Sunday, August 26, 2007

August: Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu. "May All Beings Be Happy and Free"

Somewhere on this computer sits a couple of pics showing the progression of my August piece. I do have one progression post of this piece it's here

No matter, you can see the whole piece. It's titled: Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu. "May All Beings Be Happy and Free" I practice meditation and yoga and this chant is one of my favorites for the sound and it's message. Click each pic to see giant detail.



The lotus is pretty stylized, 3 white petals, 3 lavender petals. Mostly this was done because of the size of the center bead (a yellow jade) and the number of beads around it being divisible by 3. I would have liked to have more petals but it would not have worked out in terms of total size. The triad also represents Mind, Body and Soul or Father, Son, Holy Ghost: whatever spiritual triad one can assign to 3's. I used brick stitch to craft the flower, I wanted it to be smooth over textured.

I added a teeny Swarv crystal butterfly, it's light green, faceted and very hard to see in the pic but it's there. It symbolizes flights of fancy, fleeting beauty that comes into our lives.

I wanted to represent the lotus in water, as water is the symbol for life. In dream analysis, spiritual growth, actual life: we must have water to survive. The bead embroidery sewn in circular spirals represent the eddies of life, Each of the colors indicate life is some times clear, sometimes muddied, some times sparkling. Each spiral begins with a sequin, reflecting back that which you look for.

I can't seem to stop crowding my embroidery stitches, I'd love for them to lay down perfectly...like some of the other beaders work I've seen (wowie!). As I finished the first couple I realized that life isn't smooth, the mounded spirals feel like drops of rain? plopping into the water of life, giving rise to important moments in our lives.

The brown ultrasuede is the mud from which we spring. Growing upward from the muck.



This photos shows (somewhat badly) the ability of the flower to curl it's petals upwards if I choose.

I finished my August piece about the second week in Aug (yes, I beaded like a madwoman). And then I found myself with nothing to bead. Sooo, I began thinking about a cover for my journal. I decided that I'd work on a front and back cover in between monthly work. I had an idea for the cover and began working on it. As of today I am almost done with the center section which is 3 12 inches in diameter. So much for taking all year to incredmentally doing it.

Here is a teaser.



I probably won't show the whole pic of it until next year...and maybe by then the cover will be something different. Who knows?

15 comments:

beadbabe49 said...

I love the design & colors of his piece...it reminds me of van gogh somehow.
I'm beginning to get more serious about what I'm going to do with all 12 of these pieces....a book with a small beaded piece on the cover is one idea I've had, but, as you say, only time will tell what it actually turns out to be.

Timaree said...

A really beautiful piece! The colors are perfect. It seems so fresh and clean like when all the smog and dust have been washed away by a good storm.

Judi D said...

How beautiful. It reminds me of a pond, the water is gorgeous and the flower floats.

Ellen said...

What a magical piece this is, I love all the texture & the colours are so calming & fresh..
Hmm, your tease of the cover brings a rainbow to mind...

KV said...

This is really lovely -- I love the texture of your water and the raised lotus petals are wonderful.

And I love the colors of the teaser!


Kathy V in NM

coral-seas said...

Beautiful. Thank you for writing about the meaning of the various elements. That is what fascinates me about so many of these journals. First you look at the pic and see a beautiful composition. Then you read the blog and reveal the layers of hidden meaning in the colours and design and you see then you really see the page.

CA

Robin said...

This is awesome, Vivage! Everything about it peacefully proclaims that our dreams are real and can be realized. It makes me feel good. For whatever reason or meaning, I love the mounded swirls. Are you going to put pictures of your pages on Flickr? I hope so! Blessings, Robin

mAtilda said...

uaoh, bellissimo, mi piacciono in special modo le ninfee, bravissima, matilda

s said...

OOOOOH LaLaLa,
that is just scrumptious.
Sunni

vivage said...

:-) Big grin from me to all of you and heart-felt thanks too. The colors are some of my favorites, so it was especially fun to do. Spirals can be tedious for me, but at least working with exciting colors helped keep it fresh. LOL, yes, washed of smog and ohhhh, if only I could get that wet dirt smell into the piece!

Right now I am very interested in the 3D forms that I can manipulate (or at least I'm trying) and I'm feeling more and more successful. Problem solving is one of my favorite parts to doing a piece so this gave me lots of opportunities AND looking at something I didn't intend but it became a feature by sheer accident. Yay.

Yes, I'm very intrigued by the various blog entries, especially the ones that give detailed explanations on personal pages. I love the glimpses into each persons personality, their lives and how we give out how we feel in each piece.

Robin, I'm haven't given a whole lot of thought to uploading to Flickr - mostly because it takes my computer so long to upload that it becomes such a time consuming thing....but there is also those days where the computer is free and I can't sleep so maybe I can get it done during one of those times.

Gracias, danka and thank you all so much!

Magpie Sue said...

I also like this piece very much. I agree with the others that it's fascinating to see a beautiful composition and then read what the artist has to say about it and suddenly gain a deeper understanding of what we're looking at. Love that!

abeadlady said...

Definitely Van Goghish. Is that a word? I love the textures you put in. Half the fun of all the blogs is finding out what is behind each page. It's just great!

Quilt Architect said...

I also like this design. I love spirals and circles naturally. As soon as I opened your page I was in awe. I like all the meaning and the title that you gave this. Looking forward to seeing more of your work!!

Anonymous said...

Wow, I stumbled upon your blog while googling the sanskrit written "loka samasta..." Your work is so beautiful, thank you. I read somewhere that arts and crafts are a virtue, and looking at yours reminds me why. It is so lovely and such a gift to us all for you to take time to do such lovely work.
Om Namah Shivaya.

vivage said...

Anon, thank you so much for the comment. I love it that you stumbled in. What a great way to make a connection eh?

I love beading, it gives me a zen feeling of peace and being. I hope you have something similar in your life.