Tag: artist

Grace…

by susanbradfordart, posted in Mandala Art
the newest mandala

It seemed like a good idea.  I decided to do a mandala about Grace several months ago.  I took a few notes and did a few doodles, and then put it aside.  My thoughts about grace were all over the place, but that only made me realize how much I needed to work on it.

This quote from Anne Lamott kind of sums it up, “I do not at all understand the mystery of grace – only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us.”

It is such a tricky and elusive word.  And working with it began to reflect my longing to pin things down, to understand the whys and hows and whats of my own life.  I want physical grace as well as grace on a spiritual level.  I want that ever popular state of grace.  I want it to permeate my thoughts and actions on all levels.  I want to live with grace and age with grace.

Yet my personal journey while working on it was not particularly easy, almost as if I were being shown how much work there is to do.  I’m not exactly sure what I learned, but I know that it made me think and look and feel a lot.

And that’s enough for now.

Synchronicity

by susanbradfordart, posted in Mandala Art

I had to laugh when I read Anita‘s eloquent blog on Tuesday because for the past week I have been immersed in working on a Grace mandala. She captured the concept so well, while it has been quite the struggle for me to grapple with the word and all its meanings.  Mine has been in the works for several months. I had made some sketches and had written down some of my feelings about Grace. But of course, once I started to draw it, everything changed.

And there is Grace in that for sure.

So many opportunities have arisen in the last few days to challenge my ideas about it.  I have to laugh about that as well.  It seems to be the pattern.  Once I make a decision to tackle a particular word, the lessons show up all over the place.

I will be finished with it soon, and will share it here along with more of the story about making it.  I wanted to use just a small detail of it for now, but the lighting was bad, and it is late, and it all felt just a bit beyond my technical capabilities.  So for now, these are the markers and the palette that I’m using.

It’s all about time and timing

by susanbradfordart, posted in Mandala Art
Truth

It’s seems so common to talk about speaking truthfully and from the heart.  But these days I’m being reminded that I must first discover what is really true for me before I say it.  When I get it right, the words pour out.  I feel better and the results are so tangible that I can reach out and touch them.  But arriving at that kind of truth can be such a squiggly thing, so elusive and hard to hold on to.  And even harder to say out loud.  No wonder I spend so much time avoiding confrontation.

The other day I finally took some pictures of the Mandala Platters that I’ve been selling for almost a year. And I must admit that I was in a bit of a snit at that moment in time.  When I got to the one depicting Truth, I realized that it was just what I needed to see at that moment.  I was reminded of feelings that I had while I was working on it a couple of years ago, and was able to get more in touch with some of the fears that stop me from being true to myself.  Clarity returned.  I could breathe freely again. After that, it was was easy to find the right words.

How nice to know that these mandalas really work!!   Now to get them up on our website, perhaps a much more challenging proposition than discovering truth.

 

Remembering

by susanbradfordart, posted in Mandala Art

Being in Delaware Water Gap is not about making art, and I need to remember that. I always have high hopes of feeling creative while I’m here, hanging out in the space where I used to paint for so many years. There is a small area that I keep carved out in the room where I spent so many happy hours and that now functions mostly for storage. I always imagine that I will feel enticed to spend time in that room sitting at the drafting table drawing and painting small things. I keep paints, pencils, charcoal, paper at hand just in case, but it never seems to happen. So accept it, Susan, and release the feelings of self-doubt and guilt that go along with not creating for two or three whole weeks at a time.

Remember that being in Delaware Water Gap is about doing lots of Reiki, selling mandalas, showing paintings, seeing friends, listening to music at the Deer Head, taking walks, and having fun. It’s about reconnecting with my history, staying connected to so many people that I love, keeping my East coast energy alive and well. And that’s more than enough.

Seven years into this process, still loving the art of being bi-coastal.

Onward…

by susanbradfordart, posted in Mandala Art

This has been an amazing summer for me.   I’ve barely left home.  And I have developed what for me is almost like a routine.  Emails in the morning.  Sit outside, eat lunch, and read a little.  Work in the garden.  Work in the studio.  Work in the garden a bit more if there is still light in the sky.  Make a basket or a bracelet.  Cook dinner with lots of wonderful things from the garden.  Watch a movie.  Sleep.

A very simple, magical summer!

Tonight is the opening at ESU.  Finally!

Then on to the Jazz Festival!  Come see this and other drawings there!  And of course, Anita’s fabulous jewelry, Marci’s great photos, Stan’s inspirational music, lots of mandalas, and more…

Back home at the end of September to establish another routine.  Onward!  Upward?  Let’s hope so!