My 100th Post :o)

Yes, it's true. Today is my 100th post! What a milestone! ;o)

In honor of this event, I have included a mandala of sorts. It is a photo that I have put through a Kaleidoscope filter in Photoshop. (You can get the plug-in at this web site: http://www.mehdiplugins.com/.)

You can see the original photo on my blog here. Yes, it's true. The beautiful mandala above came from my "angel" cyclamen photo!

I have been thinking long and hard about what I should write about for this momentous post. I thought of quotes by famous poets or some interesting fact about what you give your spouse on your 100th wedding anniversary.

(As an aside, the list of traditional/modern wedding anniversary gifts that I looked at only went to the 80th anniversary and the traditional gift was oak. There was no modern gift listed--not too surprising given the lack of longevity in marriages nowadays. Realistically, though, if you and your spouse actually made it to your 80th anniversary, I am not sure either one of you would be able to lift anything made out of oak. ;o))

I also thought about writing about my thoughts about good and evil, which has been on my mind of late. But I finally decided that with that beautiful kaleidoscope mandala, I should include something to contemplate and meditate on. And what popped in my head was a poem by Rumi that I recently put in my journal.

I have decided to give just a few lines that seem particularly meditative and perhaps reflective of the changing facets of a kaleidoscope as well. The poem's title is "Music Master" and can be found in The Essential Rumi (translation by Coleman Barks).

We are the mirror as well as the face in it.
We are tasting the taste this minute of eternity.
We are pain and what cures pain, both.
We are the sweet cold water and the jar that pours.
--Rumi

Thank you, dear readers, for being my mirror and letting me be yours--(I hope that my posts have a touch of "reflection" in them!) May we be that for each other for another 100 posts or 100 years--whichever comes first!

--Vicky Lynn :o)

Cyclamen Kaleidoscope
Digital mandala created in Photoshop
Copyright © 2009 by Vicky Lynn Macchione

Law of Attraction or the Universe's Web Crawler

The other day while checking my email a thought occurred to me. What triggered the thought was a video advertised in a daily newsletter from Gimundo. The video was about a software product that was being used by an ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) patient that allowed him to create graffiti art using only his eye movements. Pretty amazing!

Now, what caught my attention was the fact that the young man had ALS. Just a day or so before that email arrived, I had been talking with Michel about my ex-husband's grandfather who had ALS and actually died from the disease. So that was two instances about the subject of ALS in a very short span of time. That occurrence fueled the train of thought that left the station of my mind and proceeded along the "thinking" tracks something like this:

Hmmm. ALS again. That reminds me of when I am searching in Google or writing emails in Yahoo about particular subjects. Somehow I notice more instances of what I was searching for or writing about appearing in my Yahoo Spam email folder after those searches or emails. (Yes, I check my Spam folder!)

Is it possible that somehow Yahoo and Google know what I am searching for or writing about and then directs related topics to my Spam email box? Is it possible that the web crawlers checking the Web all the time are responsible for the influx of certain types of Spam and even Inbox advertisements?

Is that how the Law of Attraction works? We pull on a strand of the Web of the Universal Consciousness by thinking a certain thought or talking about a certain subject and then the the Universe's web crawler (aka the Law of Attraction) notices our tug and sends more information or more feelings or more whatever back to us? So the Universe is like a giant Google complete with web crawlers?

(Or as Michel later pointed out--Google is structured like The Universe!) ;o)

So ends my train of thought with one final note. That evening, after this experience occurred, I was reading a library book and can you believe it? One of the characters in the book had...ALS! Amazing!

In honor of my "webby train of thought," I have posted a mandala (called "Playing with the Web") that I created from a photo that I found on posted on the Studio Nemo web site. The photo is a spider web decorated with water droplets. Click here to see the original photo.

--Vicky Lynn :o)

"Playing with the Web"
Digital mandala created in Photoshop
Copyright © 2009 by Vicky Lynn Macchione

Happy Thanksgiving!

Giving thanks for the images and words with which the Universe has delivered to my Soul and for those who have encouraged and supported me in doing my artwork and wordwork. This mandala is for YOU.

Thank you!

--Vicky Lynn :o)

"Angel of Fire & Ice"
Digital mandala created in Photoshop
Copyright © 2009 by Vicky Lynn Macchione

What's in a post?

I haven't posted in a while. I have been making art--some mandalas in Photoshop and some doodles and mandalas by hand. And I have opened my blog several times to post. But each time, I just couldn't find something to say that might be meaningful or amazing. ;o)

Today is no exception except that I thought why not write about not having anything to write about. Or, at least, nothing I feel that is noteworthy or full of depth or insight. One reason I decided to post about "nothing" is that I am reading a book by someone who said writing is about sharing the life we live and not passing judgment on what is acceptable about that life. Interesting idea especially for someone like me whose inner critic is always ready to "help" with editing and judging!

So what's in a post? Perhaps a post is just a moment in time when I share my life with whomever decides to read my blog. And perhaps that timely moment doesn't have to be something amazing or supernatural. Maybe it can be mundane sharing about trying to write a blog post and struggling in the process.

