The Story of Mandala

I didn’t know what a mandala was until my sister Beatriz taught me.  She had tried to explain what they were before we visited The Rubin Museum in New York soon after it opened, but I just didn’t understand.  I have to confess, after seeing dozens of exquisite examples on that beautiful fall afternoon at the museum, I still had no idea.  

Every winter Beatriz would create a mandala at my parent’s vacation home near Key West.  My mother would donate the surplus from her sand collection, each from a different beach or desert around the world, gifted by friends on their travels or collected by her. 

It was amazing to see how my sister would weave their colors to construct a new mandala every year.  Upon completion, it lasted only a few hours or days, as the sand would slowly disperse with the breeze.

I'm really proud of this design, I think my sister would have loved it too.

Chakra Mandala

It wasn’t until I read about mandalas that I could begin to understand their meaning.  To me, a mandala is a representation, a representation of the universe in its totality, a universe that can include the world around us (the cosmos), or just be our self (the person).

My Chakra Mandala design is an “inner” mandalas that represent the person. Each scarf includes the seven colors of chakra, an ancient framework for recognizing the energies in a woman’s body, extending radially and allowing the wearer to progress through each chakra as prayers to a rosary.

Night Mandala

It wasn’t until I read about mandalas that I could begin to understand their meaning.  To me, a mandala is a representation, a representation of the universe in its totality, a universe that can include the world around us (the cosmos), or just be our self (the person).

My Night Mandala design is an “outer” mandala that represents the entirety of our universe.

My Favorite Parts of this Scarf

Scarves and rings have a long history together, and it used to be fashionable (and quite common) to see a scarf casually held in place with a ring. I tried out the look on my grandmother (see photo), and I think it is pretty awesome. 

I wanted my scarf to be ultra-luxurious, so I created a huge (42 inch) square, heavy silk, hand-finished rolled edge scarf that I think can compete with the most prestigious scarves out there.  I hope you love it too!