Submitted photo Students create personal mandalas at Harmony studio.

Shepherdstown’s Harmony Healing Arts Center will host a special mandala creation workshop on Friday, Apr. 6, from 78:45 p.m., presented by transformational healer Beth Burkhardt and illustrator-photographer Bruce Paul Gaber.

The workshop, entitled “Touch the Earth,” will explore the conjunction of mudra and mandala through the creation of three personal healing mandalas. The presenters will begin with a look at the role of mandalas in spiritual traditions followed by a brief grounding meditation based upon that grand mandala, the Earth herself.

Then participants will learn the meaning and healing power of two traditional mudras, “Touching the Earth” and a traditional Buddhist meditation mudra. Following a gentle “mudra dance,” each student will construct a traditional mandala using colored pencils on paper, build an individual photographic mandala, and then join as a group to create a community photographic mandala. The workshop is open to all and a donation of $20 is suggested to help defray the cost of the mandala creation supplies.

Beth Burkhardt is a transformational healer who uses the basic tools of Five Element Acupuncture, Reiki and dance. She has more than 60 years experience in the fields of modern dance, yoga, acupuncture and creative design. Bruce Paul Gaber is a scientist and award-winning illustrator, photographer and craftsperson.

For more than 45 years, Bruce has taught science and graphic design at the university level as well as workshops on photography, visual aesthetics,and craft. He is a long-time practitioner of meditation and Tibetan Buddhism. Harmony Healing Arts Center is located at 211 East New Street in Shepherdstown. For more information visit the website www.harmonyhealingarts.org.