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Monday, August 19, 2013

Sand painting

According to the Wikipedia article Sandpainting is a time-honored art form, not always used just for purposes of display:
Unfixed sand paintings have a long established cultural history in numerous social groupings around the globe, and are often temporary, ritual paintings prepared for religious or healing ceremonies. It is also referred to as drypainting.
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image: Navaho sandpainting
Third Day Sandpainting, NavahoPeople.org
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The Navaho people call sandpaintings "places where the gods come and go;" and the figures in their paintings "are symbolic representations of a story in Navajo mythology."  In Tibet mandala sandpainting is a sacred art by the Tibetan Lamas of Drepung Loseling Monastery, used to heal the Earth.
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image: Yamantaka Mandala
Yamantaka Mandala, theMysticalArtsofTibet.org
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There's also Japanese tray landscapes, called bonseki, with 3-dimensional elements, looking like miniature sculptures. A more permanent form is called bonga, meaning tray picture.
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image: Japanese tray picture
Mt. Fuji tray picture, Wikipedia
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Present day sandpainting techniques use sand as the medium for an artwork.  After the sand is placed, varnish is applied to fix it, making the work more permanent.
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image:  sandpainting by The Sandpainter, "Winter Shadows"
The Sandpainter, "Winter Shadows," Wikipedia
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Another form of sandpainting includes elements of performance art.  Below is work beautifully done by Ilana Yahav:
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-- Marge

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