Mandala

For my birthday this year (in February), I painted a mandala on the living room wall. I owe a big "thank you!" to my sister for the suggestion. Drawing on the walls was just what I needed.

I used a similar approach to this project as I do in my ceramics, in that I wanted the finished result to be very professional but not "perfect." Therefore, I created a stencil for 1/4 of the mandala, then casually penciled the design onto the wall and jumped right into painting. The spacing isn't totally accurate and many of the shapes are just a hair different, and that's the way I like it!

First I sketched some animals to see how their shapes inspired me. Then I cut them out of manilla folders and arranged them to determine scale and experiment with color. 

It was fun playing around with my shapes! Once I was set with the design, I created a stencil using a paperboard pizza box.

It's an interesting experience attempting to draw a straight line on the popcorn finish of our walls. It's a bit like drawing on curved or bumpy clay surfaces, without being able to cut into the surface.

I considered using - and was initially inspired by - geometrical patterns, but that would mean I'd need to execute the design with more exactness. If I'm going to draw on the walls, I'd better incorporate playfulness and approximation, not absolute precision.

Here's the finished mandala. The geometric center is a nod at my math "heritage" and is also the center of a sort of flower. There are silly dipper birds within the petals of the flower (they make my husband smile, and he does a great impression of the very determined way they stomp around in the mud). Around the flower are elephants - inspiring creatures I associate with wisdom, life, etc. Atop each elephant sits a fox (representing our wonderfully intelligent neighborhood friends) enjoying the beautiful sky filled with twinkling and shooting stars.