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Maureen Frank

The Arts Center Exhibitions:

• 'Portals,' Winter Show & Silent Auction, 2011
• “Calculated Results – Mathematical Art”, Sept 2011
• The Annual Ruth and Jim Howland Community OPEN Exhibition, 2010
• The Annual Ruth and Jim Howland Community OPEN Exhibition, 2007

Artist's Statement, 'Dream Portal' - 'Portals,' Winter Show & Silent Auction, 2011:

In Native American culture, people use dream catchers to protect the sleeper from negative dreams. The hole at the center lets in only positive dreams, while the webbing traps all the negative dreams.
I created my own version of a dream catcher using a decorative hoop found in a treasure (thrift) shop and a doily I crocheted for this project. Normally dream catchers have a simple webbing design, I opted to use this handmade doily.
I love dreams. They shed light on many aspects of my conscious and subconscious mind. Analyzing them gives me great insight into my inner world. I appreciate the idea of being protected while I sleep so that only that which benefits me comes through.
I love crocheting doilies. As a kid I watched my grandmother, fascinated as she crocheted one doily after another while rocking away in her favorite rocking chair. I learned to crochet simple projects around 10 and later learned how to make fancy doilies without realizing they were all a prelude to my love of mandalas.
Mandala means circle; whole and complete without beginner or ending. By themselves, they are spiritual portals. Since, 1999 I created over 150 mandalas, all through meditation and as part of my spiritual evolution and growth, and as a way to help others along their spiritual path.
In this piece, I combined my love of mandalas, doilies, and dream catchers to form this one dream portal.
May you always experience happy dreams.

Artist's Statement, “Calculated Results – Mathematical Art”, Sept 2011:

I began creating mandalas in early 1999 after a 10-day trip to Egypt. Through much of that region of the world patterns and symbols decorated just about every structure we visited, whether ancient, old or brand new. My analytical mind loved the geometry of the Islamic art and Egyptian hieroglyphics. Their elegance and symbolic beauty touched my heart and soul deeply.
When I returned home, I began seeing patterns and symbols in everything around me, even in my dreams. I proceeded to translate these patterns and symbols into mandalas. In early 2000 I learned to use meditation as a way to access the deeper meaning of these symmetrical and asymmetrical mandalas, fully exploring their therapeutic and metaphysical natures.
In July 2009 I visited the MC Escher exhibit at the Portland Art Museum (Oregon)...twice.  Seeing MC Escher's Circle Limit IV (Angels & Demons) blew me away.  The graph system he used to help him create it and his subsequent sketches, intrigued me even more.  After several months of research, I created my own graph to use as a guide for creating my own Hyperbolic Tessellation mandalas.

The Process
I free-hand draw my ideas on a piece of tracing paper over my hyperbolic graph.  When I finish the sketch, I then scan it into photoshop.  I import the scanned image into Illustrator where I use my graphics tablet/stylus pen, to free-hand trace over one section of the image.   I take that section and copy/paste it around the circle.  Because the design is free-hand drawn, it becomes a bit of a challenge to line everything up properly since some of the edges can be off just a bit and requires manual adjustments. The whole process takes about 3-4 hours per design.
I know that software applications exist to make this process easier and more precise however I prefer the natural/organic results.

About Hyperbolic Tessellation Mandalas

• A mandala, in Sanskrit, means circle, center, or sometimes sacred circle. Webster’s Dictionary defines it as “a design symbolizing the universe.” Carl Jung calls them "archetypes of wholeness" and used them for his own and his patients therapy.
• A tessellation is a pattern made of identical shapes, where the shapes fit together without any gaps and without overlapping each other.
• Simply put, hyperbolic plane is a flat, 2-dimensional representation of a 3-dimensional object.
• A hyperbolic tessellation uses a tessellation pattern, repeating it over a hyperbolic plane.
• A hyperbolic tessellation mandala uses a tessellation pattern, repeating it around a hyperbolic circle.

“Art for the well-being of your heart, mind, and soul”

Resume:
EXHIBITIONS
2011 - Solo

• July 1-31 - Sunnyside Up Cafe, Corvallis, OR
• October 1 - 31 - Fireworks Restaurant, Corvallis, OR
• December 1 - January 31 - Sacred Heart Medical Center, Springfield, OR

2011 - Juried Group

• September 2-27- “Calculated Results – Mathematical Art”, The Arts Center, Corvallis, OR
• September 23-25 - Corvallis Fall Festival Fine Arts Showcase

2010 - Group

• Community Open - The Arts Center, Corvallis, OR

2009 - Solo

• “All Things Floral”, Corvallis Senior Center, Corvallis, OR
• “Live Painting” ,Book Bin Window Display, Corvallis, OR

