Mandalas: The zen touch of Emily Thierry

A mandala is a spiritual and ritual symbol in Indian mythology. There are various forms of mandalas with distinct concepts and different purposes. Creating a mandala is an artistic feat and Emily Thierry presents us with her impressive-looking designs.  Emily Thierry, 26, works as a self-employed. She is the owner of a small business, the Mandala Mauritius God’s Eyes Creator. She is based in Curepipe but also operates in the north. She reveals that at school, she was very good at art and literature. After her studies, she worked for several companies but she was not really happy with those jobs. She later decided to launch her own enterprise. This is how her adventure started. “I was searching for something out of the ordinary. While researching on the internet, I came across this mandala art which captured my creativity instinct. At first, I thought I would never be able to do such art work, but a little voice in my head advised me to go ahead and to try it!” she recalls. “I learned on my own about how to make mandalas. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"21474","attributes":{"class":"media-image wp-image-35751 alignleft","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"350","height":"636","alt":"Mandalas"}}]]The first time I manage to make a mandala to near perfection, I was so thrilled about my achievement and proud of my work. It was very hard work indeed, requiring a lot of efforts and patience, but when I completed it, the end result was simply smashing. It was so beautiful that I decided to share my love for this art with all Mauritians. I found my way in mandalas, the first one I ever made was a gift for my mum. I create those mandalas with wool and wood sticks. When I make a mandala, I can feel its energies and good vibes. Some of my customers were also searching for dream catchers, so I started to make dream catchers too.” Dream catchers are well known in Mauritius, but Mexican mandalas are totally new. “A dream catcher is known to absorb all bad dreams. Each colour has a meaning, but a Mexican mandala is more elaborate, it is used in meditation as a centre of yoga. In Mexico, when a child is born, the father creates a mandala for his child, with the belief that it will protect the child against negative energies. This is my way to express my love and to encourage positive energies. Since I was searching for something exclusive, my inspiration was my love for colorful things.” Does she face any obstacle in her chosen entrepreneurial field? “Not much, really, but it is not easy to find new customers, as my business is mainly online. It is expensive to resort to advertising and marketing. However, my prices are very affordable. A mandala can cost up to Rs 10,000 or even more on Ebay. Here, I sell them as from Rs 500 only. I work mainly on orders from customers and I am able to customize according to their style and taste. My price is really affordable as it start as from Rs 500 for the 50cm one. The largest mandala, at 1m20, costs around Rs 3,000. Only advertising and my funds are not enough for setting up a big expo where I can showcase my creations and share my knowledge about its energy. Emily also shares her future plans with us. “I intend to start offering courses on mandala creation. This is one way of sharing my skills and knowledge with other people, as this is full of positive vibes. Through this initiative, I will indirectly be creating jobs as the craft business never dies, though it doesn’t get enough recognition,” she explains. Emily also wishes to open a shop one day to sell her craft products.