A Majestic Mandala

Majestic Mandala, mixed media on canvas, 10”x10”, 2012

I’ve often put a few old postage stamps in my mixed media pieces.  Recently I acquired a big bag of old stamps, many of them British and Canadian.  Most of those feature the profile or portrait of Queen Elizabeth. After sixty years, she’s been on a lot of stamps.  Her Majesty has probably been on more stamps than anyone else.  With these new works, I have used stamps in the same ways I used pieces of old maps.  But with stamps, there are crisp borders and perforated edges.  The final result has a feel that harkens back to quilting and other textile arts.  It brings me back to the mapquilts I was creating ten years ago.  More examples can be seen at tofuart.com.