Sacred Art Studio

For the Artist at the Start of Day

2012-01-13T10:15:00.000-08:00

View from the studio. January 2012

For the Artist at the Start of Day
-John O’Donohue

May morning be astir with the harvest of night;
Your mind quickening to the eros of a new question,
Your eyes seduced by some unintended glimpse
That cut right through the surface to a source.

May this be a morning of innocent beginning,
When the gift within you slips clear
Of the sticky web of the personal
With its hurt and its hauntings,
And fixed fortress corners,

A morning when you become a pure vessel
For what wants to ascend from silence,

May your imagination know
The grace of perfect danger,

To reach beyond imitation,
And the wheel of repetition,

Deep into the call of all
The unfinished and unsolved

Until the veil of the unknown yields
And something original begins
To stir toward your senses
And grow stronger in your heart

In order to come to birth
In a clean line of form,
That claims from time
A rhythm not yet heard,
That calls space to
A different shape.

May it be its own force field
And dwell uniquely
Between the heart and the light

To surprise the hungry eye
By how deftly it fits
About its secret loss.

Living with HeART Retreat

2012-01-04T09:36:00.000-08:00

3rd Annual Living with Heart Retreat for Women

Exploring our sacred creativity through the medicine wheel

I co-lead this annual retreat with Judy Todd.
Visit her website for more information.

Saturday–Sunday, February 18-19
Location: Hidden Lake Retreat, Eagle Creek, Oregon www.hiddenlakeretreat.org
Cost: $220 includes retreat, organic food, restful and cozy lodging, and artmaking supplies. Program facilitation is by donation at the end of the retreat.

Click here to email me for more information or to register.

Winter draws us inward to remember our deepest sources of creativity and renewal. Remembering takes time, stillness, and preparation—gifts we seldom give to ourselves in the midst of busy lives.

We have designed this retreat to help you slow down while diving deeply into your place of intuitive insights and original perceptions. Together we’ll draw inspiration from the natural world, the four sacred elements of earth/air/fire/water, and the ancient wisdom of earth-honoring traditions.

Earth, or Gaia, will be our muse as we journey around the medicine wheel, open new pathways to our place within the web of life, deepen our connection to the cycles of seasons, explore and co-create in sacred circles.

“The Living with HeART retreat reignited the creative flame in my soul! Since the retreat I have been enjoying making personal art that makes me smile and brings more joy into my life. I recommend this retreat and its leaders, Amy Livingstone and Judy Todd, who inspire love for the beauty in ourselves and our world.” —Rev. Jayna Gieber, 2011 retreat

Celebrating the Season of Light

2011-12-21T11:35:00.000-08:00

During the holy month of December when many of us celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas, and/or Solstice, I've been reflecting on light. This time of year is often referred to as the 'Season of Light,' wherein we drape an array of lights throughout home and hearth. In the Jewish tradition, the menorah is brought out for ceremonial lighting. These days I've been imagining what it was like two thousand years ago for our ancestors before electricity and the ubiquitous presence of illuminated devices nestled neatly into the palms of our citizenry. Sitting before the blazing fire in the wood stove today, I was thinking of those dark nights many moon cycles ago. I reflected on the ancient Jewish celebration of Hanukkah and of the oil that 'should' have burned for only one day and the miracle that it lasted for eight. I imagined three holy men, or Magi who were Zoroastrian (from Persia, what is now known as Iran) priests and astronomers following the stars to honor the birth of a vessel born to bring light in a time of darkness. Jesus, bearer of love and hope. I envisioned our earth-honoring ancestors celebrating the darkest night of the year around a sacred fire while inviting the return of the light over the coming months.

While studying the world's spiritual traditions in graduate school, I was surprised and de-lighted to discover the many common threads that weave themselves throughout all our faith traditions including those with our earth-honoring brothers and sisters. These sacred texts affirmed for me that no matter what path we are called to follow, we are all interconnected in the web of creation. We are indeed all One. May all beings know peace, may all beings know love. May it be so.

Mother, Father, God, Universal Power
Remind us daily of the sanctity of all life.

Touch our hearts with the glorious oneness
of all creation,
As we strive to respect all the living beings
on this planet.

Penetrate our souls with the beauty
of this earth,
As we attune ourselves to the rhythm
and flow of the seasons.

Awaken our minds with the knowledge to
achieve a world in perfect harmony
And grant us the wisdom to realize that we
can have heaven on earth.

-Jo Poore (Earth Prayers from Around the World)

Beginnings and Endings

2011-12-07T09:49:00.000-08:00

From my December Newsletter: sign up at www.sacredartstudio.net

At the End of the Year

The particular mind of the ocean
Filling the coastline’s longing

With such brief harvest
Of elegant, vanishing waves
Is like the mind of time
Opening us shapes of days.

As this year draws to an end,
We give thanks for the gifts it brought
And how they became inlaid within
Where neither time nor tide can touch them.

The days when the veil lifted
And the soul could see delight;
When a quiver caressed the heart
In the sheer exuberance of being here.

Surprises that came awake
In forgotten corners of old fields
Where expectation seemed to have quenched.

The slow, brooding times
When all was awkward
And the wave in the mind
Pierced every sore with salt.

The darkened days that stopped
The confidence of the dawn.
Days when beloved faces shone brighter
With light from beyond themselves;
And from the granite of some secret sorrow
A stream of buried tears loosened.

We bless this year for all we learned,
For all we loved and lost
And for the quiet way it brought us
Nearer to our invisible destination.

-John O’Donohue

And so we begin to wind down another year. Most of us celebrate the holy days in ways that honor our own unique tradition or struggle through the season nostalgic for remembrance of things past, anxious for the new year to come. I tend to vacillate between the two. We then begin the process of reflecting on the year and visioning for the next. Ending and beginnings. We humans are typically happiest at the beginning of any adventure whether it be the start of a new year, a new relationship, a new project, and subsequently feel sadness at its end. In his work with dying patients, theologian and Griefwalker, Stephen Jenkinson counsels that we need to “learn to love the ending as much as the beginning.” This is no easy task but one I am learning to explore as an essential element to life, in my relationships, and in my work as an artist. Perhaps it comes along with the spiritual journey that invites us to let go and trust in the process. That life is indeed guiding us towards or through a labyrinth of cycles to our soul’s destination.

I felt this recently with the completion of my large-scale painting based on the Garden narrative. As most of you know, this project began late last year with a vision in the wake of the Gulf oil spill and came to life over the past year. I made near daily pilgrimages to the studio to work on the piece and upon completing it, a void emerged. Now what? Of course, to complete the cycle of co-creation, it must be viewed and I am currently seeking a location for a show. However, I felt a sadness or emptiness where once this intense passion had been driving my artistic expression. So I have been sitting with that, noticing it. It’s in the waiting, the in-between spaces that become the spiritual practice. That place of gestation once again that seems to show up over and over again, certainly in my life. And what has emerged is a vision to take this piece into video of some sort. I envision a journey into the heart of the Creation and the diverse layers of symbolism that weave throughout it and why I feel it is an important contribution to the current ecological and theological discourse, especially among those who feel called to reject climate change, species extinction, and the environmental movement overall. (Click here for one example).

Once again I am discovering that in life an ending can be an opportunity for birthing a new beginning, a new vision. And once again I’m happily immersed in the creation of a new soul-symbol mandala commission and the ‘crone’ from my sculpture series that includes the maiden and the mother. And so, allowing for the sadness, “we give thanks to the gifts learned” to borrow from O’Donohue’s poem and hopefully in the process we can learn to love the ending as well as the beginning. Perhaps this is our task in both life and love.

World AIDS Day

2011-12-01T09:15:00.000-08:00

©Amy Livingstone, Scarlet in A Wind, 1997

Twenty-five years ago I never thought I would see a sign that read, "The Beginning of the End of AIDS." Today is World AIDS Day and I just viewed part of the on-line panel discussion with former president Bill Clinton, Bono, physicians, scientists, and global activists working to end the AIDS pandemic. This sign was on the wall behind the panel. I was moved to tears by the end of the conversation when they read off the numerous organizations working to eradicate this horrific disease from the planet. They believe it is possible. Wow. Back in the early days of the epidemic, when my brother, his partner, and so many other young gay men were dying and first diagnosed there were few agencies (The Gay Men's Health Crisis was the only one in NYC) working on the frontlines of the disease and there was so much denial and fear. Even our political leaders refused to acknowledge what was happening. Reagan and Bush, Sr. never mentioned AIDS while in office and for a long time I blamed both of them for my brother's death. The late 80s. A different era.

As I've shared here before (click to read), art has always been my way of processing deep feelings, especially my grief in the wake of my brother's (and my mother) death. I credit art for saving my life during those dark years and you can see some paintings from my early years by clicking here. The painting shown above titled "Scarlet in A Wind" was inspired by the song a former friend of mine wrote for me about my loss and love for my beloved brother Richard. The red ribbon being the AIDS ribbon. As we mourn and remember all the precious beings who have been taken by this disease, may we also celebrate those angels among us who are working tirelessly to end the suffering of all those who continue to live with HIV/AIDS. May it be so.

Scarlet in a Wind

Sad ribbons blowing
Scarlet in a wind.
Sad ribbons blowing
Twisting ‘round her heart.
Thoughts flying skyward
Remembering you.

“Dearest angels in the sky
I had no time to say good-bye.
Your greedy wings took him away.
I didn’t know it would be today.
Didn’t you know that he wanted to stay?
All of my tears couldn’t keep you away.

Golden harps sang too soon.
Wind from your wings swept through the room.
Why did you need him so soon.
We needed time to grow and bloom.

All the things he might have been
are erasing in the night.
A father with child or a funny old man.
Now a dad lives on past his son.
Too soon. Too soon.

Tell him I love him.
Tell him I care.
Tell him one day
I will be there.”

© 1996, Joanne Nelsen

Creativity and Creation Spirituality

2011-11-30T16:02:00.000-08:00

This is a brief excerpt from a paper I wrote in 2004 while completing graduate studies at Marylhurst University. Founded by Matthew Fox, Creation Spirituality informs my spiritual path as well as provides a framework for my workshops and retreats.

Creation Spirituality is intrinsically grounded in cosmology and creativity. Its theology is based on a reverence for life and honoring the sacredness in all of creation extending to the universal whole. As we are born of creation—a creative process in itself—we are, therefore, born with an innate desire to create. Creativity imbues the Creation Spirituality tradition in a way that allows us to connect to the Divine, recognize our interconnectivity, and thus act for the welfare of all. Creation Spirituality is the path to awakening, healing, and transformation. It's ecumenical in its inclusivity and draws on the wisdom of the ancient peoples and the Christian mystics of the Middle Ages, specifically Meister Eckhart, the fourteenth century Dominican mystic. The Four Paths of Creation Spirituality include the Via Positiva, Via Negativa, Via Creativa, and the Via Transformativa. "The backbone of the creation spirituality tradition is its naming of the spiritual journey in the Four Paths. It is important to be able to name the journey so that people can share in a common language" (M. Fox, Creation 17). This is a language that honors the awe and wonder of creation (Path 1), the darkness and letting go (Path 2), creativity as giving birth to our Divinity (Path 3), and an awakening to act in service to justice and compassion (Path 4).

Can Creation Spirituality infused with a reverence for life, cosmology, and art transform cultural attitudes towards the living body of earth?

Most often we think of the natural world as an economic resource, or as a place of recreation after a wearisome period of work, or as something of passing interest for its beauty on an autumn day when the radiant colors of the oak and maple leaves give us a moment of joy. All these attitudes are quite legitimate, yet in them all there is what might be called a certain trivializing attitude. If we were truly moved by the beauty of the world about us, we would honor the earth in a profound way. . . . and turn away with a certain horror from all those activities that violate the integrity of the planet. (T. Berry, Dream 10)

During this time in history, we are facing an environmental crisis never before experienced by any other civilization. The geobiological structure of the earth that has taken billions of years to bring into existence is now being threatened by the anthropocentric-driven relationship that humans have with the earth—all in the name of progress and growth. If we don't alter our relationship with the natural world from one of exploitation to one of reverence the future of human life on earth remains questionable. Creation Spirituality is one path to a renewed biocentric relationship with the earth and creativity, and by extension the artist, can contribute to the awakening, healing, and transformation our world; however, the resacralization of nature is a choice that humanity must make for the collective good and for the survival of life on this planet. It is a profound homecoming to our interconnectedness in the web of life and it means a paradigm shift at the deepest level of our humanity that requires the support of our economic, political, religious, and educational institutions. It asks for "the recovery of faith in our creativity and in the artist within each of us and the artists among all of us. . . . It has to do with the rekindling of the spark of hope and vision, of adventure and blessing, that a tired civilization needs" (M. Fox, Blessing 187).

Let it Be So

2011-11-08T09:12:00.000-08:00

©Amy Livingstone, Mother Mary 2010

We had our womens’ seasonal sweat lodge ceremony at People of the Heart on Saturday night that honored both the light and the dark within and around us. Appropriate for the season and with so much change happening in our world and feeling bombarded with information about the economy, climate change, natural disasters, and unemployment, it’s no wonder we all let out primal howls. Wailing, releasing the heaviness. Many of us, especially hypersensitive people like myself take in this darkness and carry it around inside, so it was cathartic to release the energy that had been storing up in my body. Releasing in order to open to the lightness of being. After prayers of gratitude and healing were spoken, Rev. Jayna Gieber led us in The Beatles, “Let it Be.” It had been a long time since I really listened to the words of the song. I was moved to tears and saw before me my painting of “Mother Mary.” The Divine Feminine and her words of wisdom are speaking to me, to us all, during these evolutionary times. The question is are we listening?

When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
And in my hour of darkness
She is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
Let it be, let it be.
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.

And when the broken hearted people
Living in the world agree,
There will be an answer, let it be.
or though they may be parted there is
Still a chance that they will see
There will be an answer, let it be.
Let it be, let it be. Yeah
There will be an answer, let it be.

And when the night is cloudy,
There is still a light that shines on me,
Shine on until tomorrow, let it be.
I wake up to the sound of music
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
Let it be, let it be.
There will be an answer, let it be.
Let it be, let it be,
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be

I would suggest that we the people are indeed beginning to listen. Where the ecological and political movements of the sixties seemed to emerge largely out of sub-groups within society, the new paradigm movements include all of us and those of every generation--young and old. We can see this in the Occupy movement and the spiritual, evolutionary consciousness that is gaining momentum. The stakes are also higher now. Climate change is real. Some would argue these movements are idealistic in the face of the economic and political forces at work today. Perhaps. According to Webster’s, idealism “is a literary or artistic theory or practice that affirms the preeminent value of imagination.” Again, “the value of our imagination.” I would go so far as to say the Divine Imagination--the very source of our creativity. Yes, The Beatles were idealistic. I’m idealistic. Are you? I believe we are all artists in our own way, tapping the holy well of our imagination, therefore we all have the capacity for being idealistic, right? So “imagine” what we are capable of co-creating if we listen to these words of wisdom from the Divine Feminine? There will be an answer. All of our creativity and idealism is needed now. For the future of this planet and all her creatures. For future generations. “Imagine all the people living life in peace...you may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope some day you’re join us, and the world will live as one.” (-John Lennon)

Let it be...so.

For love of the EARTH,

Returning

2011-10-04T18:50:00.001-07:00

After being on hiatus for a couple of months, I am returning to my blog. For those of you who have been following my posts for awhile you know that I had a recent health scare around my heart, although thankfully I am well. I have been given a clean bill of health but for the past few months I have been questioning whether what I have to say, or whether my work matters in light of global climate change, the economic recession, people struggling just to survive every day, and the political insanity coming out of Washington. And I say yes! There is a place for art, beauty, love, poetry, and yes, our despair and our pain. We need more voices (yours too) holding a vision of what is possible while being present to what is also dying. It's acknowledging both the light and the dark of our times in order that we might envision a new way of being in relationship to each other and our world. That said, I intend to continue to shine a light on other artists who are engaging in what I consider to be holy work that brings forward art in service to the healing of our world, the Earth. Chris Jordan is one of those artists. His work on behalf of the albatross on the Midway Atoll is profoundly moving, inspiring, and beautiful. And I thank him for his vision. Here is a trailer for his documentary to be released in 2012.

For love of the EARTH!

Community. Creativity. Play.

2011-08-10T10:57:00.000-07:00

From my August newsletter. Sign up at www.sacredartstudio.net

I want to express my gratitude to all of you who responded so compassionately to last month’s newsletter around my emergency room adventure on July 4th. Throughout the month I’ve had more tests and my heart has been given a clean bill of health. Good news indeed. I was also moved deeply by how many of you shared with me your own despair and anxiety around what is occurring in our world these days--socially, politically, and ecologically. No doubt we live in challenging albeit transformative times. Physically I am well but this experience like others before them (about every decade it seems) has given me pause for reflection and discernment. What has come forward most clearly for me is that we can’t journey through the world alone. As the Hopi elders articulate so well in their prophecy, “The time of the lone wolf is over.” (Read the full Hopi message below) Sadly, I didn’t call any of my friends while being whisked away to the hospital assuming that because of the holiday everyone was going to be away or busy having fun! I was wrong. Numerous friends said they were available and would have been happy to be with me during that ordeal. In truth, many were disappointed that I didn’t call. Why is it so difficult to ask for help?

Lesson #1. Community. We need each other. We need community. Letting others help us, also fills a need for them to feel needed. We all know how good that feels, so time to remember and ask for help when we need it.

My teacher, environmentalist Joanna Macy speaks of three threads of consciousness that are occurring simultaneously at this time. 1: Clinging to the way things have been, i.e., the status quo. 2: Doomsayers, end-time theology, and apocalyptic thinking. 3: The emerging paradigm and the necessary creativity required for our times, or the Great Turning. I tend to vacillate between all three of these but am realizing that the first two are based in fear. Three is grounded in hope.

Lesson #2: Focus on the creativity thread and hope.

And finally. Lesson number #3. Play. I have been blessed with love of my work. A calling all my life towards a creative life and service in some form or another but I have been challenged in giving myself permission to play, for the sake of sheer pleasure. I laugh about being a ‘recovering’ over-achiever but sense there is something yet to release around that. This is the hardest lesson for me and am noticing my judgments around the notion of ‘fun.’ So, now I’m making play dates.

Community. Creativity. Play. And I would add that all three are grounded in love. Love of the other, love of beauty, and love for life.

Are you connecting to community, expressing your creativity, and making time to play? If so, how? If not, why? As always, I welcome your thoughts.

For love of the EARTH.
Amy

Message from the Hopi Elders

We have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour
Now you must go back and tell the people that this is the Hour
And there are things to be considered.

Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in the right relation?
Where is your water?
Know your garden.

It is time to speak your truth
Create your community.
Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for the leader.
This could be a good time!
There is a river flowing now very fast
It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid.
They will try to hold onto the shore.
They will feel they are being torn apart and they will suffer greatly.
Know the river has its destination.
The elders say we must let go of the shore,
and push off and into the river,
Keep our eyes open, and our head above the water.
See who is in there with you and Celebrate.
At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally.
Least of all ourselves.
For the moment that we do,
Our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.

The time of the lone wolf is over, Gather yourselves!
Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your vocabulary.
All that you do now must be done in a sacred manner
And in celebration.