On a "lighter" note, the mandala I have posted above is called "Angel Energy Essence." Here is the photo from which I created the mandala. The plant is a white cyclamen and has a bit of a story.


I purchased this plant because someone was sending angels (the ethereal kind) to stay at our apartment for 4 days. One of the items I needed to get in preparation was a white flower or plant. I thought of cyclamens almost immediately. As Michel says, cyclamen blooms look like angels flying.

After the angels visited, I got the idea of taking a photo of my cyclamen and using the photo with an angel message that my friend Karen (an Angel Therapy Practitioner) created. She loved the photo and is selling cards using the photo and message on her web site.

So there is lots of "angel energy" in this mandala. I hope you feel it, too.

--Vicky Lynn :o)

"Angel Energy Essence"
Digital mandala created in Photoshop
Copyright © 2009 by Vicky Lynn Macchione

Transformation on my mind...

The idea of transformation has been in my thoughts lately, which may be why today's digital mandala comes from the "poster insect" for transformation--the butterfly. ;o) What I love about this mandala is the beautiful six-pointed star that appears in the center. The colors and its appearance reminds me of the art of India. I also find that the melange of colors in this mandala is quite stunning and unique.

I took the original photo (seen below) last year while visiting the Butterflies Go Free exhibition at the Montréal Botannical Garden.

--Vicky Lynn :o)

Butterfly Star Mandala
Digital mandala created using Photoshop
Copyright © 2009 by Vicky Lynn Macchione

In Time, Being

Here is a new digital mandala and a poem I wrote for a friend who is celebrating a birthday in a few days. In this mandala, I see transformation, unity, light and shadow, all operating within the realms of time that we experience while on this earth. This idea is one the poem points to as well.

In Time, Being

Rotating and revolving,
Re-pulsing and refracting,
Reflecting and revealing—
Our paths as orbits spin
Spotted on Source’s One Light.

Each step is a union
With others in Life’s sky—
Conjunctions of Souls.
Lights connecting, blending, merging;
Each moment here, we are,
In Time,
Being.

Here is the photo from which I created the mandala. I took it the other day before most of the leaves had fallen from these bushes, leaving only twigs and branches where a sea of color once existed.

How is it possible that green leaves can turn into such glorious and vibrant shades of red and pink? Absolutely amazing! Fabulous fall...

--Vicky Lynn :o)

Autumn Transformation Mandala
Digital mandala created in Photoshop
"In Time, Being" poem
Copyright © 2009 by Vicky Lynn Macchione

One of those days!

Yes, today was one of those days.

The freezer wasn't freezing ice cubes.

The refrigerator temperature is not cold enough and is running all the time, so I am going to have to throw out some food.

I have hurt my right elbow somehow, and in certain positions, it is very painful. No ice cubes makes it difficult to ice the elbow. ;o)

The birthday card I was making had to be remade, and once finished, it still was not "perfect."

Basically, it has been a day of redoing and figuring out how to resolve the challenges that kept surfacing.

Finally, I decided I needed to create something "just because," so I made the two mandalas I have posted here.

I titled the first mandala, "Hearts & Flowers" for obvious reasons. ;o) The picture I used was taken on a lovely September day just about the time the sun was setting, which gave the flower a very vibrant appearance.

The second mandala is called "Morning Glorious" and was taken on the same September afternoon.

I do love the wide open loveliness of morning glories. This perky blossom was surrounded by a sea of green leaves and other buds here and there. She seemed to be saying--"Hey! Look at me! I'm happy here, blooming in my little corner of the world!"

Making these mandalas was a challenge because of my elbow, but I loved the surprise they brought me when I finished them. Perhaps the message for me is that "one of those days" is like a slice of a digital mandala. You never know what the final result will be just by looking at the first slice.

Any today is just a slice of Life. When it is pieced together with all the other slices, then I will be surprised with the amazing results and with what hidden pictures I can see.

So the next time one of those days comes my way, I'll do my best to accept it just as it is and realize that a new "today" is just a sunrise away. ;o)

--Vicky Lynn :o)

"Hearts & Flowers" Mandala
"Morning Glorious" Mandala
Digital mandalas created using Photoshop
Copyright © 2009 by Vicky Lynn Macchione

Mushroom Star

I am posting a new digital mandala along with the source image I used. I took this picture in September while taking a walk near our apartment. The day was lovely and I actually remembered to bring my camera with me. ;o)

What I love about the process of creating these mandalas is the unknown factor. When I pick the slice I will use, I am only seeing 1/5 or 1/8 of the final result. In the case of the Mushroom Star, I didn't know there was going to be a star until I had made 3/5 of the mandala.

The other interesting occurrence is how my perception of what I am seeing changes. For example, in this mandala, I kept feeling like I was looking shells from the ocean, which made me wonder if mushrooms are the shells of a grass sea or a dirt sea. Just a different way of "seeing."

--Vicky Lynn :o)

Mushroom Star of the Sea Mandala
Digital mandala created with Photoshop
Copyright © 2009 by Vicky Lynn Macchione