Prison Officer Creates Stunning Mandalas in His Spare Time to Relax

There is hardly anyone who would deny having indulged in doodling during school days, especially if the classes happened to be boring, but most soon outgrow it. However, it seems Baz Furnell stuck to it and today has graduated to making stunning mandalas.

This resident of Norwich, England, who is now into his 40s, always loved art. Although he never pursued it in the right earnest but discovered it as an antidote to his stressful public sector job as a prison officer. As he states on his website, “Not only did I rediscover the joy of creating something from scratch on a fresh piece of paper, but I also found it was an excellent way to switch off, relax and unwind.” Needless to say, he has been drawing in his spare time since! He believes that drawing and painting are in his genes, as his family was into it in a big way.

Furnell’s claim to fame is his stunning mandalas that became an instant hit on social media. However, he did not start creating mandalas right away but began by drawing animals, one of his passions. Although his animal creations were excellent, he found the actual process of painstakingly trying to recreate that photorealism in his work quite unfulfilling. This is when he discovered the mandalas.

According to Furnell, the process of creating mandalas gave him the greatest sense of peace. This is because it gave him the liberty to make up the design as he went along and the intricacy involved gave him a real sense of satisfaction. He went on to hone his skills in drawing mandalas and made the process more difficult and time-consuming by introducing more shading into his designs. This gave his creations a sense of depth and dimension. And this is what sets his works apart from other mandala artists.

Furnell’s art progressed due to social media. As he states on his website, “…I’ve to say with social media these days, it’s really easy to see and connect with so many great artists. The level of talent out there and the access that platforms, such as Instagram, give to that talent is a constant source of inspiration….”

And why not? A following of about 100,000 viewers on Instagram alone is a great motivating factor for Furnell, as are the positive comments he receives on his works. He spends hours hunched over the sheet of paper with pen in hand. Some of his bigger works take upwards of 50 hours!

The good news is Furnell’s works are on sale on his website. Not only this, you can also access Baz Furnell kit, Baz Furnell art, and Baz Furnell tutorials on the internet.