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

HOLIDAY MANDALA 9

Angel Light Mandala - (Seasonal Circles series) - © Sue O'Kieffe 2007
source image: holly leaf

Where there is great love, there are always miracles
~ Willa Cather

I created six greeting cards for the holidays this year. Of them, this was my favorite, and it is also my offering for today's holiday mandala. When I was creating it, it was such a pleasure for me to see the angels and doves being birthed into creation. I never know until the very end of the mandala making process what is going to appear or how I will feel about the image. Usually I sense something in the photograph of the source image I use, a sort of murmuring "use me, pick me" that will lead me on the journey of creation.

I used to wait until the golden hour, that magical time a few hours before sunset, to go out on my photoshoots; but sometime during this past year I began taking photos in nature that were more saturated in light. Often those images don't really work for mandalas, but the exploration brings me more flexibility in my schedule. It also sparked the tagline for my blog ... circles of light inspired by nature.

I think of myself as a holder of the Light, and so do these natural elements.

And so, my fellow travelers, I am curious to know what kind of leaps you have taken that have brought you to a closer reflection of your true creative voice?

GRATITUDE

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

Everything is made of light; everything is alive. The Great Mystery of life has little to do with intelligence. The universe is not an intellectual process. The intellect is helpful; but our hearts are the wiser part of ourselves.

~ Mellen-Thomas Benedict

I chased this mandala around Photoshop yesterday afternoon and this morning. Usually when I put more than a couple of hours into an image and it just isn't coming together for me, I hit the delete key and move on. But I wanted to get to a place with this mandala where I could at least feel satisfaction. I do like how the peachy tan ties all the different colors in this image together.

I have been experimenting using different colored backgrounds with my mandalas. This is all for the time, of course, when the struggle I have been experiencing with printing practices comes together and I am able to live with an answer that satisfies me. Currently I am researching different inkjet printer possibilities; I suppose I will also contact local printers for price quotes, just so I know.

Mostly what I wanted to talk about in this post, though, was to express my gratitude to Neda Doany and Diane Clancy for bestowing upon me the Thoughful and Inspirational Blogger awards. I have chosen to wait until later to bestow these awards to other bloggers out there, so you just never know when the fairy blogmother might shower you with her goodies.

BRANDING, TAGLINES, AND MOMENTS OF INSPIRATION

I have been "feeling into" the mandala that I posted on July 15th. Sometimes when I create, I just appreciate the creation for its own sake. Other times, the image itself speaks to me on a deep personal level. Hallelujah, mandalas affect the creator as well!

This morning, while in the shower, I was thinking about my work, what it is and what I think it always has been, but has taken me this long to recognize. I decided to change my tagline here from "Circles of Life" to "Circles of Light inspired by Nature". I also changed the mandala for my profile avatar, but I am not sure I like it as well in its thumbnail size. I am also not sure that it shows the intricacy of design as well.

So here is the former mandala I have been using on my business cards and have considered my logo. But now I am wondering if it's time to update. In terms of other design issues, I have felt a bit stymied by the reds/pinks and how to incorporate them in my not yet designed website.

Seeking the Goddess Within - (Circles of Healing series) - © Sue O'Kieffe 2006

I know that it will take redoing my business cards to know for sure what I want to do. This will more than likely not be happening tomorrow. I did want to begin the process though. I am excited with the redefining of the tagline and the refocus on what it is I see myself doing.


I would really appreciate whatever feedback and words of wisdom you might have for me, oh gentle readers.

IMAGE - IN

Magis Pray to the Light of Inner Knowing - (Circles of Light series) - © Sue O'Kieffe 2007

I enjoyed the evolution of this piece. First I took this picture of succulents that grow outside my apartment. I've taken lots of pictures of these plants over the past couple of years. This is one of my favorites.

When I create a mandala, I dont really have an inner vision of a possible ending; I just let it take me wherever it wants to go. I suppose that is true of other art forms; I have experienced it with collage at times, but really I do have a greater sense of the mandalas, in their early stages, guiding me to their end. Then, when the circle is complete, I finish editing it in Photoshop (levels, curves, hue/saturation, sharpening) add more layers, play with filters, finish with circles of outer/inner light -- voila!

With this particular mandala, about halfway through, the figures began to emerge. They struck me as monk-like and wise, perhaps more like spiritual magicians. Recently I finished reading Christopher Moore's novel, Lamb, in which Moore imagines Jesus finding each of the Magis, during the years of his life not mentioned in the bible, who taught him the needed skills to become the messiah. It was, in fact, a fun and fascinating read. With this mandala, I image-in access to that same inner light that I think Jesus both knew we all have and taught us to embrace.

Let your Light shine!

Hey, I sure would like to read your thoughts about my work.

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

Tuesday afternoon I received email from my business counselor that he was trying to arrange a meeting with a professional printer to talk with me about my printing concerns. So I decided to postpone taking in anymore information until after I talked with him.

The one thing I am definitely questioning, though, is the need to use archival ink for printing these cards. Hellooooo answer, I'm still looking for you! Am I getting warmer?

With this image, I started a new series of mandalas. My art, at its core, is about the Light piercing the darkness. My intent is to find new ways to let the Light shine through !

I CREATE WHAT I NEED

REACH FOR THE SUN MANDALA - (Healing in Circles series) - © Sue O'Kieffe 2007

I think of this as a study in contrasts. Interior/exterior. Shadow and light. What is on the inside wanting to be expressed? What is on the outside wanting to be illuminated? This is a common theme in my Healing in Circles series. This particular series tends to be more emotional in content; healing our pain brings us closer to wholeness. As I go through my own journey, I hope to bring forth what others might find helpful in theirs. Almost all of my mandalas have a recurring theme of light in them.

This image was created from a photograph of a flowering shrub common to the North Coast of California. It has tentatively been identified as Oregon Grape Holly. I love its cheerful yellow blooms.

Please share your thoughts with me. I would love to know what you see or feel from looking at this mandala.