Mandalas- A Sacred art
Since most of the art that I create is heavily based around Mandalas, I thought it would be good to share a little bit of the history behind the Mandala and why they are so special.
Mandalas first began to arise in the 4th century in areas like, Tibet, Nepal, China, India, Japan and Indonesia.
These beautiful works of art served as devotional images that were symbols of the universe. Depicting the journey from suffering to joy.
Back then and even today they are used as meditative tools to help one achieve the “perfect self.” Those who painted mandalas were devoted religious men of the church, usually from families who were previously painters. Some of the painters were also monks.
Now there are actual sacred steps in the creation of these works, similar to how I create my pieces.
They have to prepare the surface. Most of the time they would stretch a piece of cotton fabric over a wooden frame. A coat of gelatin was then applied to the fabric to give a stiff base to create off of.
A design would then be established by drawing out a sketch. They would use a charcoal type crayon to design out the sketch that had Buddhist images and traditions within them. Then the initial drawing is reinforced with brushes and black inks.
First coats of paint. Painting was done in two different types, mineral pigments and organic dyes. The brushes were made of fine animal hairs attached to a wooden handle by a thread.
Shading and outlining of the design. Simple but tedious process of filling in the design by the organic dyes.
Finishing touches. Most of the painters finished the piece by scraping the painting with a knife so it would create an even surface. The artist would dust the painting with a rag and rub the surface with a small ball of grain flour dough. This gave the painting a matte finish and picked up any remaining paint dust. The last pigment that was laid down was gold.
This whole process is more or less how I go about painting my mandalas. I have to prepare my wooden canvas, I draw out my guideline in charcoal, plan my color pallet, lay down the first layer of dots, then the second and even a third layer. Once the painting is done, I erase and wipe any remaining charcoal lines and clean off any debris left behind. I sometimes finish off a piece with mirrors and then seal it with a varnish to protect the color.
Finally, there are three different types of mandalas that are created.
Teaching: These are symbolic mandalas where each shape, color and line represent a different aspect of a philosophical or religious system.
Healing: These are made for the purpose of meditating. It is meant to deliver wisdom and evoke feelings of calm, focus and concentration.
Sand: These are types of mandalas that monks and even Navajo cultures use a traditional religious elements. Representing the true impermanence of human life.
When I create my mandalas, I use it as a tool of meditation. Since meditating is so hard for me to do by itself. I have found that I am able to relax my mind and let the dots and ideas flow out of me. It is a time for me to leave everything behind and just become one with the mandala.
