ink mandala drawings

Earlier this year I attended a meditative mandala drawing class. It was a lovely class, and the teacher has a wonderfully approachable and intuitive approach to mandalas. As I mentioned in my previous post, I had always been too intimidated to try this type of art, I’m bad at measuring and making things all exactly the same. However, with this approach those small inconsistencies, variants in negative space, and wobbly lines emphasize the beauty that these images were drawn by hand, by a human, who is also beautiful in her imperfection.

Published by Carly Swenson, Visual Artist

Carly Swenson is an intuitive painter originally from northern Montana. She spent more than a decade working primarily as a mixed media artist before shifting to acrylics. Swenson received a BFA in Visual Arts with an Art History Minor from Bemidji State University. During and after university, she traveled and lived abroad, this included studying in China, traveling throughout Europe and living both in England and the Azores.Swenson’s work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions throughout the US and internationally. Her freelance writing and mixed media journals have been published in nationally distributed art magazines. She has facilitated art workshops for various age groups. Swenson’s work is also included in the permanent art collections of Angra do Heroismo Museum and Bemidji State University (Bemidji, MN). Currently, she lives in St. Paul, MN with a smart little dog and a weird little cat. They’re nice. Copyright Notice: All images (artwork and photography) protected by copyright and belong to Carly Swenson, unless otherwise noted. Any images not owned by Carly Swenson have been used with the consent of the copyright holder. Please do not reuse/publish/edit/copy/etc. any images from this blog without consent of the copyright holder. Thank you for your understanding and respect of artistic integrity. View all posts by Carly Swenson, Visual Artist