Susan Bradford Art

Spring (Tolerance) held the idea that somehow everything and everyone could work together toward growth, cooperation, and the promise of blossoming. But really, nature is messy, free and wild. Tolerance can be unruly. Things are popping up all over the place, yet they all seem to know when and where to grow. My lesson was strong and clear. Get out of the way and let it happen.

Summer (Trust) was a way of finding renewed strength and confidence. I always love summer, as I was born at the end of July and feel my happiest in the heady part of summer that Leo rules. This year, I learned to Trust my body more and to be more grateful for it. In return, I was able to garden, to be creative and to keep learning about life and love, about getting and giving support.

Grace. In this mandala, the forms and colors feel like Grace. But when creating it, I wasn’t feeling graceful in my emotional being and this was manifesting in my physical presence as well. So I knew that I really needed to do this piece. And I was given lessons to help me realize that there was Grace in all of that as well. Here’s a good example. Sadly I broke one of my favorite glasses, and that led to the bright orange jagged burst just outside the central image of the delicate flower. The two sides to my own life, coming together to form a whole.

Connection. The imagery in this mandala is more literal than in many of the others in this series. The concept of connection is so important to me and feels so palpable when I can achieve it; so perhaps that it why the mandala came out this way. It’s all a huge challenge for me, of course. But creating this mandala helped me to trust that the connections are there, that I can feel them, and that I can choose them as often as possible.

Communication. Communication happens when I least expect it, and sometimes totally eludes me when I am feeling most in need of it. How much or how little to share? What is appropriate to communicate and what isn’t? To really communicate honestly, I continually have to grapple with those questions, and that often entails going to that dark place within myself. That place is represented by the black curving line that is the center of this mandala.

Faith. Life hardly ever proceeds in a linear fashion, at least my own does not. So when I am feeling worried or closed off, I need to know that whatever happens, it is all OK. I can just plunge in and take the next step even if it seems risky. In this mandala, putting the lime green color in the outer ring became a metaphor for faith. I hesitated about it for so long and felt that it possibly could ruin the whole thing. But nothing else felt right, so I gave in, had faith, and voila…it pulled the whole circle together.

Gratitude. OK, there are lots of things that I would like to have or to change. But for the most part, I am truly grateful for my life and I most often feel fortunate beyond measure. But, of course, at times something will upset this beautiful balance, and I feel disconnected. Doing this mandala was a reminder of the lightness and sense of play that comes when I am feeling truly grateful. The imagery in the mandala is all about flow and reflects that peaceful, floating state of mind that comes with feeling blessed.

Prosperity. I owe this mandala to my wonderful friends and fellow dancers. We call ourselves the Sisters of Prosperity, and have bought lottery tickets together every week. We share our dreams and visions. And so this mandala was born. For me, prosperity is a thing of joy. It is about integrity, generosity and love. The joy is reflected in the flow and looseness in the mandala, and in the bubbles that spill over from one level to the next. Winning the lottery would be great. But I am prosperous beyond measure right now. And I choose a bubbly and joyous life!

Acceptance. There is something very luscious about acceptance, much like the red flower in the center of this mandala. The more I accept myself and stand tall at the center of my own world, the closer I can get to the embodiment of that brilliant red flower. The imagery in the mandala is about developing a better sense of my own inner light and the many ways I have of expressing it through art, spirituality, and life.

Hope. When I radiate hope, I feel powerful and positive and protected. My inner light is activated and is sending that message to others. There is a ring near the outside of the mandala that resembles a person, surrounded by yellow light and protected in that glow. It is the glow of hope that I would like to radiate within myself and to summon up with the creation of this mandala.

Joy. When I started working on this mandala, my sciatic issues acted up, and it gave me the opportunity to examine Joy while being in physical pain. I learned that even within the deepest sadness there is the promise of joy. And in the midst of the most exquisite joy, there is the hint of profound sadness. I learned that Joy was living within me no matter what. That idea is embodied by the orange dot at the center, protected by the concentric circles surrounding it. Joy exists as equally in the fully open flowers on the outside of the mandala, as it does in the small, private buds that are close to the center.

Creativity. The central image comes first for all my mandalas. It is the spark. This time it took weeks to discover that spark. I drew so many new ideas! Finally, I connected with one drawing in a new way. Simple little orange circles with a green border, orderly and random at the same time. They were eggs. They were beginnings, and they had been there all along. I also included words for the first time, exposing my process on new level. So in the end I learned that I need to: Breathe. Move. Stop. Think. Work. Relax. Trust that ideas will come from my heart. Then let it all flow so that I can change and blossom.

Balance. Since these mandalas arise out of my personal experiences, it was inevitable that balance would need to be one of them, as it is a lifelong issue for me. As the feeling of balance deepens in my life, there is also a sense of safety and lightness. I am learning that with a balanced mind and a stable body, all changes can be welcome. The rings in this mandala are all relatively narrow. Their closeness to each other seem to echo the feeling of balance and connection that I seek.

Strength. Feeling strong is very important to me. I began working on this mandala at a time when I was very overwhelmed and felt as if my physical and emotional strength was ebbing away. Starting the mandala was a conscious decision to reverse the process and to regain my core strength. There is a strong sense of contrast in the colors of this mandala. They embody the sharp difference between feeling strong and not feeling strong. When I finished it, I felt different and more powerful.