I was invited to be a demonstrating artist for this year's da Vinci Days Sidewalk Chalk art event. da Vinci Days is a big deal here in Corvallis and celebrates art and science. So much is going on that it's impossible to visit everything. It offers something for everyone. Anyway, back to the topic at hand. I was given a 5'x6' foot spot to create a mandala in 3 hours. This photo shows my beginning blank slate. 
The first thing I did was to draw out the grid I designed for symmetrical mandalas. I did the calculations the night before know that I was going to do a 4' diameter mandala. This shot, and most that follow, was taken from the opposite side of the first photo.
Once the grid was in place, I drew out the design, which is similar to a nautilus shell. This, too, I sketched out the night before. It took me about an hour to get this far in the process. 
I used the primary and secondary colors for my palette. Here's the first set of primary colors. I used purple and some black to give it a little depth. In the yellow section, I also used some dark orange and brown.
Here it is more than 1/2 way through coloring the primary spirals.
At this point I finished this stage of coloring the spirals.
It's a little difficult to see here, you can just make out the secondary colors used at the top of each spiral section. The secondary colors were placed as complimentary to their primary color (green to red, purple to yellow, and orange to blue).
Here's the completed version. I went back over the spirals adding black and purple to exaggerate the shapes. I also use a light cream on the outside curve of each spiral to lighten & brighten.For the 'spray' coming out of each point I used primary a light yellow, with a little pink, red, blue, and green. The remaining photos show the design from several different angles. The written message is "I move forward in stillness & acceptance...making changes as I go along" which is all the room I had for it. The full message is "I move forward in stillness & acceptance; making alterations, as needed, along the way."
The most difficult part about creating this pieces was knowing that within a few days it would be completely worn away. I realize that the Tibetan Monks create sand mandalas only to destroy them in the end as a way to express our human impermanence on this planet. I stood an extra few minutes to enjoy it and then walked away.
For more information about da Vinci Days, goto: www.davinci-days.org
Happy Coloring,
Maiah, The Mandala Lady
www.TheMandalaLady.com
Labels: da Vinci Days, nautilus mandala, sidewalk chalk art
