Tibetan sand mandalas are painstakingly created by sheering colored sand into geometric designs, and upon completion, ritualistically destroyed. In celebration and recognition of impermanence, monks collect the sand and release it
into a river. Each year the Placerville Friends of Tibet host monks who create and dissolve a mandala, just one of many you can experience firsthand.
Similarly, three artists are exploring natural materials in traditional forms to create work that is gone in moments. Underscoring the transitory nature of the pieces, each artist’s work emerges as circular, emphasizing the paradox of being both everything, and nothing, symbolizing motion, yet itself static in the moment. Artists Kathy Klien, James Brunt, and Joanna Hedrick each use found pieces of nature to create exquisite and ephemeral art.
If you’ve spent any time wandering the more visual based haunts of social media, you’ve most likely seen Kathy Klien’s work of mandalas on Pinterest or Instagram. Klien makes mandalas out of natural 
items, such as flowers, twigs, acorns, shells, pine needles and more. She leaves each piece to be “photographed and then left to be discovered by others” Collossal.
Similarly, James Brunt crafts by placing stones on the beach. In his working code, he lists his ethical rules he has developed for his work. “I don’t over populate environments with loads of installations. I make a piece of work, which often when finished, will last no longer than a couple of hours (often less).” 
Locally, Sacramento State University counselor Joanna Hendrick makes art from fallen ginkgo trees on the campus. In the October/November Issue of Sactown Magazine, her designs are beautifully featured in a collection of images.
“I love the idea of non-permanence,” says artist Joanna Hedrick. “I know the leaf designs can’t last forever, so it really forces me to enjoy the finished work while I can,” adds Dean Sheree Meyer, “Given the medium in which she works, we can neither anticipate nor sustain the experience. It must be appreciated in the moment.”
The nature of these artworks is that their impermanence forces you to look at them differently. How? You can record them only, most likely with the camera on your mobile. You cannot return to them. Why does this matter? We are reminded of the difference between the life and the record of it, a critical lesson to be mindful of to unhook ourselves from a seemingly non-ending cycle of social media feeds, and instead engage in other parts of our lives.
