October 10, 2012

Galaxy Mandala


For my master's degree, I took an elective on mandala art. We worked from a few texts, my favorite being Mandala: Luminous Symbols for Healing by Judith Cornell, PhD. I will be posting my own mandalas here on my blog, and encourage you to create your own. It was therapeutic, engaging, and most importantly, fun! I used colored pencils on black construction paper, both purchased from my local art store.

For the beginning exercises, I enjoyed creating the scale of light, playing with the subtle pearl shades of a nautilus shell unfolding across my black paper. It felt very tranquil and relaxing, just listening to the scratching of the pen and the rain outside while the drawing seemed to simply spiral out by itself. Here I tried a few variations, my favorite being a spiral unfolding into a galaxy full of stars and moons. It felt light and playful, a joyful moment in creation.