“We are the ones we have been waiting for...”

Sometimes

2011-07-07T08:53:00.000-07:00

SOMETIMES

by David Whyte

Sometimes
if you move carefully
through the forest

breathing
like the ones
in the old stories

who could cross
a shimmering bed of dry leaves
without a sound,

you come
to a place
whose only task

is to trouble you
with tiny
but frightening requests

conceived out of nowhere
but in this place
beginning to lead everywhere.

Requests to stop what
you are doing right now,
and

to stop what you
are becoming
while you do it,

questions
that can make
or unmake
a life,

questions
that have patiently
waited for you,

questions
that have no right
to go away.

From Despair to Creativity and Hope

2011-06-18T11:24:00.000-07:00

Gunthers tree frog in the Amazon

This week I found myself falling into despair after hearing that the one of the largest dams in the world, Belo Monte, has been approved to move into production on the Amazon in Brazil. This will directly impact the indigenous peoples of the region and force many species into extinction. Coupled with the road now being planned to traverse the Serengeti, affecting the migrating patterns of all those wild creatures who roam that landscape, I wept for the lack of vision from our global political leaders who endorse these large-scale projects, bought and paid for by transnational corporations seeking ever more profit. What came to my mind/heart was "With no vision, the people perish." (Proverbs 29:18) I fear that this is the road we are traveling down and grieve for my little grandnephews and future generations.

However, today I finally read the latest issue of On Earth, the NRDC's (National Resources Defense Council) quarterly membership magazine. I've been a financial supporter for years, do my share of on-line activism, and today I am grateful and inspired to read of so much creativity being birthed through people, every day, on the ground in their communities. From "Planting The Trees of Life" in Haiti, the creation of a new "Green Chemistry" program at UC Berkeley (For designing new products with no toxic chemicals. Imagine that!) to a young woman, Molly Rockamann, who is training people of all ages to learn organic farming in Missouri. Rockamann also founded EarthDance which distributes the food from the 14-acre plot through a CSA (community sponsored agriculture) to the community at large. Ingenuity. Creativity. Hope.

These are but a few examples of the "Great Work" of our time to quote the late eco-theologian Thomas Berry. In his book of the same name, he writes, "We cannot doubt that we too have been given the intellectual vision, the spiritual insight, and even the physical resources we need for carrying out the transition that is demanded of these times, transition from the period when humans were a disruptive force on the planet Earth to the period when humans become present to the planet in a manner that is mutually enhancing. (p.11) Our political leaders may not have vision but we the people do and it is rising out of the necessity for our very survival. We have our creativity. We are the ones we've been waiting for. It has been said that the change we need in the world will emerge, ground up, instead of coming down via those in traditional leadership roles. Although we--and this planet--desperately need change in our political system as well, until that occurs it is going to be up to each of us to co-create new structures and ways of being in our communities. In his book, Blessed Unrest, Paul Hawken writes of the nearly 2 million individuals and organizations working toward ecological sustainability and social justice. This gives me hope.

It still grieves me that polar bears will likely go extinct in my lifetime, as will many other species. And there will be more suffering as people learn to adapt to the changing climate but on a good day, I believe in the creativity of the human spirit. And today, I guess that is as good as it gets.

For love of the EARTH!

Opening the Heart: The Prophecy of the Eagle and the Condor

2011-06-03T10:19:00.000-07:00

The month of May slipped by without my monthly newsletter taking form. I love painting portraits through language as well as through visual art but felt at a loss for words this past month, so I flowed with life and simply rested in the heart and less in the mind. I have been reworking the painting shown here adding vines to the cool, stone wall, giving it more life while reflecting on the Andean "Prophecy of the Eagle and the Condor," on which the painting is based. It was five years ago in May that I went on pilgrimage to the Andes and spent time in ceremony with the local, indigenous peoples of that sacred landscape. (Read more here) Our journey was indeed a meeting of the eagle and the condor.

The prophecy story relates that in the beginning all the earth's people were one, but long ago they divided into two groups, and each one followed a different path to development. The people of the Eagle became highly scientific and intellectual, indicative of a masculine energy. This would represent those of us living in the industrialized West. Whereas, the people of the Condor became highly attuned to nature and the intuitive realm, or what might be the feminine energy. This refers to the indigenous peoples-or the people of the heart.

The ancient prophecy also speaks to the time we are in now when civilization is on the brink of collapse as seen in the economic, social, and ecological crises.

The prophecy says that at this time in the earth's history, the Eagle people and the Condor people will rejoin. Remembering that they are one people, they will reconnect, remember their common origin, share their knowledge and wisdom, and save each other. The eagle and condor will fly together in the same sky, wing to wing, and the world will come into balance after a point of near extinction. Neither the eagles nor the condors will survive without this collaboration, and from this rejoining of the two peoples, a new alloy consciousness will emerge that honors the Eagle people for their remarkable accomplishments of the mind, and honors the Condor people for the deep wisdom of the heart. Together-and only together-the crisis will be resolved and a sustainable future will emerge for all.

I've been noticing where the spirit of the Condor is showing up and where it needs to weave its way more fully into our rationally-minded Eagle consciousness as well as into the activism many of us are engaged in on behalf of life on Earth. I recently attended the "Washed Ashore" gala fundraiser at PCC Sylvania. (Click here for more information.) The sculptural exhibit is centered around huge sea creatures made entirely from plastics washed ashore on Oregon beaches. They are beautiful yet clearly reflect back to us our role in this crisis. We see our shampoo and water bottles, flip flops, toothbrushes, etc. It can feel overwhelming. Many representatives from environmental organizations spoke during the event and while the data is essential, I believe that until we can bring these issues into our hearts and remember our interconnectedness with all life, change will be slow. I was honored to lead a water blessing ceremony with several women from my spiritual community, People of the Heart, which allowed those present to express their love and gratitude to the oceans and ask for forgiveness. Drawing on a Hawaiian chant, Ho'oponopono, this simple ceremony opened the hearts of the people in the audience to the crisis of plastics in the oceans. Many were moved to tears. For me, this is an example of how we can bring the wisdom of the Eagle together with the compassion of the Condor, both of which are needed to inspire us to move towards action.

Art and ceremony are two powerful ways to open and inspire the heart. What are the ways in which you are seeing the energies of the Eagle and the Condor coming together in your life and/or work? As always, I welcome your thoughts.

For love of the EARTH!

FROM THE WATER CEREMONY:

In Praise of Water (excerpt)
-John O'Donohue

Let us bless the grace of water:

The imagination of the primeval ocean
Where the first forms of life stirred
And emerged to dress the vacant earth
With warm quilts of color.

The courage of a river to continue belief
In the slow fall of ground,
Always falling farther
Toward the unseen ocean.

Let us bless the humility of water,
The buoyancy of water
The innocence of water,
Flowing forth, without thought
Of what awaits it.

Water: voice of grief,
Cry of love,
In the flowing tear.

Water: vehicle and idiom
Of all the inner voyaging
That keeps us alive.

Blessed by water,
Our first mother.

Beauty is the Messenger

2011-05-14T09:24:00.000-07:00

Beauty is a messenger
Calling love out from forgotten places
Hidden by worry and fear,
And misplaced under the illusion of scarcity.

War, pain and conflict are all too evident
Between border towns, strangers and commuters.
But love grows exponentially faster.
It is the speed of light.

So, kindness reaches its destination
Infinitely faster than the time it takes
For the heaviness of cruelty
To chafe across toughened skin.

Beauty is a messenger
Waking up the sense of wonder,
Rounding up our wholeness into connection beyond ourselves
And increasing our capacity for limitless love.

Beauty is the messenger
Proving the incompatibility
Of splendor and malice;
Showing simply by example...

What is possible.

Poem by Deb Rodney, from Beauty is the Messenger

Poem for Mother

2011-05-08T10:25:00.000-07:00

Mother Jane with my late brother, Richard

Contemplating this poem by David Whyte this morning on Mother's Day and how I wouldn't be the person, the woman, the healer, or the artist that I am had she lived. Her death twenty-one years ago and my grief broke me open to "a larger sea," to quote Whyte. (Read my story by clicking here) He writes, "The most difficult griefs/ones in which we slowly open/to a larger sea, a grander/ sweep that washes/all our elements apart." For me, this a profound grief that washes away separateness and egoic striving while opening our hearts to compassion and love in service to the greater good. Something I believe that we are all being called to do during this collective dark night of the soul. It took over a decade for me to experience the possibility of "exultation" that the poem also speaks to and I continue to give myself permission to experience joy even amidst my pain for the living Earth--the Mother of us all--that is being assaulted daily by greed and the illusion that more stuff will make us happy. Does it really? Or is the source of our happiness grounded in love, community, belonging, and purpose and for me also beauty, art, creativity. Something to think about as we celebrate, mourn, and remember our mothers. May all beings love and be loved.

The Shell

-David Whyte

An open sandy shell

on the beach

empty but beautiful

like a memory

of a protected previous self.

The most difficult griefs

ones in which

we slowly open

to a larger sea, a grander

sweep that washes

all our elements apart.

So strange the way

we are larger

in grief

than we imagined

we deserved or could claim

and when loss floods

into us

like the long darkness it is

and the old nurtured hope

is drowned again

even stranger then

at the edge of the sea

to feel the hand of the wind

laid on our shoulder

reminding us

how death grants

a fierce and fallen freedom

Away from the prison

of a constant

and continued presence,

how in the end

those who have left us

might no longer need us

with all our tears

and our much needed

measures of loss

and that their own death

is as personal

and private

as that life of theirs

which you never really knew,

and another disturbing thing,

that exultation

is possible

without them.

And they for themselves

in fact

are glad to have let go

of all the stasis

and the enclosure

and the need for them to live

like some prisoner

that you only wanted

to remain incurious

and happy in your love

never looking for the key

never wanting to

turn the lock and walk

away

like the wind

unneedful of you,

ungovernable,

unnamable,

free.

So Much is in Bud

2011-05-04T09:52:00.000-07:00

From my April Newsletter.

To sign up visit www.sacredartstudio.net

To borrow from the poet Denise Levertov, "so much is in bud" as we journey further into the season of Spring. The garden is bursting with new growth and on a global scale, we are witnessing the death of old structures in preparation for giving birth to new ways of being in relationship to the other, the earth, and the Divine. Like so many of us, I feel this energy intensely and it has been organically coming forward through my artwork. The sculpture shown here, MotherEarth (part human, part tree) is the second in my maiden/mother/crone series and is nearly complete. The womb in the back spontaneously emerged much like the womb/fetus in the "Creation Illumination" that I shared with you last month (you can view the painting below). On Saturday night, in honor of Earth Day, I also attended the seasonal sweat lodge ceremony at my spiritual community, People of the Heart. It was powerfully symbolic as it occurred on the day between crucifixion and resurrection during the Easter holy days. Entering into the womb of the mother earth, I let go of old wounds that needed to die in order that I can birth anew--trust, vulnerability, and JOY amidst these challenging albeit evolutionary times.

I find it fascinating that the word Easter originates from Astarte, the Greek goddess of fertility and sexuality (she is also appears throughout the ancient world in my other forms as well). Hence the bunny rabbits and eggs during the holiday festivities. This time of year does usher in a fecundity, a ripening energy that is the life force that feeds new growth, communion with the beloved, and our creativity. This time also coincides with the Celtic celebration of Beltane on May 1, the half way point between spring equinox and summer solstice, wherein the ritual mating of god and goddess was celebrated in ancient times. In other words, a marriage of the masculine and feminine, similar to what is being born collectively through us in our own time. As an interfaith spiritual artist and practitioner, I honor all paths to the Divine and believe that no matter who/what we choose to worship--Jesus, Yahweh, Allah, Buddha, Krishna, or a Tree, we are all interconnected in the web of Creation. My work is in discovering the common threads between our religious traditions and with those of our earth-honoring ancestors, so that all beings may come to realize we are indeed all One. To read more, click here.

You might want to ask yourself what needs to die within you in order to give birth to that which is most essential or what unique gift is yours to bring forward that the world needs now? If you would like to share that with me, I'd love to hear from you as always.

May the beauty of the season be with you and may the muses guide you in your blooming creativity!

For love of the EARTH!

Amy

Beginners

-Denise Levertov

From too much love of living,

Hope and desire set free,

Even the weariest river

Winds somewhere to the sea-'

But we have only begun

to love the earth.

We have only begun

to imagine the fullness of life.

How could we tire of hope?

-so much is in bud.

How can desire fail?

-we have only begun

to imagine justice and mercy,

only begun to envision

how it might be

to live as siblings with beast and flower,

not as oppressors.

Surely our river

cannot already be hastening

into the sea of nonbeing?

Surely it cannot

drag, in the silt,

all that is innocent?

Not yet, not yet-

there is too much broken

that must be mended,

too much hurt we have done to each other

that cannot yet be forgiven.

We have only begun to know

the power that is in us if we would join

our solitudes in the communion of struggle.

So much is unfolding that must

complete its gesture,

so much is in bud.

Creation Illumination

2011-04-06T13:48:00.000-07:00

From my March Newsletter:
Spring blessings to everyone. At this time of year I am always so awed by the miracle of creation as the earth begins to awaken from her winter slumber. The first daffodils are blooming. Hydrangeas and trees are budding out. Bird song is abundant. With so much happening around the world from the crisis in Japan and the conflicts in the Middle East to the continuing economic challenges facing this country, it helps for me to remember that there is still so much beauty in our world. And like the cycles of the seasons there is also potential for transformation and growth to emerge out of the darkness and suffering.

An area of concern for me has been the plight of endangered species. I was feeling especially bereft for the the dolphins, sea turtles, and birds during (and after) the Gulf oil spill last summer. After a period of mourning, I turned again to the canvas. The Tree of Life emerged at the center and the overarching theme for the piece became "the Garden is right here, right now." Paradise is not in some unknowable future, but right here on this glorious planet. We need only remember the holiness of this place we call home. The endangered polar bear, spotted owl, tiger, and salmon (and honey bee, fenders blue butterfly, and frog) all asked to be included in this mandala or "Creation Illumination" (48 x 48") as shown below. Bringing together symbolism from both the Genesis narrative and those of our earth-honoring ancestors (4 directions, 4 elements, 4 seasons), this painting is a visual scripture that reveals our innate interconnectedness in the web of Creation. Currently in process are two other paintings that will live on either side of this center piece. (The three panels are what is commonly referred to as a triptych.) On the left will be Eve, representative of the feminine and on the right, Adam, the masculine. Here, Adam and Eve reclaim their roles as stewards of Creation per the original Hebrew text. The Hebrew at the bottom of the painting translates as "In the Beginning."

My intention is to show this completed work and have posters/cards printed in order to raise money for organizations working to protect endangered species such as the World Wildlife Fund or Panthera. If you know of any related events or places to show that are open to the public, please contact me.

While working on this center piece I met local poet, Deb Rodney. She shared her poem, Sanctuary, with me. It is so gorgeous and spoke so profoundly to my vision for this work, that I also wanted to share it with you. Enjoy!

May we have, "the courage to sculpt a new heaven on Earth." May it be so.

For love of the EARTH,
Amy

Sanctuary
By Deb Rodney

Divinity is formed from the undulating energy
Of billions of thoughts
Powering gravity, beauty,
Orbiting planets and the living potential of a seed.

Our house of worship stands on the well-worn stones
Of everyday living;
Where the sacred wisdom of nature is honored,
And every breath is a humble and sovereign prayer
Whispered to distances greater
Than the imagination can yet travel.

Heaven is peace
Among the butterflies,
Amidst the sap rising up tall trees,
In the sound of sea water flowing over broken shells,
In the last breath of a fully-lived life.

Heaven is freedom
From fear
And the hunger of poverty and greed;
Where the coyote runs belly-full and for the joy of it,
Where brilliant stars and tiny cells are created
By the magnitude of love
Grown fully.

Holiness arrives quietly
When humility and power meet
And the doors are wide open for tenderness;
When the lonely attachment to separateness
Is consumed in the holy heart
Of the collective heart
Of Us, the Creator.

This ecstasy is the wind and the mud
Igniting the courage
To sculpt a new heaven on Earth;
Where every moment is a miracle of possibilities
And every heartbeat is a living faith for all-

In this sanctuary where we live.

Drawing as Meditation

2011-03-28T13:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, drawing as a contemplative practice for deepening awareness to the miracle of creation. So much beauty as the earth awakens from her winter slumber.

This earth is my sister;
I love her daily grace, her silent daring
and how I loved I am -
how we admire this strength in each other,
all that we have lost, all that we have suffered,
all that we know;
we are stunned by this beauty,
and I do not forget;
what she is to me,
what I am to her.

-Susan Griffin

Welcoming the Return of Light

2011-03-04T09:11:00.000-08:00

What Does Light Talk About?
-Thomas Aquinas

When you recognize her beauty,
the eye applauds, the heart stands in an ovation,

and the tongue when she is near
is on its best behavior,

it speaks more like light.

What does light talk about?
I asked a plant that once.

It said, "I am not sure,
but it makes me
grow."

Sweet bouquet of spring tulips from one of my clients. Spring is coming...may all beings know the light of love and beauty. Aho.

ARTheology

2011-02-24T08:22:00.000-08:00

ARTheology by Visionary Artist Alex Grey.

"Let’s make up a new word. ARTheology is the transmission of spiritual guidance through the arts. The arts have played a crucial role in parable and the recounting of iconic moments from all world religions. Theology, or the collection of knowledge related to the study of God, has influenced the sacred art of every tradition. It wasn’t really up to the Tibetan artist what a particular Buddhist Thangka painting would include. There was a prescribed assembly of relevant symbols that gave any image its power. The meaning was imbued on the art from a religious context. Sacred art is clothed in the language of the essential truth of that faith. When the purpose of art is our own salvation or liberation, we trust the good intentions of the author that art is being performed for God’s sake.

How can art be redemptive in a post-modern, pluralistic, trans-denominational world? If art’s mission is to make the soul perceptible, then all expressions are redemptive for the artist. Creation IS redemption. To complete the soul being perceived by another, the art must be shared. The social context of art is necessarily an ethical arena where the intentions of the artist toward the beholder are central to the message in the work. An artist fulfilling the sacred legacy of their profession, dedicates their work to the liberation of all beings. Their art is uniquely suited to be a tap root to the collective psyche and zeitgeist of the moment, to potentiating an historic evolution of consciousness. When a sacred understanding informs a community of people, the community can make art together, the pinnacle of which is temple building."

Visit www.cosm.org for more information.

Artist as Spiritual Warrior

2011-02-12T12:47:00.000-08:00

From my February newsletter. To sign up: visit www.sacredartstudio.net

“The most important thing about art is to work. Nothing else matters except sitting down every day and trying. Why is this so important? Because when we sit down day after day and keep grinding, something mysterious starts to happen. A process is set into motion by which, inevitably and infallibly, heaven comes to our aid. Unseen forces enlist in our cause, serendipity reinforces our purpose. This is the other secret that real artists know and wannabe writers[artists] don’t. When we sit down each day and do our work, power concentrates around us. The Muse takes note of our dedication. She approves. We have earned favor in her sight. When we sit down and work, we become like a magnetized rod that attracts iron filings. Ideas come. Insights accrete. Just as Resistance has its seat in hell, so Creation has its home in heaven. And it’s not just a witness, but an eager and active ally. What I call Professionalism someone else might call the Artist’s Code or the Warrior’s Way. It’s an attitude of egolessness and service. The Knights of the Round Table were chaste and self-effacing. Yet they dueled dragons. We’re facing dragons too. Fire-breathing griffins of the soul, whom we must outfight and outwit to reach the treasure of our self-in-potential and to release the maiden who is God’s plan and destiny for ourselves and the answer to why we were put on this planet.” From “The War of Art” by Stephen Pressfield.

