Coming Full Circle 2014: A Mandala Calendar by Stacy Wills

It's been a long time coming...but it's finally here...the calendar I've been wanting to do for so long.  I've learned so much from the time the seed for its creation was planted until now, when I can hold this in my hands...and it had to be that way.  There really are no shortcuts in life...at least no shortcuts that lead to a good end.  In December of 2005, I drew my first mandala...never dreaming it would change my life the way it has...but also knowing it saved my life at the time.  I hope that doesn't sound overly dramatic...for I certainly do not mean for it to...it's just that...I know how much I needed/wanted/desired/had-to-have a creative outlet for all that I had bottled up inside of myself for years and years.  There's so much more to the story, and if you ever want to hear it, I'm more than happy to tell it...but that's really not the focus of this post.  Today's post is for celebration...and a "Welcome to the World" moment for this - a calendar featuring 12 of the hundreds  of mandalas I've done over the years:  Coming Full Circle 2014!  I hope you will enjoy seeing what I've put together in this little video...if nothing else, let it be an oasis of centering calm in the midst of your busy day.

If you are interested in purchasing a calendar, please contact me through my website at:  stacywills.com 

Adventures in Experimental Art

Sacred Altering:  Adventures in Experimental Art

by Stacy Wills

I recently shared this on my other blog, but thought I would share it here as well.  It's a little video of my recent experimental artwork.  Most all of the source images came from my existing alcohol inks on yupo, which I then played with digitally - or as I like to call it:  sacred altering.  Sacred altering is about transformation...it is about having taken  something as far as it can go within the scope of one's own natural ability using traditional mediums and then traveling beyond that limitation in a different realm or medium - in this case, digital - to bring forth something entirely new.  For me, it's not so much about trying to debate the merits of  "traditional" ways of art-making with digital ways...but rather, it's about satisfying that creative urge, and finding new ways to create art that speaks on an intuitive level,  allowing  the viewer to decide what it is...or how it makes them feel.    Enjoy!

Autumn Movement - a poem from Carl Sandburg

 Experimental Autumn (Stacy Wills, 2013)

created from source image + sacred altering

Autumn Movement

I cried over beautiful things knowing no beautiful thing lasts.

The field of cornflower yellow is a scarf at the neck of the copper, 

sunburned woman, the mother of the year, the taker of seeds.

The northwest wind comes and the yellow is torn full of holes,

new beautiful things come

 in the first spit of snow on the northwest wind,

and the old things go, not one lasts.

-Carl Sandburg (1878-1967)

source image:  Sunrise at Gray Center, Canton, MS  

Art Exhibit in Progress

It has been awhile since I've done an exhibit of my artwork, so I was pleased at how this display came together.  There's a little bit of everything...mandalas, alcohol inks, Citra Solv art, mixed media and tiles.   I also have two of my scrapbooks on hand that people can look through.  One chronicles the progression of my artwork, including the first mandala I ever made back in December 2005.  The other has examples of mandalas from nature and everyday objects,  as well as,  the "sacred circles"  from various cultures and spiritual traditions.   If you're in the Canton, MS area between now and October 8th, I do hope you'll stop by and take a peek.    The exhibit is taking place at the Canton Welcome Center, which is located in the old Trolio Hotel, 141 N. Union Street.  The  Welcome Center is open from 10 - 5 Monday through Friday and from 10 - 2 on Saturdays.

Of Prayer Beads and Mandalas

Recently, I began making Anglican prayer beads.  I've long been fascinated with rosaries, both Catholic and Anglican, as well as malas, and always wanted to learn how to make them.  Finally, I took the plunge.  I found a good resource to guide me, A Bead and A Prayer by Kristen E. Vincent, raided my jewelry chest and set to work.  

I quickly realized that the process of making them was very calming and meditative...very much like the way I feel when creating mandalas.

Choosing the color combinations and size of the beads is another opportunity to exercise a measure of creativity.

Anglican prayer beads traditionally consist of a cross,  an invitatory bead, a resurrection bead (optional) and four cruciform beads.  In between the cruciform beads are four sets of "weeks" beads. 

 There is something so satisfying in the making of these...to know I am creating something that is both beautiful and functional.  Or perhaps it's the fact that I am reconnecting with some of my earliest spiritual longings and leanings.  Whatever it is...I'm going with it...and praying as I go.

On the Importance of Following Breadcrumbs

Communion Batik (Stacy Wills, 2013)

watercolor on canvas + digital (sacred) altering

In my process of what I've come to call, sacred altering - combining traditional mediums with digital technology, I never cease to be amazed by the final outcome.  In the case of this mandala, what started out as watercolor on canvas was transformed into something that reminded me of batik.   I didn't know that much about the actual batik process, so I began to do some google/research.  Well...that led to one of my favorite breadcrumb trails...aka Wikipedia.  This paragraph on the cultural role of batik especially captured my attention:

Batik garments play a central role in certain rituals, such as the ceremonial casting of royal batik into a volcano.  In the Javanese naloni mitoni "first pregnancy" ceremony, the mother-to-be is wrapped in seven layers of batik, wishing her good things.  Batik is also prominent in the tedak siten ceremony when a child touches the earth for the first time.  Batik is also part of the labuhan ceremony when people gather at a beach to throw their problems away into the sea.

Several years ago, on another breadcrumb trail totally unrelated to batik, I had learned about the ceremony of a child touching the earth for the first time, and also another custom known as "lotus birth" which is the practice of leaving the umbilical cord uncut after childbirth so that the baby remains attached to the placenta until the cord separates naturally - a process that can take anywhere from 3 to 10 days.  Fascinating stuff!  Of course there is much debate about whether that is a good idea, but that is not my point.

My point is...for me, each piece of art I create, whether it ever makes an appearance in public or not, becomes my teacher...a starting point on  a unique kind of journey I would otherwise never have taken.  My own "road less traveled."    I follow breadcrumb trails into forests I never would have known about otherwise - the kind you don't  find on a map.  I become acquainted with countries and customs and more than a few characters I might have missed out on.

The things I learn may seem esoteric...obscure...even useless to some...but to me they are things worth knowing, because in them, I hear echoes - faint, yet distinct hints of something I can't always quite put my finger on, but  I know, nevertheless,   is important.  It's another piece of the puzzle in place, another dot connected...which brings me back to "batik" - which comes from the Javanese words:  amba ("to write") and titik ("dot" or "point").  It's ok...it makes sense in my world. 

Medicine Wheel: The Evolution of a Mandala

A few months ago, I brought home 4

hubcap "canvases" from Hubcap Heaven.

The first one that sparked my imagination  

was the greasy one in the middle.  Its 

basic design,  already divided into fourths,

 reminded me of a medicine wheel.

After a good scrubbing, I gave it 2 coats 

 of  Valspar  Interior/Exterior Primer in white.

Using Golden Fluid Acrylics, I began painting,  

sticking with  the traditional medicine wheel

 colors of red and yellow, black and white.

I chose turquoise  as the main accent color, 

and kept the overall design clean and simple.

After the painting was complete,  I added

two coats of Krylon UV-Resistant Clear

 Acrylic Coating, and embellished with

 beads, feathers and black leather strips.