MANDALA MANIA

I'm in a post-creative-frenzy period, and it's still feeling very good.  Possibly that's because I'm pre-another-creative-frenzy.  I plan on starting the rug referenced in the previous post, finally, later today or tomorrow (depending on my energy and the light). 

Yes, I am intimidated by getting it started.  But dammit, I'm going to start the thing. 

I. am. going. to. begin. 

I am.  That's a promise to myself.

So full disclosure:  I wrote the last 2 posts today, and then pre-dated them.  Up until today I simply did not have the energy to write.  All that creative frenzy stuff is tiring!  And I've had a few other things to attend to...but as of today, I'm beginning to regain my physical energy.  The psychological energy (aka HAPPINESS) never left.

The final adventure in this crazy series of projects was driving up to Lowell on Saturday for two short Zentangle® workshops with Jean Theurkauf at Art of the Tangle.  One was on Freeform Mandalas and the other was on Metallic and Sparkle in Mandalas.  I'm sure I don't have that last title right but you can see it on her website.  She is an excellent teacher and we really had fun. 

Her studio is in the truly amazing Western Ave Studios complex.  Wow, is that place ever tempting; I got off the elevator and thought I had died and gone to heaven, and I'm only sorry I don't have photos, but you can read all about it at the website above.  So many colors...so many artists in one place.  Talk about inspirational.  Walk down any corridor and absorb the wild variety of eye candy.  They are having open studios in early December and I think I will go.

But back to Jean's workshops:  in the morning the participants were all CZTs.  I didn't finish (yet) the morning mandalas, but I found Jean's approach made a lot of sense out of the chaotic processes I'd previously experimented with, while leaving a huge amount of room for creativity.  When I got home last night I finished one of the asymmetrical mandalas, and to my astonishment, it looked more and more like a series of bowls.  I don't ever do representational work with tangles, but I couldn't resist playing it up and here's the result.  You can see a derivation of Paradox in there too.  I have dubbed it the "Falling Crockery Mandala," for obvious reasons!  LOL.

We did at least two other pieces in the morning, but both of mine are barely begun, so I will try to post those some other time.  In the afternoon we focused on metallics on Strathmore Artagain paper and we all did some lovely work.  Here are some of mine:

Aha, I have discovered a photo on my phone of some of the morning's work.  This is not only my work, but everyone's work (put into a mosaic of tiles from each participant).  You can see my tiles across the bottom, from the large one on the lower left--still unfinished as of this moment--and the smaller 2 at the bottom right.  Isn't everyone's work so lovely.  I believe that is Cecily's large tile on the upper left and Susan's large tile in the middle of the right hand column.  Not sure who did that wonderful small tile on the upper right.

More composites coming next.  Aren't these great?  What I love about this process is how everyone gets the same instructions, but somehow each piece turns out sooooo differently.  Mine is on the lower right.

Here was our last work, below.  Again, this is a composite.  Again, we all got the same instructions but interpreted them so differently.  What a pleasure this process is.

Finally, the other day I was noodling around in my journal (completely unrelated to the above workshop) and produced this mandala on scrap paper, using a compass.  This had nothing to do with Zentangle®, and was just an experiment using colored pencils and even a tiny bit of watercolor pencil and wash on the purple part.  I ended up being sorry I'd done it on scrap paper, but what can you do...I am truly fascinated with mandalas and their possibilities for meditation and focus.