How did I get into this?
I was going through a very difficult time during the summer of 2021, so I decided something had to change. I started the Artist’s Way course by Julia Cameron, which I highly recommend. One of the assignments was to make a poster of something inspirational that a dear mentor had said. My old philosophy professor had once compared me to a kaleidoscope and said “My advice to you is to Keep On Twisting!” I turned the quote “Keep on Twisting” into a poster, writing the words over a painting of a kaleidoscope design.
My mom took one look at my poster and exclaimed “That’s a mandala! Do you know what a mandala is?” I had a vague idea but I had never given them much thought before. So I studied up a bit and fell in love immediately. I made my first intentional mandala in the beginning of August and have been drawing mandalas every day since then.
Mandalas are a meditation tool. Zen monks make sand mandalas and then destroy them, emphasising the importance of the process, not the product. In southern India mandalas are painted on the doorsteps of houses as a welcome. As a meditation object the product and the process emphasise the spiral dance of self reflection and creation, spinning outward and inward and back out. As I build a mandala I am building myself.
Making mandalas is a practice in patience and mindfulness. The process calms and centers me. Other people began noticing what I was doing and somebody asked “Can I buy one?” At the time I was still a beginner and said no, but that I would give it to her. Soon other people showed an interest in my mandalas. I have traded or given away all of my early mandalas. I make mandalas and then I let them go, often getting something in return.
I posted my progress on Instagram. An old friend wrote me one day on a recent post and asked “Can I have this one?” By this point I had realized that I could sell mandalas so I said, “Sure! That will be 100 euro” and she said okay! That mandala is now hanging in her friend’s hospice room in California aiding her in a profound spiritual journey. Another woman, who recently lost her husband, turned one of my designs into a scarf. She said that it brings her joy.
I had no intention of helping others when I started this mandala journey. It was only in walking the path attempting, and gradually succeeding at healing myself that I inadvertently helped heal others with my art. I hope to continue to do so.
I hope that my art brings you as much peace and joy as I feel while making it.
Namaste.
