The Rhodia Journal Swap #5
Fri, June 29, 2012 at 12:08PM “I notice that you use plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences. That is the way to write English - it is the modern way and the best way. Stick to it; don't let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in. When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don't mean utterly, but kill most of them - then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close together. They give strength when they are wide apart. An adjective habit, or a wordy, diffuse, flowery habit, once fastened upon a person, is as hard to get rid of as any other vice.”
― Mark Twain
This one reminded me of summery rainbow fabrics.
This mandala is an example of what happens when you attempt to build outside in, instead of inside out. The challenge I set for myself was to have a very open structure, no center shape, and work without a plan. The first shapes were the four outermost red squares, then I drew green lines in a diamond to connect them. I don't worry much about how straight I draw the lines, as evidenced here. I thought of the lines as strings and the circles around the lines as round clasps that open and close. The whole thing hangs mid-air. So it's not my best mandala, but it was a fun challenge.
I like the quirkiness of this mandala, hence the name.
The first two pages are in heavy body acrylics.
The mandalas are in slicci and hi-tec-c pens.
There are 12 Rhodia webbie journals traveling around the states, and 12 folks are diligently filling in the pages of the journals with all sorts of creative fodder. The 5th series of pages, the 5th journal in the swap.
Reader Comments (4)
These are wonderful Tammy! I love the 'themes' of your mandalas. Still haven't been brave enough to try one yet but they are on my list for this vacation--running out of time so I better get to it!
Great visuals here, Tammy. I really like your summer mandala. And the phrase "adjective habit" from Mark Twain makes me smile.
Your themes are just too fun!! Loving the Willy Wonka one!!!
I just found your blog and have spent the morning reading. Love it! So many great ideas.