Mandalas

1
Mandalas

• Mandalas

2
What is a Mandala?
3
What is a Mandala?

• The word "mandala" is from the classical Indian
  language of Sanskrit.
• Loosely translated to mean "circle
• It represents wholeness, and can be seen as a
  model for the organizational structure of life
  itself
• Originated in Tibet 2000 years ago
• Tibetans use it to calm themselves and think
  about the meaning of life
• Intricately illustrated
• Used for meditation
• Show individual or cultural uniqueness
• Many cultures use it
• Aztec
• Asia
• Native Americans

4
Aztec Calendar

• Timekeeping
• Religious uses

5
Taoist Yin-Yang Symbol

• To show opposition and interdependence

6
Native Americans
Sand painting

• Medicine wheels

7
What is a symbol?

• A picture that means many things like.
• Remember, colors also have a symbolic meaning.
  Lets brainstorm
• Shapes can also be symbolic, like a circle.

8
Why a circle?

• What are some things a circle can symbolize or
  represent?

9
Why a circle?

• Represents harmony and wholeness of life
• Universal shape eye, sun snowflake, moon, circle
  of friends, the atom, cells, nucleus
• A simple representation of WHO YOU ARE
• Using symbols that represent you
• Peace, love, friendship, etc

10
Mandala examples
11
Shelaugh DignamCanada

• My Mandala is entitled the "The Sacred Star" I
  have always been attracted to anything colorful,
  intricate and symmetrical... hence my natural
  attraction to Mandalas.
• Being creative is my meditation and working with
  fabric is my first choice for a creative medium.
  The Sacred Star is the first creative project
  that is completely my own.
• The points of the star appear to expand and reach
  outwards... they expand just as my creativity has
  through the making of this project and they reach
  outwards just as I hope my Mandala does to touch
  other peoples lives by bringing them a moment of
  peace and pleasure...

12
Terry ThorntonEngland

• My Mandala story I created the mandala using a
  mix of Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop.
• I see in it the inner world of the web merging
  into the outer world we inhabit and going further
  into the universe we try so hard to
  understand.The inner warmth of our feelings
  fighting the cold we find in the world outside, a
  delicate power that can conquer all our fears and
  lead to a peace so soft it lulls us into a dream
  from which we seek no release.

13
(No Transcript)
14
(No Transcript)
15
(No Transcript)
16
(No Transcript)
17
.The Assignment

• You are going to create your own symbolic
  picture representing aspects of your life your
  own mandala.
• You will also complete a written explanation
  detailing your mandala.

18
common core standards we will address

• Writing
• Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue,
  pacing, description, reflection, and multiple
  plot lines, to develop experiences, events,
  and/or characters.
• Write routinely over extended time frames and
  shorter time frames for a range of tasks,
  purposes, and audiences.
• Language
• Spell correctly.
• Produces legible work that shows accurate
  spelling and correct use of the conventions of
  punctuation and capitalization.

19
Brainstorming with Visualizations

• Close your eyes
• Picture the scenes Im going to describe
• Open when I say
• Write or draw what you thought about

20
Visualization 1

• Think about a significant day in your life.
• Who was there?
• Where were you?
• What was happening?
• Why is the day so important to you?

21
Visualization 2

• Think about a series of favorite locations of
  your childhood.
• Why is each place special? What does it
  represent?
• Dads lap?
• Grandmas kitchen stool
• A secret hiding place under a tree

22
Visualization 3

• Envision the people closest to you.
• Who are they?
• See their faces
• View their actions
• What have they done or what do they do that makes
  them special?

23
Visualization 4

• Think about the objects in your life that are
  most important to you.
• What are they?
• Feel yourself holding them
• How do they make you feel?
• Where did you get them?
• Why are they special?

24
Visualization 5

• Think about a difficult time in your life.
• What was going on?
• Why were you struggling?
• Who was there to help you?
• How did you respond the challenge?

25
Visualization 6

• See your life as a journey.
• What does it look like?
• Bumpy road
• River
• Where did the journey begin?
• Where has it led you?
• Where is it heading?
• How has the trip been
• What part was really important, a defining moment?

26
Now to create your rough drafts

• Most important symbol in the middle
• Think of connecting design
• Unifying theme
• Symmetrical pattern
• Think of ways to incorporate your visualizations
  (maybe you can think of a symbolic color, shape,
  object, etc. that represents your memory

27

• The leaves are what inspired me to create this
  special project, for they are of great bounty in
  nature ever changing and transforming. The colors
  reflect my personality and the colors of the
  rainbow helping to remember god's plan for all
  creatures. I love colors especially purple and
  that is why purple is the main color at the top.
  Each color on this wheel of circles represents a
  different aspect of my personality and a
  different element.
• Blue reflects water, blessings, clear thinking,
  understanding, calmness, and reflection. Green is
  the grass and the trees representing growth,
  life, change, and luck. Yellow is happiness, joy,
  bright and sunny this color represents the sun.
• Orange is changes, both good and bad, fruits of
  the earth, vacations, freedom, uniqueness, and
  courage, lions are orange, representative of the
  animal kingdom.
• Red is Power, struggle, tension, anger, justice,
  mood, pain, intense thought, even death, it
  resonates in flowers and in our blood. Red to me
  is a symbol of well used power and it is the
  color I wear when I want or need to stand up for
  what I believe in.
• Pink represents everything girly, flowers,
  tradition, heritage, and babies, if red equals
  death pink equals life generating changes, self
  improvement, innocence, youth, sweet thoughts,
  romance and all things that I adore including
  guys. The symbols on my chart represent things I
  love and unique characteristics about me. First
  the whole circle reflects rainbows which are
  fleeting and beautifully full of life and color,
  representing promises and happy thoughts.
  Butterflies are transformers, fleeting, intense,
  unique, and self important, all characteristics
  of me.
• The butterfly is placed where it is to represent
  beauty and uniqueness. The water lily symbolizes
  peace, and understanding, also my favorite
  painting, Monet's Water Lilies series. They are
  delicate, fragile, perfect, unique, and exotic,
  to me they represent true beauty inside and out,
  they also smell sweetly. No I am not perfect but
  that is always what one dreams is it not?...
• Jennifer Marie Kubic

28
The mandala project

• How to create a traditional mandala
• Another example

29
Checklist for completion

• Before you turn in your final work, make sure
  that you have
• No spelling, punctuation, or capitalization
  errors
• Created a neat, legible, and creative mandala
  that is colorful and reflects and illustrates who
  you are as a person