Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Chinese Dragon


After a recent trip to China my mind was filled with wonderful images. One of my favorites is the dragon. Depictions of dragons were everywhere in decorations, in art, and even architecture. The dragon is the legendary creature of Chinese mythology and has become the cultural symbol of China.

In ancient times the dragon was the symbol for the emperor and no one else could use the image. Over the years this changed and only the five-clawed dragon is the emperor’s symbol. Four-clawed dragons can be depicted by ordinary people. I decided I needed to create a dragon for one of my mandalas. I love the designs on Chinese bronzes, so I made the frame for this mandala with a motif that I created using a variety of bronze vessels for inspiration.

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