Maskapai yang sudah setahun ini membuka flat penerbangan di Bandara Abd. Saleh itu, mematok harga tiket Rp 500 ribu sekali terbang.

Sedangkan, dengan tujuan sama, maskapai penerbangan di Bandara Juanda menawarkan tiket lebih murah. Sebut saja Sriwijaya Airlines, Lions Airlines, danm Merpati rata-rata mematok harga tiket ke Surabaya-Balikpapan Rp 300 ribu.

‘’Mandala Air resmi memutus rute Malang-Balikpapan, mereka hanya terbang Balikpapan-Tarakan,’’ ungkap Kepala Bidang Lalu Lintas Udara Dihub Pemkab Malang Untung Sudarto, kemarin.

Namun, Untung membantah jika maskapai itu hengkang karena menderita rugi. Dia katakan, selama beroperasi di Bandara Abd. Saleh, Mandala sudah memperoleh laba. Menurutnya, dari jumlah tempat duduk penumpang sebanyak 125, Mandala mampu membawa rata-rata 90 penumpang per terbang.
‘’Keluarnya murni alasan bisnis, tapi kita tidak tahu pasti secara detail, yang jelas mereka sudah untung kok. Mungkin saja kurang memenuhi target yang mereka tetapkan,’’ elak pria berkumis itu.

Dia menambahkan, Dishub Pemkab Malang bakal melakukan evaluasi selama tiga bulan ke depan. Tegas Untung, jika dalam rentang waktu tersebut Mandala tetap tidak terbang, Dishub bakal mengusulkan pencabutan surat ijin terbang ke Dirjen Perhubungan Udara.

‘’Tapi tadi (kemarin, Red.) saya menelepon mereka berencana beroperasi bulan Ramadhan nanti, jadi itu tidak menyalahi aturan tiga bulan, Ramadhan jatuh bulan September,’’ imbuhnya.

Ditegaskan Untung, secara langsung Mandala Airlines tidak menambah pemasukan apapun pada Pemkab. Hanya saja kehadiran maskapai penerbangan itu menumbuhkan PDRB (Produk Domestik Regional Bruto) Malang Raya. ‘’Kemungkinan kita kehilangan pengusaha dari Balikpapan,’’ pungkas dia. (ary/avi) (Ary Wicaksono/malangpost)

Newest art available in my shop. This is a re-creation of an india ink and gouache painting originally posted here. She is so pretty in yellow! I removed the background as it was two much yellow...

I like her with white.

I've just done this today. I love Chinese design. It was really easy to do. I just coloured it in with pencil, then discovered it looked great, but it even looked better in a tinted format. I quite like using mandalas with special digital effects. It even got rid of the dodgy bits which went wrong.. but then, does it matter if it goes a bit wrong when you just use it for meditation.  I think, in this case, it did! So I had to somehow save it from the bin somehow. 

I have also started making Mandala cards.. so this is just the beginning of scary and expensive spiral. What I do is make them up using www.vistaprint.com. Sometimes you get free stuff as well. I really recommend it to Mandala lovers.

I am always glad to receive interesting mandala links.

Hope you enjoy this one and thanks for the great tips you have sent me.

A photograph of a Kansas wild sunflower spun into a kaleidoscope mandala.

Copyright © 2008 by Anna Surface. All Rights Reserved.

Visit our other photoblog: Surface & Surface Photography

A macro photograph of a rock embedded with many little fossils created into a kaleidoscope mandala.

Copyright © 2008 by Anna Surface. All Rights Reserved.

Visit our other photoblog: Surface & Surface Photography

Meanwhile, have you seen this video? 

This is Milliande.  I love her videos.  They are always so creative and so peaceful.  These Zendala drawings are so fun and so addicting!  I've done one each of the past three nights already.   I'll maybe post pictures later.

Have a peaceful day!

Now I know there is a very lively mosaic community in Hungary because I have had alot of hits from atleast one mosaic forum, and alas have not been able to understand a single word that is said. :( I still marvel at the fact that we English speaking countries have very often only the one language, whereas every single non-English speaking country that I have travelled to, bar one, had some English.

After being a slave her whole life to her watch, Judit retired as a research scientist of veterinary medicine back in May. Nowadays she enjoys "going to bed, getting up, eating, strolling in the garden, playing with mosaics, with my grandchildren, with my animals, etc. whenever I feel like doing so." :) I've always said I can't wait to retire! lol...

Judit has been making mosaics now for 3 years and it has pretty much taken over her home as she states: "No room is singled out yet to be furnished as a workshop, so I am forced to litter the house with my treasure of half-made pieces, china and glass shards: cellar, garage, my former study, the guest room (the only one with an appropriately positioned window), wherever I can…".

