As I continue to get better at photographs, I want to show my mandalas in a better light (pun intended!) Above is my first BJP mandala, called Aspire. Below, you can see the original drawing that I took my theme from.
I think this is a slightly better photo of my January mandala, you can see the detail better.
These are 2 mandalas I made several years ago. I am very inspired by the Southwest - its colors, symbols, geography. Although I was born and raised in Massachusetts, my family (except for me!) has migrated to Arizona, so I get to soak up the atmosphere on my visits there.
Here are my two latest mandalas, January on top, and December on the bottom. January's mandala is a bit tricky to describe. I started out with some leftover beads from a bracelet I made. I had no ideas for a theme, so I just started beading in the middle and worked out. As I beaded, I thought maybe I would make another ying yang mandala, so you might be able to see the swirl outline going through the center. But that idea didn't really develop. Then suddenly a butterfly showed up on the left, and I thought of change and transformation, appropriate for the new year. But it still wasn't a theme, because on the other side of the piece I simply put together embellishment beads in groups that I liked! I will say I had no clue the mandala would be so intensive to work on, but as always, it had a mind of its own! 
For December, I wanted something less intense than my depression mandala, so I beaded on some beautiful fabric by Laurel Burch. I kept the beading simple and let the design speak for itself. 
I just wanted to update my blog. I am diligently working away on my mandalas. I decided to show the first half year together. Besides the fact that they are round, I don't really see any theme. However, the one I made for December has water in it, and the current one I'm working on is another yin-yang design. When I decided to do the bead journal project I made a pledge to myself to finish a lot of incomplete projects. I have been doing just that! An interesting thing I learned about myself - I don't like to make clasps! I have 5 projects that are completely done except for the clasp. So I guess they're not really complete.
One of my goals for this year is to work on projects of my own design. I live in a place that has great bead stores, lots of classes, and a great bead guild that brings in lots of national teachers. Hence, I have many beautiful pieces, but they're all designed by others. I would like to explore my own design abilities. I also want to make more non-jewelry pieces. I recently started beading prayer bags for people I know who are ill. I like this idea and want to explore it more.
I love Mexico. I find the colors so full of energy, bright, and alive.
As I continue to get better at photographs, I want to show my mandalas in a better light (pun intended!) Above is my first BJP mandala, called Aspire. Below, you can see the original drawing that I took my theme from.
These are 2 mandalas I made several years ago. I am very inspired by the Southwest - its colors, symbols, geography. Although I was born and raised in Massachusetts, my family (except for me!) has migrated to Arizona, so I get to soak up the atmosphere on my visits there.
For December, I wanted something less intense than my depression mandala, so I beaded on some beautiful fabric by Laurel Burch. I kept the beading simple and let the design speak for itself. 
