Get into the groove
Sand artist rakes up some progress at Seal Rock
By Barbara B. Covell
For the TODAY
Her personal life story is one of intense pain and suffering. Yet through this journey, she made the choice to survive as a happy and kind person. Karen Chalmers believes these life experiences have manifested into a unique gift of sand raking mandalas, labyrinths and other artistic designs. But she does more than create sand raking wonders — she has developed a spin dancing routine which she employs before, during and after each rake.
Spinning is a magic of its own.
“My mandalas are an extension of my journey toward healing,” Chalmers said. “I was blissful at first because I didn’t know how to do it. I’ve never had any instruction.”
Chalmers says her lack of training in fine art or folk art has led her to persevere in creating magnificent designs in south Lincoln County beaches.
“I am usually at the Little Creek Cove beach immediately south of Seal Rock State Park,” she said. “I like the inclusive nature of the cove, because people can be 300 feet above and still enjoy watching.”
Chalmers also creates her mandalas and other designs in Newport’s Nye Beach, the Yachats river basin and the “secret beach” just north of Seal Rock State Park.
She started her initial sand designs last July using a walking stick. At that time, she was still recovering from a three-and-a-half-year systemic illness which had her wheelchair bound. She employed meditative skills to get into survival mode.
“I survived something I shouldn’t have,” she said. “Healing and recovery are truly possible.”
She quickly graduated from using a walking stick to a collection of rakes for her designs. “I prefer metal rakes because of the ability to create textures in the sand,” she said. “I then learned how to draw perfect circles in the sand, although I cannot draw a mandala on paper.”
According to Chalmers, raking puts her into an ecstatic state because her mind craves creativity.
“Raking involves your body and mind constantly knowing what you are doing,” she said. “The repetitive flowing motion is good for the brain. Continuity, scale and repetition — it’s the perfect math. Art is beautiful when the math is perfect.”
Once a creation reaches roughly 25 meters across, Chalmers can no longer see the pattern. “But, it is all a process,” she said. “I want to share this with people, as I know the energy makes others feel good.”
She said the changeable nature of sand ensures that each design is unique and never replicated.
While Chalmers says raking makes her very happy, it is also healing, deeply therapeutic and meditative.
“I don’t have an off switch,” she said. “Raking is like spinning slowly and it usually takes me two to three hours to complete my designs. But, I am guided by the tides and weather. And, the tide eventually takes it away.”
The thing that sets Chalmers apart from other talented rakers is the spinning dance routine that she uses to rake.
“My entire body moves and I feel a oneness with my body,” she said. “I start with hand movements, then my body takes over.”
She likens her “whirling dervish” spins to the Sufi practice of "dhikr" in musical ceremony and dance, a celebration of the joy in life.
“I begin by hunkering down and then I turn my toes in,” she said. “If nothing changes in my body, then I can begin to draw a circle. Spinning is physically demanding.”
She has created a few community mandalas where she explained the process to targeted groups of participants.
“Usually five to 10 people is enough,” she said. “I give them the interior band and then they can design. If there’s more than 10 people raking the time runs out, as the tides change.”
You can meet Chalmers and see a demonstration this year during Newport’s Loyalty Days and at the Waldport’s Beachcomber Days.
She also maintains a “Spinning Sands” Facebook page where she posts photos and a schedule of her beach rakes. The page also contains videos, often with the signature finishing spin featuring her dog, Beau Beau, jumping in the air.
“We always try to end with a bow or curtsy,” she said.