Ilah Barnes's Page

I have started a new series of mandalas called Pick up Trash! Make Art!



The mandalas gently urge others to pick up their trash and recycle. It spreads the message in a fun way without being preachy.



I talk walks around outside taking pictures of the trash, then picking it up. Some of the trash pictures are then made into mandalas. I also like to play around with the mandalas and transform them into something new and different.



Plastic World is one of my base… Continue

I am not sure how many people here are interested in coloring mandalas, but I have made some mandalas for coloring to share. They are little mandalas, only about 2 inches around. I find they are nice to do on a busy day when I don't have much time to relax.



I have blogged about them here:



http://ilahbarnes.wordpress.com



And have them available as a free download at Lulu.



http://stores.lulu.com/mandalasbyilah



I tried to upload the files to… Continue

I am expanding in a new direction on my digital mandalas. I enjoy making abstract digital art and I have made some of this into mandalas. I also enjoy playing around with colors and filters after I have made the mandala to get a lots new mandalas.



I have just posted two of my mandalas made from my abstract art, two exclusives I am only posting here.



The third mandala is a preview for my new gallery:



http://beautyfromtrash.wordpress.com



All the… Continue

This latest series comes from a photo of a lone weed growing out of a small crack in the sidewalk. That's it - just sidewalk and weed. If you look very close, some of them also have a ladybug.



I like the interaction of nature with traditonal urban elments. Many of my mandalas have a plant or part of a plant along with urban materials like sidewalk or brick.



You might have noticed that the photos start with 2. Weed mandala #1 is on one of my other blogs.



I would… Continue

I like to create mandalas from photos of urban images and everyday objects. Many people associate inner peace with "peaceful settings" - forest, beaches, mountains, fields of flowers. Peaceful places are generally envisioned as areas of nature far removed from major urban areas. I feel that peace is where you find it and where you create it.



Peace can be found in city side walks, in bridges, railroad tracks, buildings, railings, statures, monuments and a thousand other bits and… Continue