ANGEL LIGHT MANDALA

Angel Light Mandala - (Watercolor series) - © Sue O'Kieffe 2008
source image - hydrangea blooms

I love witnessing growth. I have been watching a hydrangea bush go from leafless to new leaves, from buds to first blossoms for the past couple months when I go on my morning walk. Yesterday, I just felt this *come hither* vibe being broadcast my way, like she was wanting to show me all her best energy. And so I took a few candid shots and wondered what would be revealed when I got home.

I just love surprises.

I was also surprised earlier this week when Kelly of Aeten Art honored me with this award. Turns out she and I share lots of common loves...the ones I know of for sure include mandalas, fractals and doodling. Be sure to check her out. Now comes the hard part...saying something about where this award came from in the first place (go here for more info on that), and choosing 5 more blogs...well, you know how it works. So here goes.

I am grateful to Milliande at Visually Witnessing for beginning this Yahoo group for women where we focus on image making and introspective art. Heartfelt thanks also go to Cheryl of Art in Every Day for founding Mandala Oasis, a Yahoo group for mandala makers. I have found such a renewal of my spirit and a deepening in my art during the short time I have been participating in these two groups.

I have just recently discovered Orli's blog, Shine the Divine. I hope you will spend some time visiting her too. Andrea's Artful Eye and unceasing creative energy never ceases to amaze me. And finally, Ms Thalia of Audacia Muliebris, again I must thank you for your cleverness in creating ever more mandala templates for us to use for unending digital mandalizing!

Gosh, I feel like the emcee at the Oscars. Enjoy your angels, dear hearts, and may your creative energies continue to take wing and soar!

Sue O'Kieffe
Sacred Circle Mandalas

Oh, and yes. If you haven't discovered it yet, I hope you will meander over and see what's happening at my sister site SUE DOODLES

SACRED LIFE SUNDAY - PERSONAL STRENGTH

Strength in the Light Mandala - (Circle of Light series) - © Sue O'Kieffe 2008
source image - euphorbia cactus

"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face... The danger lies in refusing to face the fear, in not daring to come to grips with it... You must make yourself succeed every time. You must do the thing you think you cannot do."~Eleanor Roosevelt

"We can't give what we don't have.
Find your center of strength and love and give it away." ~ Author Unknown

"Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers but to be fearless in facing them.
Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain but for the heart to conquer it.
Let me not look for allies in life's battlefield but to my own strength.
Let me not crave in anxious fear to be saved but hope for the patience to win my freedom.
Grant me that I may not be a coward, feeling your mercy in my success alone; but let me find the grasp of your hand in my failure." ~ Rabindranath Tagore

OASIS MANDALA

Oasis Mandala - (Circles of Light series) - © Sue O'Kieffe
source image - lithodora

Sometimes we all just need to get away. In the heat of summer, wouldn't a cool pool surrounded by palm trees be just the thing? Lounge in the shade, lots of iced tea and lemonade, a good book, sunblock, the calming sounds of song birds and running water soothing your soul....

I hope you are all having wonderful summers and finding time to relax.

Enjoy!


Sue O'Kieffe
Sacred Circle Mandalas


Be sure to visit my sister blog SUE DOODLES!

QUEST MANDALA

Quest Mandala - (Meditation Card series) - © Sue O'Kieffe 2008
source image - Siberian iris

So I was thinking about how, in the Victorian age, flowers were used as a means of communication. Maybe they were a predecessor to Hallmark Cards for expressing feelings for the chronically shy. Or maybe, just maybe, it was because there is something magical and longstanding about the memory of receiving flowers.

Anyway, while I was perusing this website looking at the different, old-fashioned meanings of flowers, I was happy to discover that iris meant Message. I created this particular mandala for my dear friend Brenda, who is about the depart on a spiritual journey in the mountains of Oregon. Brenda is an awesome woman who has been right there with me as I have been on my own journey of artistic development.

Dear Heart, know that I am holding space for youhere as you go to receive your messages. Aho!

