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 Jody Cooke © 2014 All Rights Reserved The ink is barely dry.....so happy to have a new mandala to share. It's Saturday morning and the sun is shining, all the promise of a brand new day stretches out in front of me. I have had a peaceful time bringing color to this mandala this morning. Now the family is up, rustling about the house....time to start my day in in the physical world of activity and people.
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 Jody Cooke © 2014 All Rights Reserved There aren't many words for all the emotion that went into this mandala. My years at East Carolina University are some of the finest I have ever lived and they will always hold a most cherished place in my heart. From the beginning days when I was a freshman and everything was so new and exciting all the way to my senior art show and graduation, I loved my days in Greenville, NC. This mandala is a reflection on those times that I hold so dear. Purple and gold were naturally chosen to color in the elements for these are the colors of my university. Other than that, the rest was simply one big long contemplation about times gone by and the memories that remain. I sit, breathe, draw, reflect and I am transported back in time with nothing short of joy, and longing sometimes too, for a place in my past. This is a mandala for those treasured days.
 Jody Cooke © 2014 All Rights Reserved It has been said that light blue is associated with healing, tranquility, trust, and clarity, and that dark blue represents dependability, power, integrity, and nobility. For me, I just think it's pretty and very soothing to look at....easy on the eye and definitely calming. Enjoy!
 Jody Cooke © 2014 All Rights Reserved I forgot to post this one! Better late than never, as they say. At any given time there are at least three mandalas on my drafting table in various stages of development. I try and discipline myself to create at least one black and white design a day. I like the idea of continuing the self discovery on a regular basis to keep growing. The black and white designs take anywhere from an hour to two hours. That's time spent in meditation and peace, so it's well worth the practice to do this. What greater gift could I give myself? When I come upon a mandala that also has a sense of design that I like, I color it. They keep coming to mind.....so I keep drawing them. I can't believe I never knew about these until last year! Life is better with mandalas. :-)
 Jody Cooke © 2014 All Rights Reserved It's another one of those mandalas that just had to be done. Corners can be tricky sometimes....so I got an idea to just fill them all with little, green, clover type blossoms. It looks like the mandala is floating on a field of flowers....what could be better?
 Jody Cooke © 2014 All Rights Reserved The whole process of making a mandala is about creating a sacred space. Sometimes it's appropriate that a prayer weaves it's way into the design making evolution, as it did this day back in May. Other times it may simply be a word, or a phrase that just makes sense at the time. I can work with graphics as well as symbols (I haven't come across any rules for mandalas yet). Whatever comes to mind, that is what goes down on the paper. I connect with my inner guidance and reflect that on the paper. Connect....reflect.
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Photography: Pat Olds
AuthorHello, and welcome to my website. My name is Jody Cooke and I am a designer living in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. I have been an artist in some form or another for over thirty years. My new passion is mandalas! Since I learned about them in January 2013, I have created over 1,500 (black and white) of these circular patterns and over 160 full color. Some are very small and sketchy, most are 8 inches in diameter, currently I am creating on 24" x 18" paper (transitioning into a Lotus Mandala series as of summer 2017) and one is a 24 inch square acrylic mandala painting on canvas. Definitely not my preferred medium..but I gave it a try! CategoriesArchive
August 2017
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