Time. Time. Time. There never seems to be enough of it for many of us so it seems. I hear this often in the media and from friends, clients, family. There are some days I feel it myself. But committing to our creative calling requires slowing down and showing up day after day, trusting that the universal creative energy and the Muses support us in our work. In January, I committed to finishing a large (48 x 48”) mandala painting, or what I am referring to as an Illumination of the Garden that is right here, right now. Through my deep immersion and devotion, the piece has evolved into a triptych and will include an Eve/Lunar/Feminine panel and an Adam/Solar/Masculine panel as well. Together, the paintings will total 96 x 48.” Sometimes it requires a sacrifice in order to commit to our artistic calling. As Pressfield writes, we must be warriors in service to our art. In January, I chose to be a warrior with my time and to let go of other commitments including my January newsletter (apologies), social engagements, cleaning the house, returning phone calls, etc. But that is part of the creative journey, albeit at times what can feel like an isolating one. Ultimately, it is just me and the canvas (the blank page for some of us) along with faith that Spirit is guiding my hand. I trust in the Divine mystery that this is what I’m here to do.

I’m also thankful to fellow artist and nature mystic Rod MacIver from Heron Dance and his insights from his daily e-journal. He wrote recently:

I remind myself this morning why I’ve chosen to live my life this way, to devote myself to art: It is about what is sacred inside us and in the greater universe. It is my role as the artist to explore and optimize that relationship, or those two relationships. If we often fail, it’s okay. Sticking with the struggle is its own triumph.

So, if you’re feeling a nudge toward your art, carve out some time for it. Trust. Breathe in to the anxiety of beginning. Open to it. Be a warrior and let go of diversions (email/TV/chores) in order to answer your Divine calling. 15-30 minutes every morning informs the universe you are serious and it will make a difference. “Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.” -Goethe

Art as a Work of Witnessing

2011-01-25T13:11:00.000-08:00

Yet another powerful message from author and earth advocate Terry Tempest Williams around the transformative power of art and bearing witness. She speaks of art as a form of witnessing our grief and staying present to it. I have been feeling so much grief around species extinction as I work on my 'Garden' triptych, which includes endangered species. I can not accept in my heart that tigers could be extinct in as little as 12 years. I feel helpless to stop it while also being inspired by the work of so many organizations who are fighting to save our big cats from extinction. Most recently I discovered the work of filmmakers and activists Beverly and Dereck Joubert through a TED talk, which I highly recommend viewing. There is also the Serengeti Watch, an organization working to prevent the road through the Serengeti that has been approved by the Tanzanian government. The road is considered a faster, more direct route to get minerals to the international market for cell phones. At what price? This road would have an irreparable impact on the future of these wild creatures. If you feel moved, sign the petition at their web site.

So, I bear witness, I sign petitions, I speak out. I paint my heart on the canvas. To quote Williams: "Can we stand together in the center of our grief?"

For it is important that awake people be awake,
or a breaking line may discourage them back to sleep;
the signals we give--yes or no, or maybe--
should be clear: the darkness around us is deep.

-William Stafford, A Ritual To Read To Each Other

I have posted several articles here that draw from the wisdom of Terry Tempest Williams as a voice for the earth, for beauty, for grief, for bearing witness. Click here to review them. The artist she references here in the clip is Chris Jordan. View his work here.

I Died for Beauty

2011-01-22T11:17:00.000-08:00

From one of our most beloved American poets, Emily Dickinson (1830-1886). A virtual recluse and unrecognized for her poetry in her lifetime, Dickinson wrote nearly 1800 poems. I appreciate the dedication to her craft and as an independent woman. A woman ahead of her time indeed, much like Jane Austin. Of course, Dickinson was born into a wealthy, Amherst, MA family and had the luxury of having time and a room of her own in which to create. Being a 19th-century romantic as well as an artist, a monk at heart, and a New Englander by birth, I consider her creative sister and inspiration. And what more noble ideal to die for than Truth and Beauty? May Truth and Beauty reign....

I died for Beauty - but was scarce
Adjusted in the Tomb
When One who died for Truth, was lain
In an adjoining Room -

He questioned softly "Why I failed"?
"For Beauty", I replied -
"And I - for Truth - Themself are One -
We Bretheren, are", He said -

And so, as Kinsmen, met a Night -
We talked between the Rooms -
Until the Moss had reached our lips -
And covered up - Our names -

--Emily Dickinson
From The Poems of Emily Dickinson edited by R.W. Franklin

Sanctuary

2011-01-03T10:49:00.000-08:00

I recently met local poet Deborah Rodney and as synchronicity would have it, her poem "Sanctuary" spoke directly to the heart and soul of my work. Especially the "Creation" trio of paintings (triptych) that I am currently working on and had hoped to finish in part last week, but was slowed by a cold. I hear the urgent call of the creatures in the painting who are endangered in our world (polar bear, spotted owl, tiger, and salmon) and hope this piece can serve as inspiration to others, in taking action to protect this earth/sanctuary we all call home. As we journey into the new year, may we all remember that the Garden is right here, right now and that all creatures on this beautiful blue planet are asking for our creative vision, wisdom, and gentle stewardship to ensure a sustainable future for all life on earth. Create...Creation...Creature...Creativity To quote Rodney, it is time "to sculpt a new heaven on Earth."

For love of the EARTH!

Sanctuary

By Deborah Rodney

Divinity is formed from the undulating energy

Of billions of thoughts

Powering gravity, beauty,

Orbiting planets and the living potential of a seed.

Our house of worship stands on the well-worn stones

Of everyday living;

Where the sacred wisdom of nature is honored,

And every breath is a humble and sovereign prayer

Whispered to distances greater

Than the imagination can yet travel.

Heaven is peace

Among the butterflies,

Amidst the sap rising up tall trees,

In the sound of sea water flowing over broken shells,

In the last breath of a fully-lived life.

Heaven is freedom

From fear

And the hunger of poverty and greed;

Where the coyote runs belly-full and for the joy of it,

Where brilliant stars and tiny cells are created

By the magnitude of love

Grown fully.

Holiness arrives quietly

When humility and power meet

And the doors are wide open for tenderness;

When the lonely attachment to separateness

Is consumed in the holy heart

Of the collective heart

Of Us, the Creator.

This ecstasy is the wind and the mud

Igniting the courage

To sculpt a new heaven on Earth;

Where every moment is a miracle of possibilities

And every heartbeat is a living faith for all—

In this sanctuary where we live.

Visit www.debrodney.com/ for more information.

Season of Light

2010-12-20T11:04:00.001-08:00

From my December Newsletter: To subscribe visit www.sacredartstudio.net

During the holy month of December when many of us celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas, and/or Solstice, I've been reflecting on light. This time of year is often referred to as the 'Season of Light,' wherein we drape an array of lights throughout home and hearth. In the Jewish tradition, the menorah is brought out for ceremonial lighting. These days I've been imagining what it was like two thousand years ago for our ancestors before electricity and the ubiquitous presence of illuminated devices nestled neatly into the palms of our citizenry. Sitting before the blazing fire in the wood stove today, I was thinking of those dark nights many moon cycles ago. I reflected on the ancient Jewish celebration of Hanukkah and of the oil that 'should' have burned for only one day and the miracle that it lasted for eight. I imagined three holy men, or Magi who were Zoroastrian (from Persia, what is now known as Iran) priests and astronomers following the stars to honor the birth of a vessel born to bring light in a time of darkness. Jesus, bearer of love and hope. I envisioned our earth-honoring ancestors celebrating the darkest night of the year around a sacred fire while remembering the return of the light over the coming months.

While studying the world's spiritual traditions in graduate school, I was surprised and de-lighted to discover the many common threads that weave themselves throughout all our faith traditions including those with our earth-honoring brothers and sisters. These sacred texts affirmed for me that no matter what path we are called to follow, we are all interconnected in the web of creation. We are indeed all One. May all beings know peace, may all beings know love. May it be so.

Mother, Father, God, Universal Power
Remind us daily of the sanctity of all life.

Touch our hearts with the glorious oneness
of all creation,
As we strive to respect all the living beings
on this planet.

Penetrate our souls with the beauty
of this earth,
As we attune ourselves to the rhythm
and flow of the seasons.

Awaken our minds with the knowledge to
achieve a world in perfect harmony
And grant us the wisdom to realize that we
can have heaven on earth.

-Jo Poore (Earth Prayers from Around the World)

How are you celebrating the light this season?

The Dark Hours

2010-12-14T11:01:00.000-08:00

I love the dark hours of my being.

My mind deepens into them.

There I can find, as in old letters,

the days of my life, already lived,

and held like a legend, and understood.

Then the knowing comes: I can open

to another life that's wide and timeless.

So I am sometimes like a tree

rustling over a gravesite

and making real the dream

of the one its living roots

embrace:

a dream once lost

among sorrows and songs.

--Ranier Maria Rilke

(Rilke’s Book of Hours:Love Poems to God, trans. by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy)

Art and Science of Belonging

2010-12-03T11:21:00.000-08:00

From Orion Magazine article: Field Books: Working the liminal space between art and science.

“Science, I sometimes think, is a language of explaining, whereas art is a language of belonging. These are complementary endeavors, not exclusive ones. Explaining is, after all, a way of belonging, And art, like science, is a way of understanding the world. However, it increasingly seems that the sciences and humanities are retreating into specialized vocabularies that make each discipline foreign to the other and both of them inaccessible to the general public, who nonetheless must be moved by science and art if we are to have any chance of forestalling catastrophic changes in the natural world. Now more than ever we need those rare individuals who can navigate both disciplines, the artists and scientists who can observe, represent, and call our attention back to the living world.”-Erick Reece

The Garden

2010-11-29T13:09:00.000-08:00

From Terry Tempest Williams' book Leap: "Hieronymus Bosch put his finger on the wound. What is the wound? Our wound, separation from the Sacred, the pain of our isolation, may this be the open door that leads us to the table of restoration, may we sit around the table, may we break bread around the table, may we stand on top of the table, may we turn the the table over and dance, leap, leap for joy, all this in the gesture of conserving a painting, conserving a landscape, conserving a spirit, our own restored spirits once lost, now found, Paradise found, right here, on this beautiful blue planet called Earth."

Leap is one of my favorite books by Williams. It is her personal journey through the landscape of this painting, The Garden of Earthly Delights, by the 15th c painter Hieronymus Bosch. There has been much speculation about this painting since that time which she explores throughout the book. However, being a naturalist and passionate advocate for the Earth, Williams' interpretation is a tour de force that brings together faith, art, and history to awaken our senses to the beauty, to the sensuous world around us...that is present right here, right now. If you have read any of this blog you'll know that this is also the heart of my life and work as an artist. Art in service to the Sacred, the healing of the earth. I have been so inspired by Bosch's painting and Williams account of it, that I have been at work on my own version of "The Garden" in the form of a mandala at the center and two outer panels. It has been slow going as I listen to the call of the muses and the creatures who are asking to be included in this piece but I've had a breakthrough in the last couple of days and look forward to sharing what emerges.

Bodhisattva Vows

2010-11-22T18:41:00.000-08:00

I believe we all have a soul path that we are born to make manifest in this world. For me, as a young child I liked to draw and had a desire towards art before I knew what that meant. As a teen, I wanted to join the Peace Corp and be of service to others. Later, I studied sign language and wanted to teach deaf children. (None of these early aspirations were encouraged—as viable vocations—by my family of origin.) As a young adult, I found myself supporting friends, lovers, and co-workers through the vicissitudes of life, love, and often much drama. Recently, I have been reflecting on my near-death experience from appendicitis when I was sixteen. Had it not been for visiting family friends, who encouraged the emergency room, I may not be here today. We'll never know for sure, but my appendix ruptured as I lay on the operating table. On an unconscious level, I believe that experience likely altered, or deepened, my orientation to life and purpose. Later, on the eve of my thirtieth birthday, I was ravaged by the loss of my brother, mother, best friend. Family. After the initial descent into the dark night, my heart broke open to the world. I was reborn again in many ways. To compassion. It was a long journey home and by no means an easy one but I'm grateful for the wisdom that emerged out of that long transformative passageway. Ultimately, it opened a pathway to service offering AIDS education/outreach and later facilitating grieving children at the Dougy Center here in Portland. It also created space for me to emerge as a spiritual artist and to answer the call of Spirit to manifest beauty in the world.

I'm sharing my personal story here to illustrate what I believe to be a universal truth...that we each have a unique calling in life and to encourage others to listen deeply to that inner guidance, even when no one around you affirms it to be so. I remember a few voices from the past including my late brother Richard and others who often didn't really 'know' me, strangers in fact, who reflected back to me my potential and what they saw 'in me' that was possible. It made all the difference and gave me confidence to follow the muse where ever she would lead me.

In 2002, Spirit guided me to environmentalist and Buddhist scholar, Joanna Macy. And to a ten-day despair and empowerment intensive that broke open my heart to the suffering and beauty of the world which was, in every way, a spiritual homecoming to my place in the web of life. At the close of our training, we were invited to speak aloud and declare these Bodhisattva vows for the healing of our world. These vows are what continue to guide me in life, in my work, and in my HEART. For love of the EARTH, Pachamama.

I vow to myself and to each of you:

To commit myself daily to the healing of our world and the welfare of all beings.

To live on Earth more lightly and less violently in the food, products, and energy I consume.

To draw strength and guidance from the living Earth, the ancestors, the future beings, and my brothers and sisters of all species.

To support each other in our work for the world and to ask for help when I feel the need.

To pursue a daily spiritual practice that clarifies my mind, strengthens my hart, and supports me in observing these vows.

Love and Living

2010-11-19T09:27:00.000-08:00

The Hope of Loving
Meister Eckhart

What keeps us alive, what allows us to endure?

I think it is the hope of loving,
or being loved.

I heard a fable once about the sun going on a journey
to find its source, and how the moon wept
without her lover’s
warm gaze.

We weep when light does not reach our hearts.
We wither
like fields if someone close
does not rain their
kindness
upon
us.

I've been reading the late Thomas Merton's Love and Living of late and found his words of wisdom to be profound. In a world where work and material wealth are most often our primary indicators of 'success,' it is love--loving and being loved, that I believe is the true measure of our wealth. What a different world it might be if love, not money or fame, was the primary purpose for our lives. As is often the case, no one on their death bed says they wished they had more money or stuff in life. On the one year anniversary of Karen Armstrong's Charter for Compassion (watch the video and sign it!), may all beings know love and compassion for ourselves, each other, and our world.

From Merton:
"Love is, in fact, an intensification of love, a completeness, a fullness, a wholeness of life. We not live merely in order to vegetate through our days until we die. Nor do we live merely in order to take part in the routines of work and amusement that go on around us. We are not just machines that have to be cared for and driven carefully until they run down. In other words, life is not a straight horizontal line between two points, birth and death. Life curves upward to a peak of intensity, a high point of value and meaning, at which all its latent creative possibilities go into action and the person transcends himself or herself in encounter, response, and communion with another. It is for this that we came into the world--this communion and self-transcendence. And this must not be confined only to sexual fulfillment: it embraces everything in the human person--the capacity for self-giving, for sharing, for creativity, for mutual care, for spiritual concern.

Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone--we find it with another. We do not discover the secret of our lives merely by study and calculation in our own isolated meditations. The meaning of our life is a secret that has to be revealed to us in love, by the one we love. And if this love is unreal, the secret will not be found, the meaning will never reveal itself, the message will never be decoded. At best, we will receive a scrambled and partial message, one that will deceive and confuse us. We will never be fully real until we let ourselves fall in love--either with another human person or with God."

And I might add, falling in love with the earth! Out of love for the earth, may we walk lightly upon her and care for all her creatures. May it be so.

Making Prayer Flags at SAS

2010-11-15T10:51:00.001-08:00

"Prayer Flags are inscribed with auspicious symbols, invocations, prayers, and mantras. Tibetan Buddhists for centuries have planted these flags outside their homes and places of spiritual practice for the wind to carry the beneficent vibrations across the countryside. Prayer flags are said to bring happiness, long life and prosperity to the flag planter and those in the vicinity." To learn more go to: www.prayerflags.com

Gathering in circle to join our prayers for the healing our world through sacred art. Prayers were invoked for earth healing, for our animal brothers and sisters. Beauty. Unity. These photos were taken at the class held at my studio on Saturday. Coming together in circle to create sacred art is one of my greatest joys. Much gratitude to Sandy, Gretchen, Linda, Gary, Jon, and Jayna for their reverential and artful spirits. With a prayer for healing, my flags were hung this morning as seen at top. From left: Om, peace, love of the earth, inka cross, and beauty. May all beings know peace, may all beings be happy. For love of the EARTH!

Blessings for the Human Animal

2010-10-24T13:21:00.000-07:00

I've been reading David Abram's delightful new book, Becoming Animal: An Earthly Cosmology, an exploration of our creaturely selves in relationship to the rest of the animate world and this morning I came upon this blessing poem by the late Irish poet and philosopher John O'Donohue. These two voices speak directly to my soul in relationship to my experience of the non-human world. I often feel more kindred with the trees, the elements, the four-leggeds, and the winged-ones than the two-legged variety. And likely why I'm drawn to the shamanic and indigenous tradition(s) from around the world. I recently heard Abram's speak at Trinity Episcopal and he used the term "omnierotic" as a way to define a way of being in love with ALL the world that is beyond any duality associated with the feminine vs masculine dialectic. I find that fascinating and the concept is still gestating within me. Today, on Global Oneness Day, may we remember that we are also one with our non-human friends on this beautiful blue planet. That our fellow brothers and sisters of all species, including our own, need our compassion and protection. May we remember that we are indeed all interconnected in the web of life. May it be so.

To Learn from Animal Being
John O'Donohue

Nearer to the earth's heart,
Deeper within its silence:
Animals know this world
In a way we never will.

We who are ever
Distanced and distracted
By the parade of bright
Windows thought opens:
Their seamless presence
Is not fractured thus.

Stranded between time
Gone and time emerging,
We manage seldom
To be where we are:
Whereas they are always
Looking out from
The here and now.

May we learn to return
And rest in the beauty
Of animal being,
Learn to lean low,
Leave our locked minds,
And with freed senses
Feel the earth
Breathing with us.

May we enter
Into lightness of spirit,
And slip frequently into
The feel of the wild.

Let the clear silence
Of our animal being
Cleanse our hearts
Of corrosive words.

May we learn to walk
Upon the earth
With all their confidence
And clear-eyed stillness
So that our minds
Might be baptized
In the name of the wind
And light and the rain.

From To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings

Sacred Cello

2010-10-20T11:37:00.000-07:00

Divinely inspired music for the healing of our world. Absolutely stunning. Check out Michael Fitzpatrick at his web site.

