Maiah's Creations

Iris Mandala: Day 11

2008-04-04T15:22:00.001-07:00

4/2/08: I finished the upper left hand iris. For this section, rather than use an orange pencil, I created the orange using canary yellow and scarlet lake red. It gives it more texture and makes it brighter (in my humble opinion).

The beard of the iris was colored with lemon yellow, goldenrod, black grape, and canary yellow.
Here's a close-up view of the finished iris. Happy coloring! Maiah

Iris Mandala: Day 10

2008-03-27T16:43:00.001-07:00

3/27/08: Once again I let myself go several days without coloring. I HATE when that happens :-)

I started coloring the inside petals of the upper left hand iris. I modified the colors ever so slightly. Instead of using lightfast orange, I'm using canary yellow and scarlet lake to create my orange color. It makes it a little brighter & lighter, with some added texture. I'll include a close-up shot in my next entry so you can see what I mean. Otherwise, I continued to use light peach, lightfast peach, and black grape.

My goal is to finish this mandala by April 15; a day I would rather remember as fun versus taxing (sorry, I have a punny disorder).

Happy Coloring,

Maiah

Iris Mandala: Day 9

2008-03-21T17:17:00.001-07:00

3/21/08: It's been about 8 days since I had an opportunity to color the Iris Mandala. I've been busy with the business end of things. During this past week I have been sketching some ideas for future projects which look promising.

Anyway back to the Iris Mandala. I finished coloring the side petals of all 6 irises. As before, I'm using light peach, lightfast light peach, lightfast orange, and black grape. I added another layer of lightfast orange over the lower petals. Over all of the petals I added a light 'wash' of goldenrod to warm them up a bit, which at this resolution and distance is a little difficult to notice. I also added a wash of goldenrod to the center gold 'posts', with the warmth of the iris colors, the posts were looking more of a lime green versus the golden color that I intended.

Iris Mandala: Day 8

2008-03-13T17:40:00.001-07:00

3/13/08: Today I started on the outer petals. I continued using the light peach, lightfast peach, lightfast orange, and black grape colors and added goldenrod and van gogh orange which is a little brighter than the lightfast orange. Since coloring the upper petals, I've noticed that the lower petals (in the blue section) seem duller. To fix that I added more of the lightfast orange to the upper left iris. I'll continue doing the same to the others the next time I color.

As promised I'm providing a close-up photo so you can see more of the coloring details.

Iris Mandala: Day 7

2008-03-12T16:55:00.001-07:00

3/12/08: Finished the horizontal petals of the 6 irises. I colored with light peach, lightfast peach, lightfast orange, and black grape. I'll provide a close-up photo of the petals in tomorrow's entry.
Happy Coloring!
Maiah

Iris Mandala: Day 6

2008-03-09T14:59:00.000-07:00

3/9/08: Finished the lower petals of all 6 irises. Started the horizontal petals of irises 1 & 2. All the petals thus far have been colored with light peach, lightfast light peach, lightfast orange, and black grape.

Iris Mandala: Day 5

2008-03-08T16:18:00.000-08:00

3/8/08: Continued coloring the lower petals of the next 3 irises. I used light peach, lightfast light peach, lightfast organe, and black grape. It took about an hour to color the 3 petals, 20 minutes each.

Iris Mandala: Day 4

2008-03-06T15:11:00.001-08:00

3/6/08: Completed the bottom petal of two irises (for now anyway). The challenge is to play with it without feeling like I have to make it really look like an iris. My left and right brains are competing for dominance. Time will tell as to who will win...I'm hoping for a win-win situation.

For the petals, I used light peach, lightfast light peach, lightfast orange, and black grape.As promised from yesterday's blog entry, I took a close-up shot of the 'gold' bars in the middle of the mandala.

Iris Mandala: Day 3

2008-03-05T15:58:00.001-08:00

3/5/08: Finished the blue background (for now anyway) and the golden bars that will connect the 6 irises. I used lemon yellow, canary yellow, and black grape for the gold. This photo poorly represents the gold color. I'll do a close-up shot for the next blog entry. I also started the upper left iris using the color, light peach.

