Many Blessings Mandala

Many Blessings Mandala - Circle of Being Series - © Sue O'Kieffe 2014

For whatever reason, yesterday  - 9/11/2014 - was a hard day for me. I felt out of sorts and depressed. I wondered how many other people out there remembering that day 13 years ago were having a hard time of it as well, and so I turned to the healing power of mandalas to offer some soothing relief.

source inspirations:

I felt drawn to use autumnal colors. This particular variety of heather and these maroon-brown coral bell leaves spoke of transition and change. I created the mandala in eight segments to remind us that our abilities to heal are infinite.  What came through, as I massaged the various layers in Photoshop, was quite unexpected. Purple for spiritual healing, red for grounding, and pink tones for the heart all came out to play. These are Nature's offerings here for us to take in however they are  most needed.

Many Blessings.

Sue O'Kieffe
Sacred Circle Mandalas

FAIRYLAND PENTAGRAM MANDALA

Fairyland Pentagram Mandala (Mandalas for Peace) ©Sue O'Kieffe 2009
source image: false lily of the valley

Do you have a special place in nature where you feel connected to the earth? My special place reminds me of a fairyland when these false lily of the valley flowers are in bloom. I love their heart-shaped leaves. The first time I was ever in this place I felt a deep connection to the nature devas who reside there, and it's someplace I go for renewal both in person and in meditation.

I thought since the flowers have a magical connotation for me that I would use the pentagram as the formation for the mandala. If you aren't familiar with the associations with the pentagram, wikipedia has pretty good information. Fascinating stuff.

I would love to know more about where you feel the most connected to nature.

~Sue O'Kieffe
Sacred Circle Mandalas

1.

CALLING ALL ANGELS

Calling All Angels - (Mandalas for Peace Project) - © Sue O'Kieffe 2009
source image - plum tree blossom buds

While I was creating this mandala, I saw three angels hovering around the triangular center, which I see as a power symbol. The image in the very center of the triangle looks like some kind of horned animal, perhaps a bull or ox. The bull is central to the Cretan labyrinth myth, and this is the year of the Ox in the Chinese New Year .

I was even more surprised when I looked at this image from a distance. If you back up from the computer four or five feet and look at it again, it takes on a whole different characteristic. Then it speaks to me of firebird. The power in this image is unmistakable.

It wasn't until I added the language around the mandala that I felt like this image was actually finished. Indistinguishable, perhaps, but still embedded in the image are partial lyrics from Calling All Angels, by Issa (formerly known as Jane Siberry.) I am playing her music on my blog for this posting as well:

calling all angels
calling all angels
walk me through this one
don't leave me alone
calling all angels
calling all angels
we're cryin' and we're hurtin'
and we're not sure why...
© Issa 1993

I almost didn't finish this mandala. The angels intervened.

DAY 2 - CREATE EVERY DAY MONTH

On my daily walk around the block I often study this particular palm tree behind the local laundromat. (Isn't it amazing the gems we find in such mundane places?) ...


and took some photos of the leaves using various shutter speeds.











Green Mandala - © Sue O'Kieffe 2008

When I took the bottom photo into Photoshop to be mandalized, I used the same basic technique from the photograph in Saturday's post...Photoshop's Find Edges filter set to Multiply and a wee bit of Gaussian blur which gives it that dreamy look. A strong Curves adjustment added boldness and grounding.

I have been craving green in my imagery lately. Even with most of the blooms faded away with the arrival of autumn, I thank goodness for shrubbery and living in a land of evergreens!

END OF SUMMER STUDIO SALE

Dancing in the Light Mandala (Circles of Healing Series) - © Sue O'Kieffe 2006
source image: purple iris

Points of Light Mandala - (Circles of Healing Series) - © Sue O'Kieffe 2006
source image: dandelion fluff

Perfect for your meditation or healing center, altar space, therapy office, or that special place in your home, these two limited edition framed 12”x12” mandala prints are available now for the reduced price of $75 each plus shipping and handling and sales tax where applicable. These prices will be offered until the Autumnal Equinox on September 22^nd, so this truly is an end of summer sale.

If you are interested in purchasing one of these prints or want more information about my work, please email at the prompt on my blog.

Many blessings,

Sue O’Kieffe

Sacred Circle Mandalas

THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE

Shine Mandala - (Meditation Card series) - © Sue O'Kieffe 2008
source image - rhododendron blossoms
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We have magnificent brains, but we use a great deal of our brilliance to keep ourselves stuck and ignorant, to keep ourselves from not shining. We are so afraid of our beauty and radiance and brilliance because it scared the adults around us when we were children.
~ Patricia Sun
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In 1989, during a time of great change and uncertainty in my life, I wrote a poem about the hurt I was allowing myself to feel. The poem ended "if I unwrapped myself, who would I be?"

