This is the very first mandala image that inspired the whole project.The mandalas were inspired by a kaleidoscopic filter on a cellphone camera app that turns any view into a radiating, swirling pattern.
The very first mandala, photo above, was a photograph of a hairbrush. The brush had black tines tipped with pink plastic, on a pad of charcoal grey rubber. The resulting photo looked like the black tines could be embroidery stitches and the little pink tips could be seedbeads, all embroidered on a dark grey fabric.
This small experiment, an accident almost, is the foundation of the whole embroidered mandalas project. The resulting process of combining fine craft and digital techniques is satisfying on many levels.
Original hairbrush photo