24-271 Quality

The Mandala Lady, , , , , , , , , ,
MotD 24-271 Quality — after. abstract background with muted colors of pink, maroon, some yellow and some blue, and dark green. on top in gold ink is an angular mandala with two rows petals that resemble wide arrowheads. A simple circle is drawn in between the second row of petals.

Quality

“the degree of excellence of something”

For my background papers, I usually do a couple of new loose abstract watercolor/ink paintings on large watercolor paper. When dry, I cut them into 4” squares. For this latest batch of MotDs that started about two weeks ago, I’ve been using papers that were painted years ago. It was while decluttering a space, that I found this batch of smaller sized papers that I forgot that I had already made.

So I cut them up without inspecting them and continued with my normal MotD process of randomly choosing (without looking at them) a piece a day. It wasn’t until I turned over today’s piece that I saw a name written on the top of the square: D.M. Franzosa. I realized that the piece that this came from was created by her. She wasn’t happy with the way it turned out so she let me take it home to play with.

She was an amazing artist who I was honored and grateful that I was mentored by her. She’s the one who introduced me to the concept of “happenings” art whereby we dampened watercolor paper, then let drops of different color inks bleed into each other all over the paper. We also played with using pieces of vegetation as resists as well as wax paper and plastic wrap. She called them happenings because “you never knew what was going to happen”.

I would go over to her studio and we would play for hours. Even though she was advanced in years, she was like a little kid when we made our “happenings”. That being said, she was all about quality over quantity. If a piece didn’t meet her “gold” standard, she’d either paint over it or tear it up to use for her collages. (She tried to teach me her collage method but I struggled to make it work for me…the quality was lacking).

It’s been a few years since she’s passed so it was a lovely to “see” her again. And the fact that her name showed up on “quality” day, does not surprise me. I truly believe she had a hand in helping me choose this section today.

While this has mostly been about Dorothea, the essence of today’s MotD is about forgoing the quest for perfection…it’s unattainable on so many levels. However, we can always strive for excellence. That’s what Dorothea represents to me…someone of quality who created excellence in her art. We’re blessed to have one of her framed “happenings” pieces in our home.

How about you? Is quality a core value for you?

BTW…here’s what it looked like to begin with …

MotD 24-271 Quality — before. abstract background with muted colors of pink, maroon, some yellow and some blue, and dark green.

joyfully,

Maureen
The Mandala Lady

🌟 bringing sanity to an insane world 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.

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Published by The Mandala Lady

My Mission: connecting with our Inner Light in delightful, inspiring ways For me, creating mandalas is more than just coloring pretty patterns in a circle. I do it because my spiritual evolution and creativity require it of me. My mandala designs come about within an active meditative state, connected with my higher self, my spiritual guides and nature spirits. Together, we bring into form, mandala art the allows me to re-connect with my own inner peace and joy, letting me explore and expand my own creative spirit to however far and in whatever direction I want to take it. As part of my own spiritual journey, I encourage, and hopefully inspire, others to explore their own creativity, to help them re-connect with their own inner peace and joy. As a means to that end, I make all of my mandalas available for people to color. Why should I have all the fun?

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