Fantasy Flowers – Summer Mandalas & Art
November 2nd, 2022
Fantasy Flowers – Summer Mandalas & Art
I took a break from Blog* Posting this last summer. Creativity continued during this time though with a Fantasy Flower Watercolor workshop and monthly Mandala Circles. This blog shares what was created.
Fantasy Flowers – Discovering the Artist Inside
My Watercolors the Inspired the Workshop
Two things inspired this workshop, the love of playing with watercolors and the idea of creating flowers from our imaginations. I had created some fun watercolors I called Fantasy Flowers and had so much joy in creating them. I wanted others to share that joy. My all day workshop took place at the end of June. A dear friend from Wisconsin came and inspired me with her creativity.
Mary Kay’s Fantasy Flowers – Ink Pens & Watercolors
Watercolor is fun and frustrating, the joy of it comes when letting go and letting something new, different and unique emerge. Too often the frustration is feeling that a “perfect” rendition of a flower or object outside of us can’t be done. With much time and work and in my opinion too much time and work, it can be done. But in my own experience I don’t want to let the joy of creating be sucked out of me by trying to copy something outside of me. I want to find my playful childlike inner imagination and let it create from within.
Linda M’s Fantasy Flower – Watercolors & Ink/Paint Pens
There is a whole world of imagination inside all of us that creates beautiful, different and unique flowers and forms, if we only let it out. As Rumi says: “Inside you there’s an artist you don’t know about… say yes quickly”
Linda M’s Fantasy Flowers – Watercolor & Ink Pens
I love the colors and forms of these paintings. They remind me of Claude Monet’s quote: “What I need most of all is color, always, always.
Mary Kay’s Fantasy Flowers – Watercolors
In all my workshops I have warm up time with just playing with paint and making friends with the brushes and colors. From these playful expressions the paper is folded to make a folder to hold the finished and unfinished paintings. They are always fun to make.
Since both sides of the paper are painted, the folder’s insides are always a treat.
Mandala Circles
Monthly Mandala Circles continued through the summer. As always, we gathered, checked in, and settled in with a guided meditation. Mandalas and other art were created with soft music in the background for almost 2 hours. Then we shared our creations. It’s always a surprise to see the uniqueness and sometimes similar marks made even though each person’s art is totally their own.
Linda M’s Starburst of Light Honoring the Children of Uvalde
What will be exactly created is always a mystery, but what is taking place both inside of us and around us in the world brings an outpouring of thoughts and feelings. A few weeks after the horrible school shooting in Uvalde Texas, Linda M created this piece with all the names of the children who were killed. Heart shaped metal brads are in the center, with star shaped ones in the outer heavens of this piece.
Linda was inspired by artist and activist Betty LaDuke with her paintings where humans and birds inhabit the same form.
Linda M’s Mandala – Humans and Birds
Linda M’s Bird & Flower Petals
Linda M’s Mandala -Hearts, Sun, Sky
Christine painted this mandala to honor the streams and rivers of nearby land.
Christine’s Honoring Waterways Mandala
As always flowers are an inspiration.
Linda M’s Flower Mandala
Linda M’s Lotus Like Flower Art
When creating from within, certain shapes appear. According to cultural anthropologist Angeles Arrien, there are five universal shapes that have meaning in our lives. Often these shapes are repeated in spontaneous art. Ann created her beautiful art at one of the summer Mandala Circles showing the five universal shapes. 
Ann’s Five Universal Shapes Watercolor
ENJOY & CREATE
LINDA
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