I missed Haiku My Heart Friday, but I did create some mandalas from a photo I took last fall. Over on 14 Secrets, Susanna shared a link to her friend's
beautiful mandala art. It reminded me that I had created mandalas using a Photoshop tutorial I'd found online several years ago, that allows you to replicate a slice of a photograph in a kaleidoscopic fashion. I was surprised and delighted to find that the
same tutorial is still available. The creator of Earth Mandalas, Komro Atiri Cheyean Moriko, had been kind enough to share her process for the rest of us to play with, way back when. I'm always amazed and grateful for the generosity of folks who offer the fruits of their creative labors so freely. Such a gift. Even if you aren't interested in the tutorial, please take a look at Komra's art.
The Earth Mandalas tutorial is very clear and thorough. It was written for Photoshop 5, though, so if you're using a later version and you want to give this a try, there's one change that I discovered that you'll need to know. Where you're instructed to enter the numeric value of the rotation, you won't find it in the drop-down menu, as shown. It's in the option bar at the top, when you select 'Free Transform' from the drop-down:
The process may seem a bit daunting at first, but after you've gone through it once or twice, you'll see how simple it really is. There are several options available, as well. I chose to use the one offered in the tutorial for these - the eight-sectioned smaller version.
Created from the same image:
This is the source photo for all three:
Mandala is a Sanskrit word meaning, literally, 'essence' (manda) and 'container' (la). So beautiful. Each holding sacred space. Of course, these, while honoring nature, are mere nods to the true and authentic origin of the mandala and its creation.
If you decide to give this a try, I really hope you'll share the results. Thanks, Sus, for the inspiration to make these once again.
Peace.
