In Southern Ontario, at the mouth of the Thames River on Lake St. Clair is a little out-of-the-way-place called Lighthouse Cove, home of an iconic lighthouse that has inspired all three of the following mandalas. I’m looking forward to sharing these with the people there on July 2 (you’re all welcome, too!)
Do you have a favourite?
Lighthouse Cove - source image for all 3 mandalas.
Lighthouse Mandala -detail. Click to enlarge
Lighthouse Cove Mandala 3 – detail. Click to enlarge.
“Our remote ancestors said to their Mother Earth, “We are ours.”
Modern humanity has said to Nature, “You are mine.”
The Green Man has returned as the living face of the whole earth
So that through his mouth we may say to the Universe, “We are one.” - Terri Windling
The source image is one I took of the beautiful doors at 107 Wellington West in downtown Toronto, which I later learned is Canada’s oldest private club.
Is it an obvious or ironic connection, do you think – a Green Man carving on the doors of a clubhouse whose members include titans of modern industry and finance?
Today’s post includes two mandalas inspired by some suspiciously radical-looking daisies growing in my front garden.
Wikipedia has an good essay of Flower Power movement of the late ’60s and early ’70s.
And to help make the experience more complete, here is Pink Floyd with “Us and Them”
Us, and them
And after all were only ordinary men.
Me, and you.
God only knows it’s not what we would choose to do.
Forward he cried from the rear
And the front rank died.
And the general sat and the lines on the map
Moved from side to side.
Black and blue
And who knows which is which and who is who.
Up and down.
But in the end it’s only round and round.
Haven’t you heard it’s a battle of words
The poster bearer cried.
Listen son, said the man with the gun
There’s room for you inside.
I mean, they’re not gunna kill ya, so if you give em a quick short,
Sharp, shock, they wont do it again. dig it? I mean he get off
Lightly, cos I would’ve given him a thrashing – I only hit him once!
It was only a difference of opinion, but really…i mean good manners
Don’t cost nothing do they, eh?
Down and out
It can’t be helped but there’s a lot of it about.
With, without.
And who’ll deny it’s what the fighting’s all about?
Out of the way, it’s a busy day
I’ve got things on my mind.
For the want of the price of tea and a slice
The old man died.
Man must rise above the Earth—to the top of the atmosphere and beyond—for only thus will he fully understand the world in which he lives.
— Socrates
“This dramatic view of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot and its surroundings was obtained by Voyager 1 on Feb. 25, 1979, when the spacecraft was 5.7 million miles (9.2 million kilometers) from Jupiter. Cloud details as small as 100 miles (160 kilometers) across can be seen here. The colorful, wavy cloud pattern to the left of the Red Spot is a region of extraordinarily complex end variable wave motion.” from http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00014
Jupiter Great Red Spot Mandala - detail. Click to enlarge.
Jupiter Great Red Spot Mandala - Source image from NASA
Using an image of my prissiest tea cups, this mandala is offered in honour of the royal wedding tomorrow. I intend to get up before dawn, fill these very same cups with tea, toast some crumpets and watch as the royal family puts on their best show in decades.
May the couple find happiness in each other, and together, may they bring great, good things to the world.
“The complexity of things – the things within things – just seems to be endless. I mean nothing is easy, nothing is simple.” — Alice Munro
And now for something completely different.
I’ve been wanting to use the bird in this photo I took at Ojibway Nature Reserve for some time. I’m drawn to the shape but I was never happy with the texture or colours in the image, or in any mandalas I made with it.
I’m content with this new result. It makes me think of Victorian ceramic tiles and that somehow makes me happy.
“To some, ‘steampunk’ is a catchall term, a concept in search of a visual identity. To me, it’s essentially the intersection of technology and romance. – Jake von Slatt
This is the third and final piece I have in the Steampunk show currently at Milk Coffee Bar. The source image for this mandala is of Chris Ford’s original jewellery.
“Steampunk is…a joyous fantasy of the past, allowing us to revel in a nostalgia for what never was. It is a literary playground for adventure, spectacle, drama, escapism and exploration. But most of all it is fun!”
— George Mann
This mandala is also part of the Steampunk show currently at Milk Coffee Bar.
Steampunk Watch Mandala - detail. Click to enlarge.
*From Wikipedia: Works of steampunk often feature anachronistictechnology or futuristic innovations as Victorians may have envisioned them; in other words, based on a Victorian perspective on fashion, culture, architectural style, art, etc
I almost passed on participating in this show, thinking the essential concepts of mandalas and steampunk were at odds. Was it really possible to see a mandala from a Victorian technological perspective? I’m glad I tried. Preparing for this show has been great at getting me out of my comfort zone.
I created 6 new mandalas and settled on 3 to exhibit. I’ll post them all here in the next few days. (My daughter helped me choose which 3 to include and wrote my bio page for the show. I’ve been calling her my curator.)
The mandala featured in this post – Steampunk 3 – made it into the show. You can see it now until April 9 in person at Milk.
A few months ago I got interested in Kefir grains, sent away for a few dried grains (less than $10), and began fermenting my own kefir beverages. Now that the grains are multiplying successfully, I’m enjoying sharing them with family, friends and neighbours.
This mandala is a close-up photo of a water kefir grain doing its thing in a sugar solution with added raisins. You may have heard of water kefir already. It is also known by a variety of other names, such as Tibicos tibi, sugar kefir grains, Japanese water crystals and California Bees, and in older literature also known as Bébées, African bees, Ale nuts, Australian bees, Balm of Gilead, Beer seeds, Beer plant, Bees, Ginger Beer plant, Ginger bees, Japanese Beer seeds and Vinegar bees.
There is also such a thing as milk kefir grains which ferment milk into a cultured beverage a lot like yogourt. Milk kefir has a long, rich history and proven health benefits, but it doesn’t make such a great photo. This site provides an entertaining and thorough history of kefir — part fact, part myth.
Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy. Thich Nhat Hahn
I know it is St. Patrick’s day, but I just wasn’t feeling the shamrocks. The source image for this Filigree Mandala is a closeup of some of Chris Ford’s jewellery.
