glyph - unadorned

glyph adorned

Autumnal Virginia creeper

This is the view out our dining room, filtered through Photoshop's Ink Outlines filter.

Mandala 23 -- Multiple variation

Mandala 29 -- Variation VI

Mandala 29 -- Variation V

This includes using Photoshop's poster edge filter.

Mandala 29 -- Variation II

Applying some gradient colors and using some Photoshop filters.

Dramatic in black

This is mandala 23 - Variation IV.

Mandala 29 -- Variation I

Mandala 29

Here's another mandala I made a while back. I purposely set out to make a very "non-geometric" mandala -- organic, free-flowing, all that sort of thing, you know? It does have nine spokes or axes. I think it has a very Air/Fire quality to it. I like it!

Mandala 24 -- Variation II

It's Sunday morning, middle of a holiday weekend, and I felt inspired to "play" in Photoshop.

I'm pleased with the results.

Mandala 24 -- Sunburst without three

mandala 24
Originally uploaded by calypso Dragon 13.

This is a modified sunburst, with three of the "rays" or "spokes" of the mandala removed.

Buddhist Sand Paintings

As with Buddhist tradition as a whole, sand painting has its roots in the Tantric legacy of Buddhist India, extending back more than 20,000 years to the time preceding the migration of the native North Americans from Central Asia. Thus we see similarities between it and the sand painting traditions of the natives of the southwest such as the Hopi and Navajo.

There are hundreds of mandalas in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. On the Mystical Arts of Tibet tours, the Lamas create many different types, including the mandalas of the Healing Buddha, Amitayus Buddha (the Buddha of Boundless Life), Yamantaka (the Opponent of Death), and Avalokiteshvara (the Buddha of Compassion). These are created when there is a need for the healing of living beings and the environment. The Lamas consider our present age to be one of great need in this respect and therefore construct these mandalas whenever requested during their world tours.

See this site for more information.

Colorblock mandala

Colorblock mandala
Originally uploaded by calypso Dragon 13.

this is a mandala I made a while back ... a dark and stormy night ... the wind whipping through the trees ... at the pied-a-terre. Sitting at Nana's old table with Lina's laptop fired up, I played and played with Photoshop.

mandala on frosted glass shadows

mandala on frosted glass shadows
Originally uploaded by calypso Dragon 13.

There appeared to be an arc on the glass ... so I superimposed a mandala that I'd previously made on the shadows on the glass.

leaf shadows on the wall -- modified

leaf shadows on the wall -- modified
Originally uploaded by calypso Dragon 13.

This was taking a not-very-good photo of leaves' shadows swaying on our living room walls ... and trying to do something interesting with it.

I applied a watercolor filter to the image, among others.

In my mind, those leaf shadows are still swaying with the breeze.

Five-axis mandala, variation II

Five-axis mandala, variation II
Originally uploaded by calypso Dragon 13.

Same thoughts as Variation I, although I do think this one is a bit more appealing.

I do like the colors (thanks to the Difference Clouds filter in Photoshop) and the filter applied to the "swiss cheese" arms of the mandala.

Five-axis mandala, variation I

Five-axis mandala, variation I
Originally uploaded by calypso Dragon 13.

This is probably one of my least favorite mandalas that I have created.

I like the five-arm configuration. I don't like the concentric circles that look like "tracks" and I don't like the "swiss cheese" look on the perimeter.

I wish I could have turned this sow's ear into a silk purse! (sigh)

What's Leo doing in the British Museum?

blogposting
Originally uploaded by calypso Dragon 13.

Isn't this a cool image?

It is a detail from a door at the British Museum. Lovely!

I copied it from a person named Claudecf at flickr.

I reduced its size and applied a film grain to the image.

green shafts of light

tmp.AKM54490_5.var
Originally uploaded by calypso Dragon 13.

This is another Photoshop creation. The background that looks like perspective lines is from a photo by OscarN at flickr.com.

The other components of the image are a simple sunburst mandala that I projected onto a cylinder in a 3D software that I work with. I manipulated that .jpg file within Photoshop.

five-footed flower mandala

five-footed flower mandala
Originally uploaded by calypso Dragon 13.

This was an experiment in defining a "petal" from a photo of a nude woman lying in a bed with sheets draped around her. Her foot formed the center of the flower.

I then (clumsily) transfomed the petals around the center of the flower mandala and played with filters and gradients and layers.

Here's the result. If you look closely, you can indeed see the five feet of the center of the flower mandala.

[Note to myself: next time, when making the initial cut, be more careful about creating sharp corners. These petals lack soft, organic-looking curves.]

Cat's head, whiskers & all (mandala 8-2-2)

mandala 8-2-2
Originally uploaded by calypso Dragon 13.

This is a three-axis mandala.

I have distorted it with a filter in Photoshop. S says it looks like a cat's head, whiskers and all.

I like the sense of movement in the middle of the mandala.

I was also pleased with the end results of the background color.

Here is how it started out. I think it looks rather like a Ouija-board pointer or some type of game puck.

Ojo de Dios (mandala 7-3)

mandala 7-3
Originally uploaded by calypso Dragon 13.


I always have mixed feelings about the composition of this mandala. In some ways, I like its simplicity. In other ways, it feels overly simplistic.

I can tell you it evokes a southwestern Native American feel for me. The four directions of the wind, the four points of a compass ... I see those in this mandala. In my flickr account, I mentioned an Ojo de Dios, an "eye of God." It's a creation many of us made when we were kids at summer camp. You take two sticks, cross them and begin weaving yarn around their intersection. That's what I remember of an Ojo de Dios.


Like this one from an artist named Jay Mohler. See his website here.

Colored Glass

Aren't these thumbnails, as a collection, gorgeous?

This is a compilation of colored glass shots taken by a photographer I know only as Tejana. Tejana posts on flickr. I have modified it slightly, cutting and pasting here and there.

Slightly late: Signs of Spring

 
Signs of Spring

Kind of a mandala?

Title it "Sundial in Fuchsia Time."

intertwined

Here's a mandala I created a while back. I have altered it somewhat in PHotoshop.

It's actually supposed to be two five-pointed stars intertwined with one another like a Celtic knot.

Whaddaya think?

A mandala for today

Here's a mandala I created in Photoshop. I love those warm intense colors.

May -- the time for dragons to return?

I am going to try posting some of my images here at DragonPix again. Zoto is making this a much easier process.