Nature and Healing

Star Aura - Nature Mandala by LiDoña Wagner

We Are Nature

For millions of years our ancestors and their hominid predecessors roamed in natural settings. They walked, hunted, slept, ate, and procreated under the stars and in the warmth of the sun. When they became ill, they used herbal remedies found in their natural habitat.

With this long history of living as part of nature, is it any wonder that the very ability to see forms of nature – plants in an office, trees in a yard, chickens pecking the ground, cats curled in the sun – has the power to speed healing? Hospital patients who have a view of nature heal more quickly than those with no such view.  Older people who see and interact with preschoolers or walk in nature are healthier and have more positive attitudes than those who do not.

Nature Mandala

Knowing that humans have a primal, profound, and spiritual connection to nature is what prompted me to offer a class on painting a nature mandala in gouache, an opaque Oriental water-based medium. In a technological era where people are beginning to experience nature deficit disorder, painting a nature mandala packs a double dose of healing and centering energy. Firstly, contemplating and painting some aspect of nature provides a link to life itself. Second, working mindfully with the circular form of mandalas provides healing of the brain.

Doodle that inspired Star Aura

I started this painting with the intention to create a sampler for my Nature Mandala class. In doing a series of doodles I arrived at the decision to paint a star aura. I had no idea how I would do this except that I would start with the doodle that had precipitated my decision and it would be based on the rainbow colors one sees in both moon and star auras.

To backtrack a bit. When I began painting many years ago, I watched a video of Picasso working on an abstract painting. Unlike what some of my teachers seemed to be suggesting, Picasso did not appear to have a detailed value sketch that was dictating his actions. Instead, he seemed to be ‘winging it.’ That is, he would make a mark on one side of the painting, study the result, and then make another mark – generally in a different color – in some other area of the painting.

Over the years I have come to appreciate that many artists, myself included, do not start with a value sketch but rather with a vague idea of a concept that they wish to communicate. As an example of this approach, I am going to share a few of the stages of evolution for Star Aura.

When I began, this was as far as I could imagine.

Star Aura Evolution

I selected my colors: 1 yellow, 1 green, 2 blues, 1 purple, 2 reds, and 1 orange. Starting inside the inner circle, I used various mixtures of the base colors - some clear, some with a touch of black, some with white. To make it all pop, I painted gamboge (an orange yellow) between the points and the inner circle. I used a more white version of each base color for the points made by the two squares. I painted the two squares dark green and dark purple. This is when the fun began. The addition of the squares made me realize several things:

• I needed more points.
• I needed to rotate the colors around the circle so that the aura would be subtlety mixed.
• The gamboge circle was competing with all the other colors.
• The squares were competing with the circles.

Students in my class will receive a handout with step-by-step details on the minute changes that Star Aura underwent. This is not because they will make a star aura – they will not – but because I want them to comprehend how they can bring a vague intention or concept into reality, one small step at a time. Each student will select one element of nature, one that has special meaning for them. It could be a plant, an animal, clouds, waves, whatever.

"No guts, no glory!" is what my teachers used to say
when a student was hesitant to use the dark colors that bring a painting to life.

The result of making changes was that I had something more like a star, but it did not have any of the mystical ‘aura’ quality I was seeking. Stars have deep meaning in most cultures. They guided many a migration or transit. For me they have to do with enlightenment. 

In preparation for painting the background of Star Aura,
I put tape around the edges  of my painting. 

I added more points and painted the inside and edge of the outer circle. Seeing that the star was acquiring some of the subtlety I wanted, I added patterning to all of the points and began to wonder if I needed anything in the background, or if it would be solid.

By now the center was really bugging me. I added dark areas around the central points.

A moment of truth had arrived: I would have to get rid of the original gamboge circle that I had greyed by painting a light blue pattern on it. I scrubbed out the greyed gamboge circle. That means I wet each area and blotted with paper towels until there was little residue of paint. I repainted that area with light blue and put a white pattern on it.

Getting rid of the greyed gamboge circle made a huge difference.

Things appeared to be developing. It was time to deal with the background. This is always an anxious moment. One has to be exceedingly careful not to mess up what you have done. Plus you have to do it as a seamless wash. Professional chefs can tell you about similar critical moments in making some light, fluffy convection.

Using a lighter version of the purple I had originally used on one of my squares, I painted a second edging around all outermost points. This would transition to the light violet color I was imagining for the background. After erasing my test doodles in the corners, I mixed my light violet color. With bated breath, I worked corner by corner - wetting the area, stroking in the paint mixture, working the whole area while it was wet in order to achieve an evenness of tone.

Finally, the mystical quality I was seeking began to reveal itself.

Patiently Keeping Faith

Seeing the painting with its light violet background, I had a slight sense of how I could convert what had become a mishmash of colors and white patterns into a star aura. With the effect of the background as my guide, I began working from the outside in toward the center. In several cases I washed the white patterning into the paint beneath it, creating a lighter color.

Excitement and anxiety were beginning to build as I approached the center of the painting. If you have ever tried to sneak up on some animal, you know the small incremental movements that are required to keep from startling your prey. Something similar happens as you begin homing in on the finish of a painting.

You must take one small step at a time. Observe the result.  Take another small step. Observe the result. Over and over, you nudge toward the effect you are seeking.

My center is taking shape. That requires changes elsewhere in the painting. 

Things were beginning to shape up, but I needed more oscillation of color at the center. So I added light yellow triangles inside the small points surrounding the center. I knew I was close but I was also tired, so I stopped.

Next morning when I was fresh and relaxed, I moved in for the finish. I cleaned and sharpened the dark octagon. The gamboge center was too strong so I lifted it out and put in a light yellow. I added simple frame edges in the corners of the background.

The seed image I nourished with care was realized. 

Voila! From a vague idea about a mystical star aura representing my love and commitment to the wondrous planet I am privileged to occupy,  a vision was realized - one step at a time.