Changing the Look of my Blog and my Evolving Mandala

The other day I started playing around with the design of this blog, and once again was unable to return to its previous  look, so hence it new look.  I actually like it better now, it feels more airy and open.  So hence welcome to the new look of this page.  Blogger has some new features, and I am eventually going to try to add some extra pages.  But this is enough for now.  All this technology is too much for me, and I need to take breaks from the computer.  

One of the ways I have been retreating and renewing myself, is by the ongoing work on the mandala that I began at our Summer Solstice Mandala retreat.  I have decided to share its process, from the beginning drawing to the place I am at right now.  It is now completed yet, but getting closer.  

Here is the beginning drawing.

With the scale of light being developed.

Color, color and more color.

This is where I stopped drawing at last evening.  I wish I had left more black, but I seem to have a tendency to fill in all the spaces.  That is something I keep reminding myself to work on, not only in my mandalas, but also in my life.  Creating these images, always bring up a metaphor for me, that guides me on my personal growth issues and process.  This mandala is all about honoring, health, growth, new directions and beginnings, as well as loving all the sprouting seeds in my life.  I will post the finished mandala another time.

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. 

Revisting Some of my Encaustic's-La Finestra Primavera

Before I had my surgery, coincidentally, I brought home many of my encaustic paintings that have been hanging at Art and All That Jazz in Healdsburg.  Due to the economy, the owner was revamping and changing the focus of her gallery.  My work has been there, selling and being seen, for about 5 years.

La Finestra Primavera

The springtime Window

11"x14" on cradled hardboard

Soul Arte Eclectica

Now that I am getting better, I have the time to unpack these pieces and decide what their next step in the world will be.  Shaun McNiff, a wonderful studio based art therapist, believes that images are like angels and that they have a life of their own, and stories to tell.  That has always resonated with me, and I have felt that my art has work to do in the world and it is my job to get them out there.  Some of these pieces are being hung all around my house and studio, and others left stored.  So in that light I have decided to show them here, prior to posting them on my etsy store....while I open to another new venue here in Sonoma County, where they can be seen.  

I love the texture in this piece.  It is an homage to Italy and all things Italian.  The archway reminding me of the narrow streets in Italia, the flowers under the window box...and birds...I have em bedded an antique map into the beeswax on the lower left which is decipherable  among all the colors.

I will continue revisting my early encaustics over time.  This painting is available for sale at my store at.  

SoulArteEclectica

Please go visit them at my etsy store, for another viewing.  Ciao. Caterina

More Journal Pages and On going Recovery

I often feel  the need to express my ongoing journey with the unknown, wide world out there.  That healing itself is an ongoing process of being in the moment and responding authentically to what is happening inside and out of me. Which is exactly the same process that occurs in the act of creative engagement....the ART PROCESS.  . ...being in the moment, paying attention and letting the story unfold.

I continue to play around in my journal and love to watch the images that show up, so I am honoring them as part of my process, without judgement, and with awe and intrigue.

In my journaling process, it is as if I first set the stage, by painting the backgrounds. In this particular series of pages, I used varying watercolor washes.

Once the background is laid into the paper, the curtain is pulled back, the window opened so to speak, and I  begin to collage around the backgrounds, creating a mood   or a feeling with the collage images that are applied.

Next step: PLAY.. I play around with media, pens, prismacolor pencils, words, letters, rubber stamps and then, more watercolor, until something comes together. Going back and forth from one page to the next, responding visually to what I see and what I feel.
Once INSPIRATION arrives, it is just a matter of filling in the spaces, doodling around and emphasizing one part over another, and I arrive  in   
The Mythic Land of image into story line.
It's that ah ha moment, that is part of the creative process, the part that we seem to long for, but have to muddle through unknown lands,  and critical inner demons to reach.

That is when I really begin to feel nourished by the process, it is as if

CREATIVITY MAKES THE MEAL  

The process is like a baby bird playing with a ball, dancing in air.

Using blocks of incongruent connections to make a whole feast of possibilities.

