Earth and Sky Mandala

Earth and Sky Mandala

I’ve been doing this mandala over the past week. It’s the first full piece I’ve done for about a month. In my past few drawings I have been playing around with different pen & ink techniques to create more evocative shadows and forms. With this piece I wanted to try abstracting the mandala form. While working on it I remembered how much I enjoyed drafting in University. Although I’ve been drawing black and whites for most of my life, my understanding of pen weights is definitely from Architecture school.

You might notice if you’ve been following my work, that I have a thing for trees. This mandala shows what it is about trees that I love so much. Trees are the perfect union between earth and sky. They are balanced between the dark of the soil and the light of the sun. As below, so above; their branches and roots resemble some kind of organic celebration of light and abundance. On a certain level this mandala is about darkness and light and their interdependence in nature and in the human condition. We sometimes forget that it is through our individual darkness that light and life can grow. Each has equal weight and illumination.

I’ll put up a better quality image of this mandala when I have it scanned.

Thanks for tuning in.

Zodiac Mandala

This mandala is done on larger paper (18 x 24″).

I finished this piece earlier today. Apologies for the poor image quality, it was too large to scan so I had to rely on the camera on my phone.

It rained all day yesterday, when I started drawing. Sitting on the living room floor, I spent the day listening to audio books and drawing. These mandalas might just get me through this period of unemployment without being bowled over with anxiety.

When I sit and make them, all of my fear and mind chatter recedes and I can just focus. Working at this scale was more challenging in terms of focus and remaining peaceful. Maybe it will come with practice, like yoga.

One of my favorite things in architecture school was manual drafting. I loved the feeling of the pen sliding over paper. I used to do a lot of abstract pen and inks when I was a teenager as well. Really the main thing that made me consider architecture school was that I loved to draw and I was pretty good at drawing buildings. I suppose I couldn’t have known then that the actual practice of architecture could be so art-less. In any case, I love drawing and my Mandala meditations have reminded me of that part of my imagination.

Hope you enjoy.

Grounding

Star Mandala

I made this one today. This morning started with a wash of anxiety but instead of giving in to it I decided to try another mandala. It was a great exercise in focus and calm, taking about 5 hours to do.

I really enjoy generating the symmetrical forms with corresponding sizes and geometry. The solid black ring is the ocean to me and the eyes maybe personify the ocean as well as reflect my love of sea gazing. Overall I think the piece represents the kind of harmony I’ve experience out here between myself , the ocean and the larger world around me.

I know people can be pretty wierd about 5 pointed stars but I don’t actually ascribe to those beliefs so no Christian occult undertones are implied here. I just like the geometry.

Hope you enjoy

Mandalas

I did these 2 mandalas last night while having a Jane Austen marathon. I read that it was a meditative exercise so i looked up the basic structure of a mandala and tried some stuff out. 


It is actually really calming. I forgot that about line-work – that you have to become very still in your body and mind. I also find that it makes me take long and deep breaths, not unlike Pranayama techniques so that my body doesn’t shake while I draw. 


All in all it was v fun and v calming so I will keep this up. Enjoy!

Mandala 1

Mandala 2

Bliss

This painting has been on my easel for the past month. It started out with something I saw/felt in yoga class while in a balance posture. So the first layer was based on that feeling. Over the next few weeks I put a couple other layers on, but by then the original feeling had faded and for a while there I really hated it. The real epiphany moment came last week while I was working on it. There was a moment where I had no idea what I was doing with it anymore and I decided to say to hell with it and just have fun. After that over the next couple hours something emerged and the original impetus came through.

I like this one alot and I hope you enjoy is as well.

Also, this is a necklace I made for my mom that is a combination of wooden beads and pearls. I like the contrast of natural materials.

Lisa