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Looking through my work you will notice quite a few mandalas are not perfectly centered on the page. Sometimes the centers are slightly off center, other times they are quite shifted. I like the movement and tension that creates ✨ The perfectly centered pieces evoke a sense of calm and stillness, while an off-center design feels as though it's in motion. Slightly offsetting the center invites the you to bring more of yourself to the piece. Is the mandala arriving or departin

Yesterday I shared a TikTok video showing the creation of Amethyst Haze, and while watching it back before posting, I realized something... I was sharing my acrylic painting process for the first time. Most people who have followed my work are familiar with my gel pen mandalas, but my approach to acrylic paintings is a little different than what many expect. Instead of painting the design with a brush, I fill henna cones with acrylic paint and use those to create the mandala.

One thing I like about creating mandalas is that I'm always looking for small ways to improve my process. Most of the time, I stick withwhat I know well, but sometimes something catches my eye that I want to try. *Note: want to watch me draw the base with both? Click for the video. Recently, I picked up a mandala ruler hoping it will save me time and help the lines be even more accurate. Until now, I have always laid out the foundation of my mandalas using a compass & protrac

It's hard to believe we're already into the second half of the year. When January began, I was still recovering from breaking my right wrist at the end of November. Since it's my dominant hand, I wasn't sure how quickly I'd get back to drawing or what my creative year would look like. A few days into July, I stopped to count the pieces I've finished so far this year. Sixteen mandalas. Honestly, that surprised me. When you're creating one piece at a time, it doesn't always fee

One of the questions I get asked most often is why I create my mandalas on black, instead of white, paper... The simple answer is that I love the contrast. But there's more to it than that. When most people think about drawing, they imagine adding dark lines to a light surface. Working on black paper turns that idea upside down. Instead of building shadows, I'm building light. Every line, dot, and pattern stands out against the dark background, creating a sense of depth and l

I've always been a doodler. For as long as I can remember, I filled the margins of notebooks with patterns and designs as a way to keep my hands busy and give my mind space to wander. That love of pattern naturally carried over into my henna work and, eventually, into the mandalas I create today. In 2023, I began exploring mandalas more intentionally, and what started as a simple creative exercise quickly grew into a major part of my artistic journey. My earliest mandalas wer

Most designs develop slowly over time, with each section influencing the next. Part of creating for me is learning when to guide the piece intentionally and when to let unexpected ideas take over. Sometimes a pattern changes halfway through, colors start interacting differently than I expected, or a small detail ends up shaping the direction of the entire piece. That balance between the structure of the grid and the discovery of how the lines flow is one of the things I enjoy

The Journey of Creation Sometimes, when I’m working on a new piece, I hit a point where I don’t love what’s in front of me. I call this the ugly stage. Not every design goes through it, but the ones that do often turn into something especially fun and unexpected. At least, that’s what I remind myself when I start to feel frustrated that it isn’t coming together yet. The photo here shows my current work in progress, and it’s very much in that ugly stage. I love the colors, but

New beginnings, new backgrounds... looking forward to seeing what the year brings.