Iris Mandala: Day 2

2008-03-02T17:04:00.000-08:00

3/2/08 Day 2: Completed 3 more sections of the background to the Iris Mandala. As previous, I used indigo blue and black grape, in gradient levels of circular strokes. You start to make out the bottom portions of the iris blossom (the white space between the blue sections).

Iris Mandala: Day 1

2008-03-02T12:01:00.000-08:00

3/1/08: Started coloring the Iris Mandala. I created this design in2002 and have felt intimidated by it ever since. Most of my designs are patterns and symmetry without any reference to anything in existence. It's difficult to see the 6 irises in this sketch. Because I know the irises are there my logical brain feels compelled to make them look like irises...my confidence level is rather low with trying to accomplish this.

Last week two people were in my studio and had asked about this particular design. They wanted to see a version that was already colored so that they could have an idea of how it could look. I told them that I had yet to color this one; I have about 6 or 7 designs that have yet to be colored and all for a variety of reasons. I explained to the gentleman that was interested in coloring it that all my mandala designs lack any rules; he's free to color it any way he wants. He can even ignore the fact that 6 irises are in the design and color each section randomly, even create new patterns using colors.

As I explained it to him, I realized that I could say the same thing to myself. With that I told him that as soon as I finish the piece I'm coloring (The Celtic Mandala see previous posts), that I would make this design be my next project. I was now excited and eager about coloring the Iris Mandala.

So here it is...Day 1 of the Iris Mandala. I'm coloring in the background of the design first. Using a circle strock, I'm coloring with indigo blue and black grape (both Prismacolor brand pencils).

Celtic Knot Mandala -2/24/08

2008-02-24T16:54:00.000-08:00

Today I finished all that I had planned to do for this mandala. I'm going to sit with it for a day or two to see if anything else needs to be done. The bulk of what I did is to put more of the blue background in and fill in any gaps. On the knots, I added shadows.

It's a little difficult to see the shadows in the upper image, so I took a detailed photo which shows more of the shadows and 3-D effect.

Celtic Knot Mandala -2/23/08

2008-02-23T14:00:00.001-08:00

Today I completed the four floating gold circuits. I used lemon yellow, canary yellow, black cherry, and black grape. With using those colors I think I've completed 3 of my 5 servings of fruit for the day :-)

Celtic Knot Mandala -2/22/08

2008-02-22T17:49:00.000-08:00

Today I finished the green circuit using lemon yellow, copenhagen blue, and black cherry. Left to do are the four gold floating circuits and adding shadows to enhance the 3-D effect.

Celtic Knot Mandala -2/21/08

2008-02-21T16:18:00.001-08:00

I completed the gold circuit today using lemon yellow, canary yellow, and dark cherry (all prismacolor brand pencils).
I was eager to see what the green circuit was going to look like, so I started a small section. For this I'm using lemon yellow, copenhagen blue, and black cherry.

Celtic Knot Mandala -2/18/08

2008-02-18T16:07:00.000-08:00

Today I finished coloring the red circuit of the knot structure. This circuit is continuous all the way around the mandala. I used three colors: scarlet lake, black cherry, and a little white for highlights.

Celtic Knot Mandala

2008-02-17T14:10:00.000-08:00

On Feb 15, I started coloring a new mandala design I created for a couple getting married this summer (2008). It lacks an official mandala name at the moment; by the time I finish, it will. The design is 8" diameter in size on 15" square paper.

The first phase of coloring is the background which has a graduated coloring from dark blue in the center to light blue around the outside. During this first session, I put a light layer of prismacolor true blue all around the background and started another layer (left side only) with prismacolor copenhagen blue.
Today, Feb 17, I finished the background (for now, I may go back later to add more color). I used prismacolor copenhagen blue and indigo blue. With the background complete, the design becomes more visible.

The blue of this mandala represents loyalty.

