Image Mandalas

Recently I had to write a paper for my studies with Wisdom University for a workshop in which I participated called Moving Toward Wholeness.  The paper was on the work of Stan and Christina Grof and Holotrophic Breathwork.  At the end of Holotrophic Breathwork sessions participants are often asked to draw mandalas, as a way to ground the experience and express it in a non-verbal way.  According to Heita Copony in the book "Mystery of Mandalas"

“A spontaneously painted mandala might carry messages from the psyche into our conscious awareness, sometimes with a clarity that could never be produced by our ordinary consciousness.”   

Since writing this paper I have been looking for a way to create mandalas with my photographs.

This past weekend one of the talented photographers attending my photography retreat showed us the amazing mandalas she had created with her photographs. This led me on search of the internet to see if there was any easy software available to create mandalas.  I didn't find any, but I found a great tutorial which guided me in making this mandala out of an image of daisies in a glass jar. It took some time and the colors are brighter than those I usually work with (I just picked the first image that I saw on the screen to work with), but it feels like magic when you see the final result. 

I know I'll be making more mandalas.

Everyday Art Supplies

It is amazing how many art supplies you have lying around your house.  Recently I had to submit a page for a collaborative art journal with the theme of Black and White. I find the way I get inspiration for a new project is to gather up anything I find that speaks to the theme.  And this is how I discovered that I could collect plenty of black and white papers merely by collecting old security envelopes which would usually end up in the recycling box.  The insides of the envelopes are covered with many different, interesting black and white designs.  So black paper, a white pen and security envelopes allowed me to create my page for our collaborative journal.

Meinrad Craighead: Praying with Images

Meinrad Craighead: Praying with Images Preview from Amy Kellum on Vimeo.

In this extract from Meinrad Craighead's video, she says: "If I didn't paint, I wouldn't know where I was in the universe."  This really resonated with me, and is the reason I am drawn to photography.  It enables me to understand my place on this earth.  It allows me to connect with something larger which speaks to me of my relationship to the natural world and everything in it.  Creating in a mindful way is a prayer of gratitude - gratitude for the gift of our senses with which we can experience the beauty of the world.

Seeking the Shapes

Triangles and Circles were the themes for the Photo Art Journals this month.  I had no trouble finding circles in many different and unexpected places, but triangles seemed to evade me.  So I resorted to creating my own.  I found an instruction video on how to make a paper boat - something I had never done before - and created my own paper boat.  I then floated it in my bird bath and managed to see at least eight triangles in the resulting photograph - as well as circles of light.  I love how challenges such as needing to photograph a specific theme help me grow my abilities in small ways - now I know how to make a paper boat, and all because I had to find triangles to photograph! 

"These paper boats of mine are meant to dance on the ripples of hours, and not reach any destination."
Rabindranath Tagore

Evolutionary Creativity

I have just spent a week with Jan Phillips.  It has been a week of magic as Jan shared her ideas on Evolutionary Creativity, and I have felt myself grow and expand in possibility. Jan reminded us that we are here to empower each other and that we are co-creating our planet.  To this end Evolutionary Creativity is creation connected to the Divine, the Source; it is for the healing of the people and the planet and it inspires others to create and to act.  We are all Serving Artists using every day and every way to be the Light we came here to experience.

One of the practices Jan shared with us was that of writing our own Creed. A creed is a statement of belief, originating from the Latin word "credo" meaning "I believe".  Jan's Artist's Creed can be found in her book Marry Your Muse, and is a powerful reminder of what an artist needs to remember.  In our workshop we each shared our one-line Creeds.  I wrote: I believe that everyone is blessed when we express our creativity in the world.

In an attempt to put into words what has been awakened in this week of rich, deep learning, I wrote a prayer.

Creator of Life and Light,
May I remember that I am a spark of your light;
May I live in awareness of the beauty around me;
May the love within me express itself through me;
May I live with my eyes wide open in wonder;
May I share the magic I experience each day;
May I connect to the essence of those around me;
May I be open like a flower to the rain;
And may I be both an expression of peace and passion in the world.

What do you believe?  What is the first line of your Creed?

Visual Art Journaling and Playing

I really believe that play is an important part of our lives.  Yes, even when we are all grown up.  But can you remember the last time you played?  Plato said: Life should be lived as play.  Can you imagine what your life might look like if you lived it as play instead of as work?  I often refer to my studio as my "playroom" and I believe everyone needs a place to play.  If you don't agree, have a look at the research done by Stuart Brown in his book Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul.


And if that doesn't persuade you perhaps Bernard Shaw will.  He said "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing."  For example, try skipping instead of walking and see if that doesn't make you feel younger!


Last weekend six creative women came and played in my studio and created amazing journal pages by playing on the page with paints, paper, image and word.  Here are just a couple of images from the workshop. Thank you Jodi, Janet, Debra, Linda, Eileen and Janet for letting me share them, even though I know some of them are still in process. 

Journal cover by Janet Jones

Journal cover by Debra Bridges

Journal cover by Linda Hartzig

Journal cover by Eileen Orlowski

Journal cover by Jodi Helmer

Journal page by Janet Hince

Light

One of the photographers in the Drawing with Light retreat, Carol Trull, gave me permission to share her photographs. It seems that Carol really connected with the energy of the place where the retreat was held which is called The Light Center. 

The word photography comes from the Greek and means drawing with light, so this was truly a perfect venue for the retreat.  And Carol truly recorded the essence of light in this image. The Light Center is "dedicated to helping you expand awareness of your inner light and to pray more effectively", so light was in and around us in many ways.  The dictionary defines light as "the energy producing a sensation of brightness that makes seeing possible" and as "God as a source of spiritual illumination and strength" - both of which applied in this weekend retreat on photography as a spiritual practice.

When visiting The Light Center you are generously given a package of information about the Center which includes the seven steps of effective prayer which are:

1.  I release all of my past, negatives, fears, human relationships, self-image, future, human desires and judgments to the Light.

2.  I am a Light Being.

3.  I radiate the Light from my Light Center throughout my being.

4.  I radiate the Light from my Light Center to everyone.

5.  I radiate the Light from my Light Center to everything.

6.  I am in a bubble of Light and only Light can come to me and only Light can be here.

7.  Thank you God for everyone, for everything, and for me.

And Carol also made this amazing image of butterflies.  In ancient Greek the word for butterfly is psyche, which translated means soul.  Truly a soulful weekend in a soulful place.