My Opening

Here are some photos of my "A Year of Mandalas" show:










The artwork before the opening:

Show Hung

The show "A Year of Mandalas" was hung this afternoon. Opening will be Friday at State of the Art Gallery in Ithaca, New York, this Friday (Feb 4).











Special thanks to the SOAG hanging committee.

The Sorceress

This oval mandala, made from artemesia foliage, inspired me to create a figure of mystery and power.
In keeping with that theme, I surrounded the piece with a frame that I made using ancient Futhark runes.

Turtle Storm

A few years ago I created a mandala piece that I have always liked. The piece, "Mandala Storm", was created by selectively removing small contiguous elements in a series of mandalas to create the effect of an electrical charge connecting the mandalas.
After a vivid dream involving lightning bursting from the image of a turtle, (no doubt brought on by a day's exploration of the Mandelbrot Set), I decided to revisit this technique.

Isis

Isis, Goddess of Magic and Giver of Life, was considered the ultimate in feminine power by the ancient Egyptians. Wife of Osiris and mother of Horus, she is often depicted with the crown of Hathor, the solar disk surrounded by cow horns.

Ram's Horn Mandala

Of all the foliage plants, perhaps my favorite is Begonia "Escargot". Its snail-like curl at the base of the leaf in seemingly impossible, yet it provides a lovely and fascinating structure.

In this mandala, the spirals seemed to combine to create a ram's horn effect. The piece had a decided Southwestern feel to it.

Spotted Begonia Wheel

The New York Botanical Garden is a wonderful place to visit. I have spent many delightful hours there exploring the conservatory and grounds. The collection of begonias is particularly impressive, and I have taked dozens of photographs there, and used the photos for many of my botanical mandalas.
I loved the many colors and textures of this spotted begonia and the ethereal edge. I did minimal enhancement of this mandala to set it anginst a black background for an otherworldly effect.

Forest Twilight

I have always considered twilight a special time of day. Watching the light fade as day yields to night, I get a great sense of peace. The the forest edge set against the fading light seems lovely but mysterious. Very slowly, as the sky darkens, stars begin to appear.

First the brightest show themselves, but soon the sky is filled with stars.

Persian Shield

One of my favorite color combinations is green and purple. There are many lovely plants with that combination, but I find that the Persian Shield (strobilanthes dyerians) is the most dramatic. Its deeply contrasting veins make very interesting mandalas.

A Winter's Dream

My mandalas made from winter woodland scenes tend to have very interesting structure. In spite of being a bit monochromatic, the branches weave into a surreal lace pattern.

I found this oval mandala had a particularly dreamlike quality. I designed a frame for it that is reminiscent of ancient runes.

China Red Coleus Circle

The reds in this mandala made from coleus leaves reminded me of the brilliant colors I had seen during a recent trip to China. I had drawn a tree silouette based on the stylized motifs in Chinese design and this botanical mandala seemed like a perfect frame for it.