MEET THE MANDALA ARTISTS

Anthony Scheving, M.A.

In 1985 I received a Masters Degree in Art from San Francisco State University in the area of Conceptual Design. I was in the first twenty students to graduate from that Department. In 2001 I began a new graduate degree program at the Institute of Imaginal Studies in Petaluma, California. Here I received my second Masters degree in Psychology in 2004. In between 1985 and 2001, I learned to walk between two worlds. One foot lived in Corporate America, working as a computer programmer and technologist, and the other foot existed in explorations of human potential. During this time, I studied dance, yoga, massage therapy, Core Energetics, Polarity therapy, and meditation. From this experience I have come to realize that the greatest challenges that we face in society are not scientific or technological in nature. The greatest challenges we face in society are inner-personal and interpersonal in nature.

To paraphrase Joseph Campbell, The Artist in today’s society has a very important role to play. His or her role involves the creation and maintenance of a modern mythology. The vision I have is based on helping others discover their own personal living mythology through image, art, movement, and self exploration. This work aims to help them fully embody this mythology as a means to become more aware of how to live with vibrancy, self awareness, creativity, clarity, and connectedness in community. This work evolves around establishing a connection of communication between ones inner and outer life, between soul and individualized identity. This vision includes leading workshops in expressive and social arts that embraces nature as well as science and technology as part of the landscape in which we live. My education in psychology rounds out my previous education in technology and the arts, fulfilling my desire to become a more multi-dimensional human being, providing me with tools to be in service to others, in a playground where the greatest challenges remain. Anthony's mandalas can be seen at his online gallery at: www.heartsoulvision.com.

	Lotus Light: This mandala started out as contemplation on the crown chakra, the thousand petal lotus that is the representation of consciousness unfolding. As I began to work with this image I found the layers of gradient transparent color symbolic of how we start to differentiate form as it moves from a blended, interconnected, intertwined unity near the center toward a more distinct shape near the edges of the mandala.
	Harmony: This image began as a work on sacred geometry, specifically an arrangement of overlapping spheres utilizing the Fibonacci sequence as the basis for the arrangement. I soon became enchanted with the infinite possibilities as I applied layers of color to the patterns that were emerging. Each variation that I encountered was reminiscent of a snowflake formed by the rhythmic musical vibration of the wind as it floated down through the sky; each an autonomous entity yet perfectly connected in symmetrical harmony with all of the elements that lead to its creation.
	Gratitude: This mandala was the first of a series of mandalas that continues to unfold in number and complexity. The image near the center reminded me of a mariposa, a butterfly, newly formed and emerging from its chrysalis. So many of us seek the transformation that is symbolized by the journey of the butterfly. Yet in order to transform the caterpillar must enter a state of complete vulnerability and fragility. In the moments that we feel most vulnerable and fragile it is important to remember to be grateful for all that has been given to us. Gratitude can set us free from any remaining bonds to an old identity. Once free we can float and fly; as with butterfly wings.
	Nirvana: In this mandala the striations of color create a vibratory effect which makes the image look much brighter even though much of the image is done with darker shades of color. The contrast and the polarity adds to the vibrancy. Here the union of opposites play on the doorstep of a state that is non-dual. The freedom found in Nirvana comes from riding the intensity of sensation found on the doorstep in a state of vulnerability, the willingness to go undefended and completely take in the vibration through the senses, letting it change one in the process.
	Inner Journey: Each of the mandala images that I have created comes to me as a gem. I first have to mine it for ways in which it wants to speak to me. It next gets faceted, where I look for the reflection and refraction, symbolic and metaphoric. In other words, what does the forms and colors that are emerging mean to me? What does this remind me of? Is what I am seeing reminiscent of personal, cultural, or archetypal stories? In this mandala the gem was a gem, a diamond surrounded by bands of gold, a wedding ring. This is the wedding ring for those who marry themselves and then embark on the Inner Journey of life as both a participant and witness.
	Be Still: As I work with mandala images I often see forms taking shape similar to how one might look at the clouds passing overhead and see bunnies or elephants. In this image I saw angels gathering around in a circle, praying with wings outstretched. My visual interest was always attracted back to the center; where if I could sit there for a moment and be still with my breath, a door would fly open in my mind and the messengers of the imagination would dance in bringing gifts.