I began the inner red circuit of the celtic knot, using scarlet lake and black cherry with little lines of white highlight.

What is Creativity? Part II

2008-02-01T14:56:00.001-08:00

PART II — THE ANSWER

In mid-January, the answer came to me. With all the information that is out there about creativity, it all really comes down to just two words, six letters total: what if. We access our creativity when we ask the question “what if”. What if I draw this pattern this way? What if I use this color here and that color there? What if I move the sofa to the middle of the room? What if I cook with agave instead of sugar? What if, what if, what if?

When the “what if” concept dawned on me, I flashed back to my memory at Hathor’s Temple in Dendara Egypt. My husband and I were inside her temple. I looked up at one of the ceilings and saw an image of the sun, with rays of light shining down from one section of the sun down onto the image of Hathor face. I remember having the thought “what if I drew the sun and made it so the rays of the sun come out from all around the sun?” I realized that at the moment, it was my first artistic “what if.” (Resulting "Re" mandala is on the left)

I also realized that I am most creative when I explore the “what if” possibilities in every aspect of my life.

THE CHALLENGE

So what stops people (myself included) from following through with the “what ifs?” Here are some of the answers I hear in my head. “It will never work.” “What would the neighbors think.” “It will look awful.” “No one will like it.” “I won’t like it.” “I’ll be laughed it.” “I’ll embarrass myself.” You get the idea. The bottom line is fear, mostly fear of failure and/or disgrace.

My advice? Feel the fear and do it anyway. (It’s also the title of a really great book, I highly recommend it.) Who cares what other people say or think? Chances are most people will either be jealous or in awe of your bravery. Hang out with the people who think you're brave and let go of the jealous ones.

What do scientists do? Experiments. In their line of work they do “what ifs” all time. That’s how they weed out what processes to eliminate and what processes to keep. Most times their experiments lead to new possibilities that would otherwise have alluded them had they ignored the initial “what ifs.”

I strongly encourage you to play with the “what ifs” in all aspects of your life. Think of yourself as the scientist of your life doing experiments. I know it’s cliché but it truly applies: think outside the box…better yet, think way beyond the box.

Start with something small and safe. If the fear flag rears its ugly head, ask the question “what’s the worse that could happen?” Unless the possibility of harm or death to you or someone else is the answer, follow through on the “what if.” If the result is something other than what you wanted, then you can decide to check that off your list of things to try. More than likely, another “what if” will appear which can take you on a whole new path of "what ifs", which would have been lost to you otherwise.

Here’s a rather simplistic example for you. “What if” you really want to try that new laundry detergent that’s being advertised? Take a chance and try it. You may 1) love it, 2) like it, 3) think it’s the same as what you’ve already used, 4) care less about it, or 5) hate it. Regardless of the outcome your efforts are a success: you gained valuable insight into this new product.

For me, I mostly use the “what ifs” with my art. I experiment and play with all types of artistic possibilities. I could just as easily apply it to how I run my business, how I manage my home, cooking, my husband, my dogs, my clutter, etc. The possibilities are endless. Look at your life. Where can you apply the “what if?”

THE CAVEAT

Yesterday (January 31), I was scheduled to give a 15-minute presentation to my networking group about my art business; I chose to speak about creativity. The speaker before me gave an interesting talk on tax fraud. As I listened to her speech and contemplated my own, I heard her describe some of the cases and realized that these individuals had played the “what if” game with the IRS and their taxes (or lack thereof). These individuals are now either in jail or are paying a very high price for their efforts.

I gained a very valuable lesson and made a quick alteration to my presentation. I offer to you a caveat to the “what if” concept, be sure that whatever you apply the “what if” to is legal.

Now go play :-)

What is Creativity?

2008-01-31T17:57:00.000-08:00

PART I—INTRO
Its definition and all ideas about creativity can be found just about anywhere these days, including books, magazines, and all throughout the web. Until 1998 it was a concept that took up very little space in my conscious mind. At that time, I was all things logical...I was a web analyst and software engineer...a computer geek.