Sue O'Kieffe
Sacred Circle Mandalas

SACRED ART SUNDAY - DARING

Dare - (Circle of Light series) - © Sue O'Kieffe 2008
source image - allium blossom


True life is lived when tiny changes occur ~ Tolstoy
Even God lends a hand to honest boldness ~ Menander
First ponder, then dare ~ Helmuth von Moltke


When I first created this mandala I was struck by the liveliness of the colors. I thought, I would love to wear all of those colors at the same time; but geez, did I dare? When I was a younger girl I loved being vibrant, showing off, all peacocky-like, in stripes and polka dots all at once. What happened to her? Would I dare to be so bold again?

This got me thinking about breaking out of my comfort zone. This isn't dare like "I double dog dare you;" this isn't a peer pressure kind of dare, but a stepping up to the plate of greater authenticity, of truth to Self.

The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change. ~ Carl Rogers
Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is. ~Bhagavad Gita
Don't worry. Be happy ~ Bobby McFerrin


What holds you back? H'come?
Can you challenge those voices? Fear, self doubt, lack of confidence? Embrace self love and self acceptance?

Sue?
Yes, I'm talking to you, girl!

RESTORATION MANDALA

Restoration Mandala - (Watercolor series) - © Sue O'Kieffe 2008
source image - blue lupine
for poz

She said to me I love this blue lupine, but the rain comes breaks the stalk. I saw the beauty in the blossom and took its photo, knowing the delicate texture and gentle colors would reveal something special.

She said to me I wonder if I've ever had faith. I reminded her of the lupine. See how the broken can be transformed? Strength and beauty always remains.

SACRED LIFE SUNDAY - BALANCE

In Balance Mandala - (Watercolor Series) - © Sue O'Kieffe
source image - white rhododendron

Everything comes to us that belongs to us if we create the capacity to receive it. ~ Rabindranath Tagore

We can want peace, but unless we are spiritually at peace ourselves, we dont mean it.
It is our thoughts which keep that part of the universe where each of us stand out of or in balance. ~ Little Crow

There are no choices that are really a detour that will take you far from where you're wanting to be -- because your Inner Being is always guiding you to the next, and the next, and the next. So don't be concerned that you may make a fatal choice, because there aren't any of those. You are always finding your balance. It's a never ending process. ~ Abraham Hicks

Now I walk in beauty,
Beauty stands before me
Beauty stands behind me
Above and below me.
~Navajo prayer


I am continuing to play with different approaches to the backgrounds on my artwork. This time I experimented with *grunge brushes* that I downloaded from this site, applying different colors on different layers and then playing with blending modes to get to the desired effect.

Balance...integration...release...transformation...growth...during these challenging times when life calls us to be present, what are we willing to receive? I like the quote from Abraham Hicks above...our soul knows what we want, and like some kind of internal GPS, it will keep us on track.

MY FAVORITE THINGS

What I love most (next to, of course, visiting my friend in Oregon), are all the great little details around her home. Most of these photos were taken on her property. The last two were taken on the way home.

I have been in reclusive mode since returning, but I am around and will be visiting more when my quest for solitude lifts.

Sue O'Kieffe
Sacred Circle Mandalas

SACRED LIFE SUNDAY - MYSTERY

Mystery - (Meditation Cards) - © Sue O'Kieffe 2008

This is my body, this is my blood - Mark 16:22-24 (paraphrased)

...the beauty of the bird, the symbol of the snake, the courage of the pilot, and the wonder of human love will always be touched with mystery ~F. Forrester Church

Love enigmas more than certainties ~ Rob Brezsny
-----------------------

I am back from my trip and am still processing photographs (I took around 300!). Re-entry was a little bumpy and I'm still processing the emotional content of the journey as well. But ohhhh, it was so good to get away, with incredible beauty surrounding me for three days in Southern Oregon.

I am walking a line between wanting to go deep with my art and living on the surface in the material world. Mostly I think this dichotomy....one or the other.... is an illusion. Choose my time wisely.

Tick-tock.
The time is now.