View from the Studio

2010-10-04T17:04:00.000-07:00

I love the early autumn mornings when there is a nip in the air but it is still warm enough to have the studio door open and hear the profusion of birdsong. Spider webs linger about on the hydrangeas and the sun drenches the garden as it begins to fade back in preparation for winter. My cat, Henri, holding vigil by my side. At these moments, in the words of the poet Wendell Berry, "I rest in the grace of the world, and am free." Here, you can see the edge of one of my current paintings...a very large "Creation" mandala. Early stages. Trusting while wrestling with the muses. A state of blessed unrest, perhaps?

One of my favorite quotes, and one I have framed in my studio, from Martha Graham to Agnes DeMille. For all artists out there who are following their vision and working (sometimes struggling) to bring that to the world. Keep the channel open!

There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it.

It is not your business to determine how good it is, nor how valuable it is; nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours, clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you.

Keep the channel open. No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.

Film to inspire the world

2010-10-03T12:50:00.000-07:00

Pray the Devil Back to Hell.

I watched this documentary yesterday and it is a must see for anyone who believes that they have no power to change their circumstances and, on a larger scale, the world. After decades of civil war wherein systematic rape, unimaginable violence, and poverty permeated their lives, the women of Liberia (both Christian and Muslim) came together to stand for peace. It is heart-wrenching to bear witness to the suffering shown through interviews and archival footage and awe-inspiring to see these women not only end the civil war but get the first female head of state elected to an African country. I was both weeping and cheering by the end.

From the web site:
Thousands of women — ordinary mothers, grandmothers, aunts and daughters, both Christian and Muslim — came together to pray for peace and then staged a silent protest outside of the Presidential Palace. Armed only with white T-shirts and the courage of their convictions, they demanded a resolution to the country’s civil war. Their actions were a critical element in bringing about a agreement during the stalled peace talks. A story of sacrifice, unity and transcendence, Pray the Devil Back to Hell honors the strength and perseverance of the women of Liberia. Inspiring, uplifting, and most of all motivating, it is a compelling testimony of how grassroots activism can alter the history of nations.

Their story gives new meaning to what Margaret Mead said: "Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed citizens to change the world. Indeed, it has never been done otherwise." The women of Liberia, the Suffragettes who fought to guarantee women the constitutional right to vote, Gandhi's non-violent actions to end British colonialism, and or course, Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement. Jesus' message of love for all beings. Great moments in history that often took decades of committed citizens to alter the course of history. They were (extra)ordinary citizens who stood up and challenged the status quo and, tragically, many often paid the ultimate price with their own life. We are more powerful than we know. Lest not forget that especially now with all the political rhetoric saturating our airwaves during this election season. It is still business as usual for those in power but we the people, have the power to change our world. This film was a reminder to me of that. I don't get political in my blog but I'm feeling passionate enough after seeing this film to speak out. I'd like to see our grandmothers, mothers, daughters, and our sisters from all faith traditions join the 13 Indigenous Grandmothers and storm Washington DC to stand up for the Earth and all her creatures. Demand from our leaders immediate legislation that would force corporations and individuals here and abroad to reduce carbon emissions and begin the move towards sustainable energy now. Global climate change is a reality and we have no time to lose. For love of the earth, and for our children and their children's children...may it be so.

350.org and Four Years Go are also two grassroots organizations that are doing amazing work on the ground to make this transition happen. Get involved for the 10/10/10 work party with 350.org! Read an article on the difference between men and women on global climate change.

Keeping Quiet

2010-09-29T10:11:00.000-07:00

As we turn inward during these coming days of Autumn, I am struck by this stunning poem that I discovered while looking through some papers today. From Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda. The photo was taken at Machu Picchu during my 2006 pilgrimage to that holy land. I love these llamas. Such beauty. Peace.

Keeping Quiet

Now we will count to twelve
and we will all keep still.

This one time upon the earth,
let’s not speak any language,
let’s stop for one second,
and not move our arms so much.

It would be a delicious moment,
without hurry, without locomotives,
all of us would be together
in a sudden uneasiness.

The fishermen in the cold sea
would do no harm to the whales
and the peasant gathering salt
would look at his torn hands.

Those who prepare green wars,
wars of gas, wars of fire,
victories without survivors,
would put on clean clothing
and would walk alongside their brothers
in the shade, without doing a thing.

What I want shouldn’t be confused
with final inactivity:
life alone is what matters,
I want nothing to do with death.

If we weren’t unanimous
about keeping our lives so much in motion,

if we could do nothing for once,
perhaps a great silence would
interrupt this sadness,
this never understanding ourselves
and threatening ourselves with death,
perhaps the earth is teaching us
when everything seems to be dead
and then everything is alive.

Now I will count to twelve
and you keep quiet and I’ll go.

Translated by Stephen Mitchell

Harvest Moon Mandala

2010-09-23T14:59:00.000-07:00

In honor of the stunning harvest moon last night on the Equinox! The harvest moon is the full moon at and about the period of fullness that is nearest to the Autumnal Equinox. Here the two leaf goddesses, representative of the Sacred Feminine, embrace the moon while the bears symbolize hibernation or the inwardness of the spirit as they march toward the west which is the cardinal direction associated with Fall. The dream catcher in the center adds to this theme where the jeweled net of Indra (from the Buddhist tradition) invites us to remember that we are all interconnected in the web of life. Prints are available. Please contact me through my web site for more information.

Reading Poetry

2010-09-15T11:07:00.000-07:00

This quote is from one of my favorite movies. Dead Poets Society. "We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race and the human race is full of passion. Medicine, law, business...all noble professions but poetry, beauty, romance, love...this is what we stay alive for." - John Keating (played by Robin Williams)

I remember being very inspired by this film twenty years ago when it came out. In the midst of my grief and searching for answers to the meaning of life I found poetry. Poetry speaks to my soul and continues to inspire me daily as any reader of this blog will discern as I share many poems here. Here's one from one of my favorite contemporary poets. Feel free to share one of yours!

Self-Portrait
by David Whyte

It doesn’t interest me if there is one God
or many gods.
I want to know if you belong or feel
abandoned.
If you know despair or can see it in others.
I want to know
if you are prepared to live in the world
with its harsh need
to change you. If you can look back
with firm eyes
saying this where I stand. I want to know
if you know
how to melt into that fierce heat of living
falling toward
the center of your longing. I want to know
if you are willing
to live, day by day, with the consequence of love
and the bitter
unwanted passion of your sure defeat.

I have heard, in that fierce embrace, even
the gods speak of God.

Mystic Awareness and 9/11

2010-09-10T13:01:00.001-07:00

From my September Newsletter:
On the eve of 9/11, I feel called to share again this painting inspired by a mystical vision that I experienced following the "Day of Remembrance" ceremony that took place in the wake of the terrorist attacks. It feels relevant in light of the controversy surrounding the current threat to burn the Qur'an and the building of a mosque near ground zero. Both of which fuel more divisiveness at a time when we need to come together as a people in order to best serve the healing of our world--this beloved Earth and her creatures (human and non-human) which are in peril during this evolutionary time.

There is a long history of mystics from all our religious traditions and many books written on mysticism, with an equal number of definitions unique to each individual. For me, the few moments of mystical awareness that I have been blessed to experience have included a feeling of non-duality and oneness with all creation: opening the heart to love and compassion for all beings. In The Mystic Heart, Wayne Teasdale writes:

"Mystical spirituality is also unitive; it seeks integration with the infinite. All theistic types of mysticism are interested in this integration, for the goal is to be invited into a permanent, divine union with God. This unity is the heart of all mysticism. It is awareness of non-duality and non-separation, of no distance between ourselves, the ultimate mystery, and all other beings."

The last sentence, especially, speaks to my experience. Such was the case during the "Day of Remembrance" ceremony facilitated by leaders from our local Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, and Native American communities. There was such love present in the days and weeks following the tragedy of 9/11 and people of all faiths (and no faith) came together as One. That was the world I wanted to live in. A world with heart and compassion for all our fellow citizens. I had a vision of this painting, of holding the love, while riding the MAX home that night. It is a reminder for me of the love that we all felt during those dark days--and a vision of hope for the future.

My heart has become capable of every form: it is a pasture for gazelles and a convent for Christian monks, a temple for idols, and a Ka'ba for the pilgrims; it is a tablet of the Torah, and the book of the Koran. I profess the religion of Love, and whatever direction its steed may take, Love is my religion and my faith.
-Ibn Arabi, 12th c. Sufi

As always, I welcome your comments.

Beingness

2010-09-07T11:54:00.000-07:00

On the importance of carving out time to simply be. "More and more I find that is the issue: how to create time, how to create buffers around us so that we are doing nothing. I think that may be our biggest disease right now--the disease of busyness. With all these modern conveniences that are supposed to be time-savers, I think we've never had less time. So I think creating open space, time to do nothing, time to love, time to be, time to dream, to think, to walk, is its own act of civil disobedience." -Terry Tempest Williams (In an interview with Michael Toms, New Dimensions Radio.)

I haven't posted here in weeks. Carving out time in the fading days of summer to "be" without stress nor the desire to do more than that while attending to the necessities of everyday living. Some activity in the studio--new sculpture and painting in progress--but allowing time to dream them into being. Spaciousness. Silence. Even though fire is the element of summer what I have been most alive to has been the element of air. The wind. The feel of it on my skin, watching the movement of the leaves in the trees, the birds playing at the feeder, and the breath. Spirit. In Hebrew, Ruah is the word for breath but also for spirit. Air, breath, spirit are one. Air is the one element (out of the four including earth, fire, water) that we can not see but is most essential to life itself and perhaps most taken for granted. In The Spell of the Sensuous, David Abram writes, "The air, we might say, is the soul of the visible landscape, the secret realms from whence all beings draw their nourishment. As the very mystery of the living present, it is that most intimate absence from whence the present presences, and thus a key to the forgotten presence of the earth." By being present to the air we breathe, we remember the sacredness of life, in this present moment. I have often felt that the most radical thing we can do is slow down and the quote above by Williams reinforces that for me. It is an on-going practice. And not always easy as it can open up emotional wounds that have been suppressed by the busyness of life. (A therapist or spiritual director can be of support during this time as it has been on my own journey.) Slowing down doesn't mean we are lazy or that we don't do our work in the world. We tend to our lives but we become mindful of the places where we create more stress than is necessary? In the desire for more stuff, more money, or the search for fame or the perfect partner? All the striving, which the Buddha recognized as the source of our suffering (along with our aversions). Simplifying our wants and our desires in order to live a more balanced, peaceful life. We only get one twirl around the dance floor of life so, for me, I want to be as present to life as possible. To beauty. Love. Art. That's what's been on my mind these last few weeks. How about you?

Rilke: Poet and Mystic

2010-08-17T09:34:00.001-07:00

I read poetry nearly every morning as part of my spiritual practice. It is a way for me to ground into the present and connect more deeply to the Sacred through the holy words of the poet. Of course, Mary Oliver is one of my patron saints and quote her here often. Also David Whyte, John O'Donohue, and John Keats. Poets, past and present. For me, poets are mystics and this is especially true of Rainer Maria Rilke. I adore his Duino Elegies which are earthy yet transcendent. Such beauty. The last few days I've been reading his "Sonnets to Orpheus." Here is one that speaks to me and the lightness and the darkness of being.

II, 29

Silent friend of many distances, feel
how your breath enlarges all of space.
Let your presence ring out like a bell
into the night. What feeds upon your face

grows mighty from the nourishment thus offered.
Move through transformation, out and in.
What is the deepest loss that you have suffered?
If drinking is bitter, change yourself to wine.

In this immeasurable darkness, be the power
that rounds your senses in their magic ring,
the sense of their mysterious encounter.

And if the earthly no longer knows your name,
whisper to the silent earth: I'm flowing.
to the flashing water say: I am.

Translation: Stephen Mitchell

Loving the World

2010-08-13T10:52:00.001-07:00

From my August Newsletter. To sign up for my monthly newsletter, go to www.sacredartstudio.net

August. For our earth-honoring ancestors, this is the month of Lammas, a time of thanksgiving which marks the middle of summer and beginning of the harvest season. Because of our wet Spring, harvest season arrived late here in my garden but there has been an abundance of lettuce and the tomatoes, cucumbers, and zucchini are finally coming in albeit slowly. Broccoli not so good. I'm still learning but everyday I go into the garden with delight to check on their progress while realizing that growing food, simplifying, and learning the ancient ways connects me to the ancestors. I like that. Our spiritual teachers tell us this is the remembering time. So, amidst the oil spill, global warming, the economic crisis, and the overall challenges of modern life, I'm acutely aware of the sacredness of each day and am mindful to not take this one "wild and precious life" for granted, to quote the poet Mary Oliver. In Messenger, she writes:

My work is loving the world.
Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird -
equal seekers of sweetness.
Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums.
Here the clam deep in the speckled sand.

Are my boots old? Is my coat torn?
Am I no longer young, and still not half-perfect? Let me
keep my mind on what matters,
which is my work,

which is mostly standing still and learning to be
astonished.
The phoebe, the delphinium.
The sheep in the pasture, and the pasture.
Which is mostly rejoicing, since all ingredients are here,

which is gratitude, to be given a mind and a heart
and these body-clothes,
a mouth with which to give shouts of joy
to the moth and the wren, to the sleepy dug-up clam,
telling them all, over and over, how it is
that we live forever.

Oliver speaks so exquisitely to the holiness of our world. Seeing and paying attention to that which is at hand is at the heart of the creative process. "Standing still and learning to be astonished." Beauty. To create art, we must "learn to see" which requires slowness and attention. I remember my first art instructor during my undergraduate years who wadded up a large piece of white paper, threw it on the model stand, and told the class to draw it. Perplexed by the unglamorous nature of the subject, I remember that being one of the most challenging assignments I was asked to undertake. White was not just white. Under the light, and with more scrutiny, I saw colors of yellow, gray, pale blue, and lavender. Light and deep shadow. It was a valuable lesson in seeing and one that provided an early context in which to view the world around me. Not so many years later, my vision would be transformed once again but through grief and loss. Both the light and the dark invite us into a more intimate encounter with the world around us.

An exercise for practicing the art of seeing:
· Choose an object from nature or let it choose you.
· Sit in silence. Contemplate its characteristics.
· Notice the shape, color, texture, light, dark, edges.
· Feel it, smell it, and roll it around in your hands.
· Draw the object without looking at the paper.
· Or write a poem. Or move with it.

What did you notice?

How are you encountering the world? Are you taking time for the sunflowers and the hummingbirds? For creativity? To write? To draw? To dance? To grieve? To quote Oliver, all the ingredients are here, which is gratitude. Like our beloved poet, my work and, indeed, our work is in loving the world.

Praying by Mary Oliver

2010-08-06T11:28:00.000-07:00

Once again, Mary Oliver for inspiration this morning. Like the vibrant Prism Violet splashing across the canvas in the early hours, paying attention to color, the silence, beauty....praying, praising...giving thanks.

Praying

It doesn't have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones; just
pay attention, then patch

a few words together and don't try
to make them elaborate, this isn't
a contest but the doorway

into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.

-Mary Oliver, from Thirst

Despacho Ceremony

2010-08-03T21:32:00.001-07:00

In 2006, I went on pilgrimage to Peru to learn and partake in the ancient spiritual teachings of the Andean people. This was a life-changing experience for me and their wisdom continues to inform my spiritual life. I've written about some of these teachings and the intention behind the journey (based on the Prophecy of the Eagle and the Condor) on my blog. Click here to read more. One of the most sacred rituals performed there is the despacho ceremony which are ceremonies of gratitude and thanksgiving to Pachamama (Mother Earth) or an Apus. While in Peru, we were told that the despacho is also considered a work of art, or a painting. It was at that moment I had a vision for the painting above. I knew when I returned home that I would create my own despacho, and then paint it as an offering to Pachamama.

The “despacho” is an ancient ceremony performed in the Andes. These are offerings to either Pachamama (Mother Earth) or an Apus (mountain spirit). The former is distinguished by an abundance of red objects/flowers, the latter by white. They typically begin with a shell in the center to represent the feminine, a cross to represent the masculine, and Kintus (3 cocoa leaves grouped together). In the Andes, additional items might include money, food items, ribbons, alcohol, dung, or a llama fetus. These are determined by the paqo or shaman performing the ceremony which is very elaborate and includes praying, group cocoa exchange as well as music and sharing of the pipe. Overall this was a magical and mystical experience for me and words just don't do it justice. For my painting, I went to the local market, chose items I felt would please Pachamama, and created my own despacho which I then painted as an offering. My process is one of devotion and is a prayer for the healing of the earth. Ayni, or reciprocity, is at the core of the Andean way of life and rituals like the despacho honor our relationships to the earth, the living energy, and to each other.

This past weekend, I was invited and honored to share this ceremony with my spiritual community, People of the Heart, during one of our shamanic training retreats. I substituted the cocoa leaves, which are illegal in the States, with another of the leaf family but included many sweets, grains, seeds, herbs, jewels, red flowers, and miscellaneous goodies that I felt would please Pachamama. Drumming and rattling. With reverence and gratitude, we each offered these gifts as prayers for healing ourselves, each other, and our world. Singing. When the ceremony was complete I bundled up the despacho, wrapped it in ribbon, and placed it in a cloth. Sending the bundle around the circle, we blew our breath and our prayers into the despacho. Drumming. After blessing everyone in the circle and a closing poem, we then buried the bundle on the land.

I feel humbled by the simple beauty of this ritual as a gift for the healing of our world, and the Earth. I give thanks to my teachers: dear friends and guides Carol, Jim, Terence; don Sebastian of the Q'ero; and the Winay Taki for sharing their wisdom with me/us.

In a time of returning, we give voice to the heart of the Earth.
With countless others awakening we walk upon Her now.
We are One Remembering
Women of Vision speaking to inspire what follows.
Love is our word
Men of Heart embracing, to shape new ways to live.
Communion
With each other making us One
And sustaining our interconnection with all life.
Sun, Moon, Stars, Earth, and Great Mountain Spirits.
Vision and heartfelt action benefiting all life
We are one of many within us all
We are restoring our story…

From Carol Stewart’s poem “Rainbow Threads”

Eden

2010-07-28T11:29:00.000-07:00

Less words these days. Perhaps it is the languid pace of summer. Simply reveling in the beauty of the Earth. For me, the garden, Eden, is right here and right now. From poet and author Susan Griffin:

This earth is my sister;
I love her daily grace, her silent daring
and how loved I am -
how we admire this strength in each other,
all that we have lost, all that we have suffered,
all that we know;
we are stunned by this beauty,
and I do not forget;
what she is to me,
what I am to her.

