Deep in the forest he resides, wise and wizened.

If you knock on the door in his tree, he might come out and share a story.

What would you like to hear from him, if you had the chance to ask?

Last night there was no other option but to put marker to paper. So I did! And this morning I woke up happy. I think there might be a connection.

He appeared in my sketch book, wanting to play. If you were his playmate, what would you do together?

But did you know that I also create mandalas inspired by nature which you can see over on my other blog, Sacred Circle Mandalas. (Someday everything will be on one blog, and I will cease feeling so schizoid!)

In the meantime, though, I wanted to share with you what happens when the world of doodles and the world of mandala making collide.

I present to you my latest (drum roll please) — DoodleDalas!  Ta-da!

rgb3 doodledala

seescape #1 doodledala

window of opportunity doodledala

marker doodledala #2

If you  want to play with mandalazing your doodles (or just about any image, for that matter), you will need a program such as Photoshop, Jasc PaintShopPro or Corel Photo-Paint. The kaleidoscope plug in, unfortunately, only works on Windows OS.

You can download it, for free, here!

Have fun!

~Sue Doodles

Loosely based on the concepts of mandala creation described in this video, How to Grow a Mandala, this mandala flowed out of me last night before I layed me down to sleep. Listening to some of my favorite spiritual musicians (Krishna Das, Jai Uttal, Fabeku Fatunmise) aided in this creation.

Thank you for this most glorious day
For opening me to the wonders and newness of Spring
For lifting me out of despair
For bringing me relief
For putting me in touch once again with Faith,
For allowing Beingness.

Ahhhhhh

~Sue Doodles

We do and do and do so much

That sometimes we forget

To Be

A rather involved doodle. Mostly I wanted to play with a new color palette. I like the earthy/water colors. I don’t have much to say about it, though.

Thoughts? Responses? I’d love to hear.

SueDoodles

Have Heart © Sue O’Kieffe 2011

This figure, Im sure, is very much inspired by the early signs of spring we are experiencing here on the North Coast of California. I am excited by sightings of daffodil, plum, magnolia and calla lily blooms. She wanted to come out and say to all of you “Have heart. Those of you blanketed in snow will soon be uplifted by the joyous occasion of crocus peeking through.” Have heart.

The energies of this new year have been keeping me pretty busy, I must say –lots of business stuff to attend to, new plans to make. It’s all exciting and a little stressful at times, and those are the times I look for my pencils. I hope all of you, too, are finding ways to express yourself creatively whenever you can. It’s important to our heart health and spirit maintenance, don’t you think?

~SueDoodles

So Many Faces © Sue O’Kieffe 2011

I’m never sure who exactly is going to show up here in Doodleland, and this trio of faces stirred emotions in me I wasn’t sure I wanted to explore – let alone share in my blog. Who was this fiercesome kabuki actor or starry-eyed toddler anyway? The not quite masculine/not quite feminine third character was also a puzzle.

Sometimes I just don’t know what it’s all about, and the strength comes in accepting what is without judgment.

When I began doodling back in ’07, it was simply as a way to unwind. Even back then I knew that lots of my doodles came from deep within, allowing myself to express what needed to be expressed. I just never admitted that outloud. Here. On my blog. For the world to see.

Others, like Chris Zydel, who I admire greatly, have said things similar. It isn’t always about being pretty. It is about trust and faith in allowing the expression to occur.

One of the themes  in my life right now is an exploration of who I really am.  And so it is no surprise to me that I am looking at these faces as the masks we create to hide who we really are. The eye ( I ) of who we are shines bright lights of love on these false selves.

Aye, eye, I.

So that’s my interpretation through my filters. I would love to hear what you see through yours!

SueDoodles