Peace Mandala

So lately I've just been sprucing up the shop and reading up on how to improve my blog, advice I seriously need. But until I begin actually showing improvement, I won't credit the people who are helping me, so I won't embarrass anybody.

After embellishing noble words with my Dover archive of Art Deco type ornaments (and deciding they'd be perfect wedding gifts,) I wanted to move on to playing with symbols. My first thought was the Om, symbol of peace and centeredness. But as you can see, the Om is a profoundly unsymmetrical figure, and somehow embellishment didn't suit it. 

I dunno; I created this

 and this,

neither of which really excited me. What do you think?

 
Anyway, I moved on to the Peace sign. I set out to do something highly decorated and ornate that would establish a working style for FeelGood Graphix. ("Get yer highly ornamented '60s hippie symbols here!") When it was done I colored it in Photoshop just to see what it would look like. I tried different backgrounds and settled on a jet black because it contrasted with the colors so beautifully. After looking at it for a while I realized it was like a mandala with blue sky in the middle and detailed decorative painting all around it, as if Mr Toad had gone on from painting his gypsy-wagon to this.

Then I decided it needed some text to make it a truly outstanding t-shirt/coffee mug/tote bag, so I ratted about in the old font cupboard and found Ziggy, a psychedelic trip from the 60s that perfectly embodied my message: "Peace is Beautiful."

 

What do you think? I think it captures the 60s vibe. Now my husband, of the Transcendental Brass Band, says it would make a good cd cover. So stay tuned, we'll see how it all shakes out.

All artwork