The Art of Waiting

2010-07-18T10:26:00.000-07:00

From my July Newsletter:
In last month's newsletter I wrote about contemplative living and the practice of slowing down and being present to what the late Trappist monk Thomas Merton referred to as the "spontaneous awe at the sacredness of life." (Click here to read the issue). Another aspect of contemplative living is practicing the "art of waiting." We live in a world driven by productivity, so the notion of waiting can feel uncomfortable and generate some anxiety within us. I was noticing this for myself recently after having come through a very fruitful time, artistically and intellectually (post graduate school). I wanted to keep the momentum moving; instead, my energy waned and my efforts in the studio came to naught. While I attributed part of this inertia to my despair over the Gulf crisis, I discovered that it was necessary for me to surrender, to rest in the unknown, and to wait. Instead of trying to push my agenda forward, I had to trust in Spirit...have faith in Divine Imagination. It was about this time when I was drawn back to Sue Monk Kidd's "When the Heart Waits: Spiritual Direction for Life's Sacred Questions." In a chapter entitled, Quickaholic Spirituality, she writes:

What has happened to our ability to dwell in unknowing, to live inside a question and coexist with the tensions of uncertainty? Where is our willingness to incubate pain and let it birth something new? What has happened to patient unfolding, to endurance? These things are what form the ground of waiting. And if you look carefully, you'll see that they're also the seedbed of creativity and growth.

This also brought to mind the poet Rainer Maria Rilke's advice in "Letters to A Young Poet." He wrote:

Have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don't search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.

Even though it can feel uncomfortable, even chaotic at times, the "art of waiting" (like gestation) is the natural state prior to giving birth. To our Self. To our art/creativity. To a new chapter in our lives. And collectively, giving birth to a new vision for humanity. For me, this is a vision grounded in our interconnectedness in the web of creation and our co-creating a world that works for all. We are living with much uncertainty these days but our spiritual leaders also speak of this time as a period of great transformation and that we are all part of this evolutionary process. The art of waiting...with patience and kindness towards Self...creates space for listening to the soul, discerning inner guidance, developing creativity, and answering the call towards healing ourselves and our world. So, the next time you feel overwhelmed that life isn't progressing as quickly, or in the way you had envisioned it might...surrender, wait, listen. And remember to breathe!

To sign up for my monthly newsletter, go to www.sacredartstudio.net

Hummingbird poem

2010-07-09T09:47:00.000-07:00

Summer has finally arrived in the Pacific Northwest. The garden is bursting with color and the vegetables are singing with delight. Meditation in the garden this morning, watching the birds play and feed, the bees loving on the roses, listening to the birdsong, and reading Mary Oliver. Gratitude for life. Being present and inspired by Beauty. Look! says Mary Oliver. Look!

Hummingbird Pauses at the Trumpet Vine
-Mary Oliver

Who doesn't love
roses, and who
doesn't love the lilies
of the black ponds

floating like flocks
of tiny swans,
and of course the flaming
trumpet vine

where the hummingbird comes
like a small green angel, to soak
his dark tongue
in happiness--

and who doesn't want
to live with the brisk
motor of his heart
singing

like a Schubert,
and his eyes
working and working like those days of rapture,
by van Gogh, in Arles?

Look! for most of the world
is waiting
or remembering--
most of the world is time

when we're not here,
not born yet, or died--
a slow fire
under the earth with all

of our dumb wild blind cousins
who also
can't even remember anymore
their own happiness--

Look! and then we will be
like the pale cool
stones, that last almost
forever.

Contemplative Living

2010-07-02T09:43:00.000-07:00

This is from my June newsletter. To sign up for my monthly newsletter, visit www.sacredartstudio.net

What does it mean to be a contemplative in the modern world? Most often people associate contemplative living with the austerity and isolation of a monastery. At one time, that was true. Although there are still monastic communities around the globe, many of today's contemplatives participate in the world but bring with them a deep sense of reverence for life, the Holy, into daily life. Like the mystics from all spiritual traditions, there exists an an awareness of the numinous presence that infuses every aspect of our lives. While Buddhist teachings and meditation guide me in deepening my awareness into the present moment, two teachers that also speak to me around contemplative living are Caroline Myss and the late Thomas Merton. In her book "Entering the Castle," Myss offers a guidebook for answering the call of the soul and she coins the phrase "Mystics without Monasteries" to describe this new way of being in the world. Click here for an excerpt from her book.

And in "New Seeds of Contemplation," Merton writes: Contemplation is the highest expression of man's intellectual and spiritual life. It is that life itself, fully awake, fully active, fully aware that it is alive. It is spiritual wonder. It is spontaneous awe at the sacredness of life, of being. It is gratitude for life, for awareness, and for being. It is a vivid realization of the fact that life and being in us proceed from an invisible, transcendent and infinitely abundant Source. Contemplation is, above all, an awareness of the reality of that Source. Click here for more on Merton.

Living a contemplative life doesn't require that we renounce the world but it does require choosing a new way of being in the world. Slowing down, unplugging from the technology (at least periodically), and learning to be with the silence in order to create space for encountering what Merton called the "spontaneous awe at the sacredness of life." Why is this important to those of us who live in the 21st century? As we know, we live in a fast-paced and enormously stressful world. Carving out time in our personal lives for contemplation can open up new possibilities that nurture our spiritual life, our creativity, our relationships (to each other and to the Earth) and bring more calm into our daily lives. I've walked the stressed-out, workaholic lifestyle and know that world, too. For all the uncertainty that may come with following my soul's calling, every day I wake feeling grateful...for life, for beauty, for this present moment...which is all we ever truly have.

I live much of my day in silence, except for the abundant birdsong coming in from the garden, but this may not be possible for those with the demands of family and workplace. So, where to begin if you are just starting out? I recently heard spiritual teacher August Gold interviewed and thought she had a great framework in starting a practice if you don't have one. She suggests beginning every day with 15 minutes in this way:

· 5 minutes reading inspirational materials
· 5 minutes journaling what is most alive in your heart
· 5 minutes of silent sitting (no TV, radio, computers!)

I would also add, 5 minutes of sketching, doodling, or collaging to tap into your creative source!

Radical Joy Ceremony on June 19

2010-06-22T17:05:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, June 19th, a group of us in the Washington/Portland area met at a clear cut near Lake Merwin damn to honor Mother Earth and celebrate Beauty as part of the worldwide effort that was envisioned by Radical Joy for Hard Times. This is from their web site:

Radical Joy for Hard Times introduces a new, more intimate environmentalism for all citizens of the Earth. Together we go to wounded places to bear witness to what has happened, share the stories of our experience, discover beauty even in the midst of wound and waste, and create Acts of Beauty there.

Our local gathering was organized and facilitated by Judy Todd of NatureConnect Excursions and Julie Doll. Sacred space was created by prayer flags and silence as we walked into the clear cut area. Once there, with a stunning view of the valley, a drumming circle invited us in to being present to this holy land. With the discarded gun shells, the empty beer cans, the garbage, and the Beauty. During our time together we walked the land, sang together, shared our stories, drummed, read poetry, and made offerings to Mother Earth for her healing. We picked up trash (including a car fender) as you can see in the photo above. We bore witness to this wounded place and created radical Acts of Beauty. I was surprised to discover that although there had been violence perpetrated upon this hillside, there was life emerging amidst the ruins. The very smallest of creatures and wildflowers were finding there way back. This gave me hope. I brought this poem by Wendell Berry which always moves me to tears:

A Vision
by Wendell Berry

If we will have the wisdom to survive,
to stand like slow-growing trees
on a ruined place, renewing, enriching it,
if we will make our seasons welcome here,
asking not too much of earth or heaven,
then a long time after we are dead
the lives our lives prepare will live
here, their houses strongly placed
upon the valley sides, fields and gardens
rich in the windows. The river will run
clear, as we will never know it,
and over, birdsong like a canopy.
On the levels of the hills will be
green meadows, stock bells in noon shade.
On the steeps where greed and ignorance cut down
the old forest, an old forest will stand,
its rich leaf-fall drifting on its roots.
The veins of forgotten springs will have opened.
Families will be singing in the fields.
In their voices they will hear a music
risen out of the ground. They will take
nothing from the ground they will not return,
whatever the grief at parting. Memory,
native to this valley, will spread over it
like a grove, and memory will grow
into legend, legend into song, song
into sacrament. The abundance of this place,
the songs of its people and its birds,
will be health and wisdom and indwelling
light. This is no paradisal dream.
Its hardship is it possibility.

Summer Solstice Eve Poem

2010-06-20T12:47:00.000-07:00

A Sacrament

Become the high priest,
the bee. Drone your way
from one fragrant
temple to another, nosing
into each alter. Drink
what's divine --
and while you're there,
let some of the sacred
cling to your limbs.
Where you go
leave a small trail
of its golden crumbs.
In your wake
the world unfolds
its rapture, the fruit
of its looming.
Rooms in your house
fill with that sweetness
your body both
makes and eats.

-Paulann Peterson

Spreading the Divine nectar of beauty on this eve of Summer Solstice. Gratitude to my friend, Eleanore, for sending this poem to me. Image from the Endangered Bee website.

Celtic Tree of Life Mandala

2010-06-07T17:55:00.000-07:00

“Celtic Tree of Life Mandala” for Mary M.

When I met with Mary, she said “When I look at my mandala I want to feel JOY.” Gratitude for life right here, right now in this present moment. As a pagan, shamanic healer, and lover of trees, and with her roots in the Celtic tradition, the Tree of Life and the Triple Spiral called to me for the center of this mandala. The ancient Celts envisioned the cosmos in form of a great tree—the roots deep in the earth and branches stretched to the heavens. The Celtic Tree of Life is the symbol of balance between these worlds; the unification of above and below. Spirit and Earth. It is a sacred symbol of balance and harmony. Within the center and in the larger mandala, the night/dark/new moon and the day/light/sun represents the balance between the masculine and feminine which she is learning to balance through her recovery from cancer.

The number three, as in the shamrock and triple spiral, is significant for Mary, so the three half-circles surround the center mandala represent that number. Within these shapes lie a world of magical creatures that inhabit our world. Often they are too small to see at a passing glance, like a slug or lady bug, but when we slow down and come more fully into the present moment, we are able to appreciate the miracle of all living things and find joy and gratitude in the moment. The hummingbird, butterfly, and dragonfly are symbolic of transformation, beauty, and love. The red flowers are impatiens which are symbolic of “motherly love” which I discovered after being called to paint them when a hummingbird visited these flowers outside my studio door. Synchronicity, spirit guiding my hand. They are reflections of Mary—with her enormous love for your family, community, Mother Earth, and the women she supports in recovery.

The cat—and cougar who curled up with her in the sweat lodge—sleeps quietly as a reminder of her spirit guides. Finally, she spoke of the power of herbs and the importance of rosemary. Framing the mandala are sprigs of rosemary to guide and support Mary on her journey of healing and JOY!

I feel honored and great joy to create these personal, soul-symbol mandalas for others on their journey. When I am immersed in the process of creation, I feel the spirit of the Creator working through me and am enormously blessed to be a vessel in which to birth each of them into the world. For more information about soul-symbol mandalas, please contact me through my web site at www.sacredartstudio.net or call 503.239.9671.

Crisis and Opportunity

2010-06-03T09:41:00.001-07:00

Like so many of us, I am completely bereft at the environmental crisis unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico. I sob watching the news or while listening to radio commentators pontificate endlessly on who is responsible for this? Yes, BP and ultimately, greed, are responsible. But I also ask myself, aren't we all responsible on some level? With the world's desperate need for more and more oil to maintain lifestyles that are not sustainable, I wonder what is the price we are willing to pay for that? How many species will we need to lose before we (in developed countries) radically alter our way of life? Listening to those around me, I hear anger, frustration, grief, despair, and hopelessness. Some are praying. Others turn away. It's too much to bear. I've written much here about the importance of bearing witness but at times like this it can be difficult. I wonder daily if this will be the collective wake-up call humanity requires in order to shift our allegiance, and addiction, to fossil fuels and move more quickly towards sustainable energy. I hope. I pray, too. I simplify.

One way that I am working to reduce my fossil fuel footprint is to limit buying vegetables that are grown (most often with pesticides) and shipped from other parts of the world such as Mexico and South America. For years I have only bought organic, but over the past winter I purchased my vegetables locally or within one state away whenever possible which reduces the amount of petroleum necessary for shipping long distances. Okay, an occasional cucumber slipped by, but for the most part I was consistently checking labels as to where my food was coming from. Here in Portland, we have thriving farmer's markets throughout the city and many of us are now growing our own food which is great. And there is often a friend or neighbor with extra to share and fresh eggs, too! For me, the choice to be mindful around my food source has also been an opportunity to expand my creativity into the kitchen. Instead of tasteless tomatoes shipped from Mexico, I use other ingredients with salad greens which expands my culinary repertoire while attempting in some small way to lessen my footprint on this beautiful Earth. To quote artist Lily Yeh: "To live your values is political." (Finding Beauty in a Broken World by Terry Tempest Williams) The food also tastes better and what a wonderful opportunity to bring more creativity into our daily lives. Food growing and creation is truly an art form. This year I am expanding my vegetable garden and am excited to see what delights I can create out of this richness. I'm currently reading Barbara Kingsolver's book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle which has quickly become a sacred text for me. It is her families account of how for one year they only ate what they could grow or buy from local farmers. It's very inspiring as well as educational about the food industry, farming, and growing. (Food, Inc. is a documentary worth viewing as well.) The book includes recipes and Kingsolver writes with great humor and insight. Well worth reading if you haven't checked it out!

In the meantime, life goes on for the rest of us who aren't immediately affected (not yet anyhow) by the crisis unlike the residents along the Gulf. My heart goes out to the many communities whose lives depend on the waters and her creatures for their livelihood and survival. Many years ago as a young adult, I lived on the coast of Florida. It's pristine sandy white beaches, aquamarine waters, dolphins, and stunning sunsets were all part of the landscape in which I walked, worked, loved, and played. It was a magical time, in a magical land. May it be saved and preserved for future generations. Pray it may be so. Aho!

The Peace of Wild Things
— Wendell Berry

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

In Praise of the Earth

2010-05-17T10:04:00.000-07:00

A poem from the late John O'Donohue on this gorgeous Spring day for inspiration and gratitude.

In Praise of the Earth

Let us bless
The imagination of the Earth.
That knew early the patience
To harness the mind of time,
Waited for the seas to warm,
Ready to welcome the emergence
Of things dreaming of voyaging
Among the stillness of land.

And how light knew to nurse
The growth until the face of the Earth
Brightened beneath a vision of color.

When the ages of ice came
And sealed the Earth inside
An endless coma of cold,
The heart of the Earth held hope,
Storing fragments of memory,
Ready for the return of the sun.

Let us thank the Earth
That offers ground for home
And holds our feet firm
To walk in space open
To infinite galaxies.

Let us salute the silence
And certainty of mountains:
Their sublime stillness,
Their dream-filled hearts.

The wonder of a garden
Trusting the first warmth of spring
Until its black infinity of cells
Becomes charged with dream;
Then the silent, slow nurture
Of the seed's self, coaxing it
To trust the act of death.

The humility of the Earth
That transfigures all
That has fallen
Of outlived growth.

The kindness of the Earth,
Opening to receive
Our worn forms
Into the final stillness.

Let us ask forgiveness of the Earth
For all our sins against her:
For our violence and poisonings
Of her beauty.

Let us remember within us
The ancient clay,
Holding the memory of seasons,
The passion of the wind,
The fluency of water,
The warmth of fire,
The quiver-touch of the sun
And shadowed sureness of the moon.

That we may awaken,
To live to the full
The dream of the Earth
Who chose us to emerge
And incarnate its hidden night
In mind, spirit, and light.

~ John O'Donohue ~

Gifts from the Mother

2010-05-08T08:38:00.000-07:00

"Jane's World" 2001

Jane Blackie Livingstone (1925-1990)

Although my grief has subsided over time, I can't help but feel a few pangs of sorrow on Mother's Days. Like many of us, I am missing mother love from the woman who gave birth to me. Hard to believe it will be twenty years next month since my mom died suddenly from heart failure. I was out of the country at the time and returned home a day too late, to find her gone—poof—vanished into thin air, or so it seemed. It had only been ten days since I left but it felt like I had just waved goodbye to her as I headed to the airport for my vacation to Bora Bora. The last thing she said to me was: "I hope you have so much fun that you don't finish your book." Then she was gone. She died nine months after my brother's death from AIDS. Not being a mother myself, I can only imagine how heart wrenching it was for her to see her only beloved son suffer in such pain in those final weeks, days, moments. I felt the anguish having been present as well but not through the lens of a mother. Friends who are parents now tell me it is their worst nightmare. I couldn't ease her pain. During that same period of time, my brother's partner also died as well as a very close friend of mine from a brain hemorrhage. There was so much death around me. I was broken and ill prepared at that age to deal with my grief. I also didn't have guidance or the wisdom to find my way through this emotional landscape and I began a rapid descent into darkness. To the world, I probably appeared to be functioning but on the inside and when alone, I was nearly suicidal. St. John of the Cross and what is now commonly referred to as the "dark night of the soul" were unknown to me then but looking back I see that descent as the initiation into my spiritual journey and it took a decade to fully emerge into the light—a dark cloud having comfortably settled in above me over the years. Aside from the possibility of a few guardian angels, I believe what "saved" me early on was finding a compassionate therapist and the act of painting. [Shown here is my painting that honors what my mother loved most. Her wedding dress (my father), gardenia (her favorite flower), our home in New Hamsphire, and her five children.] This is why I believe so passionately in holy listening and creativity to transform the wounded heart and why I feel called to bring these healing modalities to others on their journey as well. This is the gift that has emerged out of my dark night of the soul. Gifts from my mother. Compassion. Being of service to others as well as to the healing of the Earth.

There are many gifts that emerge out of our suffering and numerous examples of this happening in our world today. In our grief, we often begin to ask deeper questions about the meaning of life. Why am I here? What is my purpose? How best can I serve? Our suffering brings life more fully into focus and enlivens us to what is most essential. For most of us, that is LOVE. Love of the other, family, the beloved, God/Spirit. And for me, love of the Earth. Tomorrow we will celebrate and remember our mothers. I honor my mother and bow to all mothers around the globe for their tireless devotion to raising our children—our future generations. What a sacred task they have in our world. Blessed be! And may we also celebrate the Great Mother of us all, Mother Earth who gives and sustains all life. May we honor and protect her from harm. May we send a prayer of healing to the Gulf of Mexico and all the creatures who are and will be affected by this crisis. In gratitude and love.

Here is a poem written by my late brother for my mother:

In my mother I see this lady of grace
An uncertain mystery ‘neath filmy lace.
She is mine and she is yours, shining
Like twin suns in our own starry night.
Unconquerable and undiminished, she is our light;
And so, guiding us through rocky terrain
As if only ‘twere casual summer rain.
How my thoughts do run to thee
In any chosen season, be it shimmering
Spring or a faltering fall, you visit
Me in my peaceful sleep like the
Kiss of sweet angels sent from heaven
To be my recompense in the long nights silence.
Rejoice, my fragrant soulful woman,
womb of this all too solid flesh,
Celebrate the love of all whom you know
And I will see you when summer breezes blow.

–Richard H Livingstone, Jr. (1974)

Earth as the Great Work of Art

2010-04-22T17:04:00.001-07:00

Gorgeous tulips from the garden, gifts from the Earth, Pachamama. Earth, art, eARTh. Earth and art, together. Healing our hearts, heARTs, and our world. Every day is EARTH day.

Beannacht / Blessing
–John O'Donohue

On the day when
the weight deadens
on your shoulders
and you stumble,
may the clay dance
to balance you.
And when your eyes
freeze behind
the grey window
and the ghost of loss
gets in to you,
may a flock of colours,
indigo, red, green,
and azure blue
come to awaken in you
a meadow of delight.

