Holy Fire: A channeled personal mandala

Shaped poplar wood and acrylic, about seven inches wide and nine inches high. This one is probably my favorite painting, both for the way it looks and the power it emanates for me. It is almost entirely channeled, although of course I made conscious decisions. I started out with a vague idea of combining flames and  roots, so I sketched it out on a small canvas, but the small canvas didn't seem right to convey it once I saw the overall idea. When I started sketching it out for a larger painting on wood, it just seemed to flow from my creative daemon. I have long been interested in flames and roots for both their shapes and archetypal resonances. The snake is a cthonic guardian -- the Buddha touched the earth to ask for its support when he was meditating under the Bo tree, and the king of snakes arose behind him to protect his enlightenment. Snakes live underground and are symbolic of unconscious knowledge. The snake swallowing its tail is a symbol of eternal return and eternity in general. I did not consciously shape the roots to make a kind of skull face. It was a bit of work to cut the curves on a bandsaw. I drilled holes and used a jigsaw for the holes. I had a bit of work with a file -- a really fine tool from Lie-Nielsen that was gifted to me by my family -- and several grades of sandpaper. I like the raw wood version so much that I considered oiling it, but was daunted by the prospect of cutting another one to paint. For me at least, it has strong psychospiritual vibes. Eventually, I might make a postcard.