So what changed all that? It was being the highest bidder at a silent auction for a facial gift certificate in the summer of 1998. Actually, it was because of Jill (alias name), who did the facial. As she was doing the facial she let me know that she does reiki. This was new stuff to me. She explained that it’s like a massage but without physically touching. She massages the energy fields around the body, which for some can be healing. What is Reiki?

It sounded interesting so I made an appointment. At the very least, for me, it was a relaxing and soothing event. By the time she was done I was calm and serene; for that, it was worth the price of admission. The kicker was when she came around the table to face me while I was still sitting on the table. She looked me right in the eyes and said, “when you leave here, you’re to go directly to the book store and buy a coloring book and some crayons. You’re not using your creative side.” She so stunned me with her forwardness that I knew my only option was to do just that.

To make a long story short, I bought the coloring book and crayons. I discovered that I needed to be able to color in more details so I switched to colored pencils. The coloring books were cute but I wanted something a little more grown up. In a new age book store I discovered some mandala coloring books. Now we’re talking. I loved the patterns and symmetry. I soon became bored with the designs; I wanted to create my own. It was then (early 1999) that my husband and I went to Egypt. That’s where I became ‘activated’ (for lack of a better term). It was there where I found the inspiration for many of my mandala designs. When we returned home, I bought a sketch book and just drew and drew, one mandala after another.

Now let’s jump ahead to the last few months (November 2007-January 2008). Over the last 7 yearsor so , I created over 65 official designs and colored/painted almost 80 mandalas (some designs I colored/painted more than once). During the summer of 2006 I started playing with “happenings” (paintings using ink, plant vegetation, paper and water). In the fall of 2007, I created and colored 31 asymmetrical mandalas, free-form doodles/designs. Due to the demand, I had also made my designs available of others to color; in coloring books, prints and greeting cards.

Through all of this I was avoiding one thing. The time had come to take the business side of my art more seriously. I needed a business plan. What was my mission for my art? Why was I doing all this? What did I want to do with my art?

First thing I needed was a mission statement. Using a process I found in a book, it came to me. My mission is to explore, promote and inspire creativity. I discovered that my art was more than just me being creative, it was about helping and inspiring others to tap into their own creativity.

Now that I had my mission statement, I needed to know, "what is creativity?”

Part II: The Answer (tomorrow)

The Gift of Art

2007-12-17T12:26:00.000-08:00

Tired and confused about what to buy that special someone on your list? Have you run out of ideas or are you bored with giving the same old thing? Or, more importantly, are you looking for a special gift for you?

How about something unique, something that can be treasured for a lifetime? Consider the gift of art. Now, before you panic and hyperventilate over this idea, take a deep breath and consider the following guidelines.

When buying artwork for you:

1. Does it speak to you?

For most people, this is the number one factor in buying art. Does it make you happy? Does it make you think? Does it excite you? Does it touch your soul? If you answer yes to any of these, then buy it.

2. What do you like?

Do you prefer art that depicts realistic representations, where you know exactly what you're seeing in the image or sculpture? Or do you prefer something more abstract, where you interpret what you see? Do you prefer 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional? Photographs or paintings? Bright or subdued colors? Need some help answering these questions? Visit your local galleries, studios, and artists and really experience the art on display, and ask questions.

3. Does color matter?

Are you buying art as a decorative piece, something to enhance the room where it will be on display? Then color matters. You'll want to be sure it will go with the decor of the room. If you are more color-oriented regardless of the subject, then color matters. When in doubt, always go with what you like.

4. What's your budget?

When buying art, know that you are buying a one-of-a-kind piece that was created by the hand and mind of the artist. How much is that worth to you? Many local and up-and-coming artists offer their art in a variety of price ranges to accommodate just about everyone's budget.

When buying artwork for someone else, apply the previous questions to the person you’re buying for along with the following.

1. Can you exchange it?

Wherever you buy the artwork, is there a gift exchange policy that will allow the recipient to exchange the artwork for something more to their liking? If so, place a note with your gift stating that the artwork can be exchanged.

