The word Zentangle means "tangled", and "Zen" means "Zen" in English. From Japanese to English, from China Zen, and finally from Sanskrit Zen. The combination of these two words not only embodies the artistic accomplishment of Rick and Maria, but also conveys the attitude and philosophy of life recognized by the two founders.
In Rick and Maria's most important book, The Book of Chantello (the Chinese version is called The Book of Chantello), what they talk about most is not the exquisite and delicate skills of painting, but the process of Zen painting from an idea to a system, the source of creative inspiration, each Zen painting pattern and the story behind each work, and their painting mentality and life realized through Zen painting.
Rick and Maria registered the red trademark with irregular edges and the word Zentangle for Zen circle painting, and established an official website and a training course for Zen circle certified lecturers. Through official website, they have connected certified Zen circle lecturers and Zen circle painting enthusiasts from all over the world. They also developed a series of professional Zen painting tools according to their own creative ideas.
If "zentrole" refers to the official Zen paintings registered by Rick and Maria, it usually refers to the non-figurative graphics and graphic combinations drawn by only black stylus and pencil on zentrole's official 8.9cm square brick and 1 1.7cm round paper brick.
We often see concrete images (such as butterflies, dragonflies and tigers) and colorful works called ZIA, an extension art of Zen.