Mandala from cactus photographed with a kaleidoscope filter
One of my favorite things to photograph with the kaleidoscope filter are cactus because the spines arrange themselves nicely into elaborate mandalas.
One of my favorite things to photograph with the kaleidoscope filter are cactus because the spines arrange themselves nicely into elaborate mandalas.
The photographs show work in progress on a monochromatic blue embroidery on white linen mandala. This embroidery is destined to be pressed into clay to make a relief pattern for glazes to pool and reveal the slight indentations left by the embroidered pattern. Ceramics are a new medium to both me and Marc and it will be a while before that work is ready to merge with the embroidery. For now, the work proceeds in … >> read more
In one of the early stages of embroidering a mandala I print out a paper pattern to regulate the stitches, sometimes just a plain grid-in-the-round like this one. This mandala is 34.5 cm in diameter (about 13 inches) and the grid had to be printed in pieces that here are joined with fun neon pink tape. In the next stage this pattern will be stitched to the fabric stretched on an embroidery hoop. See more … >> read more
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 … >> read more
These photos were made in June 2016 and they are early experiments in the mandalas project. The original images are below. This is what the camera actually saw while the filter was being applied for the above images.
This chaotically embroidered mandala is the first test of embroidery with the help of a circular paper grid. The addition of beads was also tested. This is an experiment in the larger mandala project.
This image was created by photographing a loosely woven sarong with a kaleidoscope filter. The woven threads flow seamlessly into each other giving an overall effect that what is pictured was woven into this form. This photograph is a study for the mandala project.
These grids and guides were made for the mandala project.