My new painting 'The Enchanted Visit' came to me just like that. I wasn't expecting to finish it in under 2 hours but it swept me away and left just as fast. My husband and I decided we were going to use the night to do things that we needed to do with some music in the background. So I looked at the background of colors on my canvas (this is how I always start my paintings) and suddenly told him that I am unavailable to talk for 15 minutes so please no distraction. I saw the images flow in the background and my hand just took over. This was so much fun to paint and it was faster than many paintings that I have sweat over in the past and was not impressed with when they were done. I love it when that happens!
Since my last post I painted more mandalas. These are larger than the last and were a lot of fun to paint. I played around with the background giving them a more rustic look and then layered whatever came to me on top. I called them 'Circle of Life" - they seemed to portray cycles and different temperments that create a balance together so the title felt appropriate.
I first got into mandalas a few years ago and I honestly can't tell you how or where I saw them but I remember wanting to paint one really badly. I painted one and then forgot about them for years until last year when I read about them in a feng shui book. That got me to go out and buy a book about mandalas and their healing abilities.
Funny enough, when looking back before I even knew about the information I have read, it was as if I knew that they do something to the psyche.The information I read was that mandalas go way back throughout history.
Carl Jung got into mandalas by chance when he kept a journal and found himself drawing circular objects - and while doing so found peace expanding within his being. I read that the first objects that children draw are circles and drawings that resemble mandalas - this is a ritual to express their being and individuality. According to many psychologists and professionals who studies this subject, the act of drawing circles encourages one's venture into his/her own consciousness, setting boundaries of their universe - becoming the 'I'.
So when I got into drawing my next mandala - years after my first - it felt horrific! I felt like I added layers upon layers of color hiding the last. I felt so many emotions rise and it was like cleansing shame and realizing my fear of having it come out bad. The next one was a breeze - and then I realized I needed to unblock much of the garbage. The mandala is a symbolism of the 'I' that you experience in life. The colors, shapes, size and numbers (you can count circles, squares, lines that are repetative to get the subliminal numerology) all have something to do with what's going on inside. So I decided to paint a few and they got a good response on my online store interestingly enough - I got healing and good business! How about that!
More importantly, it was a way for me to reconnect after having my daughter. It was such a life changing experience and I found mandalas to be very grounding and purifying to paint.Now, I recently began painting them again and funny enough, my husband was laughing because many of the shapes look like flowers and sperm - is it time for another one? perhaps :)
This is an old painting that I sold a year ago. I wanted to talk about this one because it was so difficult for me to paint at first. I was ready to throw out the canvas and didn't know what to do at one point. I can't get myself to actually throw out a canvas so I stepped away for some time. When I came back I just kept adding and adding bits and pieces. When I was done, my husband said it wasn't his favorite (he's my personal art critic whom I place all finished peices in front of when I'm done). I have to say I thought it might be too busy. When I placed it on ebay I had a crazy amount of hits - it was like a hit a minute. In 7 days, over 900 ppl looked at it. I sold it - there was a bidding war and I never had such a hype on any other painting since. I have made giclees of it since it's on such a high demand and I get asked about it all the time. The story of 'Dance of Color' goes to show that you never do know. I was going to hold back on listing it at first and then said why not. Needless to say it began growing on me as well with time :)
It's called 'The Gem' and it's my latest creation. I paint often and sometimes find that things take a while before they manifest - but I LOVE it when I have a smooth, easy and really enjoyable painting. This one was like that for me and I recently put it on auction. Thanks for reading!
