+ by MacDuff Perkins + photos by Alison Harbaugh
Artists come to their crafts in different ways. For some, it’s being introduced to textiles at a grandparent’s fingertips. For others, there’s the shock of inspiration on a gallery wall. The smell of oils and mineral spirits might bring calm, the texture of clay between palms might ignite passion. For Annapolis-based visual artist and designer Megan Alodie, art came to her through a stack of sticky notes.
“I started doodling at work,” she says, recalling her days with a large marketing firm in Manhattan. She had graduated from college in Atlanta with degrees in communications and photojournalism before moving north to be closer to family. But corporate work had its doldrums, and so she took a silver gel pen to a pad of black-paged Post-it™ notes and started drawing.
Her doodles caught the attention of the firm’s art department staff, who encouraged her to apply to an annual art show that the company hosted. When the three pieces she entered received top recognition, she began to rethink the marketing work that she was doing for others and instead considered investing in her own talents.
Alodie’s art centers around mandalas. Found in many cultures, including Hinduism and Buddhism, these geometric shapes often serve as symbolic illustrations of the cosmos and are used as a tool in meditation. They are part of a tradition that involves meditation in which Alodie was not raised. When she began drawing at work, she thought that she was merely trying to keep her mind engaged. Her mind had other ideas.
The success of the art show opened a window of possibility for Alodie. Through her education background, she recognized the commercial potential in her artwork. She made prints of the mandalas, then pencil cases, pillowcases, and mugs. “I wasn’t part of the art scene in New York; I was in marketing,” she says. “But I knew about the different markets, so I applied to a bunch of them.”
Her first market was the Schwick Market of Makers in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn. When she first showed up with her prints, she realized that she had come underprepared. Looking around at the other elaborate tables, she understood that she was supposed to decorate her booth as well as bring merchandise to sell. “I took my cousin’s scarf off her body and laid out my prints on it,” she says. “I didn’t have any prices in mind, I was just happy to be there. But then a customer came and brought six prints, and I thought, ‘This is it. This is what I should be doing.’”
While meditating on mandalas may inspire concentration and focus, for an artist, the creation process may stimulate positive psychology. Although Alodie stumbled upon mandala artwork by happy accident, the art form had a profound impact on her and inspired her to continue with it.
The process begins when Alodie puts a pen to paper and allows her mind to flow without bounds. In this place, she finds a freedom that exists in no other part of her life. There’s a connection that extends beyond the confines of her daily life and introduces her to a higher being. “I receive clarity when I’m drawing,” she says. “It’s like a prayer. I don’t get down on my knees and pray, but I do this.”
Alodie hones her craft through study and practice. It’s similar to the work she performs as a yoga instructor and practitioner. “Every class, you see yourself getting stronger and stronger. With art, the more that I do it, the more detail my eyes are able to pick up, and the more intricate designs my mind is able to create; the more my hands are able to execute.”
The process is often surprising for her, and the outcomes are sometimes shocking. Keeping her mind hyper-focused in the present moment, she is willing to open herself to a mystery of creation rather than a desired conclusion. “I never know what a piece is going to look like before I start,” she says. “I just let my mind flow.”
Her mandalas adorn a variety of merchandise, including vibrant clothing, journals, phone cases, pillows, bags, and other personal and household items. Her designs are urban and contemplative—pop culture meets traditional meditation practice. There’s a harmonic dichotomy in her designs, and Alodie welcomes this. Her art represents radical self-care, not of the bubble bath variety, but of coming home to the vibrancy of one’s own spirit. “It’s about being in the moment,” she says, reimagining what it means to take control of oneself. The peace and meditation inspire her to explore the mystery of her own humanity.
Alodie isn’t doing this alone. After years of living in major cities, she reconnected with someone from middle school and moved from New York to Maryland. She first became a stepmother, then had a child of her own. Another shortly followed. And while she found what she had always been looking for emotionally, she felt the lack of a greater artistic community. An online search ensued.
“I found ArtFarm [Studios] on social media,” she says, referencing the creative space located in Annapolis. “I needed an art community here in Maryland, something I could get into and be a part of.” She applied for an artist residency there and met owners Alison Harbaugh and Darin Gilliam, quickly developing a relationship with them. Knowing that she taught yoga in Manhattan, they brought her in to teach art as well as yoga. “Darin has the same name as my fiancé,” says Alodie. “She felt immediately like home to me. We both have a whimsical energy and are easygoing and creative. So, we clicked.”
In addition to teaching classes at ArtFarm Studios, she handles its social media. The connection has also helped her push her artwork into more commercial areas. She’s received art grants for creating murals through the Laurel Arts Council, Montgomery Arts Council, and Creative Outlets Art Center. She’s worked with students and communities to create murals in public spaces, branching herself out through choice collaborations.
Now pursuing a master’s degree in the business of art and design at Maryland Institute College of Art, she is pushing herself into areas that allow her art to take flight. “I want to take my design skills to the tech industry,” she says. “What I’m learning is how to look at myself not just as an artist, but as a business. And that requires that I transform my thinking.”
By educating herself, she strives to uplift as many people as possible. “People tell me that they look at my art and see things differently. My work can show you multiple things, inspire you in different ways. I can communicate with you differently.”
The eight-month-old baby on her hip begins to mewl, and Alodie breaks her conversation to softly coo into the child’s ear before sharing that people often ask her why she chose mandalas. “I think they chose me,” she says.
For more information, visit meganalodie.com.