When the canvas frays
in the currach of thought
and a stain of ocean
blackens beneath you,
may there come across the waters
a path of yellow moonlight
to bring you safely home.

May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
may the clarity of light be yours,
may the fluency of the ocean be yours,
may the protection of the ancestors be yours.
And so may a slow
wind work these words
of love around you,
an invisible cloak
to mind your life.

Among the Trees

2010-04-14T10:11:00.000-07:00

A little inspiration from poet Mary Oliver today. Remember to walk slowly and bow often during this beautiful season of rebirth and renewal. New friendship tulips blooming in the garden!

When I Am Among the Trees
by Mary Oliver

When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness,
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.

I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.

Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, "Stay awhile."
The light flows from their branches.

And they call again, "It's simple," they say,
"and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine."

Theosis and Sacred Art

2010-04-13T11:06:00.000-07:00

Reading Alex Grey's Art Psalms as I begin my days in the studio. His voice and vision encourage me to go on in spite of lingering fears around the challenges of making a living as an artist (and a spiritual artist!) in this world especially within the current economic climate. Making a living these days is difficult enough for many here and abroad and with so many cutbacks, the arts and all creative sectors have been hurt badly. However, once we answer the call there is no going back and it takes fierce courage to stay the course. I believe if we as artists answer that sacred call, it is important to nurture your relationship to the Divine, the universal creative energy that guides each of us, and continue to walk 'confidently in the direction of [our] dreams' to quote Thoreau. It's what is being asked of us during this evolutionary time where new ways of being are emerging as old structures break down. Never give up on your dreams....I love the first line of this mystical rant as he calls them. Art CAN transform the way we see ourselves and the world. Yes!

From "Theosis" by Alex Grey

Art can transform the way we see ourselves and the world.
Sacred art has always depended on this possibility.
Theosis means coming closer to God by contemplation of icons.
New ways of seeing lead to new ways of being.
When your being is transformed,
The world occuring to you transforms.

Contemplation of a Buddha or Christ
Implants the possibility of our own enlightenment.
Icons of a United World, a Sacred Plant
Are essential now, to implant
The possibility of saving our collective lives,
Reverencing our Mother Nature Goddesself,
The One WorldSpirit of all plants and creatures.

Note: There is another stanza between these and I highly recommend buying the book in support of your sacred art calling. As an artist, I try to be mindful of copyright laws for other artists as well even though there is so much available on the web. www.alexgrey.com.

Aesthetic Religion

2010-04-07T14:50:00.000-07:00

Beat Beatrix by Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)

One of my favorite books and a treasured companion in the studio is Umberto Eco's History of Beauty. An historical and philosophical exploration around the notion of beauty over the ages through the visual and literary arts. Referring to the mid-19th century, Eco writes:

Confronted with the oppressiveness of the industrial world, the expansion of the metropolis swarming with immense anonymous crowds, the appearance of new classes whose urgent needs certainly did not include aesthetics, and offended by the form of the new machines that stressed the pure functionality of new materials, artists felt that their ideals were threatened and saw the democratic ideals that were gradually making headway as inimical. Thus they decided to make themselves 'different.' This led to the formation of an authentic aesthetic religion, and amid a spirit of Art for Art's Sake the idea became established that Beauty was a primary value to be realized at all costs, to such a point that many thought that life itself ought to be lived as a work of art.

This movement towards the aesthetic was a response by artists such as Dickens and Rossetti to the ugliness they experienced with the rise of industrialization and expanding capitalism. Artistic movements come and go throughout history but this particular period resonates for me in its devotion to Beauty as a "primary value." These visionaries from the past speak to my own artistic vision and life's journey. Call me a romantic! I am. With the rise of our technological and consumer society, contemporary artists have an opportunity to reclaim what might be defined as a neo-aesthetic religion. Like those artists before us who believed in the "religion of beauty," I believe it is time once again to bring beauty back into the conversation pertaining to art and as a relevant contribution within the art historical landscape. With the evolutionary shifts that are occurring now around the globe, now more than ever, beauty through the arts can be a call to awaken the human heart and inspire the soul. In the words of the late philosopher John O'Donohue:

When we awaken to the call of beauty, we become aware of new ways of being in the world. We were created to be creators. At its deepest heart, creativity is meant to serve and evoke beauty. When this desire and capacity come alive, new wells spring up in parched ground; difficulty becomes invitation and rather than striving against the grain of our nature, we fall into rhythm with its deepest urgency and passion. The time is now ripe for beauty to surprise and liberate us. From “Beauty: The Invisible Embrace”

Check out the art and beauty of Rod MacIver's work at Heron Dance http://www.herondance.org/

Note: For the other side of the story, check out Eco's On Ugliness.

A Thing of Beauty

2010-03-30T16:30:00.000-07:00

I have been reading the poetry of John Keats (17951821) again as the days get longer and the garden comes back to life. So much beauty! "A Thing of Beauty" quoted here is but the first part of a very long poem called Endymion. I likely miss a lot of what he intended as it draws heavily from the classics and I don't know Greek mythology nearly as well as I would like but the language does speak to the heart...and how nature and beauty feed the soul. He writes: "in spite of all/Some shape of beauty moves away the pall/From our dark spirits." For me, poetry is the language of the soul and it inspires me on a daily basis. It's tragic that Keats died at only 26 from TB but he left us a stunning legacy. Today, we have poets like Wendell Berry, Mary Oliver, David Whyte, and so many others that give voice to the deepest longings of the human heart. I express my soul through visual art and wish at times—in the words of Hafiz—that "I could put the swaying splendor of the fields into words." I guess I'll have to leave that to our poets. Thank you to all our poets—past and present!

A Thing of Beauty (Endymion)
A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing
A flowery band to bind us to the earth,
Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth
Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,
Of all the unhealthy and o'er-darkn'd ways
Made for our searching: yes, in spite of all,
Some shape of beauty moves away the pall
From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon,
Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon
For simple sheep; and such are daffodils
With the green world they live in; and clear rills
That for themselves a cooling covert make
'Gainst the hot season; the mid-forest brake,
Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms:
And such too is the grandeur of the dooms
We have imagined for the mighty dead;
An endless fountain of immortal drink,
Pouring unto us from the heaven's brink.

Pachamama Alliance Campaign

2010-03-25T11:01:00.000-07:00

Four Years. Go. is a new campaign from the Pachamama Alliance to raise awareness about the environmental crisis and the need for each and everyone of us to take part in this time of global transformation. As Gandhi said, "We must be the change we wish to see in the world." For love of the Earth and for future beings.

Upcoming workshop on May 1

2010-03-24T17:43:00.000-07:00

Co-creating with the 4 Elements

A special day for women seeking to explore the connection
between nature, spirituality, and creativity

Date and Time: Saturday, May 1st • 9:30am—5:00pm

Cost: $80 (includes art supplies & light lunch)

Nourish your soul with a day where you can slow down and enter into a sanctuary of contemplation and creativity. Drawing inspiration from the natural world and the four elements of earth/air/fire/water, we will explore the inter-relationship of these elemental energies within the cycles of the seasons and the four stages of a woman’s life. Learn how remembering the ancient wisdom of our ancestors can deepen your connection to the natural world, open new pathways for experiencing your place within the web of life, and inspire your own creativity. Earth, or Gaia, will be our muse for the day as we journey around the wheel of creation and co-create in sacred circle.

Drawing from the earth-honoring traditions and the Four Paths of Creation Spirituality, the day will include group sharing, play, meditation, contemplative practices, and the creative process. Take away practices that can guide you on your soul path and provide meaningful ways for you to restore your spirit throughout the year.

To register contact me at Sacred Art Studio
amy[AT]sacredartstudio.net or 503.239.9671
www.sacredartstudio.net

Directions and what to bring will be provided upon registration.
Space is limited.

Recent Sculptures

2010-03-05T15:24:00.000-08:00

I have been more focused of late on my painting but figurative sculpture continues to be one of my great passions. I finished these—'Prayer' and about ten of these earth goddess torsos—last year and only got to firing them this week. After spending nearly two years on a large sculptural commission, The Offering, I turned back toward an intimate encounter with the canvas that I experience when painting, which is a meditative process. This is in contrast to my working with clay which is a more visceral and embodied experience for me. With hands immersed in the warm and moist clay from the earth, there is a physicality in shaping and building up the clay that is very sensual and connective to the living Earth. I am also reminded that this is an ancient modality in which our ancestors once gave expression to their experience of the Sacred. Will archaeologists one day dig up fragments of my sculptures and wonder about this period in history? What will they discern of our time? That there existed a society of people and artists who had reverence for life and the earth, the sacred feminine, beauty, and peace? Let's hope so!

Kuan Yin Nearing Completion

2010-03-04T11:47:00.000-08:00

This has been quite a journey of trusting in Divine inspiration and my faith in bringing forward this painting. Kuan Yin, Bodhisattva of Compassion, has been my muse throughout the process and I give thanks for her guidance. As she nears completion, Mary—the mother and Magdalena—have been calling to me. A natural flow born of the birthing energy that is building as we move into spring and this time of resurrection as the earth blossoms in all her glory after the dark of winter. See my last post for the amazing cherry tree photos!

Cherry Trees and Gratitude

2010-03-03T15:22:00.000-08:00

My soul has been reluctant to let go of the slow rhythm and interiority of the dark winter days yet it is impossible to deny that spring has indeed arrived early in the Pacific Northwest. Unlike the copious amounts of snow that our brothers and sisters on the East coast have endured, our winter weather has been very mild. Blooming earlier than normal, I took these Cherry Tree photos in the cemetery today near my home/studio where I walk almost daily. They are so gorgeous and with the abundant birdsong, I was overwhelmed by the awe and wonder of creation. Over the years, I have come to know this cemetery well (new arrivals or new statues, headstones, flowers, and landscaping) as I walk among the remains of those who have gone before us, often prematurely. People sometimes find it odd that I walk amidst the dead, but for me it is a reminder of the fragility of life which encourages me to appreciate life more fully, to follow my soul's calling both creatively and spiritually, and to not take this brief time I/we have on this beautiful planet for granted. Sadly, we need look no further than Haiti and Chile to remember that truth. On a personal level, I've written about my own losses here so this isn't new territory but at times—especially during this epoch period of transformation and suffering for so many around the globe—it can be easy to slip into fear of the unknown or the future, so these walking meditations are a way for me to practice being more present to life, beauty, love, and gratitude. What brings you more fully alive? Feel free to share your thoughts or feelings around this.

I love the dark hours of my being.
My mind deepens into them.
There I can find, as in old letters,
the days of my life, already lived,
and held like a legend, and understood.

Then the knowing comes: I can open
to another life that's wide and timeless.

So I am sometimes like a tree
rustling over a gravesite
and making real the dream
of the one its living roots
embrace:

a dream once lost
among sorrows and songs.

-Rainer Maire Rilke
Translation Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy

Day of Love and Hafiz

2010-02-14T18:13:00.000-08:00

Today is the one day out of the year that we celebrate romantic love in our culture. May we also remember that love is available to us everyday. May we remember love for Self, for God/Spirit, for the neighbor, for love of the Earth, for all beings. May it be so.

I wish I could speak like music

I wish I could speak like music.

I wish I could put the swaying splendor
Of the fields into words

So that you could hold Truth
Against your body
And dance.

I am trying the best I can
With this crude brush, the tongue,

To cover you with light.

I wish I could speak like divine music.

I want to give you the sublime rhythms
Of this earth and the sky's limbs

As they joyously spin and surrender,
Surrender
Against God's luminous breath.

Hafiz wants you to hold me
Against your precious
Body

And dance,
Dance.

From "The Gift" by Hafiz, translated by Daniel Ladinsky

A Spiritual Journey

2010-02-14T13:43:00.000-08:00

A Spiritual Journey

And the world cannot be discovered
by a journey of miles,
no matter how long,
but only by a spiritual journey,
a journey of one inch,
very arduous and humbling and joyful,
by which we arrive at the ground at our feet,
and learn to be at home.

—Wendell Berry

Imbolc and St Brigid Day

2010-02-01T11:34:00.000-08:00

It's February 1st and already the first signs of spring are here with daffodils emerging and little buds on the hydrangeas beginning to show themselves in the garden. A mild winter in the Northwest but we are still only half way to the Spring Equinox. Today is Imbolc which originated within the pagan tradition and is one of the cross-quarter days which falls between the Solstice and the Equinox. The day became associated with the Celtic goddess Brigid who was later adopted by the early Christians and is revered as St. Brigid. From chalicecenter.net/imbolc:

The First of February belongs to Brigid, (Brighid, Brigit, Bride,) the Celtic goddess who in later times became revered as a Christian saint. Originally, her festival on February 1 was known as Imbolc or Oimelc, two names which refer to the lactation of the ewes, the flow of milk that heralds the return of the life-giving forces of spring. Later, the Catholic Church replaced this festival with Candlemas Day on February 2, which is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and features candlelight processions. The powerful figure of Brigid the Light-Bringer overlights both pagan and Christian celebrations.

In secular culture this time of year became known as Groundhog Day—which was a big deal growing up in New Hampshire where the winters were fierce and we kids yearned for the sun to return so we could play outside again. Growing up, I did not know this yearly visitation of the groundhog had its roots in the ancient ways of our ancestors. Imbolc is a festival of the hearth and home and a celebration of the lengthening days and the early signs of spring. It was a time to start preparing the fields for the first planting and to bless the crop seeds saved and stored from the last harvest. This is the time for purification and renewal. Today, we can begin to till our actual gardens and we can also symbolically till the soil of our souls by letting go of something (or some action) that no longer serves us and plant a seed of intention to bring into our lives what we most want to harvest this year. Like our ancestors, I joined with several of my women friends in circle this weekend to honor this turn of the wheel and to set intentions for what we would like to see blossom in our own lives. It was a sacred ceremony that was blessed by fire and water, the two elements most associated with Brigid. For me, these are symbolic of the feminine aspect of the life-giving water and the masculine energy of the fire—like the sun—that when joined together in union give birth to new life. Growth and opportunity are abundant in this landscape. During the winter season, we rest in the darkness of the womb and the sun will now purify and bring energy and light to a new vision for ourselves and our world. What are you longing for? What would you like to see bloom more fully in your life, your work, your relationships? Plant the seeds of intention now, nurture the ground, and harvest the gifts as we journey through the cycles of the seasons in the coming year.

Brigid was the goddess of healing, inspiration, craftsmanship and poetry, which the Irish considered the flame of knowledge. "Song" from Wendell Berry—farmer, tiller of the soil and soul, and poet:

Within the circles of our lives
we dance the circles of the years,
the circles of the seasons
within the circles of the years,
the cycles of the moon
within the circles of the seasons,
the circles of our reason
within the cycles of the moon.

Again, again we come and go,
changed, changing. Hands
join, unjoin in love and fear,
grief and joy. The circles turn,
each giving into each, into all
Only music keeps us here,

each by all the others held.
In the holds of hands and eyes
we turn in pairs, that joining
joining each to all again.

And then we turn aside, alone,
out of the sunlight gone

into the darker circles of return.

Love is my Religion

2010-01-28T10:05:00.000-08:00

My heart has become capable of every form: it is a pasture for gazelles and a convent for Christian monks, a temple for idols, and a Ka’ba for the pilgrims; it is a tablet of the Torah, and the book of the Koran. I profess the religion of Love, and whatever direction its steed may take, Love is my religion and my faith.

–Ibn Arabi, 12th c. Sufi

Ode to Georgia O'Keeffe

2010-01-20T11:21:00.000-08:00

A wonderful ode to one of my favorite artists and inspirations. Thank you Stonehengeblue .com for putting together this tribute with a wonderful Kate Bush song to go along with it.

Kuan Yin Painting

2010-01-13T09:14:00.000-08:00

Slow pace in the studio these days as is the rhythm of the Earth in winter. Kuan Yin is my muse as I continue bringing her to life on the canvas. Goddess of compassion, "She Who Hears the Cries of the World." Listening to Jennifer Berezan's "She Carries Me," a long chant to Kuan Yin and the Divine Mother, while I work—evoking the energy and compassion of this bodhisattva.

A Spiritual Journey

2010-01-11T11:34:00.000-08:00

A Spiritual Journey

And the world cannot be discovered by a journey of miles,
no matter how long,
but only by a spiritual journey,
a journey of one inch,
very arduous and humbling and joyful,
by which we arrive at the ground at our feet,
and learn to be at home.

~ Wendell Berry ~

New Year, Right Speech

2010-01-09T14:40:00.000-08:00

If the studio is the heart of Sacred Art Studio, my office (shown here) is the brain. I send these words out into the world with love and compassion. Aho!

In Derrick Jensen's brilliant and heartbreaking A Language Older Than Words, he writes, "Every morning when I wake up I ask myself whether I should write or blow up a dam. Every day I tell myself I should continue to write. Yet I'm not always convinced I'm making the right decision. I've written books and I've been an activist. At the same time I know neither a lack of words nor a lack of activism kills salmon here in the Northwest. It is the presence of dams." I hear his frustration and feel his pain around the extinction of so many species and for what is happening to our beloved planet. The new year has begun and already it seems like it will continue to be business as usual. Our world leaders failed to reach an agreement around climate change in Copenhagen, health care reform looks like it will benefit the insurance companies more than the individual, and there is ever more emphasis on fighting terrorism than in feeding our people or healing the Earth.

Most of us begin the new year with resolutions of one sort or another from losing weight to saving money or being better organized. I normally set intentions of what it is that I would like to actualize through the course of the year, but this year I have been feeling unusually inert as to where to put my time and energy. I get a wild idea to sell everything and go live in Africa or some where there appears to be a greater need, but I realize that there is also work to be done here at home. I ask myself what is my role during this planetary time? What is the role of my art in the face of climate change and environmental degradation? I believe deeply that we each have a role to play in what eco-theologian Thomas Berry coined the "Great Work," but like Jensen, some days it just doesn't feel like enough. I want to avoid sinking into helplessness and despair but that happens some days, too and that is okay. I often listen to Krista Tippett's interviews on Speaking of Faith while I work in the studio and her recent interview called, "The Wisdom of Tenderness," was with Jean Vanier, the Canadian philosopher and Catholic social innovator who founded L'Arche, a community centered around people with mental disabilities. It is such a beautiful and touching look into this little known community where there is such joy and tenderness. Love. Safe touch. Vanier speaks of falling in love with reality and realizing that in that reality God is present. In another interview, Kate Braestrup, a Unitarian-Universalist minister and author in Maine, "is called in when children disappear in the woods or when snowmobilers disappear under the ice. She calls herself a doer whose sense of God emerges from what happens between and among people." Both Vanier and Braetrup bring a sacred intention, love, and holy witnessing to their work on behalf of those who are different or who suffer. They remind me that I don't have to go to Africa to make a difference in the world, I do that right here, right now through my ability to be present to those in grief, my practice around holy listening, and creating beauty. Perhaps that is enough.