2. Gift Certificate?

Find out if the gallery, studio or artist offers gift certificates. This will allow the person to pick the one they want.

Whether you have been buying original art for years or are new to collecting art for yourself or someone else, know that you are buying something that will enhance your environment and your well-being for many years to come.

We are very fortunate to have a wonderful collection of local artists, studios, and galleries in the Corvallis/Albany, Oregon area. Many of them can be found listed on the following web sites:

“The Entertainer”: http://www.gazettetimes.com/entertainment/museum_days/

Corvallis Art Guild: http://corvallisartguild.org/

The Art Center: http://www.artcentric.org/

"Deco" Mandala - 03/25/07 - Finished

2007-03-27T14:05:00.000-07:00

The "Deco" Mandala is complete. For the two vertical columns I colored with canary yellow, gamboger, diox. purple and a little lemon yellow. Between the 'gold' columns, above the red section, I colored it so that it would like a continuation from the orange-y sections that are part of the red/blue. I colored it with beige, orange, diox. purple, and gamboger. What I also did, which is difficult to see in this photo, is drew 90% cool gray lines into the center yellow section, as if threads coming down for the red projectiles and crossing the center and connecting to the red projectiles opposite.

"Deco" Mandala - 03/23/07

2007-03-27T13:57:00.000-07:00

I finished the four red sections. I used the same 'gray' technique of coloring the gray values and then adding the color, which in this case was crimson red. Of course I also used the diox. purple and colorless blender to complete the mix.

"Shine On" Mandala - Installation #10

2007-03-27T13:43:00.001-07:00

This will probably look only slightly different from the last photo. I added a wash of vermilion to each of the 'flames'.
It's been awhile since I've painted this...I've been busy with the "Deco" mandala. I'm submitting that one to a show and it needs to be done ASAP.

"Deco" Mandala - 03/18/07

2007-03-19T10:23:00.000-07:00

I finished coloring the bottom blue section with the same color combination as the top blue section.

WARNING: If psycho-babble is too much for you or if you'd rather just stick with the "how I colored this" aspect of my blog, then stop reading and go onto the next thing you were going to do...ie: read on at your own risk :)

As I was prepping this photo for this entry, I was looking at it as this smaller view which actually gave me an even bigger perspective (which seems rather ironic). This design was initially created as a therapeutic process for me to heal my relationship with my dad...totally from my perspective. It has to do with how I see him and how I have seen him. What I'm starting to see, now that the two blue sections are colored in, is two triangles, or rather two halves of a diamond; a left side and a right side. Both sides are identical except for the light/shadow perspective of the green meshy sections. Both are having the same experience; except their light/shadow perspective is exactly opposite. However, if I was to rotate this 180 degrees, it would look exactly the same as it does here. Meaning if I were in his shoes, I'd have his life experience and he would have mine.

My dad and I have been at odds with each other for most of my life. Over the years I worked through a lot of issues with him, strictly from my point of view. In the last year or so, our relationship has grown better and easier. As long as I stay away from his trigger topics, we get along great; and if I should happen to stumble onto one of them, I've learned to just breathe and let it roll over me like a warm summer breeze.

Now looking at this, it feels to me that my dad and I are identical, we're just seeing things from a different perspective. It's actually very cool and quite simple. To quote Dr. Phil, it's a "defining moment" for me. I eagerly await any additional insights that this mandala has to offer.

"Deco" Mandala - 03/17/07 - 2

2007-03-18T14:15:00.000-07:00

I had some more time to color, so I proceeded on to the blue section on top. This was colored in the same way as the left/right green sections. I colored with all 6 percentages of cool gray, the indianthrone blue, and the colorless blender.

If you read yesterday's blog regarding my use of light and shadow, you'll notice that I'm doing it a little different. This section is colored as if it is sitting still. And if you were to have a close-up view of the entire piece you'll see other exceptions to my shadow/light rule. I lack any rhyme or reason as to why this is...it just is :)