Go Mosaic, Sand Mandalas and Making Matte Glass, I hope

I just had to post this picture of the mosaic that R made from the pieces of her Go game.


It isn't glued down, of course, so it is probably more correctly a Go mandala, like the sand mandalas often made and destroyed, usually by Tibetan Buddhist monks.

Also, this one wasn't destroyed by its creator, but, uh, messed up by me...but it had set out on the kitchen table for several days intact. I think that was pretty good. But R wasn't too thrilled when my sleeve drug across it.

Sand Mandala, Tibet 1993
photo by John Hill

Sand mandala created for the visit of the Dalai Lama 2008

from Wikipedia: Ritual destruction

The destruction of a sand mandala is also highly ceremonial. Even the deity syllables are removed in a specific order, along with the rest of the geometry until at last the mandala has been dismantled. The sand is collected in a jar which is then wrapped in silk and transported to a river (or any place with moving water), where it is released back into nature. For this reason, the materials keeping with the symbolism are never used twice.

Several months ago I was working on this mosaic and could never find the right pieces to fill in the background. I placed 2 orders for mosaic tiles that just wouldn't work. So, this morning I cut up some little pieces of white opaque to semi-opaque (it's a bit swirly) stained glass and put them in my daughter's long abandoned rock tumbler. I want all the glossy to go away. I can't wait to see what happens. If they won't work for this project, I'm sure I can use them for something else...just like all the other rejects I have stashed away somewhere in my studio.

(Mandala photos from Wikipedia articles "Mandala" and "Sand Mandala")