Kathy Chiavaroli ’s mandalas are meant to be not only visually attractive, but also a healing experience for both the creator and the viewer. There is an energy and spirit that go into the creation of each mandala, can be shared by creator and viewer alike. A mandala drawing can be used for simple visual pleasure or as a tool for meditation.

Technique

Markers and gouache on watercolor paper

Philosophy

Making mandalas is a natural extension of the counseling and healing work Kathy has been doing for the past 14 years, which was inspired by her own diagnosis of cancer in 1991. She has focused in the past on assisting people to heal spiritually and emotionally through facilitating support groups for those living with a diagnosis of cancer. She recognizes that the time has come to expand on how that healing is done. She is ready to make her artwork available to more people. Through the intuitive creation of each mandala, she gives a gift of not only visual art, but also energy and spirit.Just as looking in a mirror gives an individual a reflection of their outer appearance, an attraction to a mandala based on the design and/or the colors or quotation, gives an individual a reflection of their inner appearance. Owning a mandala and looking at it, or meditating on it, on a daily basis, can change a person’s energy.

Background

Kathy has a B.S. degree in German from the State University College at Oswego. She has also earned a M.S. degree in Counseling from the State University College at Brockport. She worked as a career counselor at the National Institute for the Deaf and was an officer in state and local counseling associations from 1975 to 1985. Being a parent to her two daughters was the focus from 1985 to 2000. From 1991 to 2004 she did part-time work as a counselor for people diagnosed with cancer. It was during a retreat for cancer patients that she conducted, that she first learned about mandalas. Since the Fall of 2004, she has focused on drawing mandalas.