Mona’s Mitten Mandalas

December 10th, 2012

My friend Mona Shiber is one of the most creative people I know.  I first meet her when she moved to St. Louis over a decade ago.  I saw her artwork at a show and knew I would love to know her and have some of her art.  Fortunately we became friends and I now have numerous art pieces that she created, including some mandala art.  Although she now lives in Massachusetts, we keep in touch, visit once in awhile and share art stories.

During a trip a few years ago to Northhampton MA, to hear Mary Oliver read her poems, I got to visit Mona.  During that visit I came home with a beautiful art piece, an accordion book that chronicles the Mitten Project that she created while living in St. Louis. The book was made with handmade paper (made from clothes by Mona)  and printed with Mona’s linoleum cuts. Many of the images are mandala shapes. I wish you could feel the texture of the woodcut imprints and soft paper.

In the Mitten Project, Mona took old wool sweaters, felted them and made them into mittens to be left for those in need of warmth in the cold.  You can enjoy the art work and how to make these mittens in the photos that follow.

Here is the pattern for the mittens.

These mittens are fun to  make and share.

Here are some  photos of mittens recently made, on her Facebook page. It’s fun to see what art she is up to there.

photos of mittens above by Joyce Braunhut