In his interview, Vanier quoted Ghandi: "I can't change the world, but I can change." This has given rise to my considering "right speech" from the Noble Eightfold Path, the Fourth Noble Truth in the Buddhist tradition. I feel called to speak on behalf our besieged and beautiful Earth, Pachamama, but sometimes my words have been interpreted as judgmental or condemning. I remembering hearing this twenty years ago when I was involved with AIDS education and outreach. Back then, the message was, "to be silent is to be complicit" (or silence=death) and I feel that today around the ecological crisis. I can't be silent now either and the fact is that this crisis will affect all life on Earth, not just what is perceived as a marginalized group of individuals. My intention is not to judge—after all I am part of the system and use resources, too—but to open the dialogue. Sometimes, in my passionate expression, instead of inviting others into the conversation certain language cuts short the dialogue, so the commitment for me now is: How to hear other perspectives, listen deeply without judgment, and speak from a place of mindfulness? Along with creating art, I intend to be attentive of this as I navigate the landscape of my relationships, my communities, and the larger world. Being more organized might have been a lot easier...sigh. Blessings to all beings in this new year.

Prayer of deep listening

In this century and in any century,
Our deepest hope, our most tender prayer,
Is that we learn to listen.
May we listen to one another in openness and mercy
May we listen to plants and animals in wonder and respect
May we listen to our hearts in love and forgiveness
May we listen to our deep spirit in quietness and awe.
And in this listening,
Which is boundless in its beauty,
May we find the wisdom to cooperate
With a healing spirit, a divine spirit,
who beckons us into peace and community and creativity.
We do not ask for a perfect world.
But we do ask for a better world.
We ask for deep listening.

-Jay McDaniel, Hendrix College

Happy Solstice

2009-12-21T13:03:00.000-08:00

A poem from Mary Oliver in honor of Solstice and the beauty of trees. This gorgeous pine greets me every morning when I head out to feed the birds. Blessings to our beautiful mother earth, Pachamama. And may all beings be blessed during this turning of the season as we move once again towards the light.

When I Am Among the Trees

When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks, and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.

I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.

Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, “Stay awhile.”
The light flows from their branches.

And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,
“and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine.”

—Mary Oliver, Thirst

Kuan Yin 4

2009-12-15T09:11:00.000-08:00

From the Tao Te Ching:
There was something formless yet complete,
That exited before heaven and earth;
Without sound, without substance,
Dependent on nothing, unchanging,
all pervading, unfailing.
One may think of it as the mother of
all things under heaven.
Its true name we do not know.

Charter for Compassion

2009-12-08T10:21:00.000-08:00

Karen Armstrong. An inspiration and visionary leader. A voice for compassion and bodhisattva of the heart.

Kuan Yin 3

2009-12-08T08:41:00.000-08:00

Listen to the deeds of Kuan Yin
Responding compassionately on every side
With great vows, deep as the ocean,
Through inconceivable periods of time,
Serving innumerable Buddhas,
Giving great, clear, and pure vows...
To hear her name, to see her body,
To hold her in the heart, is not in vain,
For she can extinguish the suffering of existence.

From the Buddhist Lotus Sutra

Kuan Yin 2 Progression

2009-12-03T07:41:00.001-08:00

Up before the dawn this morning, co-creating with the emergence of a new day. Gorgeous sunrise over the Cascades. I will continue to post images of my recent painting of Kuan Yin as she emerges from the canvas. In the spirit of the Divine Mother and the Taoist tradition:

The Taoist artist or poet intuitively reached into the secret essence of what he[she] was observing, making himself one with it, then inviting it to speak through him, so releasing the dynamic harmony within it. He imposed nothing of himself on it but reflected the creative soul of what he was observing through the highly developed skills that he had cultivated over a lifetime of practice. . . . The Tao flows through the whole work as cosmic presence, at once transcendent in its mystery and immanent in its form. —From The Divine Feminine by Andrew Harvey and Anne Baring

Impermance and Gratitude

2009-11-29T11:15:00.000-08:00

It has been another month since my last post here. I am just now getting psychically grounded after I was rear-ended at a traffic light on the 26th of last month. Like most of us, I was simply going about my life. In this particular case, I was heading to the market for a loaf of bread to go with my mother's 'famous' spaghetti which had been simmering all afternoon in preparation for dinner with a dear friend that evening. It was raining and dark, but I was was feeling very alive and joyous, singing, when my car was suddenly struck with great force from behind. I have been in a few small fender benders in my life, but for some reason this particular accident struck a deep cord in me. The accident literally stopped me in my tracks and I have been sitting with the notion of impermanence more attentively these days. I have been a student of Buddhism for many years, both in my meditation practice and as a framework in which to encounter life. Certainly the teachings around suffering—the First Noble Truth being that suffering exists—offered me great insight and comfort when I was in a very dark night of the soul twenty years ago after the deaths of my mother and brother (among others at the time). But it has been twenty years since I have experienced the death of someone close to me except several of my beloved four-leggeds. Like all of us, I have had my share of disappointments—loss of friendships and lovers, but no physical deaths close to my heart. I seem overdue somehow. On a smaller scale however, my accident—which totaled my car and left me with some neck injuries—was also another reminder for me of my mortality and how quickly life changes. Change. Impermanence. The cycle of life, like the cycles of nature. I wonder, do we need these traumas, small and large, in order to remember how precious every moment is when we get too complacent about life? I believe there is some truth to this (and wrote about this in my master's thesis) because these experiences often bring us more fully into the present moment and closer to Spirit, or God. "The wailing of the broken heart is the doorway to God." —Rumi (Trans: Coleman Barks). Last night, we held a sweat lodge ceremony at my spiritual community for one of our members who is journeying through a dark night of the soul after a series of familial deaths. There amidst the darkness, in the womb of Mother Earth, we each spoke of our grief and loss—both recent and distant—as well as the darkness that comes before the light and the gifts that grow out of our suffering (however long that process takes). We remember that we are grieving because we dared to love so much. It was beautiful, healing, and an honor to bear witness to the deep sharing from the heart.

Over the past two decades, I have worked to not take life for granted, to see the beauty everyday even amidst the grief at times, and acknowledge that death is an inevitable fact of life. As a result, I ask myself often: "What it is that I am here to do, to be?" But life, as it will, happens and sometimes it's easy to get caught up in busyness or fear especially now with a deep recession and our world in the midst of change. My accident forced me to slow down, stop, and so I am asking the question again and realize that I have been attempting to do too much. I believe we all have many gifts, but also that there is one gift that we are here to serve, to bring to the world. "Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it." —Buddha. And in answering the question for me, art is always at the forefront of this conversation. How can art and beauty be a vehicle for healing ourselves and our world. I quote this often but feel it bears repeating many many times! "How do we find beauty in a broken world? By creating beauty in the world we find." —Terry Tempest Williams

So, it is with humble gratitude that I allow myself to be a messenger for spirit to work through me in order that I might create art/beauty that moves the heart. I don't normally show my work until it is complete but several people have asked me about my process lately, so I wanted to post these photos from my studio. The teal Buddha is complete as you can see on my web site and waiting for its owner to take possession. Inspired by my process in creating the Buddha, the feminine face of the Buddhist tradition asked to be revealed as well, so Kuan Yin or the Goddess of Compassion (She Who Hears the Cries of the World) called out to me. I am answering that call. In closing, from Spiritual Artist, Alex Grey's book, Art Psalms.

At Risk

Life is always lived at risk.
We may grow complacent
And not realize it.
We may not smell the fresh sweat
Of anxiety or excitement,
But what are we breathing for?
Touch the nerve of passion
And live for greatness.
Fear of failure stops many,
But Death stops everyone.
So love without restraint,
Create the New,
Follow the courage of your highest dreams.
Fate favors your daring.
Risk surrendering to Love,
And gain your Soul.

Beauty

2009-10-28T07:33:00.000-07:00

The arts, whose task once was considered to be that of manifesting the beautiful, will discuss the idea only to dismiss it, regarding beauty only as the pretty, the simple, the pleasing, the mindless and the easy. Because beauty is conceived so naively, it appears as merely naive, and can be tolerated only if complicated by discord, shock, violence, and harsh terrestrial realities. I therefore feel justified in speaking of the repression of beauty. -James Hillman

And from John O'Donohue's Beauty: The Invisible Embrace:
"When we awaken to the call of beauty, we become aware of new ways of being in the world. We were created to be creators. At its deepest heart, creativity is meant to serve and evoke beauty. When this desire and capacity come alive, new wells spring up in parched ground; difficulty becomes invitation and rather than striving against the grain of our nature, we fall into rhythm with its deepest urgency and passion. The time is now ripe for beauty to surprise and liberate us. (7) And "In order to become attentive to beauty, we need to rediscover the art of reverence. . . . A sense of reverence includes the recognition that one is always in the presence of the sacred. To live with reverence is to live without judgment, prejudice and the saturation of consumerism." (11)

"Beauty will save the world." —Dostoevsky

Some things to think about on these rainy and blustery Autumnal days. Slowing down, honoring the rhythm of the Earth, the cycles of the seasons, while creating Beauty.

Within the circle of our lives
we dance the circle of the years,
the circles of the seasons
within the circles of the years,
the cycles of the moon
within the circles of the season,
the circles of our reasons
within the cycles of the moon.
–Wendell Berry

Above is my Harvest Moon: Autumn Mandala
The harvest moon is the moon at and about the period of fullness that is nearest to the autumnal equinox. The Fall is the time for going inward. Here, the bears represent the hibernation or inwardness of the spirit as they march to the west which is the cardinal direction associated with the Fall. The dream catcher in the center adds to this theme where the jeweled net of Indra (from the Buddhist tradition) invites us to remember that all phenomena are intimately connected.

350 Art Event with Greenpeace

2009-10-25T10:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, around the world, people got creative and took a stand on behalf of global warming. This is from the 350.org website. "On 24 October, people in 181 countries came together for the most widespread day of environmental action in the planet's history. At over 5200 events around the world, people gathered to call for strong action and bold leadership on the climate crisis." Check out the web site for more images. Very powerful! I participated in an art event sponsored by Greenpeace in SE Portland. I was selected to be the 'featured artist' for the event but I can tell you that everyone in that hall was/is an artist and they did amazing artwork on behalf of our beautiful, beloved Earth—Pachamama. Thank you, Portland! I facilitated the creation of the community mural shown at the top inviting people to draw, write, or collage something they love or something they are sad about losing as a result of global climate change. This despair and hope mural is the result and it was an honor to bear witness to those who created it. I even rocked out to "Notes from the Underground" (shown here) which was a blast from the past. I live amidst silence for the most part these days, so although it was hard on the ears, they were great as were all the musicians. So much creativity and art with heart!

For Love of the Earth!

Art in Service to Earth Healing

2009-10-22T10:10:00.000-07:00

Planetize the Movement from drew dellinger on Vimeo.

An amazing video from the poet and activist Drew Dellinger. He asks us on behalf of future generations: "What did you do, once you knew?" Very Powerful.

Love and Threholds

2009-10-20T22:08:00.000-07:00

A friend recently loaned me Paulo Coelho's The Valkyries. It's always interesting the synchronicity in which relevant insights or messages show up in our lives via books or other means just when it is needed most. As I close out this decade and prepare for the next chapter of this amazing journey called life, I have been spending time in reflection as is natural when crossing any threshold that brings us to another level of consciousness or growth. While in the same breath, I wrestle with my Buddha nature that insists that I remain in the present moment. So, I surrender the battle and allow to be as it is and trust that some pearl of wisdom will come forward that needs to be expressed through me. It's not terribly comfortable in this place—this liminal space, betwixt and between—where there is potential for a symbolic death before a rebirth. Like the quintessential symbol of transformation, the butterfly in the chrysalis, awaiting its emergence to the light. Butterflies have always been a spirit guide for me (long before I knew what that meant) and always appear during times of transition whether through my drawings as a teen, more recently in this mandala as seen above, or like today in my meditation. So, I wait...I reflect. I believe Kierkegaard was correct that "Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Which leads me back to the Coelho book.

The Valkyries is an autobiographic account of his 40-day pilgrimage into the Mojave Desert to find the answer to: "Why is it that we destroy the things we love most?" The Valkyries are spiritual warriors in the guise of a motorcycle gang made up of leather clad women, led by Valhalla. They are messengers who ride through the desert preaching of a new world to come, one that is grounded in love. (The book is rich with symbolism and I highly recommend reading it.) According to Coelho, we enter into pacts with ourselves and the world around us that keep us from pursuing our dreams. Ultimately, he adds, out of fear we end up sabotaging our relationships and our potential for success. While reading, this also reminded me of Marianne Williamson who wrote: "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure." The story unfolds like that of an indigenous rite of initiation that includes a tripartite process of separation, transformation, and return. In the book, there occurs what appears to be a ritual cleansing of sorts at the start of the journey where he and his wife go into the desert and nearly die from heat stroke. Separation from reality into non-ordinary reality. Coelho and his wife then enter a cave (the chrysalis of transformation) with Valhalla and recounts the pact he made with himself when he was in his twenties to stop believing in magic, love, and his gift. He emerges into the light and later receives forgiveness during a ritual theatre encounter. By the end of the novel, Coehlo makes a bet with his angel—a blue butterfly—to believe again. Acceptance and return. A symbolic death/rebirth occurs and the initiation process is complete. We often hear this referred to as the heroes journey to the underworld and his/her triumphant return bearing gifts for the world. In Coehlo's parable, we discover it is love that is our greatest gift.

He writes: "We, at this moment in history, must develop our own powers. We must believe that the universe doesn't end at the walls of our room. We must accept the signs, and follow our heart and our dreams. " And, "The day will come when love will be accepted.....Our defects, our dangerous depths our suppressed hatreds, our moments of weakness and desperation—all are unimportant. If what we want to do is heal ourselves first, so that then we can go in search of our dreams, we will never reach paradise. If, on the other hand, we accept all that is wrong about us—and despite it, believe that we are deserving of a happy life—then we will have thrown open an immense window that will allow Love to enter. Little by little, our defects will disappear, because one who is happy can look at the world only with love—the force that regenerates everything that exists in the Universe."

A deep soul immersion, or pilgrimage, to the Utah desert has been calling me for some time but taking 40 days out of my life right now isn't an option. So, I ask myself, how can everyday be a pilgrimage towards opening more fully to love—right here, right now. Love is at the heart of all spiritual traditions. Love for the beloved, the neighbor, for God/Spirit. And for me, love of the Earth. Twenty years ago, I underwent a journey to the underworld and returned transformed out of the darkness. Since that time, I have broken the pact that had prevented me from living my life as an artist but I wonder where are the places in my life where I have prevented love from entering amidst my ambitions, my fears? How do I sabotage my own happiness at times? So, I wait. Sit in the unknowing of this threshold time. I reflect on my life. Learning to accept, to forgive the past, and open more fully to love in the present moment. As Valhalla says, "There is no sin but the lack of love." What is the pact you have made that prevents you from living your dreams? What is the pact you made that prevents you from believing you are worthy to love and be loved? These are the questions that I am asking of myself these days. Never give up on your dreams or love!

The Truelove by David Whyte

There is a faith in loving fiercely
the one who is rightfully yours,
especially if you have
waited years and especially
if part of you never believed
you could deserve this
loved and beckoning hand
held out to you this way.

I am thinking of faith now
and the testaments of loneliness
and what we feel we are
worthy of in this world.

Years ago in the Hebrides
I remember an old man
who walked every morning
on the grey stones
to the shore of baying seals,

who would press his hat
to his chest in the blustering
salt wind and say his prayer
to the turbulent Jesus
hidden in the water,

and I think of the story
of the storm and everyone
waking and seeing
the distant
yet familiar figure
far across the water
calling to them,

and how we are all
waiting for that
abrupt waking,
and that calling,
and that moment
we have to say yes,
except it will
not come so grandly,
so Biblically,
but more subtly
and intimately in the face
of the one you know
you have to love,

so that when
we finally step out of the boat
toward them, we find
everything holds
us, and everything confirms
our courage, and if you wanted
to drown you could,
but you don't

because finally
after all this struggle
and all these years,
you don't want to any more,
you've simply had enough
of drowning,
and you want to live and you
want to love and you will
walk across any territory
and any darkness,
however fluid and however
dangerous, to take the
one hand you know
belongs in yours.

Messages of love, hope, and creativity

2009-10-10T18:43:00.001-07:00

I've been reflecting on the Hopi message today and watched an interview with Joanna Macy from the Pachamama Alliance. Powerful messages of hope, love, creativity, and imagination! We are the ones we've been waiting for. Aho

Message from the Hopi Elders
We have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour
Now you must go back and tell the people that this is the Hour
And there are things to be considered.

Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in the right relation?
Where is your water?
Know your garden.

It is time to speak your truth
Create your community.
Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for the leader.
This could be a good time!
There is a river flowing now very fast
It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid.
They will try to hold onto the shore.
They will feel they are being torn apart and they will suffer greatly.
Know the river has its destination.
The elders say we must let go of the shore, and push off and into the river,
Keep our eyes open, and our head above the water.
See who is in there with you and Celebrate.
At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally.
Least of all ourselves.
For the moment that we do,
Our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.

The time of the lone wolf is over, Gather yourselves!
Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your vocabulary.
All that you do now must be done in a sacred manner
And in celebration.

"We are the ones we have been waiting for..."

The Elders, Hopi Nation, Oraibi, Arizona 2000

Reverence & Reverie Artist Statement

2009-09-23T09:01:00.000-07:00

From my current exhibit, in the event that you are unable to view the works in person. See previous post for more info. Blessings and peace on this second day of Autumn.

“The love of Beauty is a reverent love for the miracle of nature and for the all-pervasive marks of divinity to be found in it; nature reveals to us in common things ‘the parable of deep things, the analogies of divinity.’”
— Umberto Eco, History of Beauty

Over the last eight years my work has evolved to reflect my deepening contemplative experience of the world around me. During the days following the events of 9/11, I felt a profound sense of oneness with all beings and had a vision after the Day of Remembrance that became the painting shown here, 911: love is the answer. A year later, during a training with Buddhist and environmentalist Joanna Macy, I had a mystical experience that was a spiritual homecoming to my interconnectedness in the web of life. These encounters with the numinous are at the heart of my work and these paintings. My intention is to create a visual scripture that communicates our innate interdependence in the web of creation regardless of our religious or spiritual path.

My recent graduate studies in the spiritual traditions of the world have given me a broader understanding of the shared symbolism that weaves itself throughout the sacred texts of our religious traditions, along with those of earth-honoring traditions. Drawing from a vast reservoir of sacred literature, I create a symbolic language that is both personal and universal to inform the narrative of my paintings. The mandala, which I began working with in 2003, has long been a vehicle for contemplation and healing in many Eastern and indigenous traditions as well in the Christian tradition, most notably by the 12th c. Abbess Hildegard von Bingen. The mandala, like the medicine wheel, provides a framework for me to weave together both religious themes and images associated with the four seasons, the four elements (earth, fire, air, and water), and the four cardinal directions as a way of connecting the viewer to the sacred that is available to us in the everyday. This reverence for the earth—or Pachamama as she is known in South America—was reinforced again for me during a pilgrimage to Peru in 2006 where I was introduced to the ancient spiritual teachings of the Andes, which inspired three paintings in this show. It has been said that in order to counter the ecological crisis we need an aesthetic revolution. My work is a contribution to this endeavor.

Reverence and Art as Prayer

2009-09-15T10:07:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted here in over a month. Hard to believe that much time has passed but we must surrender when the muse takes over and a deadline emerges! A synchronicity occurred where I was given the opportunity to show my paintings during the month of September, so the world dropped away as I immersed myself in the universal flow of creative energy in order to finish two large paintings. One of these is "The Annunciation." shown here. It's large, 4 x 4' so she is so more beautiful and luminous in person, if you get the opportunity.

