Gallery With A Cause • Located in the New Mexico Cancer Center • Benefitting the NMCC Foundation
Please call gallery director Regina Held to arrange a private gallery tour, make a purchase, or ask any questions.
Originally from Ohio, where she split her time between Cincinnati and Columbus, Bridget Schweri later moved to the Southwest. Her creative work has included quilting, jewelry making, and stained glass. Drawn to the geometry of these mediums, especially the interplay of shapes and colors, she found mandala design a natural next direction.
An avid conservationist, Schweri paints primarily on recycled or upcycled materials, including community-gathered rocks, bottles from recycling bins, thrift-store coffee cups, rescued objects, and donated vinyl records. Her artwork has been shown and sold at Ghostwolf Gallery, David Behrens Gallery, Los Ranchos Art Market, and local pop-up events. She regularly donates work to nonprofit fundraisers, including Special Olympics, 65 Roses, Adaptive Sports Program New Mexico, Ronald McDonald House, and OffCenter Arts. She also teaches pro bono dot-mandala classes at nonprofits and community-service centers, leads private parties, and offers frequent classes at Albuquerque Oasis.
Artist Statement
The work is both meditative and creative for me. Since I first painted a dot mandala on a local rock, I have been fascinated by how the patterns grow and change as I work. When complete, they invite contemplation and self-reflection. The objects can have a comforting weight in the hand, and the buildup of paint gives their surfaces a tactile quality. Each surface influences the finished piece, allowing discarded or overlooked materials to become part of the mandala’s story.
I work freehand, without drawing guidelines onto the piece. This challenges hand coordination and awareness of spatial relationships. A large donation of records opened a new path for my practice, pairing the precision of dot painting with the circular structure of the album surface. The grooves can help guide and inform the emerging pattern. I am also fascinated by the neurological aspects of making and viewing mandalas, particularly their associations with mindfulness, emotional regulation, mental clarity, concentration, and planning. The harmonic patterns and colors can support a sense of calm and balance, making a mandala more than an attractive image: it can also be a tool for contemplation and well-being.