We see mandalas everywhere, as they are made popular on the internet by artists that draw, doodle, collage and create them in different materials. But what is a mandala, really? Here is one answer:

Mandala is a concentric diagram having spiritual and ritual significance. In common use, mandala has become a generic term for any plan, chart or geometric pattern that represents the cosmos metaphysically or symbolically, a microcosm of the Universe from the human perspective.
quote from wikipedia.org

My very first try at a mandala is pretty graphic, and very different from what I usually make. But I like it.

Mandala

I read that a mandala is a symbol representing an effort to reunite the self, in my favorite book Artists’ Journals. I don’t know how much luck I had with reuniting myself, but here it is, my first mandala try. It’s different and rather happy looking, don’t you think?

Mandala created by iHanna (copyright Hanna Andersson)

soul journal contest My collage mandala is heavily inspired by Kathryn Costa‘s mandala post for March at her Soul Journal blog. Soul Journal has lots of great articles for us art journaling folks. I really enjoyed both the mandala post and some earlier ones, like the one about creating a vision board on a journal page, and how to identify and create your own power images for example.

This is just my first try at creating a mandala inspired image. I feel sure that there will be more in my future. Stay tuned.