This is the gift of the imagination and the creative process, to nourish us and give us the opportunity to create a Retreat into our own Souls Language, to help to make us whole.

The Art of Encouragement..     

To encourage is to give active help or to raise confidence to the point where one dares to do what is difficult.

And so the images lead us places, open doors and windows, by providing new perspectives, and

posing enigmas..

And the healing journey in my life and art continues to hearten me and offer guidance, even if at first I can't read the story line or understand the purpose.   

To hearten is to put one's heart into or to renew someone's spirit (:heartened by the news of his recovery), and to inspire is to infuse with confidence, resolution.

Ciao....Caterina

Butterfly Mandala - Completed

Butterfly Mandala

Primacolor Pencils on Paper

Well I am finally finished with the Butterfly mandala.  I worked on it, on and off for about 5 days.  My focus is a little off, so I would draw for a hour or so, put it aside and come back to it again, several times a day, with taking a day off in between.  Something about this process, has helped me find my clarity of focus and as I worked I could tell my that my mind got clearer as my stamina grew.  

Day by day I feel stronger and have more confidence in my legs.  The butterfly seems a fitting symbol for the healing process I am engaged in at this time.  

Whats next?  Well maybe another mandala, getting out my journal again, or just sinking into a book or another movie as I rest in between practicing walking and stretching my hip.  

The interesting thing about having this blog, is that as I recuperate I have avenue for sharing, show and tell of my art, which I love to do.  It allows me not to feel so alone or isolated in this journey.  I am a rather extroverted person, and being house bound and dependent on others is a challenge.  So I appreciate this venue as well as any comments from other readers, viewers, voeyuers out there across the  universe.  

Speaking of Across the Universe, I saw that movie yesterday, and I loved it.  Check it out, it is an under rated, off the A list gem of a movie.  Ciao.  Caterina

Butterfly Mandala

Another day and moment by moment I am feeling better, day by day.

So the butterfly has become the focus of my newest mandala.  It is the perfect symbol for the healing journey that I am on now, as I heal from major surgery.  This is the begining of the mandala, done with white prismacolor pencil, using the scale of light on black paper.

                                   

      The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough.  ~Rabindranath Tagore

Overwhelmingly, cultural myth and lore honor the butterfly as a symbol of transformation because of its impressive process of metamorphosis.

In process, the original drawing begins to change and it seems as if the antenna are forming arrows, but that doesn't feel right, creating to static a pattern.

                           If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies.  ~Author Unknown

Imagine the whole of your life changing to such an extreme you are unrecognizable at the end of the transformation. Mind you, this change takes place in a short span of about a month too (that’s how long the butterfly life cycle is).

                This mandala feels more about spiraling into expansion for me so I changed that part of the mandala.

Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.  ~Nathaniel Hawthorne

The butterfly unquestioningly embraces the chances of her environment and her body.  This unwavering acceptance of her metamorphosis is also symbolic of faith. Here the butterfly beckons us to keep our faith as we undergo transitions in our lives. 

This point in the drawing process starts to become fun, when I enhance the each image with the scale of light.  It is drawing the light around and within the images, bringing the light of energy and direction into the mandala.

We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty. 

~Maya Angelou

So it is our responsibility to make our way in faith, accept the change that comes, 

and emerge from our transitions as brilliantly as the butterfly.

The essential core of the mandala is complete now

The fluttering of a butterfly's wings can effect climate changes on the other side of the planet.  ~Paul Erlich

Here it is for now, the next step is the leap into adding color.

At first when I began with the orange butterflies I was disappointed.  It is always a big risk to add color to the black and white image.  It is like diving into the unknown, with the part of myself who wants safety, and to be close to shore, resists, diving into the deep of risk and transformation.  Once, I begin, though, there is no turning back and I am forced to move forward until it comes together.  

The blue green into purple in the negative space around the mandala changed everything, and I am now in love with what is happening.  Who knows what will happen next.  I will keep posting this ongoing mandala journery as it emerges.  Until next time...

I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly dreaming I am a man.  ~Chuang Tzu