Friday, November 22, 2013

Making Mandalas

 Every year, as summer solstice and Christmas approach, I like to create a mandala out of natural materials, and then make it into my Solstice card.
 It takes days of playing to get the one I want (none of these are 'it'; I'm saving that one to show you later.
 This one is made out of the little one's favourite shells. When she came to visit and saw my mandalas on the balcony, she wanted to make one of her own.
 And so I set her up with some leaves, shells and stones, all her own choice. She worked down the other end of the balcony, so she could play around without feeling she needed to copy me.
 Inevitably, there was some influence; however her mandalas, whether drawn or arranged, have their own style. They always begin to stretch and grow.
I guess that's inevitable if you are 5 years old and every morning when you wake up you find that you did a lot of growing overnight. Your world is always expanding and you discover new things every day. And so you create elastic mandalas like this one.
I printed her shell mandala out and pasted it on to a card. She was so proud and took it home for her parents to admire. Now it has a special place on her dressing table.

16 comments:

Max said...

What a lovely activity. I always loved those andy goldsworthy nature murals which were quite mandala like. I'm going to get the eldest into this if its fine tomorrow. Happy weekend x

Juliet said...

*Thanks Max, and have fun with your little one. Andy Goldsworthy is great isn't he? I was making art on the beach for years before I discovered him and knew I'd found a kindred spirit.
Thanks for your comment, and enjoy the weekend.

Anonymous said...

This is lovely. Does this mean that you have a very good printer at home? My home printer, when it worked, was awful. I don't have a printer at all now.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Juliet - it's wonderful you involve the little one in all you do - she'll have learnt so much from you .. it's great.

Wonderful mandala in a frame for her dressing table - great idea ..

Cheers Hilary

Juliet said...

*Silkannthreades, yes my printer is reasonable. For the final cards I'm making however, I've had the images printed professionally.

* Hilary, the little one seems to enjoy the same things as I do, which makes things easy.

Thank you Silkannthreades (sorry I don't know your name), and Hilary, good to have your comments.

Hotly Spiced said...

That's a lovely creative thing you did with your granddaughter. I can imagine she must have been proud as punch to have it turned into a card. I love your mandala with the blue background xx

Juliet said...

Thank you Charlie. It was a big thrill for my granddaughter to have her first printed card.

cecilia said...

this little girl is going to grow to become (and continue her growing and becoming) a wonderful adult. The designs are beautiful though I have to say that her grandmother is a deeply talented woman.. Thank you..for being mmy friend on the beach..c

Juliet said...

Hi Celi, your friend on the beach, I like that! Sending you the whisper of the waves, the gentle breezes of the harbour and the sifting sands of the coast to ease you and help you heal.
Thanks for calling.

Vicki Lane said...

What a wonderful thing to do with a child -- I love her 'elastic' mandala!

Juliet said...

Vicki, it was fascinating seeing her mandala stretch and grow. She said it was an egg, not a circle.
Thank you.

Penny O'Neill said...

What a wonderful activity to share with this fast growing little one, and a good example, Juliet, of given children their own space to explore as they grow. I'm so impressed with the mandalas, all, and that you were able to print them out. You are giving me ideas, dear friend.

Ruth P said...

Such beautiful images Juliet!! the fun and creativity for you grand-daughter was palpable and the first two images were just like magic surprise gifts that turned up on my screen. Thanks so much for sharing with us!!

Juliet said...

Penny, I always like to give her plenty of space when we are doing creative things. My mother did this and our imaginations thrived. I can see you tucking these ideas away, ready for your little ones. What fun.

* Ruth, we had a great time and lots of fun. So glad you like the images.

Thank you Penny and Ruth, for your appreciative comments. So nice to have you visit.

Anne Ruffell said...

I love the colours of the mandalas, particularly the one with the red background and found it fascinating to see how 'the little one' created hers with the imperfect circle but still with a balanced pattern. Have also enjoyed your other postings and enjoyed the colours again and the centrepiece of the altar. I have had many attempts at trying to photograph my collection of NZ shells but am never happy with any of them. I think next time I am inspired I will try and make some mandalas.

Juliet said...

Anne, it's all been great fun and so interesting. Mandalas are very centring. Do have a go!
Thanks for visiting.