Mandalas are a sacred circle, found across cultures, a focus for meditation, prayer, a delight for the eye, an incarnation of joy. I began with white pencil on black paper, following the instructions in Judith Cornell's book Mandala. The white pencil applies light to the black page, makes light incarnate, and amplified by the darkness. I started drawing healing mandalas for friends who were struggling with pain in either body or spirit. The act of drawing is a prayer for healing, which then can be shared.
One day, after I had begun making glass mosaics, I saw a circular wooden cutting board at a thrift shop, and suddenly thought of mandalas. I kept the circle, until I saw a photo of an eye on the cover of National Geographic magazine, and I knew this is what I wanted to make into a mandala. Applying glass is another dimension of light, the sparkle and glint. I contrasted pure black stained glass in the center with iridized pale yellow, translucent amber, and a outer corona of olive green streaked with white. This was new territory for me, beyond geometrics and tile, beyond the two dimension drawings on black paper.
The uncanny resemblance to a sunflower led to my next mandala. Sunflowers seek the light, turn their faces to the sun. Flowers have the brilliance of color found in glass, and invite my eye to create their likeness. I have been inspired by Gazania, Morning Glory, Poinsettia, Sunflowers from golden to red ochre, and Star Flower.
Mandalas draw people toward them. I have seen someone from across the aisle at craft shows start heading diagonally toward a particular mandala, following the brilliance of the glass and light. It is an awesome thing to witness.