Christine Waterstone

I was born 1952 in Derbyshire, England and my career in art started after I graduated in Fine Art (Sculpture) in 1973. Initially I taught Art and Photography for three years but yearned for adventure so I cast my fate to the wind and landed in the Gulf State of Qatar, married to a Palestinian photographer and working as a designer and photographer for seven years. I was extremely privileged to work inside Arab palaces and homes photographing Muslim women and learning about their culture.

I photographed many wonderful exotic social events under terms of strict confidentiality, When I returned to England I earned my living for many years as a professional artist and my paintings have been exported to many countries including Japan, Australia, USA, and Europe. Unfortunately I developed fibromyalgia a few years ago and decided to avoid working with chemical as much as possible.

I now enjoy making jewellery from healing crystals and am well known locally in Eastbourne for my customised charm bracelets. My eldest son introduced me to Adobe Photoshop and taught me how to make mandalas. He had discovered mysterious images inside photographs he had taken of a crystal skull at Stonehenge. After spending a year experimenting with the manipulation of various images I became fascinated by what I believe is the power of the mandala to reveal hidden worlds. Creating mandalas is such a wondrous pleasure; they evolve unpredictably but always finally reach a harmonious completion seeming to emit vibrations of healing energy.

	Universal Wisdom: This mandala design is about rising above your emotions and gaining insight and a sense of perspective.
	Trust in Love: I think this mandala is about letting go of fears and feeling strong enough to be gentle. The colours symbolise the opening of the heart. This mandala was made from the actual words, "Trust in Love."
	One Earth: Purple and green, the colours for the healing of the spirit and mind. Purple in mind and green in heart; United from the beginning to the end of time; We are all holding hands; As guardians of our precious earth.

Prema Maja Apolonia

Prema creates each of her mandalas from a deep state of meditative awareness. Inspired by a loving intention to benefit those who see it, each new drawing emits a vibration to awaken your consciousness, heal your body, and ease your mind. Prema’s work has been featured in calendars, websites, audio albums, and books including the award-winning Mandala: Luminous Symbols for Healing, by Dr. Judith Cornell. Since 1992, Prema has taught the sacred arts as a form of spiritual awakening and expression. View a gallery of her work for free at www.shivalotus.com.

Prema’s reflections on mandalas: Mandalas carry both power and universal simplicity by virtue of their circular form. The circle is not only symbolic of essential qualities like unity, emptiness, and the creative power of the feminine, it is the form through which the universe radiates, contains, and directs the movement of things. The circle radiates as the sun emanates light, as a sound wave expands in all directions, and as a flower displays itself with a fountain of petals emerging. It contains water in every drop of rain; it protects every baby bird forming within its egg; and in a circle that we do not ordinarily see, we find everything that constitutes our homeland, Planet Earth. The circle also creates passageways that can be found in the veins of our circulatory system, in a hole dug by the neighborhood gopher, and in the iris of the eye though which the visual world miraculously enters our experience. Mandalas carry the power of these lineages which extend as far back in time as the universe itself. By creating or viewing mandalas we tap into this power which is both infinitely beyond our personal world, and intimately engaged in it.

Awakening: This mandala spontaneously emerged during a silent retreat in the mist-filled mountains of Santa Cruz, CA. The inner and outer silence magnified my experience of overflowing love which simultaneously enlivened the body and clarified the mind. This mandala is a favorite among my drawings, and some say it carries a transmission of loving, joyful awareness. In the center is a sacred symbol from the Hindu tradition: Om—the sound that creates the universe in every moment through its vibrational dance. Om can be directly experienced as the subtle “hum” in the body which you may notice when you are in a relaxed and open state.