Friday, May 3, 2013

Floral Friday - Mandala

There's a blog I've been following for a while called, "Girl Unwinding".
She has lots of creative and wonderful posts.  Some of my favorites are called, "Mandala Monday".
She creates beautiful, simple, organic pieces of art with flowers and plant material.

I've been thinking of trying it for a while.
Creating one seems like a peaceful, meditative and wonderful way to start the day.
I finally gave it a try this morning after an early morning walk with my dog.

The morning was cool, sunny and beautiful.  I tried not to plan ahead.
Instead, I went into my backyard and gathered materials 
for one ring at a time and just started creating.

Here's my Mandala...


 I didn't allow myself to try for perfection.
That would have taken away from the peacefulness of it.
I did, however, wonder about the meaning of it and if there was a
certain number of rings or something that was traditional to the design.

I looked it up after my first Mandala and found out that they generally 
have a square in the middle that is surrounded by circles. 
The meanings and uses for them are quite varied.

I thought it would be fun to rearrange my findings and create another one.


And, another.  By the third one, I was enjoying the process even more.


I definitely want to do this again sometime.

Thank you to the creator of "Girl Unwinding" for the inspiration.

Peace.

19 comments:

Quinn said...

Really nice! That sounds like a mind-freeing practice to cultivate (heh). I've also been doing a kind of botanical morning meditation, as I cut back long, thorny stems, bit by bit, and trying to focus only on my breathing instead of getting snagged (again, heh) by frustration and impatience. It's a helpful practice, but your results are much prettier! :)

Cindie said...

How wonderful!

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness Cheryl! I am thrilled that you found inspiration in what I do and that you set out to create one (or three!!) for yourself! what an honor.
These are beautiful and that you did a bit of research about mandalas is awesome! learning new things just opens us up more and more.
The vibrancy of those oranges and reds is such a statement. Thank you again for your kind words.
Happy Mandala Wednesday ;-)
~Peace
Dawn

Susan said...

What a lovely way to meditate! My own mandela would be in shades of brown - with some tiny bits of green. Spring is slow in coming this year.

judith said...

Those are gorgeous! This is an awesome idea. I'm going to visit her site!

Vicki said...

It does seem peaceful! How much fun was that. Thank you so much for sharing this Mandala.

kathyinozarks said...

thank you for sharing this-sounds nice-I may try this-once it warms back up here

Patty said...

This is so beautiful. What an enjoyable peaceful thing to do after a nice walk in the morning.

lynn cockrell said...

How lovely! I do not think I have heard of this before, but I think it looks wonderful.

Tammy@T's Daily Treasures said...

Dawn does make some lovely mandalas. You did a great job, too. You certainly can't go wrong when you are creating with bits of nature. Best wishes, Tammy

Art and Sand said...

All of them are so pretty, but my favorite is the third. The little pea-like pieces look like polka dots and I love polka dots. Were you knitting at the same time?

I am going over to check out her blog.

Carolyn said...

That is simply divine. It does inspire peace.

~*~Patty S said...

Hello from Dawn's blog ... just had to stop by when I read that you made mandalas too.

Each one you created is so beautiful and so different ... I admire that you could get what looks like "beads" in such a perfect circle/row

Greetings from Virginia

The Polka Dot Closet said...

Gorgeous! When I first glanced I thought it was a crochet doily. How fun to enjoy the morning letting your creative juices flow!

Carol

Benita said...

Those are beautiful! And what a great idea. I can imagine the peace you got from focusing on them.

Vicki Boster said...

Cheryl-- these are so gorgeous-- such a unique design!! I love the colors--
Vicki

Teresa Kasner said...

Wow, those are magical! I will have to try one sometime. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

Country Girl said...

At our school, the art teacher teaches her students this process. They go outside and collect and then she takes pictures of the finished products. I love yours!

Anonymous said...

OMGosh girlfriend, how gorgeous and fabulously creative. these mandalas I can tell were quite meditative in the making... you can actually feel the calmness through the photos!
Hugs and enjoy the week,
Beth P