WOODSTOCK – The Whitman Memorial Library hosted a presentation Wednesday afternoon with Jennifer Locke of Harrison, who showcased her unique brand of art.

The art was in the form of a mandala, defined on the Internet as “a graphic and often symbolic pattern usually in the form of a circle divided into four separate sections.”

“I started making mandalas about two years ago,” Locke said. “My mother passed away when I was young, and every year, on the anniversary of her death, I get moody. Last year, I went to an art workshop by Arla Patch where she taught us to use a variety of different mediums to create art. Once I started with mandalas, I couldn’t stop. It was calming to me. I thought, ‘This year, I won’t pout,” she said.

Locke said Patch told her students to “do something you love” when creating a pattern for the mandala, which led to Locke using photographs of flowers.

“Flowers make me happy, so I started taking pictures of them,” Locke said. “I’d print them, cut them out and glue them into a pattern while making the mandala. My husband would come home and see me sitting in the middle of a group of flowers, getting up close to them and taking pictures. It must’ve looked weird to him.”

Locke described her mandalas as “kaleidoscope mandalas,” due to their intricate patterns.

“I remember laying on my back when I was a kid and looking at the sun through a kaleidoscope for hours,” Locke said. “My mandalas remind me of those patterns.

Creating mandalas has “opened up a lot of doors,” Locke said. Her art has been on display at the Frost Farm Gallery in Norway, and at the Bethel Art Fair. Locke said she will enter some of her mandalas into this year’s Bethel Art Fair.

Locke said her ability to create mandalas was “a gift and a blessing,” allowing her “to do things I never did before.”

“Plus, I get to meet people like you,” Locke said, smiling at the audience. “I’m flattered and honored that you guys like my stuff.”

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