I’m cutting it close on the March mandalas! In a few hours, it will be April. Though you would not know it by the 9 inches of blizzard outside the window. The Great Round: Stage Three mandalas follow one of my favorite forms — the labyrinth.
These have been the most fun for me yet. And to my delight, Liz began hand-drawing her own mandalas in March. She has a natural sense of design and color, and creates intricate patterns with line detail more delicate than the templates.
Again, I used Crayola markers and colored pencils. Liz used Fimo modeling clay (for the snake), Uniball gel pens, glitter glue, and Crayola markers. The Stage 3 mandalas are about exploring the body and its surroundings, and organizing the information into a map of reality.
According to the book Coloring Mandalas by Susanne F. Fincher, The healing benefits of the labyrinth as mandala are:
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creating flexibility & openness in healing old wounds
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communicating with the Ancestors
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contacting animal Spirit Guides
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encouraging active searching & exploring that is not goal-directed
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translating information from the ego into symbolic language that communicates messages from the unconscious to the Self
FIRST PAIR: The first mandala pair is designed after M.C. Escher. They are the same mandala, photographed from different angles. The challenge of Stage 3 is to show up and keep walking, even if you don’t know final outcomes and goals.
SECOND PAIR: The second mandala pair is also the same mandala, shot from different angles. The center rings were added in the process of coloring (the center space on the template is empty white space). Stage 3, the Labyrinth, includes experiences of divergent realities and nonordinary states of consciousness. Shamans cultivate their abilities to move in and out of this stage at will.
THIRD PAIR: The two mandalas in the 3rd pair are different templates, the Spiral and the Celtic Cross, often designed and used by medieval Irish monks. In the Celtic knot, what appears to be a single endless meander is actually two separate pathways, crossing many times but never joining each other.
Spring Dance, Chromosoma, Diptych, Turtle Bread, hand-drawn labyrinths created by Liz, Minneapolis, Minnesota, March 2008, photo © 2008 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
The four mandalas above are the beautiful hand-drawn labyrinths that Liz created for The Great Round – Stage 3. She agreed to let me photograph them from her sketchbook and post them with the March mandalas. The coiled snake below is 3-D, made out of clay. You can see names, titles, and more about each one if you click on the image.
Mandalas have been used in Christian churches in the form of stained glass windows and labyrinths since the 12th century, and their centers are often occupied by a mystic rose representing Spirit coming into matter. Walking the labyrinth is a metaphysical pilgrimage, and many travel to Chartres Cathedral in France to walk and meditate on the medieval labyrinth there. The grass labyrinth I walked last year at Sisters of Carondelet in St. Paul is based on the Chartres design. More mandalas to come in April!
-posted on red Ravine, Monday, March 31st, 2008
-related to posts: Coloring Mandalas, The Void – January Mandalas, Bliss — February Mandalas, and WRITING TOPIC – CIRCLES
You are right — Liz’s mandalas are far more intricate. Liz, they’re beautiful!! I love them all, but I especially love Chromosoma. It vibrates with energy.
QM, do you have a year’s supply of mandalas? I can see how the time you spend coloring the mandalas would be soothing, almost therapeutic.
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ybonesy, that’s one of my favorites of Liz’s, too. They look even brighter in her sketch book than on the blog. These are only her sketches, too. I’m looking forward to more of hers (and maybe in a different medium). We’ll see what she is up to in the studio next month.
Yes, we are following one of the mandala structures in Susanne Fincher’s book, Coloring Mandalas. One thing she suggested was to work The Great Round structure over a whole year. So that’s one of the year practices I chose. The Great Round has 12 sections, perfect for each month.
Others who aren’t familiar can read more about how we started this practice in the Coloring Mandalas post link at the bottom of the piece. I wanted to keep going with some new practices this year. The mandalas and the moon practices are monthly and I’m really enjoying them.
Just an FYI, I had these March mandalas done two weeks ago. I loved coloring them. Just took me a while to post them. What I like about using these broad templates, is that I don’t have to think too much about drawing or layout. I work with the color and markers.
The great thing about Liz drawing her own is the freeform aspect and designs. I just love her designs! More to come later. Got to get rolling!
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Wow. These are all so beautiful.
I can’t think of anything to add to that. Just…beautiful. 🙂
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Robin, thank you for your smile.
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I loved sauntering through this visual feast of a post. Vivid, engaged, moving, memorable. Well done.
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Naturally, a proud Mom has to join in. One comment I have been tempted to make ever since the two of you have been coloring the mandalas is that I always gave my children blank pieces of paper, when they wanted to draw. Unless Liz remembers otherwise, I do not recall buying them coloring books. I wanted them to create their own designs, believing that it would encourage individual creativity. Liz often would begin in the middle of the paper and draw around and around, making a continuous circle, sometimes filling the whole page. She was also very patient, deliberate and careful in her art work, even as a two-year old, (or perhaps younger than that.)
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haiku for mandalas:
color in motion
filling up pages again
circles of beauty
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QM, these are by far my favorite in the mandala series! I like them all & Liz’s are truly amazing! She does indeed capture them in her free form designs! Wow!
As I commented recently on one of the original posts about mandalas, my week-end was consumed by Brant coloring many of the prints that I had down loaded. He did a great job with them too! Both J & I were surprised to see him “choose just the right colors” for each design. He gave each & every one a lot of thought before he began coloring. He would pick out the crayons he would use prior to beginning.
Like oliverowl, I do not buy him coloring books, except the educational ones that help with his learning letters, etc. We use mostly artist or doodle paper to encourage his creative abilities. As he is only 6 years old, his abilities always blow my mind. D
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Deborah, thank you so much. I appreciate your comment.
oliverowl, your comment is so sweet about Liz (I guess people know by now that you are her Mom!). I read it to her and she blushed. 8) Somehow it makes total sense to me that she was drawing mandalas at 2 years old. She is still patient and deliberate in her art work. It seems like it grounds her. I often marvel at her creative abilities, in the arts and writing, as well as in business and with numbers.
I’m looking forward to getting started on April’s mandalas. I haven’t looked at the templates yet. Or read the theme.
diddy, aren’t kids amazing when it comes to freedom in their creativity? Liz is taking a class to learn about the benefits of art therapy and she taped a young girl drawing, coloring, using glitter glue and markers a few weekends ago. It was part of their assignment to learn about the creative process. Kids are just so free. It’s not until later that we are stripped of the value of writing and the arts. I wish it wasn’t so.
It is good to notice Brant’s sense of design and color. Those are assets. I have a friend who is a graphic designer and her sense of design and color plays a big role in her art and painting. You are giving him a great gift by spending that kind of quality time with him!
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These are quite beautiful!
Thank you for sharing them!
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I’ve just finished the stage two and I’m now exploring the third.
Thank you for sharing with us your mandalas
Best regards
Maous
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