Sue O'Kieffe
Sacred Circle Mandalas

TAPESTRIES MANDALA

Tapestries 6 Mandala (Connie Rose series) - © Sue O'Kieffe 2008
source image: Connie Rose yarn photo

My friend and fellow artist journeyer Connie Rose has been gracious and let me play with photos of her handspun yarn. This is one of my favorite images of the six I have created..warm and toasty and in keeping with the solar imagery of my previous post.

I share her love affair with textures and love the doodl-y quality of the mandalas created from her handspun goodies.

When I was younger, I loved making yarn paintings, painstakingly glueing down strand after strand of yarn on masonite to create images of -- guess what?--suns!

On this holiday weekend in North America, I hope you are able to capture a bit of solar energy and enjoy some time off from whatever it is you normally do. Have fun, be safe, etc. Despite the rising cost of gasoline, I have decided to do a short jaunt up to southern Oregon and spend the weekend with a friend on 15 acres of forested and beautifully landscaped splendor for some serious R&R and photoshooting. Oh yum. Stay tuned.

See you on the flip side!

Sue O'Kieffe
Sacred Circle Mandalas

PHOTOSHOP TUTORIAL - EXPERIMENT WITH BLENDING MODES

Desert Sun Mandala - © Sue O'Kieffe 2008
source image - escobaria cactus

When I go out into the world with my camera, I love getting up close to nature, feeling the energy of the plants and reveling in their colors.

Last week at the local Farmers' Market, I took a photograph of this cactus, which I think, after a quick Googling, must be a variety of escobaria.

I was attracted to the spikiness of the plant and knew that it was a force to be reckoned with. Is it any surprise that feng shui practitioners recommend having cactus outside the house as a form of protection, but not to put it inside unless you want to keep people away? I imagined all those porcupine-like spikes would transform themselves into amazing geometric forms.


Yup. But I just was not satisfied with the background. One of the things I am focusing on right now in my art is experimenting with different ways of creating more interesting backgrounds without overwhelming the mandala imagesthemselves.

One thing I love about digital art is being able to reuse certain design elements over and over again. I have lots of handmade paper that I scanned onto my hard drive just for this purpose.

First iteration. Old antique paper from India. I liked the color and the texture, but wasn't happy with the lack of contrast between image and background.
Second iteration. Again, still not quite right but closer.

I love playing with blending modes. It is, for me, the primary feature in PhotoshopI use to make my images painterly. When I selected Screen mode for both of the paper layers (see layer palette), all of the unwanted dark features of both paper layers lightened up, leaving a blend of the two layers of paper while removing the texture and darker colors in the onion paper layer. (Antique Paper layer >Blending Mode: Screen>Opacit :54%, Onionskin Paper layer> Blending Mode: Screen>Opacity: 100%)
Final step?
Adding a black frame around the image as I described in this tutorial.

I love the way this mandala came together. Earthy. Bright. Sunny. Desert-y. I think the cactus would be happy with my portrayal of its many gifts.

I hope you enjoy experimenting with Blending Modes. Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions, either via email or in comments.

SACRED LIFE SUNDAY - SIMPLE GIFTS

Observe the wonders as they Occur All Around Us
~ Rumi

SACRED LIFE SUNDAY - LET IT BE

Our task must be to free ourselves . . .
by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures
and the whole of nature and its beauty.

~Albert Einstein

Today I am grateful for the time I spent yesterday renewing friendship with my friend Lorlyn. She and I are techno-geek grrrl friends, Photoshop mavens, and spiritual allies. I couldn't be happier or feel more blessed that she and I continue to nurture our friendship and be able to pick up where we left off from the last time we saw each other (right before Thanksgiving), even though she has moved away from the North Coast of California. After celebrating her birthday and our friendship with a delicious crepe breakfast in Arcata, we mosied up to Trinidad for a walk-around-the-town photo shoot.

How can anyone not be inspired when surrounded by beauty like this?

