Awareness

A number of months back, I caught a documentary film on PBS called "Labyrinth Journeys."  I was drawn in to learning more about them.  People walk labyrinths to re-balance, to heal, to center, to connect to one's higher self, to open awareness or experience energies. Labyrinths are often associated with the passage of time, spiritual growth, enlightenment, connection,  rebirth, resurrection, emergence, evolution, etc.  So powerful!  I just had to make a labyrinth for my next mindfulness card--or so I thought.

I found a simple labyrinth pattern that I thought would work.  I sized it down to fit onto a 4x6 card.  I kept picturing a labyrinth drawn in the sand, but how could I trace the labyrinth of my card that was covered in sand?  I had this idea to first trace the pattern of the labyrinth with Glossy Accents to create a "ridge."  I actually did three applications to build the height of the ridges before I felt the piece was ready for the "sand."

I suppose I could have headed down to the beach and brought home a bunch of sand, but I have had this tub of coarse pumice gel that had never been used.  I wanted to play with it to see if it would work.  I liked that the pumice gel goes on wet which made it a little easier to build up for the "ridges."  It held its shape really well and because it takes FOREVER to dry, it was very forgiving to work with.  However, I soon discovered that it was better to work in small sections of the labyrinth at a time because once I put the coarse pumice gel onto the labyrinth, I could no longer see the labyrinth!  I had to use a craft stick to move the wet pumice gel out of the "path" and up onto the "ridges."  

After I completed all four cards and gave them ample time to dry, I selected an acrylic paint color that resembled sand and painted the coarse pumice gel.  I just love how they turned out!

I vacillated on whether I would call this card "Clarity" or "Focus" but somehow "Awareness" seemed more fitting.

As part of my research, I stumbled onto a website called the World-Wide Labyrinth Locator (https://labyrinthlocator.com).  I hope one day I will be able to visit some of the public labyrinths on that list and experience them in person.