When I asked her if she had any advice on making mosaics, her response was first and foremost having a spouse who does not mind but does care. ;) Acquire some very good tools, browse the internet, see as many mosaics as you can, find all the websites and blogs of as many artists as you can. Learn from everyone kind enough to share his/her knowledge – "and be as grateful to them as I am". Have patience, do not feel you are wasting your time with more important tasks waiting … Do not let your failures disappoint you rather learn from them. Study the properties and descriptions of the used materials carefully, enabling your work to stand the test of time in both senses. Be courageous in your experiments, "except when you are working on a commission." Food for thought and then some...

In recent years, her life has undergone many positive changes that she now feels there are too few hours in the day to do everything she is interested in. "At long last I can live in a large garden with as much domestic and wildlife around me as I like. I am enthralled with all forms of LIFE from those lovely spiders’ nets through the teeming plant life to the titmice brooding in their birdhouses … Since I was given my first digital camera, photography has also been a standard hobby."

Judit's first grandchild was born a year and a half ago and was followed by two more: "...they are opening up a new world for me, one very different from what I and my two sons used to live in". Her other passions are reading and gardening, though these two suffer most since discovering mosaics.

Judit is self-taught and has learnt, and is still learning, everything through the web. She is ultimately very grateful to all those who have supported her in her newfound passion - her husband who encourages rather than sneers; to her Hungarian mosaic friends who introduced her to this medium and whose constructive criticism is a huge help; to her virtual friends at flickr who leave supportive comments; and last but not least "to those colleagues, friends and relatives who remember me whenever they break a plate or cup or renew their bathrooms and thus keep supplying me with much of my precious basic materials…". :)

Judit's website is still being constructed and you can also see her work on her flickr account.

Now for the nity gritty! You'll see why I love her mosaics. She is one of the most versatile mosaic artists that I've come across...

Finally meet Judit...

The Rules:

• Link to the person who tagged you
• Post the rules on the blog
• Write six random things about yourself
• Tag six people at the end of your post and let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog
• Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Hmmm, 6 things about me eh .....

1.  I have forgotten the name of this plant at least five times today (having to ask my neighbour once (then hubby called her a second time), then a friend, then hubby a few more times.  Before I forget once again, it's Crocosmia!

2.  I really don't want to go to work tomorrow, I would much rather pull weeds and drink beer.

3.  We got to paint in the Roberts Creek Mandala today and it was super cool.  Here's what my four year old daughter, Magda (family from Poland) and I collaborated on:

4.  I went to see The Dark Knight last night (because it was the only movie playing in town and wanted to advantage of visiting family to babysit) and I actually liked it, even though I am totally not a comic book fan and I hate Christian Bale.

5.  Horses creep me out.

6.  My hair is not naturally curly, I perm it.

Hmmmm, now who to tag?

• Loving Life and Laughing
• Tracey
• The one and only Blogwhore
• The Stewart Clan
• Vanessa
• One of my favourite fellow garden bloggers, Water When Dry

A macro photograph of a fossil rock created into an enamel kaleidoscope.

Copyright © 2008 by Anna Surface. All Rights Reserved.

http://surfaceandsurfacephotography.com/

A photograph of bright, deep pink flower bunches created into a kaleidoscope mandala.

Copyright © 2008 by Anna Surface. All Rights Reserved.

http://surfaceandsurfacephotography.com/

The prompt at One Single Impression this week is 'Rest' suggested by 'The Manic Gardner'

Here is my haiku:

To rest and relax
Let the world pass me by
Regeneration!

My goal was to create a peaceful mandala for this prompt and really had to restrain myself from the bright bold colors I normally use so I used colored pencils and then buffed it with a cotton ball (for those of you who care :)

Do you get a restful feel from this?

I have a mandala posted just before this one where I describe how haiku really inspires me to create these mandalas, in fact there are three of them as I continued through the process.

Comments are still moderated.

A photograph of a yellow wildflower and spider in the bright sun changed into a kaleidoscope mandala.

Copyright © 2008 by Anna Surface. All Rights Reserved.

http://surfaceandsurfacephotography.com/

A photograph of a prairie burn at night under a full moon created into a kaleidoscope mandala.

