Deep Rooted Healing Podcast

Exploring Circles as Spiritual Symbols in My Art Practice

Handmade artistic composition featuring a black stone and a looped beige cord with tufts, placed on textured paper.

Episode 14

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"Flow down and down in always widening rings of being." -Rumi

Circles have been showing up in my art practice, I feel so drawn to them. I got a tattoo of a circle when I moved from New York to Minnesota in 2014, feeling like it symbolized the transition and a new sense of feeling more whole. Little did I know how much deep healing was to come in the next many years. Now, 10 years later, that tattoo has evolved with me and holds different meanings for me.

I also recently dove deeply into the ensō practice in Japanese Zen Buddhism, which is a beautiful ancient meditative painting practice where you calm and focus your mind and your energy in your body, then create a single circle with black ink in one breath on a piece of paper. There is no going back and fixing it and each one is subtly different, reflecting the energy and the spirit of the person in that moment.

I hope you enjoy listening to some of my reflections on circles as symbols in my art practice and my spiritual practice.


Resources:

-Enso: Zen Circles of Enlightenment by Audrey Yoshiko Seo

-Zen and the Art of Photography: A Guide to Mindfulness in Creativity by Douglas Beasley

-Follow me on Instagram @deeprootedhealing

Here are some images of the art I’ve made over the years with circles:

Enso circle meditation painting by Emma Freeman from Deep Rooted Healing
A piece of light blue fabric with printed leaf designs and stitched markings on the edges.
Light blue fabric banner with stitched circles, some with crosshatched patterns, and small decorative pins, hanging on a string against a white background.
A vertical fabric wall hanging with four rectangular sections, each featuring different textile patterns and textures, predominantly in shades of blue and cream.
Mixed media artwork featuring a white mesh fabric with a circular pattern, mounted on crinkled black material, with a thin yellow horizontal thread at the bottom on off-white paper background.
A piece of crumpled black paper with white mesh fabric and a small brown ring attached, placed on a white background.
Mixed media artwork featuring a blue woven fabric, a green textured patch, white mesh-like material, and a black circular element on a white background.
Mixed media artwork of a traffic light with three circular shapes, framed with layered black and white textured paper.
Mixed media artwork with layered fabric, mesh, and rope on a beige background, featuring teal, black, and brown textures.
Mixed media artwork with a textured background in shades of blue, black, and white, featuring layered mesh, fabric, and a circular metal element.
Mixed media abstract artwork with textured black, white, pink, and orange elements, featuring a black circle and crescent shape.
An open sketchbook with abstract artwork featuring black painted backgrounds, red rectangles, and white outlined circles with dotted interior, created with mixed media.
Open art journal with abstract blue and white mixed media painting, featuring circular shapes, textured backgrounds, and pattern details.
Open sketchbook with black background paint and pink circle drawings on both pages, featuring white dotted line patterns.
Open book with pages painted blue, featuring black and white artistic images of dogs, and a blue circle with a dotted line and arrow overlayed on the right page.
Open art journal with green background, black circles with white speckles, and black lines with white speckles arranged vertically and diagonally.
An open sketchbook with bright pink pages featuring abstract white circle and line designs, some with dotted patterns.
Open journal with turquoise background, black and white polka-dotted circles, and lines forming the word 'LOVE' on the right page.
Open art journal with blue textured paint and two white circle outlines on each page.
Open sketchbook with abstract blue painting featuring three white dots circle patterns and a black and white polka dot tab on the right side.
Open journal with mixed media art, including red, pink, and black paint, a black circle, and a black and white photo of tree branches.
Open sketchbook with turquoise painted background and white paper glued on it, featuring black circle sketches with dots and lines.
Open sketchbook with abstract green and yellow background, black and white polka dot shapes, and black stripes on pages. Scissors and fabric scraps with polka dot pattern beside the sketchbook.
Open art journal with colorful background, featuring black stamped and drawn patterns on white paper collaged onto pink and green painted pages.
Open art journal with teal painted background, black polka dot rectangular cutouts, and red string arranged in circular shapes.
Fabric Meditation Books by Emma Freeman of Deep Rooted Healing