It has really been a life long journey for me to discover and embrace the answers to that question. Today I encourage people as best I can to follow their hearts and do what they love. I think I read somewhere that being creative is almost a primal need. Too many have had that desire bullied out of them by well-meaning parents, insensitive art teachers, society at large. I view creation as a joyous and sacred act.

I choose the mandala form because it is a container for healing. Carl Jung said that a mandala symbolizes a safe refuge of inner reconciliation and wholeness (from The Mandala Project). Who doesn't need that from time to time?

Do you feel that creating art gets you closer to your center? Just how do you feel about being an artist? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this subject.


Sue O'Kieffe
Sacred Circle Mandalas

p.s. you can read the lyrics to the Todd Rundgren song Healer(today's music pick) here

HA HA MANDALA

Ha Ha Mandala -pen and ink drawing-© Sue O'Kieffe 1990

The year that I created this mandala is purely a guess, but I do remember doodling it at work and feeling very good when it was finished. I was coming out of a long bout of depression, and in that moment of creation was deeply in touch with the healing power of laughter. This image was later published in a book about healing for Adult Children coming from alcoholic and other dysfunctional backgrounds.

Laughter and love are two of the most potent forces for healing I know.

Sue O'Kieffe
Sacred Circle Mandalas

A Blessing of Memories and Dreams

Blessings Mandala - (Circles of Light series) - © Sue O'Kieffe 2008


He came to the office inquiring about an apartment.

“My wife and I are looking for a place to live, and I wanted to find out about low income housing.”

I proceeded to explain the guidelines to him…all of our units are filled from a waiting list, one bedroom apartments are reserved for the elderly and handicapped, the waiting list is about three years long right now.

Silence.

“My wife and I are homeless right now, and living under the 101 bridge. My wife is dying. I’m trying to find something for her.”

I’m uncomfortable, feel helpless. I offered other suggestions of where he might go. “Those folks are a joke, worthless. I’ve been there. They don’t help. And I won’t go to a shelter because we have a dog. We picked him up as a stray and he has been loyal and I won’t abandon him.

But my wife is dying.”
Memories Mandala - (Circles of Light series) - © Sue O'Kieffe 2008


I knew there would be days like this when I accepted this job, meeting people on the outside of society hoping for something we cannot offer and not finding anywhere else to turn.

“I wish I had something else to suggest,” I murmured. “It’s not your fault. It’s OK,” he replied.

He seemed unwilling to leave. So we shared silence for a while. And in that silence I called to the Universe to assist him in finding what he needed.

This is a true story.

I created this suite of mandalas as an honoring and a blessing to this anonymous man and his family. Like the man, I could not bring myself to break up this grouping. They all belong together. A Blessing of Memories and Dreams.

Dreams Mandala - (Circles of Light series) - © Sue O'Kieffe 2008

INVITATION TO SPRING

Invitation to Spring - (Circles of Fun collaborations) - Sue O'Kieffe/John Mora 2008
It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so! ~Mark Twain

This past week on the North Coast of California brought with it a great burst of flowering energy and color, and I am feeling the effects of spring fever. Last week after work I went to the town plaza for ice cream and ended up spending an hour taking photos instead during that delicious hour of golden light before sunset. It far surpassed any sugary vanilla sweet I have ever tasted.

I offered John Mora a photo of a palm treeI took on my shooting spree. Those palm trees are full of nesting starlings, and walking underneath them can be a little dangerous. Don't look up. Plop!Splat!

John returned the favor by sending me this rendering(it's blog premiere, I believe):

which I played with, altering orientation and adding a little more texture



What is an invitation but an open window with lace curtains blowing from wind? Im not sure what this flowering plant is, but I knew it would make an inviting light- filled overlay to the earthy sturdiness of palm trees on the Arcata Plaza.



I'm also involved with a little spring cleaning. My external hard drive arrived on Friday. Im looking forward to getting my files in order there, freeing up more space on my C drive, and giving Photoshop a little more breathing room for increased performance. I can hardly wait to order my new camera and look for a class in digital photography. Im really looking to improve my craft.

So those of you who still see slush and snow, please know that spring and all that is glorious about it is certainly on the way.


Sue O'Kieffe
Sacred Circle Mandalas

SUNDAY SYNERGY

I loved this Sunday Play Date. Never mind I've been playing all weekend with John Mora's rendition of my photo of egret at the marsh

I converted his cave painting into a colorful fabric quilt by using a simple hue/saturation adjustment layer and cranking the colors up loud

When I play with John's imagery I like to make one mandala simply from his patternings, which lend themselves so well to my own geometric reinterpretations. Bird head becomes bird he.art. This could be a very fancy kind of embroidered badge. Girl Scouts would be envious. Ha!

