ABOUT THE ARTIST
My name is Jennifer Barber. I have over 20 years of experience as an artist in the Bay Area. I have a Bachelor's Degree in Art from San Jose State University. Following graduation, I became graphic artist and art director at several companies and startups in the South Bay. I left high tech to become a freelance graphic artist and photographer for many years and to raise my three children.
For the last several years, I have been teaching art at elementary schools and summer camps in the South Bay. I draw from different cultures, styles, artists, and methods for my lessons. In my own art, I have dabbled in many different types of art from photography to stained glass, painting, drawing, textiles, and, now, Zentangle.
I traveled to Providence, Rhode Island in June 2016 to learn the Zentangle method of drawing and meditation from founders Maria Thomas and Rick Roberts. For about a year before I attended the training conference, I learned how to make some of the tangle patterns from books or online. At the time, I was only interested in making beautiful images and trying to make it perfect could be stressful. During the Zentangle training I learned the history and philosophies behind Zentangle from the people who invented it. Now I understand how the “zen” part of “Zentangle” works. I have never been able to calm my mind with meditation or yoga so it was amazing to finally find a way to enter a state of relaxed focus and mindfulness.
I would love to teach you that “Anything Is Possible One Stroke At A Time™” during one of my upcoming classes.
