TED Talk Thursday – Janet Echelman: Taking imagination seriously

For those of you not familiar with TED Talks here is a brief summery of them from www.ted.com:

“TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with two annual conferences — the TED Conference in Long Beach and Palm Springs each spring, and the TEDGlobal conference in Oxford UK each summer — TED includes the award-winning TEDTalks video site, the Open Translation Project and Open TV Project, the inspiring TED Fellows and TEDx programs, and the annual TED Prize”

According to www.ted.com:

“Janet Echelman found her true voice as an artist when her paints went missing — which forced her to look to an unorthodox new art material. Now she makes billowing, flowing, building-sized sculpture with a surprisingly geeky edge. A transporting 10 minutes of pure creativity.”

“Janet Echelman builds living, breathing sculpture environments that respond to the forces of nature — wind, water and light— and become inviting focal points for civic life.

Exploring the potential of unlikely materials, from fishing net to atomized water particles, Echelman combines ancient craft with cutting-edge technology to create her permanent sculpture at the scale of buildings. Experiential in nature, the result is sculpture that shifts from being an object you look at, to something you can get lost in.”

Enjoy this presentation of this extraordinary work of Janet Echelman.

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I look forward to your thoughts and comments!

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Mandala Monday – An Interview with Atmara by Nine Tomatoes

This interview originally appeared on Nine Tomatoes blog on February 18, 2010. Nine Tomatoes is owned by mandala artist Dana Weekley.

Nine Tomatoes: How did mandalas become a part of your life?

Atmara: I started creating digital art in 1996. The first few years I was creating more figurative visionary art. I can’t remember what gave me the idea to try making some mandalas, but in 1999 I created a set of 12. Gradually I was drawn to create more and more. Now I do them almost exclusively. I also create personal mandalas which you can read about on my website. Recently I’ve started creating video mandalas, which are quickly becoming my main passion. There are examples of these on my Youtube channel.

I would say the mandalas called me to create them, rather than me deciding to create them. Every piece of art is a “living being” in my experience, and they create themselves through me. I don’t really know how it all works, but I love being used in this way by the Universe.

 

Mandala 3 © Atmara Rebecca Cloe

Mandala 3 © Atmara Rebecca Cloe

Nine Tomatoes: Describe your creative process.

Atmara: When I get the urge to create a mandala I first create kaleidoscope images, using software designed for that purpose, of pictures that I am drawn to energetically. I’m pretty much guided intuitively in the whole process. Then I take 2 or 3 of these kaleidoscope images and combined them in Photoshop. Each is a separate layer in Photoshop and I blend them together with different blending modes, play with filters, color adjustment, etc. I just play. Eventually something will gel and I know the piece is finished. I never know when I start out what a mandala will look like when I’m finished. I just let the ideas of how to play with the images flow through me and eventually I recognize that the image is done, both visually and energetically.

 

Healing Mandala 6 © Atmara Rebecca Cloe

Mandalas of Healing & Awakening, No. 6 © Atmara Rebecca Cloe

Nine Tomatoes: How has creating mandalas affected your life – artistically, spiritually, psychically, and emotionally?

Atmara: Well, they certainly bring me a lot of joy in creating them. The way the guidance of what to do next just flows through me in their creation has become my prayer for my whole life, to be used by Love in each moment, not know what the outcome will be, but being the conduit for Love to flow into whatever I am doing.

 

Crop Circle Mandala 5 © Atmara Rebecca Cloe

Crop Circle Mandala 5 © Atmara Rebecca Cloe

Nine Tomatoes: Anything else you want to add?

Atmara: All my work is available for licensing. I am also available for creating personal mandalas and mandala videos on a commission basis. I hope soon to have a video mandala DVD available for sale and online downloading. That’s a project that’s just beginning, but I’m very excited about. Prints of all my work are available through my website as well. Thanks, Dana, for including me in this blog. And let me say I’m a great fan of YOUR work! Blessings to you!

 

Mandalas from the Heart of Surrender @ Atmara Rebecca Cloe

Mandalas from the Heart of Surrender @ Atmara Rebecca Cloe

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I look forward to your thoughts and comments!

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Mandalas from the Heart of Peace, Part 2

Last post, Mandalas from the Heart of Peace, Part 1, we looked at the first 6 mandalas that will make up this year’s mandala calendar. Today we will see the second set of 6. So let’s let the mandalas do the talking!

Mandalas from the Heart of Peace, No. 7

Mandalas from the Heart of Peace, No. 7

Prints, cards and mugs can be purchased in my Zazzle Store at http://www.zazzle.com/New_World_Creations?rf=238526469533245868

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Mandalas from the Heart of Peace, No. 8

Mandalas from the Heart of Peace, No. 8

Prints, cards and mugs can be purchased in my Zazzle Store at http://www.zazzle.com/New_World_Creations?rf=238526469533245868

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Mandalas from the Heart of Peace, No. 9

Mandalas from the Heart of Peace, No. 9

Prints, cards and mugs can be purchased in my Zazzle Store at http://www.zazzle.com/New_World_Creations?rf=238526469533245868

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Mandalas from the Heart of Peace, No. 10

Mandalas from the Heart of Peace, No. 10

Prints, cards and mugs can be purchased in my Zazzle Store at http://www.zazzle.com/New_World_Creations?rf=238526469533245868

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Mandalas from the Heart of Peace, No. 11

Mandalas from the Heart of Peace, No. 11

Prints, cards and mugs can be purchased in my Zazzle Store at http://www.zazzle.com/New_World_Creations?rf=238526469533245868

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Mandalas from the Heart of Peace, No. 12

Mandalas from the Heart of Peace, No. 12

Prints, cards and mugs can be purchased in my Zazzle Store at http://www.zazzle.com/New_World_Creations?rf=238526469533245868

These images and those in Mandalas from the Heart of Peace, Part 1, are for sale as a calendar from my Zazzle Store. There are also 4 other calendars there made from artwork created in other years. Please have a look. Calendars make great Christmas presents. Click here to view the calendars.

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I look forward to your thoughts and comments!

Be sure to Subscribe to this blog either by RSS or Email via the forms on the top right column of the page.