March 25, 2023
We had our first painter (Deb) from the Sacred Earth Community today. She painted mesquite tree seed pods and tree roots on the lower left petals. Rocky returned to paint a flying fish in the east. Cary painted arrundo, which is similar to bamboo. We transplant a lot of arrondo to create much-needed shade out here in the desert. It’s nice to see things going into the mandala that supply us with things we need. It’s a wonderful way to honor the God’s gifts to us in nature.
March 26, 2023
The mural saw lots of activity today with painters and visitors from the Sacred Earth community and Terrasante. There is a special thing that happens when you gaze at a massive, all encompassing mandala mural… your gaze turns inward to contemplate what your next marks on the cement canvas will be. There are stories, emotions and inspiration woven into each brush stroke, each hue, each color decision.
Nature is our inspiration for this mural, and patterns show up in nature from the macrocosm to the microcosm. There’s a big night sky out here, and one can’t help, but contemplate what our ancestors thought about as they gazed up to the heavens. Did you notice the incredible constellations and planetary alignments this week? Well, they’re here in the mandala thanks to Marya! They’re an interesting juxtaposition to the magic captured in the soil below in Deb’s pods and tree roots, and again, we see the macro- and microcosm patterns and textures in nature.
There are many healing benefits to art that have been documented. We talked about that today at the mural. Perhaps I’ll create a resource and post a link here. Come back to see, and to track our progress.
