Hand-drawn mandala flower design

Geometric · Black and grey · Flash

A symmetrical mandala drawn in fine dark ink on a cream background, built from eight outer petals with square and dot patterns. Inner rings contain dotwork, scrolled motifs and a central eight-pointed star with a small circular medallion. The linework is crisp and even, and the design is shown flat with no shading, colour or body part visible.

Geometric Mandala Flower Lotus Dot Star Rosette Petal Scroll

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Dear Nadia,

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The rain came in off the canal at half eight and by nine the awning over Stall 14 was sagging like a wet sail, so I've spent the morning holding up a tarpaulin with one hand and writing to you with the other. Mr Okafor from the fabric stall lent me a bulldog clip. The eight-petalled rosette you asked about is pinned to the back board now, the one drawn in ink on thick cream paper, and I've been looking at it between customers.

Here's what I think. Whoever drew it started at the middle, with the little circle holding its star, and worked outward, the way you'd unpick a knot from the centre. Every ring gets its dots, then its scrolls, then the scalloped edge, and only when a ring is full does the next one begin. Nothing is rushed. The outer petals are the only part with squares in them, a row of small white gaps running along the dark border like stitches in a hem.

Yesterday a man asked me to cancel his order because it was too busy. I told him that was the point: busy with care, every line answering the one before it. He bought a plain linen bag instead and looked relieved.

The rain has stopped. I'm sending the drawing home with the parcel, so you can hold it up to the window and see how the light goes through the gaps in the petals. Keep it flat, Nadia, and don't let the damp get in.

Love, Ruth