Mandala page in my Book

Having focused on mandalas for over a decade, I had to include a mandala in my (non-journal, non-sketch) Book.

When I began I hadn't intended it to look quite so Tibetan Buddhist. But the page is rectangular not square and four circles showed up in the corners. Then the four colors crept in, and lotus petals and four gates, and it just kept on.

I included some metallic and sparkle inks that don't show in the photo. I think my favorite part is the background, the Crescent Moon in triangles with multi-toned blue. I'm not sure how I feel about all the white spaces I left, but it's finished.

Bodhi tree "old" manuscript

One of my recent eco-dyed papers was a single leaf, and - although is isn't - it reminded me of the Bodhi tree leaves of India. In fact, the leaf itself looked much like a tree.

Tangles: Arukas, Coaster, Crescent Moon, Finery, Flux,
Hurly Burly, Marasu, Opus, Pearlz, Perfs, Printemps,
Shattuck, Unyun, Wud

I liked it, and thought it would pair well with a quotation, like an old book, similar to a recent piece "Discerning Eyes".

I wanted a quotation that referred to the bodhi tree, or enlightenment, or even both. I found one from the Buddhist scriptures, but it was awkwardly worded: "After six years' right sitting under the Bodhi tree of the wisdom throne, I could accomplish Perfect Enlightenment." I altered the wording slightly so it would flow better.

The Buddhist Noble Eightfold Path consists of right view, right aspiration, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. I was rather charmed by the idea that there may also be a right way to sit!

Here is the pair of pages:

More "old" manuscripts to come I'm sure!

Jack Wise, Artist

I have long enjoyed the intricate mandalas painted by Jack Wise. In particular I like how he often flows the same pattern through various color changes or shading.

In his early 30s Jack Wise moved from the United States to British Columbia, Canada, to pursue a life as a homesteader. That was in the early 1960s. After a brief hiatus, he returned to his painting with a passion that lasted the rest of his life. Wise was known for his calligraphy based upon Chinese brushwork, and for his colorful mandalas which embody a Buddhist cosmology. 

I originally had one of Jack Wise's mandala paintings on this blog post, but was requested to remove it. I did. Nonetheless, you can see some of his wonderful artwork here. Click on the yellow word "Contemplate", then on the yellow word "mandalas". Be sure to look at the detail images for each painting.

Tibetan sand mandalas

If you've ever seen a real-life Tibetan Buddhist sand mandala I'm sure you were as impressed as I was. For me the truly amazing aspect is that they don't use any glue! The mandalas are large - about a meter across - and take days to construct. That's a LOT of loose sand! Don't dare bump the board it's on, or sneeze, or turn on a fan.

Photo courtesy of 'henryart' at creativecomons.org

I've had the privilege of seeing three being constructed. It's amazing to watch the monks at work. I discovered an interesting time-lapse video of one that took six days to complete. The whole thing comes together in about two minutes and the video is very interesting. One gets a much better idea of the process - and I think it's even more impressive - to stop by day after day to watch a mandala like this take shape slowly, as it must. It's interesting to be in the atmosphere of the monks' care and focused attention, although they are also friendly, smiling, and open to chat and explain. Then finally, once all that careful work is done, to watch it all being swept together.

Here's another video that's mostly sand mandalas. The sound track is by Phyllis Cole-Dai, an American pianist and composer. The music is lovely, as are the sentiments expressed, but what makes this video particularly special for me is that my painting "Whiz Bang" appears in it! It shows up near the end, just after the seven minute mark, and lasts about half a minute.

WHIZ BANG (c) 1995 Margaret Bremner; 24" square.

While mainly done in acrylic paint Whiz Bang does contain a few sections of colored sand. But I used glue! There is also a filigree gold-colored metal disk in the center. If I had to choose a dozen masterpieces of my work, this would be one of them.