Monday, January 14, 2013

Journey

Currently my journey through art has taken me to zentangle mandalas. For some years I did a mandala a month and then I seemed to fall away from that. This year I decided to challenge myself to do it again. Because I had been given a portfolio, I established that I would do a mandala that is 7" in diameter on 10" paper. Certainly, there were variations as some were done on painted canvases.

This pieces has been framed so that the finished size, including the mat, is 14" by 14". I let the watercolors flow and then I cut a snowflake out of tissue paper. With a light pencil I traced the snowflake and then drew lines to connect points. There was no set rule, I could connect any points-hey, it's my piece!


One technique that I have learned is to draw the same mark between two points in all the places it appears, then repeat the next line until all of those connections are made. Hope that this makes sense. Rotate your paper and do the same mark over and over. This is both meditative and art wise successful.

There is a show for aspiring artists at the Sacramento Fine Art Center that I plan to enter. I must submit my piece on Saturday. That was a good motivation to get it framed. One disappointment is that the plexiglass reflects light. I looked into a non glare acrylic and that would cost $44. Guess that I'll go with what I have. Well, I could leave the the plexiglass off. Any suggestions are welcome.

OK, now I'm working on a quilt and arranging my crafty projects so that I have just the right piece to do while the 49ers are playing American football or, for the Europeans, it will be a tape delayed of a Manchester United football game.

6 comments:

Mari Brown and Colourblob said...

Oh Sandra, thats a lovely mandala, wonderful details. Wishing you all teh best of luck entering to the show (is it a juried show? Im also entering one this Sat)... For the plexiglass, acrylic v glass, I alsways think its important that no matter what is for you to protect your work, because no matter what kind of gallery you have your work haninging, there will always be people who cant keep their paws off things. I had one picture frames with a very slim wood frame with acrylic glass and due to the heat (humidity)the whole frame bent and it looked horried. So make sure if you go with acrylic that the frame is sturdy. Again, best of luck and wonderful piece!!!

Unknown said...

It sounds complicated to do but the results are lovely. Best of luck with the show, let us know how you get on!

Alex said...

yet another awesome mandala! I don't think I have the creativity to come out with such wonderful and symmetrical design. You pulled it off gracefully and made it look easy

Anonymous said...

So beautifully detailed and gorgeous. You have inspired me to possibly try my hand at one.

Jennifer Edwards said...

Sandra, this is absolutely gorgeous! Beautiful detail! I want to thank you for thinking of Maddie and me. I took her yesterday to get a strep test, which we felt pretty sure it was. Sye tested positive for it and now is on antibiotics to hopefully get rid of it. She typically has this a few times each winter. I am hoping only once this year. Her blood sugars are elevated due to the sickness so we have to stay on top of that as best we can, but overall we are doing well. I hope you are! Thank you for your kind words, your visits to my blog and your encouragements!!

Keli Lydell said...

Love this!