All posts filed under: Interviews

Inspired Conversations with Linda Joy

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Linda Joy of Aspire Magazine invited me to chat with her about the benefits of creating mandalas on her radio show, Inspired Conversations. What a delightful conversation! We talked about: How Linda colors mandalas with a sacred intention and will repeat a mantra. We both agreed that one can feel the energy in the final colored mandala. How I got my start creating mandalas, launching the 100 Mandalas Challenge, and publishing my book, “The Mandala Guidebook.” My experience teaching at Kripalu, a yoga and health center in Lenox, MA. The health benefits of coloring and creating mandalas and why coloring mandalas is a centering practice. The work of Swiss Psychiatrist Carl Jung and how we can open up a conversation with our unconscious when creating mandalas intuitively. The Great Round Course, an online course where I teach people about creating mandalas for insight and self expression. It ties in with the work of Jung and how we can explore what I call our “mandala stories.” Curious to learn more about the Great Round? Access lesson one, …

Mandala Story: Catz’s Transformation

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We often hear about how relaxing and healing it is to create and color mandalas. I met up with Catz, a member of the 100 Mandalas Sharing Circle, to talk about how she went from quietly watching other members share their mandala art to winning a t-shirt at Mandalafest and getting the encouragement to post her first mandala. Since her first mandala, Catz’s mandala journey led her to discovering more than how to draw mandalas, she grew in confidence to say, “Yes!” to her dream of traveling and say, “No!” to unhealthy relationships. I’m so proud to know Catz. She is a joy and bright light in our mandala community. Watch this interview. I hope it inspires your mandala practice. Join us! The 100 Mandalas Sharing Circle is free. Watch these videos to start drawing your mandalas. Get Kathryn’s book: The Mandala Guidebook: How to Draw, Paint, and Color Expressive Mandala Art Curious about the Great Round Course? More Classes: Mandala Drawing I Color I Do you have a mandala story to tell? How has …

Special Invitation to Awaken Your Wildheart

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Meet me at the Wildheart Entrepreneur Summit Dear Mandala Family, Many of you have been following my creative journey for many years. I started with a blog eight years ago and today I’m a published author and host of the 100 Mandalas Community. Do you have a wild, creative dream that is waiting deep within your heart? Maybe you dream of being an author, musician, teacher, healer or coach? Perhaps you want to feel more creatively alive? I’ve been there! My friend Shereen is hosting the Wildheart Entrepreneur Summit that features 26 experts who know how to go from dreaming to doing. In the FREE summit you’ll get interviews with SARK, Samantha Bennett, Flora Bowley, and many others. In my interview with Shereen, we talk about my creative journey that has lead me to where I am today. I didn’t start on this path even knowing what my passion was. In my interview I tell you how I found my way. The summit starts on October 18th. Learn more and grab your free ticket here. …

Gerda Lamers Mandala Art

Mandala Artist Feature: Gerda Lamers

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While cruising around on Facebook recently, I stumbled upon the beautiful mandala art of Gerda Lamers from Groesbeek, The Netherlands. Curious to learn more about the artist behind the art, I reached out to Gerda with a few questions… Gerda was inspired by viking art (see below) to create the snake motif in the mandala pictured above. Tell us about your mandala practice, when and how did you start creating mandalas? I started drawing mandalas about ten years ago. I just started doodling around and more and more it became an addictive hobby. At first my mandalas were pretty simple, but over time they became more refined and also bigger. What is your process for creating mandalas? Sometimes I just begin drawing and see what comes out of this. Sometimes I have a rough idea or theme in my head, or a combination of colours that I want to explore. Oftentimes, while drawing, I come up with new ideas to incorporate in a mandala. Recently I started using a compass, but only for smaller circles. For …

Creative Living Podcast Interview

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Friends, I had the pleasure of chatting with Jamie Ridler on her Creative Living Podcast. We talk about: The impact a daily creative practice like creating mandalas has had on my life. How I discovered in my first mandala project 18 years ago, how mandalas can bring people together. What I was most surprised about in creating my first book. What I learned in creating 100 mandalas in 100 days. And so much more. I think you’ll love the energy, enthusiasm, and inspiration that’s in this 25 minute conversation. LISTEN IN HERE. Jamie and I both hope that when you listen to my dream come true story of publishing my first book, that you will be inspired to pursue your own dreams. It can happen! Be sure to leave Jamie a comment on her website. She would love to know that you listened in and what your #1 take-away was from the chat.

