Botanical Mandalas Book + Giveaway {#4}

“Nature is a beautiful designer and we are reminded of mother earth’s creations at every turn. Nature conspires with us and for us. It is part of us, we are part of her and we are all connected.“ - These are the opening words on the welcome page of my book, Botanical Mandalas.This is Episode #4 and today I am talking a little about my very first book I self published called Botanical Mandalas and offering a giveaway! Full blog post at louisegale.substack.comI self-published my very first book in 2018. A passion project called ‘Botanical Mandalas: Draw, Paint and Create Expressive Mandalas Inspired by Nature’ It was inspired by a practice I had been taking part in to combine the healing energy of nature with the meditative process of mandala making.When I first moved to Spain (in early 2013), I had no art materials and no dedicated place to create in, so I would take myself out into nature to explore the local area.As I walked along the beach, barefoot on the sand, I felt a sense of tranquility and soon found myself creating little circular designs on the beach with shells, stones, wood, flowers and whatever I would find on my daily walks. Not only was it a way to create with nature, but it also enabled me to spend time looking more closely at the little treasures I found as I went about my walk.Below is one of the first shell mandalas I documented.This was the beginning of my journey into Nature Mandala making. I had been doodling in my journal on the beach in the weeks prior and sometimes those doodles grew into mandala designs. But more specifically, this practice had morphed into using botanicals and objects from nature to form a designs within a sacred circle.This practice was not only the beginning of an amazing creative journey for me, but also a wonderful way to practice the art of letting go. I would create these little mandalas of found objects and then leave them for others to find or for the sea to wash away.Image: Botanical Mandala using Rose petals, pods and more.At the time, I could not find any reference to these types of mandalas so I started my own creations guided by my time in nature and called them ‘Nature Mandalas’ and then of course decided on the name of….’Botanical Mandalas’.I’ll be sharing so much more about this process here on Creative Connection with Nature, so stay tuned!Mandalas versus Botanical MandalasThe word mandala comes from Sanskrit language loosely meaning "Circle” or “Completion” which promotes peace and balance. Mandalas can be used as a tool for self-reflection and are often used for meditation, relaxation and as part of a particular therapy to help patients tap into their sub-conscious. Drawing your own mandalas can be both inspirational, symbolic and therapeutic.Image: An example from my journal in those early days.More traditional mandalas are formed with a framework that can be broken up from 8 to 36 (or even 72) segments and divided with concentric circles. The motifs can be geometric, contain swirls, lines, dots, arches and more.Botanical Mandalas celebrate the beauty of nature and our personal relationship with the natural world around us.These can be:* the natural mandala like form of a single flower such as a daisy, sunflower or dandelion that already exist in nature. or * a more self constructed mandala design (using traditional framework methods) with various flowers and fauna motifs repeated out around the center point and growing towards the outer edge of the circle. I teach this process in a free ‘Introduction to Botanical Mandalas’ mini class on the Skillshare learning platform. (click here to get 3 months access to this class and 1000s of other classes for free) or you can purchase the mini class on my learning portal here to keep forever.Images: Examples of two types of Botanical MandalasAbout the bookImage: Taking my book out for the day in Spain.Reconnect to Mother Earth and recharge your creativity by combining the healing energy of nature with the meditative process of drawing and painting mandalas.My Botanical Mandalas book is your guidebook to slowing down and journeying within, while creating organic expressions of the natural elements that most speak to your unique way of looking at the world.* Discover simple ways to capture inspiration from nature’s beauty.* Delve into the inspiration from a single flower or leaf as you begin to see nature with new fascination!* Learn to draw simple organic motifs you can incorporate into lovely mandala designs.* Explore fun ways to use watercolor and mixed-media in your mandala work.One part inspiration, one part how-to, Botanical Mandalas is full of inspiration for reconnecting with natures beauty to inspire you to create expressive mandala artworks. It includes drawing, painting and mixed-media projects to find endless inspiration for your own botanical mandala journey.Image: Painting a Spring Flower Radial Mandala. One of the projects inside the book. AND…. the art I chose to be on the cover of the book! You can also learn to create all sorts of mixed media Botanical Mandalas in my online masterclasses here.A few lovely words about my book from readers below. More can be found on AmazonTHE GIVEAWAY!Hosted here on my ‘Creative Connection with Nature’ Substack.TO ENTER* Add a comment to this post* and let me know why this book would be a wonderful addition to your arty book shelf.* Restack this post* with a comment sharing how this book could help others looking to connect with nature and their creativity.*If you are reading this on your email, to ‘comment’ and to ‘restack’ the post please go to go to the Giveaway post {#4} on louisegale.substack.com You can restack it on your desktop or on the Substack app, (which is free to join) using the little circular arrow sign at the bottom of the post.The deadline for entries is 4pm EST/9pm GMT on Tuesday, November 19, 2024.THE SMALL PRINT* One person who has left a comment on this post and restacked the post by the deadline will be chosen at random to win a copy of this book (includes access to the book club too). The winner will be announced at the top of this post the day after the deadline.* You do not need to subscribe to enter and no purchase is necessary.* This competition is open worldwide for anyone over the age of 18.* The choice of winner is final and there is no cash alternative.If you are just reading or listening to this and have missed the giveaway, please do consider subscribing as I do offer more giveaways. If you feel called to purchase my book for yourself or for a friend/family member, remember you also get access to the Book Club with some extra downloads and videos from me.Image: Double spread from my Coloring Botanical Blooms, Bouquets and Mandalas Coloring book.MORE GIVEAWAYS and MY THANKFUL SALE!I always love to host giveaways during November as a way of saying thank you to YOU! I have published 7 books, so look out for more giveaways over the coming weeks ahead!Writing and contributing to arty books is something I absolutely love doing and you can find more info on my press page here (books and magazines I have contributed to) and all of my own books are listed here. I am excited to create more in the near future.I also have my annual Thankful sale on which is offering 40% off all of my online art courses and 50% off bundled courses, so if you are interested in taking a class with me, this is the time to grab a spot and gift yourself (or others of course!).If you’ve read (or listened) this far, I want to let you know how grateful I am that you make space inside your inbox and day for my newsletters. Thank you for supporting the work I do by subscribing. I hope I can continue to inspireThanks for reading Creative Connection with Nature - by Artist Louise Gale! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit louisegale.substack.com