Mandalas at Lunch

My art time has shrunk since I started my new job (when is a new job no longer new? hmmmm...) so I have been sneaking in some small drawings at lunch. In my little sketchbook, I trace around a CD with pencil, and randomly draw what ever flows out. Since I mostly have on hand yellow highlighters and pencils, many of the mandalas (circular designs) are yellow. After a while I broke down and bought some markers in other colors that I tucked into my drawer. Unsurprisingly, textiley designs emerged.

The drawing process calms me down and is very meditative (check into Jung and his mandala work...very cool) so these are pretty much the opposite of what I usually do. I printed a few out on fabric, and made this triptych with woven brass and copper mesh (with an underlay of colored fabric--pink under the copper and olive under the brass.) I stitched it all to peltex so it would be firm and be able to stand.

Lately I have been so busy that I don't even have time for my full lunch hour because I am working on a "Strength and Memory" Quilt as a breast cancer fundraiser. I have taken orders for different size pieces and printed the messages out on pink or white cotton with calligraphy fonts, then fused it to some glue-backed felt (nasty stuff, but I was required to use up the supplies that were left over from last year). Unbelievably, I was forbidden to SEW it (my boss once made a quilt, so she knows how long it takes.) So, I'm almost done...just waiting for a few last minute orders from the nursing department. Then I can have my lunch hour back!