Compassion
Floating in a kayak on a lake I swam in as a child, there were bees reveling as if they could not get enough of the deep center of the waterlilies. They seemed as if drunk. Leaning close enough to breathe the fresh sweet scent and witnessing the softness of those wriggling stamen, one could just imagine. When a therapist commissioned a flag, the image of those lilies was fresh in my memory. Familiar with the powerful nature of this woman even as she used humor freely in her work, the word Compassion was an easy download. Sometimes people give me prayers/words, sometimes they trust the process to come up with one. I was given complete freedom to listen to what "downloaded" intuitively for this commission. Compassion is all about process not outcomes. Compassion is fresh and sweet softness, humor and directness when needed, Love, empathy, and reminders of what it is we come here to do. It can also be a witness beside us as we walk through battles.
Depth of Surrender to the Sacred
When I do commissions, I ask patrons to tell me about images and words or colors that are important to them. Then I listen. When they are finished, I tell them all of what they have said will be in the flag. I just cannot know that they will be able to “see” any of it. It is vital that a flag be created not out of my desires or ego. It has to come from the relationship with the creative force in the universe I call “the Great Collaborator.” This commission, the patron wanted “A Lion and a Lamb.” My ego fought this. It is an image that is very, very done. It also comes out of a tradition that I no longer ascribe to. Yet. I listened to the patron, and I told her my process. She was willing to trust. It took me a bit longer. First, I had to fight the fact that, as much as I did not want to create the image she described, a giant lion’s head kept downloading. Finally, after many days of wrestling, some tearful surrender, and in the end complete joy, the image that became “Depth of Surrender to the Sacred,” downloaded. When I finally gave in to doing the lion and lamb, the image of my own sweet marmalade, “Lionheart,” who only months earlier passed away, also showed up in the download. The comic relief cleansed my soul and washed my ego aside, and I got to work.
Present
As I stood reflecting on the word “Present,” and an image a friend had given me of from a dream of a person stepping out of the crescent moon, the thought came that that moon would be over the ocean. There is such presence in the moon as it appears to just caress, even kiss, the sea. Fabrics and colors began to be layered. The deep sky, the waves, reflected light. Then, as “Present,” echoed in my thoughts like a mantra, a Being downloaded, insinuating itself into the image before me. I found myself, as sometimes happens, gingerly lifting layers, disassembling what was in order to honor what needs to be. Then I took a large piece of fabric that makes up the sky, and cut the image of the Being holding the moon out of the sky. The negative space creates the positive image. Being Present can require we look at what is thought to be true and allow it’s solidity to be challenged. In keeping with this prayer, as I was deeply into sewing the ocean, two sea turtles downloaded and demanded to be allowed in. Again, remaining true to the prayer, Present, I could not refuse to again dissect sections to appease the image that needed to be Present. This is the challenge and also the gift of making these. If I truly am present, I must remain willing to trust and surrender to what love requires.
Holding the Fire
25 x 25" framed (image shows unframed) fiber collage with freestyle machine stitching. This is sort of an anthem piece, for I find the Human Condition consists greatly of holding all the fire that is within one (fire that births, heals and destroys) square in our middle but also with our hands open. And those hands are made of wood. In the flag, the arms are created with fabric that has woodgrain. The Human Condition can be overwhelming, it can also be brilliant and beautiful.