Durga Yantra Mosaic Complete!

in #art7 years ago (edited)

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Durga, the Goddess of Protection.

Durga is the ultimate Mother, she wards off danger with her multitude of weapons, protecting us as only a mother can. Invoke Durga to channel your compassionate warrior self.(description by Sarah Tomlinson)

For a few years I've wanted to put together a collection of mandalas. Up until now all mandalas I've made have been custom and made to order but each time I always think that by making a collection for customers to choose from, the purchase price could be lower, more marketing avenues would be possible and this would also allow more freedom in my creative development process.

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our yantra drawings get xeroxed many times during the making process

My new collection is coming together and I've been posting in process shots so you may have seen sneak peaks over the past 2 months. Today, Rob and I finished the first one which is a DURGA Yantra.

here after the bisque firing, awaiting glaze
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Durga is the Goddess of Protection and is the ultimate Mother. She embodies a radiant power that is the unified force of all the divine energies. She appears when there is the need to establish balance and harmony, peace and prosperity within the self, within the world. As is the self, so is the world. She destroys, she triumphs compassionately, ultimately she is the mother of all.

A yantra is a type of mandala, and in Sanskrit literally means a tool for self-realization. A yantra is a kind of map of the self, and of the universe. The Durga yantra is visually the most powerful yantra after the Sri Yantra. If you would like more information about yantras and the Sri Yantra, see my post from last fall.

we used many textures of glaze especially with the various whites and ivories and are pleased with the effect

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One doesn't have to be religious to enjoy, appreciate and benefit from a mandala or a yantra. One doesn't even have to be religious to make them. There are in depth Hindu practices that include yantras and take these geometries to a new level, but these is great power inherent in a yantra that transcends religion or particular practices.

To give you a sense of how I approached yantra making, here is a bit of background. In 2012, I developed an interest in making yantras and received an ancient Tantric initiation that opened up quite a few doors for me and continues to do so. Teachers shared information that they otherwise wouldn't have which has been invaluable. I've always been fundamentally allergic to religion but insatiably interested in spiritual engagement. It was explained to me that although this Tantra has it's roots in Hinduism, this particular type of Tantra is a kind of shamanism. And as you may know, I've studied, practiced and integrated Core Shamanism fully into my world view so this enabled me to move forward with the initiation. Shamanism has never seemed like a religion to me either, more of a wholistic view of life that is so natural and innate.

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If you like this one check my blog regularly as over the next few weeks as each mandala is complete, I'll be posting in here on Steemit first.

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Beautiful. I am feeling better already after reading your post and viewing this mandala.

Great :-))), best thing to hear

That's beautiful keep it up :)

thanks so much @rekaa!

Awesome work, upvoted!

@techwizardry thanks! yes interesting perspective on something I'm familiar with, thanks.

Do you assemble the pieces on top of the template? I really like the finished look of it. Awesome!

Thanks @cyberblock, I drew the image, rolled a slab of clay, drew it on to the clay, cut it out, fired it, glazed it, fired it again and assembled the pieces. Then I used thinset and grout to set it onto tile board.

That's just gorgeous! Is this the mandala you were going to do when you mentioned using my Plumeria flower for some of your reference material? I have been anxious to see the result. Your creative spirit is powerful ! Beautiful...just beautiful @natureofbeing .

Hi @bloomview, thanks! I was looking at flower images for a different mandala idea, not this one. (see my last studio post, although I didn't use the same flower as yours, this was the piece I was brainstorming for when I saw your image). I love flowers, petals, leaves...all so inspiring!

Your work is amazing. The level of professionalism is almost intimidating but in a good way. You set the bar high. Have a good day @natureofbeing and keep producing your inspiring work and posts. Salud!

Thanks so much, really appreciate the compliments and encouragement! Salud to you as well :-))

indeed, Jai Ma Durga! thanks

Thank you for sharing

thanks for supporting my post!

What a gorgeous artwork! I love that you gave a detailed background of the design. I'm not into shamanism and was surprised there are various walks under it (terribly sorry if I got that wrong). How long have you practiced Core Shamanism, if I may ask

Thanks @unspeakableme, glad to hear your feedback! Yes Shamanism is as old as humans and every indigenous group of people throughout history (all of us) began with Shamanism so there are hundreds of forms. I began my forays with Shamanism in 2003, so 14 years or so and now it's just a way of life.

Oh! That's interesting enough to make me want to read a lot more about it. Thanks for sharing :D

Beautiful work - and an illuminating article.

thank you @seattlesal! You're in Seattle....I'm thinking of putting together a PNW steemit meet-up for late July or early August, would you be interested in coming?

wow thank you!! beautiful craft and really powerful!! looking forward to see more of your work. I love mandalas and draw sacred geometry myself but I never thought of doing it like a mosaic..really cool! thanxx again! peace

Wonderful to hear, thanks so much! Sacred geometry is pretty amazing for sure.

I love these things!

@macksby!!! Haven't seen you in forever here! Thanks for checking in with my blog... How are things?

Im still around...:))
Looks like you are doing well, glad to see it -- Beautiful work!

Glad you're still here...and thanks so much for your kind words, I'll be in touch more often.

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