LOVE MANDALA

Layers of Love Mandala - © Sue O'Kieffe 2008
source image- flower bouquet
----------------
your slightest look easily will unclose me
though i have closed myself as fingers,
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skilfully, mysteriously) her first rose
~e.e.cummings
---------------
I was going to make this mandala into part of my meditation card series, but I do not have a font that adequately captures the essence of the opening of the heart to the myriad expressions of Love. Everything I tried looked too much like Hallmark variety hearts and flowers.

Back in March I told the story of a homeless family who was living under a bridge with their dog. I found out last month that the woman is still alive, having survived her fifth admission into the local hospital since November. I was glad to hear the rest of that story and to know that I can put my mind at ease a bit.

I find I am in a period of productivity and experimentation. Language is not coming easily. I am touched by the miracle of Spring and her beauty.


Sue O'Kieffe
Sacred Circle Mandalas

SACRED ART SUNDAY

Illuminata Mandala - (Meditation Card series) - © Sue O'Kieffe 2008
source image - daffodil
-------------------
I woke up in a very dark tunnel. I couldn't see anything. I was scared and wasn't sure exactly what to do. The voice of my Wiser Self reminded me.

Shine your Light.
---------------
It's hard to believe I haven't posted in over a week. There has been much activity going on in the background though, playing in Photoshop with these more water-colory mandala forms. During this time of increased creative activity, my mind has been looking for my Spirit's understanding of what it is I do. I have been Searching for Meaning, and shining my Light into some darkish corners. The above story about waking up in the tunnel was part of a dream I had last week. Last week I spent a great deal of time thinking abut and writing about my identity as a digital artist in an ongoing discussion with other artists I know.

I create Sacred Art.

I have not been wanting to say that out loud here, on my blog, like ... forever. I have not wanted to be categorized. I have been afraid, I guess, of being judged. I have wanted to let people draw their own conclusions about how my art touches them, but please leave the artist out of the equation. How crazy is that, anyway? Don't define me as New Age, or Old Age, or what have you. I just do what I feel called to do. But at the same time I have wanted to be part of the feeling I am trying to create in my art, knowing that we are all connected.

Somehow I had created a disconnect between myself and my creativity.

I have been surfing the web for inspiration and understanding. I had seen the Sacred Life Sunday button before in my wanderings, which I have now posted on my sidebar. Yesterday I knew the time had come to make posting about the sacredness I see in everyday life part of my spiritual practice and to not be afraid to say so.

In my link jumping I also discovered Milliande and her Visionary Art Bus. Her definition of Psychic Art really resonates with my intent when I create my mandalas:

What is Psychic Art ?

Psychic or Shamanic Art is an umbrella that covers different forms of artistic expression that are powerful representation of energy. Most often by creating simply through intention and without a logical plan. It is guided primarily by the subtle psychic sense.

By exploring where the inner world and outer world meet, we can create beyond previous limitation and learn how to step over the line; allowing creativity and inspiration to flow effortlessly from the 'zone'. Even if at first ,we don't even know what we have achieved!

Forms of this Art include Visionary Art, Pre-Cognitive Art, Energy Art, Aura Graphs, Mandala's, Icons, Mask Making, Inspirational Writing, Automatic Writing and Spirit Portraiture

Psychic and Shamanic Art portrays the energy of the subject as well as how it appears physically; the unseen energy around us has so much more potential that anything that can be seen.

I create Sacred Art.
The universe and the light of the stars come through me. ~ Rumi




How do you define yourself as an artist/creative?


Sue O'Kieffe
Sacred Circle Mandalas

THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE

Shine Mandala - (Meditation Card series) - © Sue O'Kieffe 2008
source image - rhododendron blossoms
------------------------------
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
---------------------------

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

BREATHE

Breathe Mandala - (Meditation Card series) - © Sue O'Kieffe 2008
source image: flowering crab apple blossoms
-----------------------------

You know that our breathing is the inhaling and exhaling of air. The organ that serves for this is the lungs that lie round the heart, so that the air passing through them thereby envelops the heart. Thus breathing is a natural way to the heart. And so, having collected your mind within you, lead it into the channel of breathing through which air reaches the heart and, together with this inhaled air, force your mind to descend into the heart and to remain there. ~Nicephorus the Solitary

