Lion Summer Mandala - Velveteen Plush Blanket

Lion Summer Mandala

The Lion Summer Mandala represents a pivotal creative evolution in the mandala series for me, where I began to introduce representative illustrative forms as elements of the radial design formats, as mythic symbols. This infused the work with special meaning, as both an artist with fiery temperament in my youth, and also a Leo sun sign. Sweet Summer’s Child indeed.

Drawing inspiration from tours of Spanish Cathedrals in my youth, I styled the lion heads in an homage to the rosette stained glass windows of ancient masters long gone, and worked to evoke a sense of a candle or a lamp illuminating the lion heads.

An homage as well to the Lion Fountain in the Alhambra in sun-drenched Andalusia, this piece celebrates leonine symbolism to create at once a meditation upon the summer’s fierce beauty and radiant insistence which is both personal and yet also universal.