Seashore Mandala

As the weather turns colder my mind turns to delightful times spent at the beach last summer. I decided at the time to make a mandala with a seashore theme, but didn't get around to doing it for several months.
But this botanical mandala, created from a hydrangea blossom inspired me. I photographed the hydrangea in one of the beach house gardens and was reminded of my project.

Scorpius Ascending

One of the most memorable moments of a recent trip to Costa Rica was a painful encounter with a scorpion. I reached down to pick up a sock on the floor and experienced a stunning jolt. It felt like the sting of a thousand hornets. My thumb was numb for several days.
Despite the pain, I continue to be fascinated by scorpions. I find they have a certain menacing beauty. And one of my favorite constellations is Scorpius. I always look for it on the southern horizon on summer nights.
I created this oval mandala from an artemesia, and decorated the lower edge using a photograph of the actual culprit that caused me so much pain.

Featherfern Zodiac

As an avid sky watcher I follow the night sky from season to season. The constellations of the zodiac are as familiar as old friends, always in the same place on the same month each year.
I have made several mandalas using the symbols of the zodiac as design elements. But this fern mandala had natural "windows" in it that invited me to draw the constellations as well as the corresponding symbols.


Detail

One Hundred Butterflies Mandala

I have been playing with butterflies in my mandalas and I decided to include several. Then I remembered that I have a number of butterflies drawings that I made for an earlier project, so I decided to include many. One hundred seemed like a nice round number. I colored each one individually using variations of colors derived from the orchid mandala.


Detail

Featherwheel Mandala

This botanical mandala reminded me of a Native American warrior shield that I once saw. It was adorned with feathers that surrounded it. In keeping with this theme I added only a few simple geometric elements to complete the work.

Spiral Tree Triskele

I have been having fun drawing spirals. I decided to draw a tree form spiral. I liked the image, but it didn't work very well to incorporate in a mandala.
Then I realized that I could make it into a triskele or triskelion. The triad symmetry works very well with the twelve-part symmetry of my botanical mandalas. I chose a white orchid mandala for this project.

Pink Sun Mandala

This botanical mandala, created from a photograph of begonia leaves, reminded me of a sunflower. I liked the form of the mandala so much that I decided to add only a few images to decorate it, including a stylized sun symbol in the center.