Chris Rough Baschon relaxes in her Tryon home studio surrounded by her mandalas and portraits, at the

center of a circle of self-created light. Her eyes brighten as she talks about mandala magic.

“Mandalas are circles, but you don’t have to stay within the circle. You can’t do it wrong,” she said.

Drawing and painting mandalas can release the freedom to create and ease stresses of everyday life, Baschon said. Her next workshop will be from 6-8 p.m. Tuesdays at La Bouteille, beginning Sept. 17.

“I’ve never had anybody who didn’t have a pleasurable experience in my workshops,” she said. “Some people who thought they couldn’t draw gained confidence to begin to create. There’s no right or wrong way to do a mandala.”

Creating a vibrant green and golden tree of life mandala provided solace to Baschon as her father died of cancer, and it wasn’t until later that she learned the image also looked like a cancer cell, a beginning and ending in the circle of life.

“Art has been my salvation,” she said. “It’s helped me so much. As an artist, it’s inevitable to have times when you get blocked, and mandalas provide a great way to free those creative urges. In this day and age, everybody needs time for relaxation, and it’s a way to keep your hands busy as you clear your mind.”