Susan Bilheimer
Wellington, FL - United States
Susan Bilheimer - Fine Artist
Member Since: 01/05/2013
I was a writer and became disabled in 2010 at the age of 55 with an auto-immune disease that made me dizzy all the time and unable to write or work on the computer any longer, really unable to do much of anything. After a year and a half, someone recommended finding some kind of creative outlet. Well, I had been artistically anorexic for most of my life. But my analytical writing mind was useless to me and I had a lot of time to fill each day.
I started by drawing in coloring books. That led me to wanting to create my own art somehow. but I was clueless how to break open my creativity and could barely draw a stick figure. I got books on drawing and watched video after video online. Read books on left brain, right brain, no brain. And I just couldn't make any headway. I was completely frozen creatively, certain I couldn't draw a straight line. Then, I stumbled onto the website that changed my life regarding art: http://www.zentangle.com
Zentangle(R) is an art form and method created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. I started by playing around with the Zentangle method and that gave me confidence when I couldn't draw on my own. I am so grateful to the folks at Zentangle for getting me over the hurdle of my own judgmental attitude and showing me a way to draw for a non-artist. I began creating tangles and learning simple patterns. Eventually, I added color and started drawing patterns in recognizable shapes.
Read more about my personal art journey here.