Meet the Contributors from The Mandala Guidebook

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Open my book, “The Mandala Guidebook” and turn to the contributor gallery in the back where you’ll find ten artists with ten very different design styles. You’ll also notice that they come from all over the globe. It just goes to show that creating mandalas is a universal art form and past time. I asked each artist a question about their mandala practice. Unfortunately in the book I could only include 50 words. Fortunately, I have a website where I could include their full responses along with their bios. Read through on how Michael McGrath’s (Bro. Mickey as I know him) mandala practice can have a prayerful aspect and how healing it is for Donna Gentile to make mandalas. I was inspired to read how many of these very talented artists started later in life. It is a reminder that we are never too old to pick up something new like creating mandalas. Enjoy meeting these lovely and talented mandala artists. Meet Michael O’Neill McGrath Meet Donna Gentile Meet Irina Artamonova Meet Jackie Fuller Meet Jane …

Mandala Weaving

Mandala Weaving with Shee Hoi Ong

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When I read the “God’s Eye Mandala” exercise in the Mandala Workbook, I immediately thought of Shee Hoi Ong from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Shee Hoi makes the most intricate and beautiful woven mandalas. I was curious to learn more about her mandala practice. How did you get started weaving mandalas? Looking back, I actually initiated a “parent flash art and handicraft session” in my son’s school with the aim of gathering parents who enjoy doing artwork to come together for a handicraft session.  The initial plan was for parents to meet up once a week for a 30 minutes craft session after they drop off their children at school.  I thought of working with a different art theme every week. So I started searching for ideas for my very first project.  Mandala weaving caught my attention one day while I was browsing Facebook and reading a friend’s comment. The word “mandala weaving” reflected in my eyes and yet I did not know what it was.  I began to Google for “mandala weaving” and the images from …

How to Use Labyrinths for Decision Making

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 Interview with Heather Plett Tell us about your mandala practice. Circles show up for me in a lot of different ways. I am a practitioner of The Circle Way (gathering people in circle for deeper conversations), I walk labyrinths, and I make mandalas. All of these are part of my journey to a place of deeper connection to myself, to others, to Spirit, and to the earth. When I make mandalas, I am connecting to a deeper source of wisdom within myself. It is an intuitive process that invites me beyond the limitations of left brain thinking (that often shows up with traditional journaling) to a place where the left and right brains can co-exist and co-create. Much of my mandala-making includes words as well as colour, images, and shapes. That kind of mandala-making started for me twenty five years ago when I was studying creative writing and realized that there was some poetry that worked better for me in a spiral than in straight lines on a page. I’ve turned that into a mandala …

Introduction to Labyrinths

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  7 circuit classical snow labyrinth created by Sadelle Wiltshire, 2015 Interview with Sadelle Wiltshire  What is a Labyrinth? A labyrinth is an ancient, archetypal pattern, based on the spiral,  that has been found in cultures and traditions around the world, with evidence going back over 4000 years.  Often in a circular shape, it is a single meandering path to a center and back.  The labyrinth is NOT a maze and rather than get lost, the single path can help you FIND yourself. The labyrinth is a metaphor for one’s path in life, and like life itself, is not a straight line, but has twists and turns.  Labyrinths have been used as a tool for prayer, meditation and healing for centuries.  I like to think of it as a ‘container’ that is a safe, sacred space I can bring my troubles or questions to.  The walking meditation one falls into, as you put one foot in front of another, invites the interplay of psyche, spirit and body.   As you begin to walk, it is easy to let …

Sue O'Kieffe Digital Mandala

How to Create Radiant Digital Mandalas and Interview with Sue O’Kieffe

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Mystic Message Mandala (source images: Auralite Amethyst) What I find most exciting about exploring mandalas is that the creative possibilities are endless. There is truly something for everyone – drawing, coloring, painting, photographing, and working digitally. For today’s post I reached out to Sue O’Kieffe who has been creating mandalas taking her photos of nature and then plays with them on the computer. I was curious to learn more about her mandala journey and how she makes these radiant works of art. Tell us about your mandala journey – when and how did you get started? My earliest memory of what might be an introduction to mandala making was playing with a Spirograph that my mother had saved from her own childhood. But I would say my first real experience with mandala making occurred around 1997. I participated in a workshop led by a woman who had been trained by Judith Cornell. Cornell created a lovely and very powerful approach to mandala making based on the concept of drawing with light by laying down layers …