The Archangel Gabriel appears throughout the sacred texts in the Abrahamic tradition. To announce the birth of St. John the Baptist to Zechariah; to announce the birth of Christ to the Virgin Mary; and finally, appearing to the Prophet Mohammed to reveal the Quran in the Islamic tradition. All these announced the birth of a new era in history. Here, I take this theme of annunciation to symbolize the birth of an emerging consciousness that is occurring around the globe, which is grounded in the recognition of our innate interconnectedness in the web of creation. The angel is depicted as female, or Gabriella, representative of the sacred feminine.

The show is up until the end of the month at the Doll Gardner Gallery inside the West Hills Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Sanctuary. I'm showing with another sacred artist, Robin Urton, shown with me in the above photo, who does beautiful paintings on plexiglass. From our invitation:

Synchronicity brought Robin Urton and Amy Livingstone together, leading to an awareness of a shared artistic vision rooted in reverence for the earth. Drawing inspiration from a combination of personal reverie, sacred mythologies, and the world’s spiritual traditions, this exhibit reflects the sensibility of creating art as a sacred act. The intention of the work is to awaken hearts to beauty and the divine presence woven throughout the fabric of everyday life.

During my days and nights in the sanctuary of my studio, I thought a lot about prayer as my work is a form of meditation imbued with a sacred intention and an intense focus which I bring to the process--much like that of Tibetan monks who create elaborate sand mandalas. Part of this inquiry was prompted by my listening to a podcast with Krista Tippett on Speaking of Faith. In the past, prayer always entailed bargaining with an invisible omnipotent God and for nearly two decades, I had a strong aversion to the word itself. Twenty years ago, I prayed to God to save my brother who was diagnosed with AIDS. My prayers went unanswered and my brother died two years later. Being a lapsed Protestant, I figured why would "He" answer my prayers? When my mother died nine months later, I decided then there was no God otherwise how could God allow so much suffering. I was young at the time and didn't have the wisdom to understand that suffering is a part of life, too. It wasn't until I discovered Buddhism in the wake of these losses that I found some comfort around this truth. This didn't prevent me from grieving for a very long period but those where also transformative years. Deep reflection and questioning of life's greater mysteries. Why am I here? What is my purpose? What is the meaning of life? It was the beginning of my spiritual awakening and a shift in perspective that continues to inform my life.

What I have discovered and what the Speaking of Faith guests also affirmed for me was that prayer doesn't necessarily have to be tied to a deity. Of course, it can be if that is part of a religious tradition such as Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, etc. I find it beautiful that in Islam, Muslims stop what they are doing, turn towards Mecca, and pray to Allah (God) five times a day. For me, there is a deep sense of reverence imbued into everyday life in this practice. This is similar to the indigenous peoples of Peru, who ask permission and make an offering to the Apus (mountain spirits) or Pachamama (Mother Earth) before any endeavor to show reverence and respect. So I have reclaimed the word prayer for myself through the sacred act of creating art. Silence, stillness, contemplation, the paintbrush gliding along the canvas, gratitude for the gift that has been bestowed upon me in this life. All acts of prayer, praise. My offering to the healing of our hearts and our world. Our world is moving so fast and I do strongly believe that one of the most radical things we can do is to simply slow down. To be more present to life, to each other, and to the natural world. Awaken to beauty, the sacred. We don't need to wait until we lose someone we love or face an illness to have a shift in perspective, we can choose gratitude—right here, right now. Caroline Myss has a wonderful video clip on this. Living in Gratitude. Reverence. Gratitude. Praise. Prayer. Art as prayer.
May all beings know peace. Aho.

A Beauty Blessing Poem

2009-08-12T09:24:00.000-07:00

A Beauty Blessing
- John O'Donohue

As stillness in stone to silence is wed
May your heart be somewhere a God might dwell.

As a river flows in ideal sequence
May your soul discover time in presence.

As the moon absolves the dark of resistance
May thought-light console your mind with brightness.

As the breath of light awakens colour
May the dawn anoint your eyes with wonder.

As spring rain softens the earth with surprise
May your winter places be kissed by light.

As the ocean dreams to the joy of dance
May the grace of change bring you elegance.

As clay anchors a tree in light and wind
May your outer life grow from peace within.

As twilight fills night with bright horizons
May beauty await you at home beyond.

Bearing Witness

2009-08-03T15:35:00.000-07:00

A heartfelt message from author and environmentalist Terry Tempest Williams regarding the state of our public lands in the American West. These sacred lands are essentially under siege by the oil and gas industry with the support of our government (and many citizens of our country). I had no prior knowledge of the current environmental and human devastation including the high rates of cancer caused by the effects of coal extraction in Wyoming. It's heartbreaking but important to see. To learn, to bear witness, to act. Perhaps we can find a way to simplify our wants and desires? To put less strain on our natural resources? What is happening in the United States is but a microcosm of what is happening worldwide on our beloved planet. I'm told a coal-fired plant goes online every day in China. It grieves me and I feel helpless yet again to stop this massive ecological assault but I can't turn away either. We, as a global community, cannot afford to turn away either. In his Nobel Peace Prize winning memoir of the Holocaust, Night, Elie Wiesel writes: "Convinced that this period in history would be judged one day, I knew that I must bear witness." This resonates deeply for me not only around the ecological crisis but twenty years ago I felt called to bear witness and speak out during the early years of the AIDS pandemic. After my brother died from AIDS in 1989, I became an activist offering education and outreach to heterosexual communities, but was ultimately met with denial. Fortunately, there are now drugs to extend life but so many people worldwide continue to be devastated by this disease. Unfortunately, there are no magic pills to cure the ecological crisis. This will require a radical shift in consciousness and in our way of living. But as the economic crisis has been teaching us, sometimes simpler can be better. More time for family, friends, community, creativity, simple pleasures. How will we be judged by future generations? What will be remembered about this time in history will be determined by how we respond right here, right now. Denial is not an option.

"The eyes of the future are looking back at us and they are praying for us to see beyond our own time. They are kneeling with hands clasped that we might act with restrain, that we might leave room for the life that is destined to come. To protect what is wild is to protect what is gentle. Perhaps the uncertainty we fear is the pause between our own heartbeats, the silent space that says we live only by grace. Wild mercy is in our hands." -Terry Tempest Williams, Red: Passion and Patience in the Desert

Sacred Art Studio Icon and Peru

2009-07-26T11:48:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd share the symbolism around my logo and the inspiration behind it as it directly reflects the intention for my work, my spiritual journey, and the vision that I hold for the world during this transformative time in our history. I painted this icon when I returned from a pilgrimage to Peru in 2006. Dear friends from Canada—Terence, Carol, and Jim, who are also spiritual teachers for me—lead small groups to Peru in order that we may experience this sacred landscape and learn from the indigenous peoples the ancient spiritual teachings of the Andes. The intention for our pilgrimage was inspired in part by The Prophecy of the Eagle and the Condor. There is a lot on the web around the prophecy but in brief:

The prophecy story relates that in the beginning all the earth’s people were one, but long ago they divided into two groups, and each one followed a different path to development. The people of the Eagle became highly scientific and intellectual, indicative of a masculine energy. This would represent those of us living in the industrialized West. Whereas, the people of the Condor became highly attuned to nature and the intuitive realm, or what might be the feminine energy. This refers to the indigenous peoples—or the people of the heart.

It was foretold in the ancient prophecy that during this period of time, or what is referred to as the Fifth Pachacuti (world turned upside down), civilization would be on the brink of collapse which we are now seeing in the extensive ecological degradation of the planet as well as the recent breakdown of our economic structures. The prophecy says that at this time in the earth’s history, the Eagle people and the Condor people will rejoin. Remembering that they are one people, they will reconnect, remember their common origin, share their knowledge and wisdom, and save each other. The eagle and condor will fly together in the same sky, wing to wing, and the world will come into balance after a point of near extinction. Neither the eagles nor the condors will survive without this collaboration, and from this rejoining of the two peoples, a new alloy consciousness will emerge that honors the Eagle people for their remarkable accomplishments of the mind, and honors the Condor people for the deep wisdom of the heart. Together—and only together—the crisis will be resolved and a sustainable future will emerge for all.

As a small community, or allyu, we visited the holy sites of Machu Picchu, Tipon, Ollantaytambo, and Pisaq where we spent time in ceremony and learning from a native community—dear friends/family of our leaders—who are bringing back the ancient ways under the tutelage of the Q’ero shamans. This wonderful community of men, women, and children opened their hearts to us, invited us into their world, and shared their great wisdom (and music!) with us. I felt a profound connection to all the people of Peru as well as to the Earth, or Pachamama as she is known in South America. This truly was a sacred encounter between the eagle and the condor. What a gift to undertake this journey as so many others who are now being called to this holy land. Our allyu was additionally blessed to encounter His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Cusco while he was there making a visit to meet with the Q’eros people, who continue to live high in the Andes and live in reciprocity, or ayni, with Pachamama.

When I returned I was inspired to begin a series of artworks around this journey and am continuing the project at this time. I also felt called to create an icon or logo that would integrate the wisdom of these teachings to represent the long term vision for my work in the world and the studio. The result is a synthesis of the Inka Cross and the mandala (see Shri Yantra Mandala post for more information on mandalas). The Inka Cross (or Chakana) traditionally has wider sections in the north, east, south, and west quadrants, but I felt inspired to emphasize the symmetry throughout the piece to symbolize the balance between the masculine and feminine—as represented by the sun/moon and the yin/yang symbols. The spiral in the North represents the deepening spiritual journey that is needed for all beings to bring about the new emerging consciousness that the prophecy speaks to. The three-stepped quadrants in each of the four directions symbolize: the places we meet or the three realms (upper, middle, lower), the spirit helpers for each realm (condor, puma, serpent), what we bring to community (mind, body, heart) and the three ways we come together in community (labor for all, connection, reciprocity). The Inka cross essentially represents a spiritual and ethical framework for living in harmony with each other and the Earth. And at the center my icon is the heart of the world—love—which is my vision for a world at peace and one that honors the Earth and all life upon her. May it be so. Aho.

A Vision

2009-07-17T09:47:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite poems by Wendell Berry and it comes to me after reading yesterday that "the Obama administration approved the sale of timber in a roadless national forest in Alaska. The Tongass National Forest is a 17 million acre temperate rain forest in southeast Alaska, which is home to both endangered species and native Alaskan tribes. It is the largest temperate rain forest in the United States." (source: huffingtonpost.com)

A Vision
–Wendell Berry
If we will have the wisdom to survive,
to stand like slow-growing trees
on a ruined place, renewing, enriching it,
if we will make our seasons welcome here,
asking not too much of earth or heaven,
then a long time after we are dead
the lives our lives prepare will live
here, their houses strongly placed
upon the valley sides, fields and gardens
rich in the windows. The river will run
clear, as we will never know it,
and over, birdsong like a canopy.
On the levels of the hills will be
green meadows, stock bells in noon shade.
On the steeps where greed and ignorance cut down
the old forest, an old forest will stand,
its rich leaf-fall drifting on its roots.
The veins of forgotten springs will have opened.
Families will be singing in the fields.
In their voices they will hear a music
risen out of the ground. They will take
nothing from the ground they will not return,
whatever the grief at parting. Memory,
native to this valley, will spread over it
like a grove, and memory will grow
into legend, legend into song, song
into sacrament. The abundance of this place,
the songs of its people and its birds,
will be health and wisdom and indwelling
light. This is no paradisal dream.
Its hardship is it possibility.

Rose Mandala

2009-07-16T11:43:00.000-07:00

Someone asked me recently if I mapped out my mandalas on the computer. How times have changed! No, I replied, in fact they emerge quite organically. These mandalas are highly detailed and call for intense focus, so my process is very much a meditation for me. Often there are periods of waiting and trusting that what is needing to come forward will show itself to me. I begin all my sessions in the studio by lighting candles on the altar; making an offering to the muses or spirit helpers that want to support me that day; and smudging myself, the work, and the studio. Having created this sacred space, I ask for guidance that I may be a vehicle for spirit to move through me. For personalized soul symbol mandalas, such as this one, I hold a vision of the person that I am creating it for and an intention for bringing forward those aspects of the soul that want to be acknowledged, celebrated, or healed. (see Shri Yantra Mandala post for more information on soul symbol mandalas)

My dear friend, Christina Rose, ask that I paint a mandala for her and gave no specific direction. She simply trusted in my vision. Of course, I wanted there to be a rose to be at the center. At first, I began work on a very different, peach rose but after wrestling with that for a time I realized it just wasn't working. I let go of my resistance and was guided intuitively to go in a different direction. Over the years, I have come to see that this is part of my process. I start down one road, hit a bump, and turn in another direction. I've learned to trust this and know that in the end the work will be better for it.

I drew inspiration from the many aspects of what I know about Christina, her spiritual path, and what nourishes her soul. This is what I shared with her when I presented her with the mandala:

In the Christian tradition, the white rose is a symbol of the Virgin Mary. It represents reverence, purity, and humility. From an Eastern perspective, we might also call this egolessness.

Drawing from the indigenous medicine wheel:
In the North, the earth element: This represents your love of the earth. In the East, the air element: The dove represents your want for peace. In the South, the fire element: The hands and heart represent your love/passion for your partner and community. In the West, the water element: The fish represent your astrological sign, Pisces.

Inspired by the gold that is used in illuminated manuscripts, the gold creates a holy framework to hold each of your soul elements in a sacred manner.

Everything is Sacred

2009-07-15T09:31:00.000-07:00

In an interview with Derrick Jensen in Listening to the Land, the late Thomas Berry said, "If nothing is sacred, nothing is safe." He was referring to those individuals who walk among us who can look at a forest and see boards of lumber (i.e., money) instead of seeing the holiness of the forest, or the trees. Is the Earth not sacred? That which gives us life, food, the air we breath, the water we drink? Right now, in the Amazon of Peru, an attack is being waged against the indigenous peoples and the forest by transnational corporations to extract oil. (http://www.survival-international.org/news/4706). No surprise considering the US and Peru signed a Free Trade Agreement not so long ago. Yesterday, The Washington Post published an article by Sarah Palin who is advocating for extensive oil and gas exploration in Alaska as well as large parts of the American West. (http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51618&id=16575-3211187-qBEREfx&t=5.) The oil industry is working overtime to defeat clean energy. This grieves me deeply. I don't have the answer on how to supply the world with the growing demand for fuel and energy, but from what I understand we do have the technology to bring green, sustainable energy to market.

How do I take in all this information without living in hopelessness or despair? I allow myself to feel the pain of the world. My heart breaks. While in the same breath, the miracle is that I am simply awed by the wonder of creation. The light coming through the trees and the birdsong this morning moved me to tears. Listening to the coo-coo-coo of the mourning dove, we are one. There is so much beauty around us, we need only slow down and be present to it. For me, awakening to beauty is how we awaken to the sacred in the everyday. If everything is sacred, everything is safe. One of my favorite authors and voices for the Earth is Terry Tempest Williams. She writes eloquently about beauty, art, and the natural world. She asks the question "where do we find beauty in a broken world?" in her most recent book and discovers that "we find beauty in a broken world by creating beauty in the world we find." Creating beauty, art, as a form of devotion to the sacred. This is my calling. What is yours? I believe we each have a gift that is uniquely our own that is asking to be brought forward during this planetary time. We need your gift. The world needs it. To quote the Buddha: "Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it."

Prayer for Peace

2009-07-06T16:11:00.000-07:00

'Prayer' 2009
Clay (unfired)

This sculpture transformed through many different variations before this Kuan Yin-like figure emerged out of the clay. Kuan Yin or “She Who Hears the Cries of the World,” is the Bodhisattva of compassion in the Eastern Traditions. In the West, we also know her as Mary, Sophia, Shekinah, the Beloved, or Goddess—the Sacred Feminine who goes by so many names. This piece speaks to me as a prayer for peace through compassion. This is my artful prayer towards ending violence against the other and towards all Creation, our beloved Mother Earth, who gives and sustains life. According to Thich Nhat Hanh: "What we most need to do is to hear within us the sounds of the Earth crying.” At this time in history, I believe we are all being called to listen and to bear witness to each other and to the living body of the Earth. By being present in this way, we break open our hearts to compassion and begin the journey towards healing and hope.

Overcome any bitterness that may have come
because you were not up to the magnitude of the pain
that was entrusted upon you.
Like the Mother of the world,
who carries the pain of the world in her heart,
each one of us is part of her heart,
and therefore endowed
with a certain measure of cosmic pain.
You are sharing in the totality of that pain.
You are called upon to meet it in joy
instead of self-pity.
—Sufi saying

May all beings know peace.

Shri Yantra Mandala

2009-07-03T15:08:00.000-07:00

Shri Yantra Mandala

Soul-symbol Mandala for G. Ota
At the center of the mandala is a Hindu 'Shri Yantra.' This represents the union between the masculine and feminine. The Sri Yantra is a configuration of nine interlacing triangles centered around the bindu (center), drawn by the super imposition of five downward pointing triangles, representing Shakti; the female principle and four upright triangles, representing Shiva; the male principle. The nine triangles also represent the spiritual journey from the material realm to ultimate enlightenment. I was drawn to this symbol for you as it brings together in union your bold, masculine nature (as you spoke of with me) with those feminine aspects of yourself—compassionate heart, relationality, generosity, and healer.

The center of the mandala symbolizes the cosmos, the union with the divine (enoughness), which is then held by the cycles of the moon (31 days to represent your birth month) and nature (where you feel closest to God) and the cycles of the seasons. The four Japanese characters read as the cycles of the seasons. To the North is Winter. To the East is Spring (daffodils). To the South is Summer (echinacea). To the West is Fall. Framing the mandala, I was drawn to the bright red and green from the Japanese culture which represents your ancestral line and wisdom. The lotus pattern a reminder of death, rebirth, and healing. When you meditate with this mandala, my hope is that you will know that you are more than enough and whole. You are one with all creation and a gift to us all.

About Soul Symbol Mandalas
Mandala is sanskrit for circle. The mandala has long been a vehicle for healing and meditation in many spiritual traditions including Native American and Tibetan sand paintings. In Christianity, the twelfth-century abbess and visionary Hildegard of Bingen often expressed her illuminations of God through mandala paintings. A mandala represents wholeness and can be seen as a cosmic diagram that reminds us of our connection to the Divine, or God, as well as our interconnectedness in the web of life. In this way, mandalas are an expression of the Sacred that is both immanent and transcendent.

My studies in the spiritual traditions of the world have given me a broader understanding of the shared symbolism that weaves itself throughout the sacred texts of Eastern and Western religions—most notably within the mystical arms of these religions—with those of earth-honoring traditions. It is my intention to create a visual tapestry that expresses our innate interconnectedness within the web of life. In 2002, I began practicing and studying earth-based spirituality and, more recently, shamanism which is an ancient but still practiced healing modality among indigenous communities around the world. Bringing together these two ancient healing practices of the mandala and shamanism, I offer original soul-symbol mandalas to support you on your spiritual and healing journey. Contact me at www.sacredartstudio.net for more information. aho