Texture Photos and Braided Mandela

Above is my latest mandala. I am not sure what to call this, I used Celtic braiding techniques for some of the design elements but I also used other designs. I rather like the colors I used here.  I find it interesting the way colors can modify each other when they are placed together. The green band on top of the orange really disguises the orange background. I finished it over the weekend and am now at a bit of loose ends. Not sure what the next project is going to be, but I am fairly sure I am not quite finished exploring the possibilities of the mandala.

The next images I have for you are from my Photography class. I have to turn in 4 photos this Thursday, so far I have narrowed down my selection to the following 5 photos. Not sure which one will be the odd man out. Comments are welcome.

The goal for the assignment was an exploration of texture and light. I chose as my subject for most of my pictures a glass bowl that I have had forever, in it I have a collection of marbles and small glass floats. The marble on top of the stack is a hand-blown glass marble that I purchased at the local Brockton museum a few years ago when they had a marble exhibit. I managed to take the photos one morning during a brief period of sun. I had to move quickly to get them as I had to go to a class, but I rather like how they came out. I have a southeast facing window which was perfect for giving me the light I needed for the photos. I placed the bowl on a sheet of white foam board and tried to photograph the bowl from different angles. The shadows are from a couple of my many plants, one hangs in the window and the other sits on the floor.

My 5th photo is a view of some blooms on one of my Christmas Cactus taken with another Christmas Cactus in the foreground. The focus point for this one was the stem of the foreground plant. I took a couple of others with different focus points. This is the one I like the best.  Let me know which ones you like.