I’m lucky to live by the sea. When the tide is low I’ll head out with my brother to see what we can find. Most animals hide away and wait for us to pass (although curiosity will often tempt a lobster out). Not so the velvet swimming crabs. These ninja crustaceans are on the attack! They move at speed and can reach behind their backs with their pincers.

This piece has a rotational symmetry of 6, which makes construction easier: use a compass set to the side length of the tile.

I cut the block from softcut using essdee tools. The paper is Japanese washi and I use Cranfield Caligo inks along with a studio roller and baren.

This is my first mandala design, and is inspired by Jennifer Zee’s work. From wikipedia:

A mandala (Sanskrit: मण्डल, romanized: maṇḍala, lit. ’circle’, [ˈmɐɳɖɐlɐ]) is a geometric configuration of symbols originating in Indian religions. In various spiritual traditions, mandalas may be employed for focusing attention of practitioners and adepts, as a spiritual guidance tool, for establishing a sacred space and as an aid to meditation and trance induction.

Printmakers love the reveal: the moment when you peel back the paper to see how your original design works as a print. A repeat print generates a sequence of reveals, and you get to see your design evolve into something quite new. Although the evolution was not planned, it is not random either. Truly a magical process: geometry rules!