White snake Mandala

About 6 years ago I had a dream about a white snake that moved up my body and wrapped itself around my arm. At first I was frightened but then the snake made it known to me that it was a friend. A week later a member of my family also talked about a white snake. I decided to draw one as part of a mandala and chose coloured pencils as the medium. The snake biting itself is known as the Ouroboros and was said to be the first living thing in the Universe. It has many representations - the cyclic nature of birth and death, immortality, renewal, self sufficiency, cycle of rebirth and karma. Jung called it the mandala of Alchemy. I like that!

Dancing Fly with the Red Boots on

An image of two hands with the thumb and forefinger together came into my minds eye one night last week and so I decided to paint it. I had thought of painting a mouse in the space between the hands. Instead I decided to do a meditation and asked what animal, plant or mineral would like to go in the middle. To my suprise, a little fly appeared. I wasn't so enamored with the idea but asked if it was sure and the answer was  a resounding Yes. After I had finished painting and stood back looking at it for a while, it seemed to look like it was dancing and so I painted the little red boots on her to finish it off : )

Hildegard of Bingen

I keep hearing about Hildegard of Bingen ( 1100's) and so researched her a little and was interested to read that she had visions and translated those into music compositions, poetry, mandala's, writing and healing. At one stage when she refused to document these visions and move locations, shown to her in these visions, she became very ill. During these periods she said she learnt a lot about herself and honouring what was essentially given to her through her relationship to God. In the time she lived (1098 - 1179), she influenced many powerful figures in history and still to this day her works are published and performed. To me she is a great female role model even if I don't necessarily share some of her Christian beliefs.

Zen doodleing

I've been reading more on the healing powers of creating mandala's. The process of drawing and painting mandala's, as with all art forms, can have a therapeutic effect on ones body, or not as the case may be. While I was drawing the zen doodle ,I was noticing subtle changes taking place. At some points I felt a little nauseous and at others I felt calm and a sense of well being. Usually I am not so conscious of my body while I am creating as that awareness drops away as I move into the flow, however I decided to experiment with this particular picture and see what I observed. I must say I prefer to lose a sense of my physical being while painting, although it was interesting to check out the physical response to what I was creating. As has been written about by many people, art can heal on many levels and emotionally, mentally and spiritually, I have definitely felt the benefits.

The zen doodling was an intentional drawing in as much as I decided to try this style of creating a focus for the mandala. I think if I had been in a doodling space then it may have flowed more for me but I wasn't and it didn't. I was happy with the result although the process was not as enjoyable. Using visualisations, meditation or dancing before I start to create and then listening to music while painting seems to bring about a holistic experience that leaves me feeling joyous and spent,sated in some way that the zen doodling did not.