Bird Love - (Circles of Fun series) - Mora/O'Kieffe 2008


Exploring more of John's quilting revealed a sort of stained glass abstraction

Bird Under Glass - (Circles of Fun series) - O'Kieffe/Mora 2008


But when I overlayed the image above with a mandala created from a wild purple aster...voila!


Sunburst Mandala - Circles of Fun series - Sue/John playdate fun 2008

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A question was raised about taking art from my blog for the purpose of collaboration. The art that I make in cahoots with John Mora is available for your own interpretation. The rest is not. Please and thank you. The Management.

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On another note, I really do intend to offer up more Photoshop tutorials in the near future. What would you like me to write about?

LIFE IS PEACHY

Regeneration Mandala - (Circles of Healing) - © Sue O'Kieffe 2008
source image - rose bouquet

My friend K is going through chemo right now for breast cancer. The good news is they found the tumor early enough that she wont have to have radiation therapy. K was in both of my Photoshop classes . She is a a sweet giving woman and was part of a quartet she named the Marvelous Photoshop Mavens. After our first semester was over, we got together once a month to practice our Photoshop skills.

When I spotted this photograph I took of a rose bouquet, I was reminded of K's gentle and loving nature. Roses are a symbol of deep spiritual healing and this color just oozes health.

This is for you, my friend. I know that you look forward to exploring life in its richness in the months to come. Here's to things being just peachy!

INSPIRATIONAL FRIDAY

I hope you will take the time to watch this video of a workshop for seniors with altzheimers and other time/space reality distortions learning to create mandalas. The power of the form is in all of us with a blessed potential to heal the spirit.

THE YEAR IN REVIEW

Fleur Radieuse - (Circles of Light series) - © Sue O'Kieffe 2007
Source image - purple chrysanthemum

I created this mandala for my friend Karen Anderson's birthday. She is an incredibly talented astrologer and good friend on an upward path towards spiritual enlightenment. Karen and her partner Barry Martin are launching their website and I want to wish them all sorts of best wishes for their coming new year as well. You can visit them here. I hope you will.

I have been writing about this being the Celtic New Year, and thinking about what I have accomplished in the past year. It's so easy to consider how we fall short but less often do we consider giving ourselves an atta girl. So I pulled out my list of goals for this year to see what I have managed to accomplish thus far.

• Take class in Dreamweaver (done)
• Design website (nope)
• Start business blog (done)
• Increase mailing list to 500 names (10 new names per week) (not even close)
• Obtain resale number (yes)
• Get business license (not yet)
• Get bookkeeping set up (tomorrow)
• Participate in two arts shows by the end of 2007 (done 4)
• Have clearer understanding of art pricing (done)
  
• Place my greeting cards in stores (3 so far)
• Begin investigating licensing of my art (yes)
• Work towards financial stability (yes - willing to commit to a year of full time permanent work outside the home)
  

So for today, just for myself (and anyone else who needs some props) I give myself this standing ovation

HEALING WITH ART

Heart Wisdom - (Healing in Circles series) - © Sue O'Kieffe 2007
Source image: Rosa california

A year ago I had surgery on my carotid artery. It had a major impact on my art as well as my life style. I don't talk a lot about my private life here. I do at my other blog, though.

I am making some shifts in my life. Nothing is solid yet, but I am being shown how great my need for more consistent income has become. The need for more social interaction is pretty high as well. Working in solitude has left me feeling pretty isolated.

I created this mandala during the early days of my healing journey. The one I posted on Sunday was created towards the end of the first stage of that journey and was donated to the local Breast Health Project for their assistance in helping me find initial funding that lead to my final diagnoses of benign carotid body tumor.


I wonder how many of us that work on the screen (or the canvas or clay or fiber) feel that isolation? What is your experience? And how do you cope/strategize to keep from feeling crazy?

RADIANT HEALTH MANDALA

Radiant Health Mandala - (Healing in Circles series) - © Sue O'Kieffe 2007

Well, they safe life is what happens when you are busy making other plans. Photoshop Sunday is being postponed to another date TBA while I spend time at a friend's enjoying a hot tub, fall garden and two sweet kitties.

In the meantime, I thought I would offer this mandala for those out there I know are experiencing their own health concerns. This image, created from an agate scan, is full of grounding energy and radiant light.

Enjoy.