2009 - Juried Show

• “Wild Women”, River Gallery, Independence, OR

2009 Group
“Colored Pencil Society of America Portland Chapter Art Show & Sale”, DIVA Gallery, Eugene, OR

• “A Cornucopia of Colored Pencils”, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Church, Corvallis, OR
• “ARTumn in Corvallis”, Corvallis Association of Independent Artists Group Show, Corvallis, OR

2008 - Solo

• “A Variety Show”, FireWorks Restaurant, Corvallis, OR
• “Mandalas”, Oregon State University Women’s Center, Corvallis OR
• “Using Math to Create Art”, Corvallis Montessori School, Corvallis, OR
• “In the Window”  Footwise Window Display, Corvallis, OR
• “Healing Arts” Samaritan Regional Cancer Center, Corvallis, OR

2008 - Group

• Corvallis Association of Independent Artists Open Studio, Corvallis, OR

2007 - Solo

• Sunnyside Up Cafe, Corvallis, OR
• “Healing Arts’ Samaritan Regional Cancer Center, Corvallis, OR

2007 - Group

• “Colored Pencil Society of America Portland Chapter Art Show & Sale”, Tualatin Heritage Center, Tualatin, OR
• Community Open - The Arts Center, Corvallis, OR

2006 - Juried Show

• “Art as a Catalyst”, The Arts Center, Corvallis, OR

SELF-PUBLISHED COLORING BOOKS

• 10 - Symmetry Mandala Coloring Books
• 5 - Asymmetry Mandala Coloring Books
• 4 - New Coloring Books to be published in 2010

ONLINE PUBLICATIONS

• “Mandala of the Month” Blog   www.MandalaOfTheMonth.com  Free mandala for visitors to download & color
• “Color Online”  www.TheMandalaLady.com/ColorOnline/   Visitors can color latest mandala of the month online
• “Art Progressions” Blog  ArtProgressions.wordpress.com  As I create my art, I update my progress on this blog
• “Let’s Tap into Our Creative Side” Blog TheMandalaLady.wordpress.com/   step-by-step creative activities blog

ILLUSTRATIONS/PUBLICATIONS

• “Soul of the Heart” Book & Meditation CD, Catherine VanWetter  12 different Mandala designs used throughout entire book (2009)
• “Poems that Count”, Linda Varsell Smith,  “Eternal II” and “Angelica” mandalas, front/back covers (2006)
• “Northwest Artists” art collection book, 200+ northwest artists, p. 105 (2005)

COMMUNITY ART PROJECTS 2009

• Intuitive Coloring Mural: As part of da Vinci Days “Geekapaloosa” event, visitors colored random 5” square paper tiles of a 4’x4’  puzzle without knowing in advance the full image.  View it @  www.TheMandalaLady.com/projects/Geek2009.php
• “Big Fish” Tessellation:  local & internet volunteers colored in small paper fish that go together as a large tessellation in the shape of a  large 12’ fish.   View it @ www.TheMandalalady.com/projects/AveImagination2009.php

COMMUNITY ART PROJECT 2008

• “Mandalas In Space” da Vinci Days Avenue of Imagination: 25 local & web volunteers colored a specially created mandala design or created their own, which were then attached to old CDs that hung around a ‘rocket ship’ to look like a ship traveling through a milky way of mandalas   View it @ www.TheMandalaLady.com/projects/AveImagination2008.php

MAIAH CREATIONS STUDIO & SHOPPE

• 12/2006 - 02/2009 - Owned & operated my downtown Corvallis studio/shoppe where I sold my original art, reproductions, coloring books, and greeting cards.
• “Upward Spiral” , Corvallis Gazette-Times, (2007)

TEACHING

• 2010 - Keizer Art Association: Color Pencil Classes.
• 12/2006 - 10/2008 - “Art Funshops”  Offered a variety of art ‘funshops’ at Maiah Creations Studio & Shoppe:  Playing with Color Pencil I, Playing with Color Pencil II, Playing with Markers, Mandala Meditations, Create your Own Mandalas, Playing with Watercolor Pencils

LECTURES

• 2005-2009  “Using Geometry to Make Art”  Annual presentation to Linus Pauling Middle School math students, Corvallis, OR
• 2007 “Using Geometry to Make Art” Philomath High School, Philomath, OR
• 2007 “Using Geometry to Make Art” Ashbrook School, Fifth Grade, Corvallis OR

COMMISSIONS

• “Hippy Shuttle Bus” da Vinci Days Community Art Project marketing materials (2010)
• “Sammie”  da Vinci Days Community Art Project marketing materials (2009)
• Personalized Mandalas:   Water Vessel (2007), Kahuna (2008), True Hearts (2008)
   

Visit Maureen Frank's website.