My Original Tangles
A tangle is a structured pattern — the building block of every Zentangle® tile. Most of the tangles I teach come from the rich library developed by the founders of the method and the global Zentangle community over the past twenty years. Occasionally, though, a tangle of my own emerges. Here are the originals I've created and shared.
dega1 & dega2
One winter, I was sitting in on my child's homeschool co-op class while they studied Edgar Degas. Looking at prints of his paintings, I wondered — could I render a Degas in tangles? I had a 3x5 card with me, and used orbs, crescent moon, and kathy's dilemma (by Kathy in Atlanta), but I needed a wood floor and I needed a tutu. So I invented two tangles to make it happen.
Degas Dancer, pen and pencil on paper, January 2023
dega1 : Can be used as a ribbon or fill tangle. Start with the parallel lines, then add the ovals and roughly aura'd lines around them with extra lines as desired.
dega2 : Can be used as a ribbon or fill tangle. Start with the jagged edges, then add enthatching to emphasize the layers.
© 2026 Heidi Thorsen | Crozet, Virginia
Zentangle® is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. The Zentangle® Method was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas.