Some Fancy Patterns
I initially made the patterns because I was spending a lot of time making custom content for The Sims 2. And then I thought they might be good for some cool stuff at Cafe Press and Red Bubble. I especially love it when I get to use them when I’m designing a theme for one of my little mini sites here at shirleytwofeathers.com.
This pattern was made using the Balance mandala. I also made a few more really pretty ones And if you like them a lot, you can find them at in my Funky Fabric Patterns collection at Red Bubble. Here they are:
Balance
I made this mandala using a couple of graphics programs and playing around with the picture I made as a Middle Of The Night Art cover page. I love how civilized it looks, and how fancy especially when you compare it to the image I used to make it.
If you like this mandala, you can find it on all kinds of cool stuff over at my Red Bubble store. Here’s a direct link: Balance Art Mandala.
Consequences
I love this one. I called it Consequences because everything you do has a ripple effect that inevitably comes back to haunt you. I love the one eye and the strange creepy smile that show up all around…
If you love this mandala, you can find it on lots of cool stuff at my Red Bubble shop.
Gateway
This is the first mandala in the series. Here are the notes I made about it:
I think the mandala must be done because I cannot bring myself to draw any more on it. I am going to scan it and see if it comes out legible. And then I have been collecting all these clippings to make into a collage and now I can’t figure out how I want to do the collage. The mandala feels too one dimensional and too simplistic to me, and I want the clippings to be a part of it, but I can’t think of a good way to integrate them together. I had thought about tearing the mandala up and then reassembling it with the clippings in the gaps. And I might do it that way. But I am thinking that the whole thing needs some depth, a three dimensional quality of some sort, and I don’t quite know how to add that into the mix too… so… anyway…
Well it scanned in just fine. The colors don’t look quite the same as the real thing, the tree is actually copper colored and the sheen doesn’t come thru, it isn’t quite that bright, but you get the idea. It is visually interesting, but looks rather empty to me, and unfinished. I guess the inside of my heart is rather empty… unfinished even.
Bits and Pieces Gallery
This is a gallery of all the bits and pieces of the Middle of the Night Art. Useful for icons, or decorations on web pages. You are welcome to use them in your own projects, but only if you give credit and a link back to my website.
Textures and Patterns Gallery
This is a gallery of the patterns and textures I made using the Middle of the Night Art mandalas and pictures. As you can see there isn’t much here yet, but there will be, because I made a bunch of them!
The Mandala Gallery
This is a gallery of all the mandalas I created with the Middle of the Night Art pics. As you can see, there isn’t much here yet, but if you like mandalas, don’t worry, soon there will be a whole bunch of them.
The Art Gallery
This is a gallery of the Middle of the Night Art. As you can see there isn’t much here yet… LOL
What Was I Thinking?
So, I’m sure you must be wondering… what the heck kind of art is this? And the answer is, I have no clue how to categorize it. The drawings are colored pencil and art crayon on paper.
When I began this project, the idea was that I would create a series of mandalas depicting what the inside of my heart looked like, and the commitment was that I would not stop until I had completed 100 of them. I agreed with myself that I would “tell” the truth, and that I would finish every picture I started, even the ones that looked “stupid” or “inept” or just downright “terrible”.
My sister was the catalyst that got this project started. She was working on illustrations for a book she had written and was very excited and enthusiastic about art as a spiritual practice, and a way to connect with God. I, on the other hand, was pretty sure that there would never be a spiritual practice that would ever work for me, and that my life was pretty much a pointless exercise in futility.
At the time, I was working nights at a job that I felt was killing me mentally and emotionally, spending long hours deep in the night reading true crime novels, flipping through magazines, playing computer games, and feeling depressed.
As we talked about art, and God, and life on earth, I began to have ideas, and it occurred to me that maybe, since I wasn’t doing anything anyway, it might be “fun” or “interesting” to create a series of mandalas. This would at least give me something “useful” to do at work, and if I made them small enough, and if I made enough of them, I could make them into a book and eventually I would have something colorful for my children and grandchildren to look at.
I chose black paper because it seemed to reflect my mood at the time, and I chose wax pastels (art crayons) because they were portable and there would be no problems using them at work. My expectations were that I would create a series of geometric shapes, and that they might even be colorful or interesting.
I had no idea of the inner terrain that I would soon be exploring. The second picture I made – Inside my Heart – came as a total surprise. And before long I had a whole family of characters.. the witchdoctor, the ditzy blond, a little dog, a tiger. If you look at the pictures in chronological order you can see the progression of thought and growth.
But Wait There's More!
shirleytwofeathers: 
Be Merry
I think it's time to go shopping... maybe even buy some really cool stuff at my online shops!!
Thank You