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

REJOICE MANDALA

Rejoice Mandala - (Meditation Cards series) - © Sue O'Kieffe 2008
source image - night blooming jasmine vine
------------------------------------------------

Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.~ Thich Nhat Hanh

OPENINGS

Openings 1 through 3 -(Circles of Succulence)- © Sue O'Kieffe 2008
source image - echevaria


Open to me, so that I may open.
Provide me your inspiration
So that I might see mine.
~Mevlana Rumi

Real love hurts; real love makes you totally vulnerable and open; real love will take you far beyond yourself; and therefore real love will devastate you. I kept thinking, if love does not shatter you, you do not know love...
~Ken Wilber

One can not love without opening oneself, and opening oneself, that's taking the risk of suffering. One does not have control.
~Isabelle Adjani









many thanks again to Thalia for her new mandala tutorial posted today...

GLOWING WITH GRATITUDE

Glow Mandala -(Meditation Card series) -© Sue O'Kieffe 2008


Both Connie Rose and John Mora passed along this wonderful Gratitude with Attitude blog award to me. I am humbled by this recognition from my friends and artist peers.

Thalia at Audacia Muliebris has created three mandala templates inspired from the original work of Komra Moriko. For this I am grateful, and it is my pleasure to pass on this blog award for the time she took in developing these new configurations. I used one of Thalia's templates for today's mandala, which is the second of my meditation cards. Im not sure about the choice of meditation words...glow? radiate? shine? ...

Anne Christine Dennison commented about my use of black for the background of these cards. I like to use darker colors for my backgrounds to demonstrate light piercing the darkness. I love Anne's mandalas. Be sure to visit if you haven't already. Her work is bright and enchanting.

I am grateful to all of you who come by to read my blog and take the time to comment. Consider yourselves bestowed as well.

Have a glorious weekend.

Sue O'Kieffe
Sacred Circle Mandalas

FLOWER GARDEN

I dont often post photographs of the flowers that I use for my mandalas. Sometimes my more appealing photographs are never even used for mandala making

With the purchase of my new camera, I want to become a better photographer. Sometime in my lifetime, I might even want to purchase a dSLR with a bonafide macro lens, since macro photography is what most interests me.
Up close and personal!

These are some of my favorite spring flowers.

From top to bottom: mallow, purple freesia, camelia, dutch iris, tulip tree blossom

FAITH MANDALA

Faith not Fear Mandala - (Meditation Deck) - © Sue O'Kieffe 2008

When I first began creating mandalas, my original vision had been to create a meditation deck. This weekend I played with more of the flower photographs I had recently shot with my new camera.

I have been wanting to create a mandala using faith as its theme for a couple of weeks, but was not sure what flower to use for the source image. Then I remembered one of my favorite Bible quotes from childhood...If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, nothing will be impossible unto you.

Wild mustard is blooming in profusion right now

I will be posting a couple of other images over the course of this week and would appreciate whatever feedback you have to offer. At this point I have no idea how these cards would be produced, but I know the answer is out there.

Recently a friend said to me, Faith trumps fear every time.
Thanks, dear friend, for your inspiring words.

This and the images that will follow are just the beginning, the conception, the idea, the germination of the seed.

NEW PURPLE MANDALA

Night Light Mandala - (Circles of Light series) - © Sue O'Kieffe 2008
source image: heather

I want to take photographs of flowers with my new camera that I have never shot before. I may need to go on a road trip to do that, because I'm pretty familiar with what blooms in my neighborhood. I did satisfy that longing yesterday with this photograph of what I think is heather. It seems I am still grooving on and being drawn to the expansiveness of purple light ... amethyst, crown chakra energies, intuitively searching out ancient information.

Thanks again to Thalia of Audacia Muliebris for creating the 13 spoke mandala template, a tricky configuration that is worthy of more of my attention.

I am excited about the new camera and the potential I am holding in my hands. Believe me, there was lots of oohing and aaahhhhing yesterday afternoon and evening as I focused and clicked and snapped my way into photographic bliss!