Alan and Clare Goodwin have been married since 1981 and live in Falmouth, Massachusetts on Cape Cod. They combine their creative talents in many ways, particularly in regard to the creation of mandalas.
Alan has wide ranging interests including fine arts, graphic design, computer science, mathematics, American history, and zen Buddhism. He was trained as a theatrical scenic and lighting designer. And while he worked in that field for a number of years, he has also earned a living as a fine woodworker, massage therapist, landscaper, car salesman, and Macintosh computer sales manager. He currently works as a web designer, computer consultant and software developer.
No less multi-faceted, Clare is active as an artist, astrologer, intuitive reader and psychotherapist. Her extensive artistic resumé and thriving counseling practice enrich each other. Clare’s passion for mandalas in their many forms has been a driving force behind the couple’s collaborative efforts.
Clare began studying mandalas around the time she and Alan met in 1980. Their early collaboration on a mandala painting helped to bring their relationship into focus. Mandalas were something they could learn about together.
It was clear from the start that Clare had a big talent for mandala design, but she had some early frustrations trying to get the geometry right. Because Alan is a bit of a “math whiz” (Clare says that he reads math books for fun), and had a design background, he was able to help match geometry to Clare’s visions.
Of course, all of this was B.C. — Before Computer. When they got their first Mac in the early 90’s, Clare found drawing mandalas on the computer awkward. The commercial graphics programs were not well suited to the task. Alan decided to help her out with a set of virtual templates that she could use on the computer. Over the next several years, he built a software framework, following his interests in both mandalas and programming. In this way, the MandalaMaker program was born.
In 1996, Alan asked Clare if she would like a website. “What in the world would I want a website for?” she responded. They little realized at the time that “The Goodwin’s Mandala Page” would become a major focus of their work together.
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