Copyright © 2008 by Anna Surface. All Rights Reserved.

http://surfaceandsurfacephotography.com/

Curso Mandalas

MÓDULO 1

Patrocínio- MG 

Data - 09 e 10 de agosto de 2008

Brasília- DF

Data - 27 e 28 de Setembro de 2008

Patos de Minas- MG

 outubro de 2008

MÓDULO 2

PATROCÍNIO -MG

 DATA - 13 E 14 de  Setembro de 2008

Conteúdo

MÓDULO 1   

- Introdução : Mandala e sua presença no macro e no microcosmo, na história do mundo, na cultura dos povos

 - Mandala e o retorno ao centro – Mandalaterapia  - contemplação mandálica

- Formas e Números Sagrados

- Cores – Simbolismos das cores e suas combinações

- Introdução ao Princípio dos Cinco Elementos do Feng Shui, representações em formas e cores.

MÓDULO 2  

- Dança Circular

- O Ciclo dos Cinco Elementos  e o uso de suas representações em proporções ideais

 - O Poder das Pedras

- O Poder das Ervas e Flores

- Considerações quanto à escolha de locais e de mandalas a serem inseridas no ambiente

- Criação de Mandalas Naturais com flores, sementes, ervas e pedras

CONTATOS PARA INFORMAÇÕES E INSCRIÇÕES

Contatos gerais : Mirian Menezes- (34) 3831-9745 / (34) 8861 - 6164

Patrocínio- MG 

 Maria Ângela Ramos- (34) 3831-3231

Brasília - DF

 Luciana Duarte - (61)3034 - 5842  

                             (61) - 8422 -5553                                              

OFICINAS - MANDALATERAPIA E DANÇA CIRCULAR

Toda quarta-feira de 19:00 às 21:30 horas 

               Av. Faria Pereira, 2236, sala 2  

               Patrocínio-MG  

A flowing creek photograph changed into a kaleidoscope mandala.

Copyright © 2008 by Anna Surface. All Rights Reserved.

http://surfaceandsurfacephotography.com/

A wildflowers photograph changed into a kaleidoscope mandala.

Copyright © 2008 by Anna Surface. All Rights Reserved.

http://surfaceandsurfacephotography.com/

A wildflowers photograph changed into a kaleidoscope mandala.

Copyright © 2008 by Anna Surface. All Rights Reserved.

http://surfaceandsurfacephotography.com/

A wildflowers photograph changed into a kaleidoscope mandala.

Copyright © 2008 by Anna Surface. All Rights Reserved.

http://surfaceandsurfacephotography.com/

GOH KAH HENG, also known as SHI MING YI

Role: Founder of Ren Ci and its former CEO

Age: 46

Alleged to have:

• Asked staff member to include false information in minutes of Ren Ci management committee meeting in July 2001

He allegedly asked person to state he did not owe Ren Ci money and that it was Mandala Buddhist Cultural Centre that owed charity $616,450.52

Mandala was a Buddhist artefacts shop and Goh was one of two registered owners.

• Provided misleading information to Commissioner of Charities (COC) three times between 1998 and 2001, in relation to $842,800, which he allegedly owed Ren Ci

• Providing false information to COC last year by claiming that a $50,000 loan by Ren Ci to Mandala was for Mandala to buy wood

• Misappropriated $50,000 of Ren Ci's money in May 2004 by approving a $50,000 loan to Raymond Yeung Chi Hang.

• Misappropriated $300,000 of Ren Ci's money in March last year to offset outstanding loans owed by Mandala.

• Conspired with Yeung to falsify a document belonging to Ren Ci, by stating that $50,000 loan was made by Ren Ci to Mandala in May2004

• Conspired with Yeung to provide false information to COC regarding delivery of two statues worth $16,000 to Mandala in January this year.

• Conspired with Phua Seow Hwa to provide false information to COC that $300,000 out of a $600,000 purported donation to Ren Ci was a friendly loan to himself

PANG LEONG CHUAN 彭良泉

Role: An ex-employee of Ren Ci and Shi's friend

Age: 27

Alleged to have:

• Possessed DVDs containing seven obscene films and 11 uncensored films on 18 Feb this year at Cornwall Gardens

• Possessed a laptop containing 77 obscene films at the same place that day

• Possessed DVDs and VCDs containing 33 obscene films and 10 uncensored films at his Tampines home on 18 and 20 Feb this year

RAYMOND YEUNG CHI HANG

Role: Shi's personal assistant

Age: 33

Alleged to have:

• Conspired with him to falsify a Ren Ci document, by stating that a $50,000 loan was made by Ren Ci to Mandala in May 2004

• Conspired to provide false information to the COC regarding the delivery of two statues to Mandala in January this year

Phua Seow Hwa.

