MANDALA EYES SATURDAY BLOG AWARDS

Mandala Eyes
pen and ink, crayon
© Sue O'Kieffe 2008

Remember the old Beatles tune Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds? Well, that tune was on my mind when I doodled this, cuz sometimes I have those eyes too! I like to maintain a lighthearted attitude, because life is too short too take it too seriously, and angels can fly cuz they take themselves lightly.

Over the past few weeks I have been graced with blog awards from some thoughtful and fun folks who inhabit the blogosphere here. Thank you muchly, Sweet Irene, John Mora, and Diane Clancy for the recognition. I do enjoy the acknowledgment and enjoy watching my girl scout badge sash become more colorful with all these honors!




‘It’s a big kiss, of the chaste, platonic kind, from me to you with the underlying ‘thanks’ message implied. I really do appreciate your support and your friendship, and yes, your comments.’

I have decided to bestow these two particular blog awards to one particular Connie Rose, who has taken to blogging like a fish takes to water (and what else would you expect from a Pisces?)
Connie is in the Artists in Business group I have been participating in since sometime last spring. She and fellow artist Joan Gold and I are going to continue meeting after the business group ends in March. I look forward to continued interaction with these two other women who want to keep the business momentum alive. Enjoy your awards, Ms Rose. I look forward to many more months of learning about spinning and weaving and can hardly wait to see your fractals incorporated in your work. Go check her out!

DIGITAL KALEIDOSCOPES

Clancy Kaleidoscopes - © Sue O'Kieffe and Diane Clancy 2007

Diane Clancy creates some of the most colorful digital art I have ever seen. Like me, she is all about color; her art enhances the spirit. I feel most grateful that she bumped into me somewhere in the blogosphere. I think of Diane as a central part of my business network, too.

It only seemed like the next transformative step that some of her art be converted to mandalas. I knew her playful use of color and strong lines would lend itself well to this rendering.

And indeed it did. Thanks for providing me a little Sunday rainy day fun, Diane!

You can see her original art I used as source images here, here, here and here.
Sources: At the Opera, Inner Flow I, Turtle Batik, Life Expands I

WE ARE ALL CONNECTED

We Are All Connected - (Healing in Circles series) - © Sue O'Kieffe 2007

I suspect Diane Clancy has some good skills in persuasion. The enthusiasm with her post on ClusterMaps won me over; you will see I have now added a map to my blog as well. It will be fun to see exactly how we are all connected. Im glad I have an atlas next to my computer, too!

Where are you from?
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On another note, the months of wondering, questioning, researching and final decision making regarding my line of mandala greeting cards is about to go to the next level. I will begin taking them to stores this week. If you have never seen my cards, you can view them in my gallery here

Interested in purchase? Email me here for details.
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P.S. I will be back next Sunday with another Photoshop tutorial. Life, as it does at times, won over my best laid plans this week.

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.

WORKING WITH THE COLORS OF NATURE

Explosions of Light Mandala - (Circle of Light series) - © Sue O'Kieffe 2007

Yesterday Diane Clancy made the comment that I work in values rather than in color. I replied that I work the colors Nature gives me. I don't very often adjust color in my work much further one way or the other from its origin, although I am interested in learning more about color correcting my original photographs before I transform them into mandalas.

For those of you who wonder how I create my art, I must give credit to this woman, Komra Moriko, who put up her website back in '98 or so and never took it down. I looked around yesterday to make sure I wasn't infringing on any copyright restrictions. I did at one point think I saw a Creative Commons license on her site, but yesterday I didn't see it. I need to investigate this more before I go much further with my work, though I have seen plenty of other mandala makers besides me using her basic format. I have been grateful these past couple of years that she never took her website down.

Happy Birthday to You

Summer Delights Mandala - (Summer Series) - © Sue O'Kieffe 2007

This mandala and blog post honors my artist/blogging compadre, Diane Clancy, who has been a source of inspiration and information ever since she found me a few months back. I am grateful for her presence, her generous spirit, her dedication to her values, her diligence and her honesty.

Many blessings to you this day, dear friend.

PRAYER MANDALA

Prayer Mandala - (Healing in Circles series) - © Sue O'Kieffe 2006

Three weeks ago I returned to working full time outside the home after an extended period working on my art at home. It has been a bit of an adjustment, and for a while I felt very discouraged about working on my art. I have also been feeling a sense of no direction, with so many different things on my plate I want to accomplish and no real idea how to get there.

Recently, both on my blog and on Diane Clancy's blog, I have come across more internet marketing material via the suggestions posted by Chris O'Byrne. His postings took me to his blog. I have decided my next step will be to listen to some of what he has posted via podcast to see if this will help me more closely solidify some of my ideas for my website. The website has proven to be a much more daunting task than I ever imagined, because I know that putting it up is so much more than it looking purty.

I created this particular mandala last fall, and it's the first mandala I created where I filled in the background space. For me it has a sense of both containement and outward direction.

Thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts. I would love for you to share yours with me.