PATTERN MAKERS ON THE WEB

I have been using a handy feature that Google offers called Google Alerts, to have them search for instances of mandala art that appear on the web. I get alot of hits for Tibetan sand art, which really is fascinating, but I have been more interested in contemporary applications and how they are being used. This morning I wanted to point you in the direction of a couple of my recent finds.

Caterina Martinico creates mandalas using techniques developed by Judith Cornell. She also lives in Northern California, but a couple counties south of me. Go visit her blog here. She also does collage and wax encaustic painting.

Another mandala maker I encountered the more old fashioned way (by following a link on Andrew Daniel's blog to her artblog to her mandala blog) is the work of TeriC. You can view her gelpen mandalas here. Bright and colorful and fun. Say hi and tell her I sent you. She is also pretty geeky. Nothing like another techno-sister.

My favorite find recently, though, has been this art exhibit sponsored by Art and Science Collaborations, Inc. (ASCI) I have never really thought of myself as either a mathematician or scientist, but the more I work in digital art with images from nature, the more I recognize how it all blends together. This art show on pattern making is well worth taking the time to look at. I love this quote by Agnes Denes:

"Pattern-finding is the purpose of the mind and the construct of the universe. There are an infinite number of patterns, some of which are known; those still unknown hold the key to unresolved enigmas and paradoxes."
- Agnes Denes, 1967 (1)
Agnes Denes - Tree Mountain, A Living Time Capsule - ©2003


This could almost be a late submission for Blog Action Day as I am reading about her project:

A huge man-made mountain measuring 420 meters long, 270 meters wide, 28 meters high and elliptical in shape was planted with eleven thousand trees by eleven thousand people from all over the world at the Pinziö gravel pits near Ylöjärvi, Finland, as part of a massive earthwork and land reclamation project by environmental artist Agnes Denes. The project was officially announced by the Finnish government at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro on Earth Environment Day, June 5, l992, as Finland's contribution to help alleviate the world's ecological stress. Sponsored by the United Nations Environment Programme and the Finnish Ministry of the Environment, Tree Mountain is protected land to be maintained for four centuries, eventually creating a virgin forest. The trees are planted in an intricate mathematical pattern derived from a combination of the golden section and the pineapple/sunflower system designed by the artist. Even though infinitely more complex, it is reminiscent of ancient earth patterns.
More here

There are some intriguing and inspiring mandalas and other patterns inspired by nature/science in this Digital '07 show on Pattern-Finding. I hope you take the time to look as a way of really seeing the overlays of science with art. Im going to add it to my digital art links as well.

I will be back on Sunday with another Photoshop tutorial. I 've had a request for more about masks. Is there anything else you would like me to cover? Be sure to let me know.

BLOG ACTION DAY

Walk Gently on this Earth - Earth Mystery Series - © Sue O'Kieffe

Demeter's Dream Mandala

Demeter's Dream Mandala - (Goddess Series) - © Sue O'Kieffe 2007

I was in an introspective mood when I created this image, but then that's nothing really new for me. Sometimes I hear my art asking to be named in certain ways, and that is what this mandala did. The story of Demeter going to the underworld to rescue her daughter Persephone from Hades is one of my favorite myths.

I would be interested to hear what you see or feel in this image. (I didn't go to the Underworld, by the way; I've been working a temp job this week. It's good to be back)

AUTUMN HEARTBEAT MANDALA

Autumn Heartbeat Mandala - (Seasons Series) - © Sue O'Kieffe 2007

Safe in feeling excited learning risking trusting
Heartbeat
Friendly open loving kindly kind of beating
Heartbeat
Caring, honest, pulsing, grounding, present time now
Heartbeat
Beating like a work of art
The drumming of my heartbeat

~SOK

HEALING ART

Vessel of Hope Mandala - (Circles of Light series) - © Sue O'Kieffe 2007

Representing the universe itself, a mandala is both the microcosm and the macrocosm, and we are all part of its intricate design. The mandala is more than an image seen with our eyes; it is an actual moment in time. It can be can be used as a vehicle to explore art, science, religion and life itself. The mandala contains an encyclopedia of the finite and a road map to infinity.
~ from The Mandala Project

As I was creating this mandala, I began to envision a very old container, something that might have been discovered in an archaelogical dig, that was believed to have held herbs steeped in oil used in healing rituals. I imagined that every time the ritual herbs were used, the dis-ease of the person being treated would be returned to the vessel and be alchemically transformed into radiant health.

Carl Jung said that a mandala represents a safe refuge of inner reconciliation and wholeness. I have long been attracted to mandalas for their healing potential, not only for the viewer but for the creator as well. This mandala was created from a photograph of daffodils for my friend Susan E., who is currently facing medical challenges.

May she be restored to wholeness.