Mandala Art Practice
A couple of weeks post-equinox and I was finally ready to create the first mandala for this latest round of the 8-fold year.
Spring Equinox Supplies
I used home-made botanical inks to honour the Elder tree, or bourtree, as it is known in the Scots.
The paper is Artists’ handmade paper from Khadi Papers India in the round.
Practice Not Perfection
I loved how it was going in the beginning but am disappointed that I overworked the centre.
I’m not a skilled watercolourist and am guilty of doing this often.
This time around I switched up the original colour a couple of times and then simply added too many layers, for this rather muddy effect.
Cycles As Practice
Just one of the positive aspects of working with the 8-fold year in our signature program, Alignment, is that it is all practice and I’m treating this the same way.
I love the design and the concept of the inks in this piece, so I can return to it in the future to create a final artwork that will hopefully be much more refined.
Meantime, I’m happy to have passed through this initial gateway – inspired by the amazing work shared by our amazing Mandala Magicians in the Community space.
Julie, it brings me a great feeling of peace and ease and magic bubbling up. I ove the colors and the feeling of reverence I get and also the moon phases! Lovely all of it!
You called this a “rather muddy effect.” In Maine, spring is known as mud season. The clean white snow melts down to muddy earth before the grass starts to green or any blossoms appear. It is a color palette moving from the stark dark and white of winter into the more earthy and subtly green emergence of spring. So it is absolutely appropriate for the season and I just love it!
Julie — this is just lovely. What feels overworked to you makes the center really “Pop” to me. It makes my eyes go to the outer circles. Over all, it has the lovely feel of an ombré, something that might be difficult to do intentionally. Sometimes, I feel like my intuition has different ideas than I do. I appreciate your sharing, and seeing this as practice. That helps me to be relaxed and playful. Love, Michaela
Dearest Julie, Of course you had an idea or vision of how you wanted this mandala to look when completed and so the center looks overworked to you. To me it looks beautiful. I love everything about it.
Thanks Cielle! I’m excited for this new series and look forward to practising more 🙂 Can’t wait to complete a full cycle of finished artworks for Alignment for the first time, after all these years!