December and January mandalas

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.