How I Started
The Early Years
I enthusiastically began drawing and crafting at an early age; pretty much anything I could get my hands on. I eagerly awaited birthday and Christmas presents because it usually meant more arts and crafts projects.
During my early adult years, my left brain took center state with computer science, software engineering, web design careers. I enrolled in a smattering of community college art classes as time permitted and learned basic-to-intermediate art techniques which proved to be extremely helpful however I lacked any inspiration to create my own art. Essentially, I was an artist without a subject.
Introduction to Mandalas
Immediately after my first ever Reiki session in 1998, practitioner Jill “ordered” me to go straight to a bookstore to buy some coloring books and crayons, I was ignoring my creative side. She came across so strongly, I just knew I had to follow through.
At first all I could find were cartoon coloring books (this was long before the whole adult coloring craze of 2015). While fun at first, I soon became bored. Also, it’s difficult to add details with crayons, so I moved on to color pencils.
Walking around in my friend’s new age bookstore, I happened upon three mandala coloring books (all by the same author). This was the first I’d ever heard of Mandalas. Seeing all the geometric patterns, I knew right then I had finally found my subject! It was all I could do to keep myself from coloring them all at once. Unfortunately, I soon became bored with them as well. Something was missing, I realized they were too simple. While pondering what to do next, I soon became aware of this soft, gentle voice in my head (VIMH) which said: “create your own.”
A Trip to Egypt
While all this was going on I worked with a hypnotherapist to process some personal issues. At the end of one particular session, my therapist said, “you did such a good job today, I want you to close your eyes and allow yourself to receive a gift. It could be words, colors, objects, or just a sensing. I immediately saw a cobalt blue, tw0-handled urn with gold trim.
After my session, I drew it out and then like automatic writing, I continued to draw a man in ancient garb holding the urn. I find drawing people to be very difficult for me; this just seemed to flow right onto the paper.
In my next few therapy sessions we explored who this was and the significance of the urn. Long story short, it all lead to ancient Egypt and my incarnation at that time. And no, I wasn’t Cleopatra. I was basically a “gopher” for one of the architects and died tragically sometime in my late teens or early 20s.
Within three months after these session (1999) we traveled to Egypt. Up until this time I struggled with trying to create my own mandalas. It soon became clear to me that this trip would be the catalyst I needed. Everywhere we went the patterns, the hieroglyphs, and the intricate Islamic art triggered all of my senses. Half of our photo album from that trip consists of close-up images of these designs. I became so inspired that while cruising up the Nile on day five, I created my first true mandala.
Making My Own Mandalas
Once home, I began studying everything I could about mandalas: their history, the joy of coloring them, their use for relaxation, their therapeutic nature, as well as their connection to all things Divine. I incorrectly assumed I needed to follow some kind of tradition; however the VIMH said to create designs based on anything that sparks me. At the same time I learned about a co-creating process called “coning” from Perelandra, Ltd, which took my mandala creations to a much higher level of quality and vibration.
My early mandala designs incorporated a variety of Egyptian, architectural, and nature-based symmetrical patterns, with most of them being done with color pencils. Seven years later, I explored asymmetrical mandalas. Around this time I also created my first series of mandala coloring books.
In 2009 after visiting the M.C. Escher exhibit at the Portland (Oregon) Art Museum, I expanded into creating hyperbolic tessellation mandalas. It took my mandala designs up to a whole new level of vibration. These designs create a more 3D curved look, making them more detailed and more interesting to color (IMHO).
For the last eight years or so I expanded my mandala styles (abstract, tibetan, etc), types of media (watercolors, acrylics, markers, pen and ink, mixed media, collage, etc), and surfaces (paper, canvas, canvas board, wood panels, stones, etc) and sizes (1.5”x1.5” to 48”x48”).
Mandala Readings
In the background of all this, in 2003 an intuitive workshop practitioner came up to me and shared that I would be doing readings for people. To which I said, “I don’t think so. That’s what other people do.” Seven years later I woke up one morning and thought I think I can do readings for people. I reached out to a couple of friends to test it out and found that there was definitely something to it.
Within a month I set up a table space at my first psychic fair and proceeded to do 7 readings that day. That’s when I realized that “yes, I now do readings”. Over the years I’ve made adjustments and fined tuned my process. For the last couple of years, I’ve pulled back a bit to give myself a breather. Right now (2022) I’m in the midst of updating my process and plan to move full speed ahead with readings in 2023.
In Summary
Since 1999, I created over 200 mandala designs, over 200 original art pieces, and self-published 20 of my own Mandala Coloring Books…with more on the way.
With each passing year, I continue to grow and expand as a mandala artist with the intent of inspiring people with a creative way to tap into their own Divine Self and creativity…all around the simple principle of the circle:
we are whole and complete just as we are,
with no beginning and no ending. — Maiah