[Baltimore Sun] An Eye for Art: Self-taught artist combines therapy with crystals, gemstones
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Jen Manning-Plassnig is a local artist living in Sykesville. She grew up in Woodbine.
Manning-Plassnig first got interested in art when she was a child. “I took stickers and made things out of them. I also built little towns out of the stickers. I used to collect things. When I was 10 years old I found colored telephone wire and made it into a parrot,” Manning-Plassnig said.
Manning-Plassnig never took art classes. She is self-taught. She has always collected rocks and has always been interested in crystals and gems. “When I was in middle school, I took a science class that had a unit on rocks. I started learning more about them.” Manning-Plassnig said.
Amulets and talismans have been used for 60,000 years. Crystals used for magic were used by the Ancient Sumerians 6,000 years ago.
Manning-Plassnig attended UMBC and attended the University of Maryland at Baltimore School of Social Work. Manning-Plassnig is currently a psychotherapist in private practice. She is a somatic therapist, meaning that she is a somatic experiencing practitioner. Somatic therapy means to work with the mind and body. According to Manning-Plassnig, she works with the central nervous system to help people work with trauma as it affects the central nervous system.
When Manning-Plassnig was getting her master’s degree, she and her husband did not have a lot of money so they made jewelry using high-quality gemstones for family members as gifts.
She took that jewelry-making skill and started applying the techniques to combining cut glass that has prismatic properties with the gemstones and rocks.
She prefers high-quality gemstones and rocks. Manning-Plassnig makes hanging crystals and hand-knotted mala necklaces. A mala necklace is similar to prayer beads. “I use 108 beads. It is for meditative practice. For each bead, you say an affirmation word or a prayer as you meditate. It helps you stay focused,” Manning-Plassnig said. “It is also a tactile experience, you touch each bead. It is like a rosary.”
Manning-Plassnig also makes crystal grids. “I take sacred geometry, a quote or an art piece to make the grid. With intention, I put stones on them. Each stone means something different. Sacred geometry is like the design of the flower of life,” she said.
According to Manning-Plassnig, “Amethyst is good for intuition, protection and seeing clearly in your life. Obsidian is great for protection. Lapis is good for speaking your truth by opening your throat chakra.”
Manning-Plassnig also makes gem elixirs. She takes big chunks of obsidian, tourmaline and quartz and soaks them in purified water. Then she puts them in a spray bottle along with organic essential oils such as sage, cedar and lavender. “You can use the spray to clear the room energetically and to clear your own energy,” Manning-Plassnig said.
“So, if you have a bad day, the properties of the stones along with the oils help clear any lower vibration energy or negative energy,” Manning-Plassnig said.
Manning-Plassnig does guided meditations. She has them recorded on a CD or they can be downloaded from her website soulstalismancrystals.com.
The hanging crystals she makes are used to hang in a window, put on a mirror, or feng shui a room. Some people put them on fan pulls or in their cars.
Manning-Plassnig sells her art at shows like The Pathways Natural Living Expo in April Tysons Corner, Virginia, and College Park. She also participates in Illuminate Festivals and the Spiritual Awakening Expo that showcase the local holistic wellness services. For example, there are booths on energy work, body work, crystals, handmade jewelry, gifts and art.
“I love listening. … In my therapy practice, I listen to people. Working with the stones I listen to how they want to be arranged. I use my intuition and my knowledge about the meanings of the stones to create custom pieces. I listen to what people want and need in their lives and incorporate that into hanging crystals, malas and grids,” Manning-Plassnig said.
Manning-Plassnig is highlighted in “Her Studio,” a magazine about women’s art studios.
“I have been wanting to teach classes. I have already done a guided meditation and then the class made chakra bracelets out of gemstones. I also plan to do classes on how to make mala necklaces (prayer beads) using sematic exercises and meditation,” Manning-Plassnig said.
Manning-Plassnig has a website, jennifermanningplassnig.com.
Lyndi McNulty is the owner of Gizmo’s Art in Westminster. Her column, An Eye for Art, appears regularly in Life & Times.
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