Up: [[Expressive Art Ideas - A Long List]] Created: 2025-11-26 ### Materials Joan Kellogg, an art therapist and mandala expert, says 10.5-11 inches in diameter is a good size for a mandala because it’s similar to the size of a human head. To which I say, So What?? Use square paper, 12x12 if making a head-sized mandala, because Jung says that a circle within a square is a representation of [[The Self]]. Try both white paper and black paper to see which you prefer. Use any drawing materials — coloured pencils, soft pastels, oil pastels. ### Themes Mandalas, says art therapist Margaret Frings Keyes, are ideal for exploring opposites. For example: your day and your night; your inner experiences and outer relationships; your feminine and masculine aspects; thinking and feeling, or any other opposites you are aware of. Alternatively, you could explore the present year, or the period of life you are in now. > [!Orbit] Margaret Frings Keyes in *Inward Journey: Art as Therapy* > The mandala will essentially be a vehicle for concentrating your mind so you can relate to apparent contradictions in order to reach a deeper, more inclusive sense of your inner centre, the source of your energy, your inner self. (p. 58) ### Process 1. Choose your theme. 2. Centre yourself, then develop an image for the centre of the mandala. A centre is a mandala’s most essential element. 3. Think about the opposites you’re going to work with. 4. Simplify the opposites to their most basic qualities and think about what essential symbols are going to convey your ideas. You can use colours, lines, images. 5. Start anywhere when filling in the circle and keep going until it feels done. 6. See if a title comes to mind.