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Mandalas: Canvas Table Top Design

mandalas
Mandalas Design for Table Cover

From Place Mats to Table Top Cover

I love finding ways to fulfill my client’s creative ideas. Recently, a client contacted me after dining at the local Tigre Vestido Restaurant where our hand-painted canvas place-mats are featured. She conferred with her husband about making place mats for their home; they decided they loved the idea of mandalas as a design for a table top cover instead.

Wendy, our client, sent me photos of various mandalas for design ideas. Theirs was a 4’ x 4’ square table, and often they have as many as 6 people dining. Place-mats were awkward in that situation and they felt a table top cover with the mandala design would better suit their needs.

The word mandala is Sanskrit for circle; the mandala design represents a circle with its focal point starting in the center and emanating out toward the edges. Of the photos, one mandala design in particular called to me so I decided to use that as inspiration. Wendy wanted the raw canvas look on the background and a bright apple candy red color for the actual design; it just so happened we had the perfect bright red color in our inventory of paints!

Mandala Design on Canvas

With the help of my trusty paint salesman at Sherwin Williams, we also needed a color resembling that of the raw canvas material. This is used for the base coat – we never paint the design directly onto the canvas. Before painting the mandala design it occurred to me that varnish on the canvas-colored paint might turn out with a yellowed hue. I was concerned until I came up with the idea of a wash to slightly tint the base coat. This wash would give it an aged look and make the bright candy apple red color of the mandala less obtrusive.

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Completed Mandala Table Cover

Painting the mandala design with delicate strokes, swirls and dots, filling in spaces, following the idea of the design but not copying it exactly, the design flowed. After drying and curing the tablecloth we did not seal the underside – using the sealant only on top, according to the client’s wishes.

I have to say, this hand-painted canvas tablecloth worked perfectly in the clients’ home. This is a house full of color and light. A huge bold painting titled, The Lion King, hangs next to the dining table; stained glass windows with red filtered light and a bright red lamp hanging lamp over the table provides a unique and lively artistic décor. The mandala designed table cloth with its simplicity of clean, delicate lines worked well – a bold chunky look would have clashed with the other elements in the room.

Expanding Interior Design

Place mats, table runners, and now tablecloths, are new additions to Laurel’s Originals repertoire of hand-painted interior items in addition to our canvas rugs. Thanks to my clients who read my blogs, we are expanding this idea of custom table decor!

It’s always a pleasure to create something new, inspired by my client’s wishes. Incorporating art from mandalas to that of a new tablecloth produced a rewarding project – and a happy client. Cheers!

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