Flamingo Pink & Aqua

“The mandala is an archetypal image whose occurrence is attested throughout the ages. It signifies the wholeness of the self” (Jung, 1965, pp. 334-335).

I started coloring mandalas about a year and a half ago when I started my M.A. in Counseling Psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute.  I find the practice of coloring mandalas very relaxing and it helped with my restlessness on class days when we were supposed to pay attention for 12 hours of lecture.

At some point I decided to start drawing my own mandalas.  Initially, I wanted to follow Suzanne Fincher’s book, but struggled to follow a set progression of mandalas and wanted to draw more intuitively.  So, I followed Andrea Schroeder’s instructional video on how to draw intuitive mandalas and then took her online class.  I started drawing one every morning as well as many random ones throughout the day.  At some point I found Louise Gale’s work and signed up for her Mixed Media Mandala class in October (can’t wait!!!).  I also found out about #the100dayproject through her blog.  I joined (instagram @brilliantaqua) and back counted my mandalas (I started on April 1st instead of April 6th…).  Tomorrow will be 50/100.

I’ve been using Micron pens (05 and 03 are my favorites), a Moleskine journal, a Moleskine watercolor journal, Prismacolor colored pencils, Prismacolor watercolor pencils, this set of watercolors and various watercolor brushes.  So, depending on my mood I will create a pen & colored pencil mandala, a pen and watercolor mandala, or sometimes I decide not to add color at all.

In August I will be traveling to Bali for a Mandala Retreat.  I’m so excited to actually take a vacation & to create art for an entire week in such a beautiful place.

Reference
Jung, C.G. (1965). Memories, dreams, reflections. New York: NY: Vintage Books.