Charity Mika
  • Gallery
  • Student Artwork
  • arted
  • Art Activist Blog
  • Art Education Blog
  • About CharityMika
  • Press
  • Contact
  • Gallery
  • Student Artwork
  • arted
  • Art Activist Blog
  • Art Education Blog
  • About CharityMika
  • Press
  • Contact

The Art of Education

Mandala- It’s all about the Math

4/19/2020

3 Comments

 
Picture
​Last month the art teachers of Southeast Kansas region got together for a professional development workshop.  The workshop on Mandalas was held at Pittsburg High School in Pittsburg, KS and lead by art teacher, Rebecca Lomshek.  Rebecca and the other art teachers that attended the workshop were so generous with their knowledge and resources.
Picture
History of Mandalas
​The word “mandala” is from the classical Indian language of Sanskrit.  Loosely translated to mean “circle.”  A mandala is more than a simple shape.  Mandalas represent wholeness and can be found in many aspects of life such as the celestial circles to conceptual circles of our friends and family.
Mandalas patterns are used in many religious traditions.  Hildegard von Bingen, a Christian nun in the 12th century created many beautiful mandalas to express her visions and beliefs. 
Picture
Picture

​In the Americans, the circular Aztec calendar was both a timekeeping device and a religious expression in a mandala format.

Picture
Picture

​In Asia the Taoist “Yin-Yang” symbol represents opposition as well as interdependence.

Picture
Picture

​Tibetan mandalas are often highly intricate illustrations of religious significance that are used for meditation.  In ancient Tibet, as part of a spiritual practice, monks created intricate mandalas with colored sand made of crushed semiprecious stones. The tradition continues to this day as the monks travel to different cultures around the world to create sand mandalas and educate people about the culture of Tibet.

Picture
Picture

​A world away, the American Navajo people also create impermanent sand paintings which are used in spiritual rituals–in much the same way as they are used by Tibetans. A Navajo sand painting ritual may last from five to nine days and range in size from three to fifteen feet or more.  The Native American mandala is created in honor of a people that truly understand the deeper undercurrents of thought, nature, and life.

Picture
Picture

​Using the antique art of crochet Doilies were originally crocheted with thread and used to protect table and dresser tops, and gained popularity in the Victorian Era, when women hand worked them in their spare time to add a little elegance to their households. At one time, these items were considered so important that a young lady was expected to have at least 10 to be ready for marriage, and these were carefully stored in a hope chest to be used when she set up her household.

Picture
Picture

​How to draw a Mandala

Step by Step Guide
1. Mark the center of your paper with a small dot, and then using a compass draw a circle.
2. Draw several other circles with the same center point, this in math is called, Concentric Circles.
3. 
Take the ruler and draw a horizontal line across the center.
4. 
Take the protractor and place it along the horizontal line. Draw a mark every 30 degrees: at 30, 60, 90, 120, and 150. This will give us 12 sections.
5. Take the ruler again and draw a line between the center and every degree mark, across the whole paper. 
6. OK, you will now have 12 sections or pieces of a pie. You need to fill each section with some kind of repetitive pattern. What can be easy to repeat?
7. Replicate the element until you fill the whole circle. Be slow and thoughtful—there's no hurry!
​Focus on what you're drawing at the moment.
8. Draw light until you know it's right!
9. Once you have your mandala filled in, darken it or "ink" it by going over the lines with a marker.
10. fill in the open spaces with watercolor, colored pencils, or markers to add bright colors.
11. Set back and look at your masterpiece. Beautiful!

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
3 Comments
Zona
4/19/2020 03:02:23 pm

I did not know what a mandala was, but enjoyed them for years. Thanks for the history lesson and examples in cultures.

Reply
Gwen
4/22/2020 01:32:55 pm

That is so cool! I didn't realize how water color pencils worked. I have to get some. Thanks for showing us.

Reply
stefanieu376392 link
3/11/2021 06:07:02 am

this is a really good website, and it is ver helfull.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Professor Charity

    I teach future art teachers at Emporia State University.  Here is what is going on in my classes.

    Archives

    May 2021
    April 2021
    January 2021
    August 2020
    July 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    July 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018

    Categories

    All
    2020 School Year
    Accommodations
    Adaptive Art
    Alien Name
    Andy Goldsworthy
    Artists Retreat
    Art Pong
    Back To School
    Blessed
    Blessing Box
    Books
    Bubbles
    Christian In Public School
    Claes Oldenburg
    Class Critiques
    Classroom Management
    Color Wheel
    Covid-19
    Dot Day!
    Escape The Art Room
    Face Masks
    Fiber Art
    Film Review
    Food Art
    Food Plate
    Fred Rogers
    Galentine's Day
    Getting To Know You
    HyFlex
    Ice Dying
    Job Hunting
    Mandala
    Marbling Paper
    Mondrian
    Music
    Nature
    Nature Mandalas
    Nelson-Atkins
    Online Learning
    Painting
    Painting With Bubbles
    Pantry Painting
    Papier-Mache
    Pop Art
    Screen Printing
    Screensavers
    Sculpture
    Self- Care
    SOAP Notes
    STEAM Night
    Sticks Of Fate
    Summer Reading List
    Teaching In A Pandemic!
    T-shirts
    Waffle Postcards
    Weaving
    White Noise

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Gallery
  • Student Artwork
  • arted
  • Art Activist Blog
  • Art Education Blog
  • About CharityMika
  • Press
  • Contact