Summer Solstice - Mandala Workshop Photos

On Sunday Patricia and I facilitated another Mandala Workshop.  It was such a lovely group and a relaxing and healing day of artmaking.  I really enjoyed diving into another mandala.  I was very fortunate to be able to take several long rests, since I am still slowly regaining my stamina from my hip surgery. Patricia held the energy and led the group, while I retreated to my house for a nap in both the a.m. and pm.  That is one of the things that   is wonderful about having a partner to work with, as well teaching in my studio.
Here are some photos of the day.

All together around the tables in my studio.

Practice scale of light mandalas...

Black and white  scale of light mandalas....

Beginnings....

I love how individual and totally unique each mandala is.

It was also amazing to witness each mandala transform over time and with color.

  Here are some photos of folks working in process on their mandalas.

and another...

They are all stunning in the white on black at no matter what stage they are at.

Here is Penelope starting to add color to her spider mandala.  

This is my mandala as it continues to evolve..

And now for some color.

Unfortunately this photo of Diana's Mandala came out blurred, but I still want to show it.

Experimenting with the use of color and the white pencils..

Barries Mandala is an honoring of the plants and animals she see's as she walks the trails of sonoma County.

'Christi's Mandala with color added.  

So that is a taste of some of the work done this past Sunday.  A few mandala's were not shown in color, or in the early stages.  But you can see the amazing beauty that emerged in each persons work.  However, the most important part of the experience was the actual process, that each person had as they worked through the day.  That cannot be duplicated by mere photos. The feeling, of depth and connection that comes as we move inward, and just pay attention to balancing and expressing on paper, moment by moment.  Thanks for joining us as we work in the sacred circle. 

Mandala Emerges as I flit from project to process

The Mandala that I began on the solstice slowly emerges as I flit like a butterfly from thing to thing. Without a structure of consistent work in my life, one would think I would be more productive. In many senses I am accomplishing alot creatively, but it is in a scattered way. More like a butterfly flitting from flower to flower.   Drawing Mandalas is centering and focusing, but only if one spends a bit of engaged time doing it.  I go from drawing, to making jewelery, to photographing items to sell on my new etsy store....and then do a bit of carving on my encaustics,  some collageing in one of the 3 journals I have going and then dash out to the Y for a swim.  Ahhh, life in the scattered lane.  I am loving it, but feel I need to focus on just one thing. Or do I?

4 Elements Mandala Workshop

Our Mandala Workshop focusing on the Four Elements was a lovely, inspiring day for everyone who attended.  The Cosmic Cowgirls Studios was bright and vibrant.  Some of these photos give a sense of the colorful walls filled with the art of Shiloh McCloud, founder of the studio.  We felt invigorated by the surroundings, and inspired as well.

Here is Diana Rose helping us in the morning with set up putting prismacolor pencils at tables all around the room.

The walls show off the paintings of many Cosmic Cowgirls...our altar is in the center of the space, surrounded by tables forming a circle, so we all can sit and view each other as we drew.
Getting ready in the morning as participants arrived.
Here is Patricia and Diana Rose.  Patricia and I have been facilitating the Illuminated Mandala Retreat days for over 10 years.  We are both Certified Facilitators of Judith Cornell's Healing Mandala Process.

We work in circle  paying attention to the center of our beings opening to the light within and the compassion of heart energy.  I love seeing the winged heart hanging over the window in the background.

We begin with small black and white mandala's practicing the scale of light, imagining our pencils to be light wands that connect with the divine light within and bringing it into form on the procreative dark ground of the womb of the paper.


Here is a small mandala done as a Healing Mandala for Harriet Wadeson, one of the grandmother mentors of the field of art therapy, with color added.


In the afternoon we began our larger pieces, focusing on the Four Elements and our associations with them as well as how the elements of earth, water, fire and air resonate in our bodies and our lives.
We always give participants permission to do whatever they are impelled to these workshops, and it is always a gift to witness what evolves and the personal healing the occurs as a result of the drawing process, meditations, visualizations and personal intentions for the day.




Each mandala is as unique as the individual who creates them.  At the end of the day we share the inner stories that unfolded as a result of the process.  It is such a blessing to do this work.

The Four Elements

Unfortunately, I did not take photos of many of the completed mandalas.  By the end of the day I was a bit exhausted and since  our timing went over a bit, everyone was ready to move into the rest of their evening.  But these images give a sense of the ongoing process and the day.  I have begun a mandala and will post it's progress on later blog posts.  Most people don't complete in the day.  Drawing mandalas and  working with prismacolor pencils is a slow and meditative, dreamlike experience that  often take a while to unfold into completion.   The next Mandala Retreat Day will be in September right around the Autumal Equinox, I will post the dates here, when we have settled on exactly where and when we will facilitate it.  Blessings to All .  Enjoy the Summer!!!!  

Sun Mandala- Finally Complete

As I prepared my supplies for teaching tomorrow's mandala workshop, I pulled out this mandala that I did at last years summer solstice retreat day.  It just didn't feel complete and I realized that it needed something more.  I found myself wonderfully lost for hours several evenings in a row, drawing in more rays to  make it more of a Sun Mandala.  Here is the completed ( at least for now) mandala.  

I definitely like it a lot more now and it really expresses the energy of expansion that the summer, and the sun makes me feel.   Mary Oliver has a wonderful poem about the sun.   Here it is.

The Sun

 

Have you ever seen 

anything 

in your life 

more wonderful 

than the way the sun, 

every evening, 

relaxed and easy, 

floats toward the horizon 

and into the clouds or the hills, 

or the rumpled sea, 

and is gone-- 

and how it slides again 

out of the blackness, 

every morning, 

on the other side of the world, 

like a red flower 

streaming upward on its heavenly oils, 

say, on a morning in early summer, 

at its perfect imperial distance-- 

and have you ever felt for anything 

such wild love-- 

do you think there is anywhere, in any language, 

a word billowing enough 

for the pleasure 

that fills you, 

as the sun 

reaches out, 

as it warms you 

as you stand there, 

empty-handed-- 

or have you too 

turned from this world-- 

or have you too 

gone crazy 

for power, 

for things?