The Joy of Mandalas
Teresa Pellegrini
“The lesson of renewal is that from small seeds big things grow. From the seeds of our own
joy, a whole world can be reborn.” This quote is by Ingrid Fetell Lee, author and founder of
The Aesthetics of Joy revels that the pursuit of happiness is a process; many of us work our
entire life to attain “happiness.” Joy is the rainbow that shows itself and fades creating a
smile from ear to ear.
With this project, I created a set of eight visual, centering mandalas with a positive
affirmation for each, a prompt for contemplation. I hope to create a space for anyone to
take a moment, a breath. We all need to slow down, go deeply inward, reflect and relax.
My intention is to provide that opportunity with the visuals created. I began this process
with laser cutting/printing the mandalas on wood. I attempted to engrave and cut into the
wood to create 2-sided images. They did not turn out as planned so I printed them onto
cards to create a deck for contemplation, to create joy. There is a set of 8 mandalas, or
circles(Sanskrit interpretation). Using Adobe Illustrator, on one side there is a mandala image
created, on the other side is a word prompt for contemplation to facilitate joy. The eight
words are: perspective, humility, humor, acceptance, forgiveness, gratitude, compassion,
and generosity.
