Make a Mandala

Hey Members! Welcome to our Virtual YAI Class. Today we’re going to be using things you find outside to make a beautiful mandala. A mandala, in their most basic form, are circles contained within a square and arranged into sections that are all organized around a single, central point. In my example below my mandalas’ central point is a dandelion.

Materials needs to complete this lesson:

  1. random collections of things found outside (pinecones, rocks, dandelions, leaves, flowers, weeds, etc.)
  2. scissors (optional)
  3. a surface to lay your objects on (a piece of paper, cardboard, blanket, sidewalk, table)
  4. your imagination

Spend about 30 minutes outside foraging for small collections of organic matter, its better to do it this way then do one at a time. So when it’s time to create you can sit down and do it all at once. Make small piles of each item near where you plan on working.

Choose one organic material to be your central point, mine is a dandelion. Start creating a radial design, which is another way of saying a circular design, choosing different materials that are all organized around that central point.

You can go back and add more details to create less negative space between all your organic materials, this promotes a lush composition. So I added green clover leaves around the center dandelion and more dandelions around the outer edge— I think it helped balance out the piece a bit.

I could have stopped after six, but I was having way too much fun creating so I added another layer. I used larger leaves and complicated them with a small berry, which added a great deal of texture to my piece. But it still looked incomplete, so I added some more textures; fern leaves, daisies from a dying bouquet, and alstroemeria petals to add a bit of surprise for color.

Now I challenge you to make your own version of a mandala with whatever you can find outside, I can’t wait to see your designs.

Miss you guys.

-Miss Gwyn

Submit your images to hello@yaiknox.org and use #YAIBGCTNV to share with others.

*Each submission gets you entered into a weekly raffle and could WIN!*