Role: Manager of Ren Ci Hospital and Medicare Centre's technical resource centre

Age: 47

Alleged to have:

• Conspired to provide false information to the COC in a letter that $300,000 out of a $600,000 purported donation to Ren Ci was a friendly loan to Shi Ming Yi

[via]

In conveying ideas to be felt by all,
The concern for self-honesty
In the understanding of the collective ethos
Finds the symbology of their dreamscape
More able to bring clarity and structure
To the interplay and synergy
Necessary to nurture the connection
Into materialized results
That reveal the truth and integrity
Of the idea’s use value.

You need an experienced judgment
To narrow the probabilities into an order,
And the signs and symbols of the multiplicity
Calling for the discovery of their depths
Would suggest faith in material evidence
With its definition of commitment ramifications
As a channel for the emerging visions
Putting dreams into practice
To show the move into an order
That presents the potential’s reliable probabilities.

For it is the idea moving forward into success
To isolate an organized conclusion,
With its designed balance enduring
The flowing development of belief projections,
That shows a measure of vitality
Seen first as the degree of viability
Then more as the answer to choice
In a realm of perfection and abundance
Standing at the point of balanced assessment
With a plan for a reliable potentiality.

(King of Swords, 8 of Swords, 10 of Pentacles, Knight of Cups, 4 of Pentacles, the Lovers, Queen of Cups, the Empress, Justice, Knight of Pentacles - 7/14/08)

To successfully express the vision
That calls forth the awakening of an illuminated consciousness
When the general belief is in the dark
With ungrounded thoughts at every turn,
One uses the light within
Offering the intuition filled with healing love
That blesses us with the new viewpoint
And new emotional purpose
Able to identify the responsibility for it
And the freedom it faces.

The inner connection to wisdom
To better perceive the imaginative possibilities
Of an unstable and disconnected viewpoint
Surrounded by negative expectations
Will find the light of the inner voice
Communicating harmony and love
Through voluntary sacrifice for the common good
As a pathway for the joy of sharing
Manifested in the sense of purpose
That pops up from the compost into the light.

In this concept, an idea of self-expression as inspired
Desire activating creative propriety
Through a disconnected ego
Afloat in a sea of the questioned purpose
To validate a reality of harmonious understanding
Of the chosen affinity and codependent structure
Uses the inability to help the self with independent action
To build the successful reinforcement of faith
Into the exemplar-exceeding-the-conception-of-possibility
As it aspires toward the freedom to know more.

(King of Wands, Queen of Wands, 5 of Pentacles, 7 of Swords, 6 of Wands, 2 of Cups, the Hanged Man, 9 of Cups, 7 of Wands, the Tower - 7/8/08)

I created this mandala in response to a challenge from a new group I joined, Mandala Oasis.  The challenge is "Explore a practice".

I have been asked how I do my mandalas so I am going to try and explain my process and hope it makes sense.  I usually get in the 'zone' so far I have a hard time explaining it but I purposely 'watched myself' so to say.

I have found that I think better if I create a haiku and then the mandala.    As I thought about the challenge of 'explore a practice' I thought about where creative ideas come from.  This was the first haiku that came to mind:

Opening your mind
Reveals creative thoughts
Cirlce them and bloom

I wanted to show how ideas come from the outside, enter our mind, swirl around until they 'bloom with a creative thought'.  As I progressed with the mandala another haiku came to mind:

Once in awhile
The idea blossoms hot
Happiness is born

As I progressed the ideas were coming hot and heavy, ("I think I need something here and a color there and so on").  When I thought I was done, another haiku came to mind:

Explore the practice
Minds are full of ideas
Just reap the riches

It was at this point that I thought of adding the little bubbles and it seemed to pull it all together.  

As I look at every mandala I have ever done I wonder where it all comes from.   I am also so relaxed when I finish one so I know they are good for me.

As I look at this mandala it seems chock full of ideas that are bursting to get out.  I would be interested in what you think and feel when you look at it.

I almost always use sharpies in a Handbook sketchbook and occasionally a mandala just calls for black paper.

Comments are moderated only because I don't know how to unmoderate them.

Island residents are indeed fortunate to have the opportunity to meet monks from Tashi-Lhunpo, exiled from Tibet and now in southern India.  A group of these monks are touring the country, sharing some of their culture and Quay Arts is their base this week.  Yesterday saw an opening ceremony of chant preceding the commencement of a mandala painstakingly constructed with small coloured grains of marble.  Progress can be viewed throughout the day, with completion expected late Friday prior to a destruction ceremony and concert on Saturday.  Wighteye enjoyed participating in a workshop attempting to learn some Tibetan language and having a go at a sand mandala;  both were exceedingly difficult!  Pop in if you have the opportunity!