Being Methodical
“doing things in a very ordered, careful way”
When it comes to doing things in general, I work best using a simple and yet methodical system…otherwise I forget something or wind up having to re-do things because I hadn’t taken the time to realize the order in which certain things need to be done.
Even when it comes to my art, especially creating more intricate mandala designs, it’s a methodical process. For instance over the last two weeks I’ve been painting two new batches of mandala meditation stones. Except for the actual painting on the stone part, doing them overall is a methodical process.
- pick out the stones to be painted
- wash stones, let dry
- determine which stones will be painted over the entire stone, and which ones will be partially painted
- determine the primer color (for my current batches, some wanted black and others wanted white)
- paint stones with primer coat
- one by one, paint the stones (this is the only non-methodical, go-with-the-flow part of this whole process…and obviously the longest part)
- one by one, determine each stone’s word or phrase
- on the back of each stone, write it’s word/phrase, sign it, and add the year
- once the stones are dry, spray and let dry two coats of artist quality varnish on all sides
- let sit overnight
- one by one add a coat of liquid varnish to the top side of each stone
- 1.5 hrs later, turn the stones over to add a coat of liquid varnish to the bottoms
- 1.5 hrs later, re-coat the top sides
- 1.5 hrs later, turn the stones over to add a coat of liquid varnish to the bottoms
- 1.5 hrs later, re-coat the top sides
- 1.5 hrs later, turn the stones over to add a coat of liquid varnish to the bottoms
- 1.5 hrs later, re-coat the top sides
- 1.5 hrs later, turn the stones over to add a coat of liquid varnish to the bottoms
- photograph the front and back sides of each stone
- edit photos
- upload and add to web site
As you can hopefully tell, it’s not just a one-day process. I mean I probably could find a way to do it in one day, but I know the quality would drastically go down.
I happened to know that the personalities of these stones that allow me to paint them, are very particular beings…they much prefer the quality treatment. Yes, please and thank you.
btw…here are photos of the two batches before they were varnished. Yesterday I sprayed them. Today, over the next 9 hours or so, I’ll be adding their liquid varnish.
How about you? Is being methodical a core value for you?
BTW…here’s what it looked like to begin with …
joyfully,
Maureen
The Mandala Lady
inspiring and encouraging creativity, curiosity, and play through the art of mandalas
About the 2024 Mandalas of the Day
Each day I will create and post a mandala inspired by one of 366 “value” words chosen randomly. The objective being to discover for myself which ones would best represent my core values…and by doing so, I hope it inspires you to determine your own.
Mandala of the Day 