Hi folks, welcome for our first tangle of April.
The eye-catching Braid is another of Texas CZT Suzanne McNeill’s tangles, recently we added Join Hands to Suzanne’s many tangles on the site.
This one is from her Zen Mandalas – Sacred Circles Inspired by Zentangle® booklet, originally published in 2011. It “explores the ancient teachings of the mandala through the process of Zentangle”.
At that time in my review of Zen Mandalas, I wrote:
Suzanne McNeill did a superb job of creating a mini-course in all you could want to know about mandalas. Her illustrations along with those of CZTs Margaret Bremner and Carole Ohl are beautiful and inspiring. I learned so much about mandalas and their symbolism and meanings from this book and I’m totally inspired to create some of my own. …
The “Zen in Mandalas” section sets up the content that follows by summarizing and explaining the qualities mandalas represent – sacred circles, center of life, expanding life, symmetry, balance, relaxation, meditative, focus.
Check out the review for a much more detailed description of the contents of Zen Mandalas. (Also found by going to the BOOK REVIEWS tab at the top of any page.)
For my example of Braid I added a touch of shading along the edges of each column to give a bit of dimension. Playing with alternating the scale or flipping columns top-to-bottom could be interesting excursions – or both! What if, what if, what if …
Suzanne illustrates the step-by-step instructions for drawing Braid below.
Image copyright the artist and used with permission, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. These images are for your personal offline reference only. Please feel free to refer to the images to recreate this tangle in your personal Zentangles and ZIAs. However the artist and TanglePatterns.com reserve all rights to the images and they must not be publicly pinned, altered, reproduced or republished. (Small side note: if you look at the legalese in Pinterest, you are legally responsible for obtaining permission to post every photo that gets ‘Pinned’. Giving credit or sharing the source link doesn’t count.) Thank you for respecting these rights. “We must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy.” ~ Albus Dumbledore
As you enjoy any of the tangles on the site, please leave a comment of thanks and encouragement to show the artists you appreciate them for sharing their creativity to inspire yours. Your thanks helps motivate them to continue to share! And please share a link to your favorite tangles on social media. Republishing images isn’t allowed. Thanks!
Check out the tag suzannem for more of Suzanne’s tangles on TanglePatterns.com.
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Share your Tangle on TanglePatterns
Have you created a tangle you'd like to share with the community? I'd love to see it.
You do not need to be a CZT to submit a pattern. Many of the tangles on TanglePatterns began as ideas shared by readers just like you.
Before sending your pattern, please take a few minutes to review What Makes a Zentangle® Tangle? and How to Submit Your Pattern Deconstruction to TanglePatterns. These pages on the SUBMIT YOUR PATTERN menu explain what qualifies as a tangle and how to prepare your pattern.
Not every pattern will be selected for publication, but I sincerely appreciate everyone who takes the time to share their creativity and contribute to TanglePatterns.
When you're ready, simply send your pattern by email following the instructions on the submission page.
I look forward to seeing what you've created.
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Related Links
- Looking for tangles by Artist or Type? For details visit the ABOUT > HOW TO FIND TANGLES BY ARTIST OR TYPE page on the top menu bar of any page on the site.
- What is a Zentangle? — if you are new to the Zentangle Method, start here for the fundamentals.
- Zentangle terminology — a glossary of terms used in this art form.
- How to use the site — an excellent free video tutorial showing how to use the site as well as pointing out lots of useful features you might have missed.
- Linda's List of Zentangle-Original Patterns — here is the complete list of original tangles (aka "official tangles") created and introduced by founders Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas, including those not published online. If you are new to the Zentangle Method I highly recommend learning a few of the published Zentangle classics first.
- What Makes a Zentangle tangle? A Zentangle has no up or down and is not a picture of something, so you have no worries about whether you can draw a hand, or a duck. You always succeed in creating a Zentangle. Patterns that are drawings of a recognizable naturalistic or actual object, figure, or scene, are not tangles, and tangles never start with pencil planning.
- A pattern is not always a tangle.
- Un motif n’est pas toujours un tangle — Qu’est-ce qu’un tangle ?
- Un diseño no es siempre un tangle — ¿Qué es un tangle?
- How to submit your pattern deconstruction to TanglePatterns
- For lots of great FREE tutorials on TanglePatterns, click on the TUTORIALS link in the pink alphabetic menu bar below the tangle images at the top of any page.
- Strings! Have we got STRINGS! Click on the STRINGS link in the pink alphabetic menu bar below the tangle images at the top of any page for 250 different (free) Zentangle-starters. More than enough for any lifetime.
- Never miss a tangle! FREE eMAIL NEWSLETTER - visit the Here's how to SUBSCRIBE button (top of left sidebar on any page) and sign up to get notices delivered free to your inbox.
- If you have questions about the TanglePatterns.com TANGLE GUIDE, visit the BOOK REVIEWS tab on the top menu bar of any page on the site for COMPLETE details.
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April 1, 2026 | 
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