We share a love of green, so I especially appreciated the picture of the pin attached to her cloth Earth Prayer ...
seen here in its entirety ...
Marti's cloths are dyed with what she finds on the land in New Mexico, then thought-fully stitched, brimming with story.
And her words (as many of us know and love) are spun from a lifetime of experiences woven into thoughtful reflections. She is a treasure.
Thanks Liz for sharing my joy in receiving your Imagine Peace pin; it encircles me with Hope.
ReplyDeleteI read a lot of blogs and this morning, one in particular, Cate Kerr's http://www.beyondthefieldsweknow.org/ had a quote from Barry Lopez that so aptly expresses how I feel about the connections made from the sharing that permeates our community of artists. My cloth inspirations come mainly from the landscape around me and that includes the inner landscape, that place that brings forth shared concerns, and life cycles - life cycles that come from a place of heart, knowing and sharing from so many gifted artists of cloth, of words, of paint, of drawings, of metal, etc. These words from Barry Lopez ring true:
"an artist has to remind herself or himself, in other words, that when you write or paint or compose music, you draw in mysterious ways on the courtesy and genius of the community. It is this sensitivity to gifts welling up unbidden, this awareness of the fate of the community, no matter how ego-driven or self-absorbed a writer or artist might become, and no matter how singular the work, that divides art from commerce.
In traditional communities all over the world, this ethic of communal reciprocity, in my experience, is what separates acts of selfishness from the work of leadership. The role of the artist, in part, is to develop the conversations, the stories, the drawings, the films, the music—the expressions of awe and wonder and mystery—that remind us, especially in our worst times, of what is still possible, of what we haven't yet imagined. And it is by looking to one another, by attending to the responsibilities of maintaining good relations in whatever we do, that communities turn a gathering darkness into light."
ReplyDelete!!!!!!! when the pic appeared i thought something Magic had happened
somehow...that you, Marti, had created a blog! Then i realized.
How good you share this, Liz.
Marti -
ReplyDeleteI hesitated to interpret Earth Prayer, hoping you would supply its meaning in your own words. And Barry Lopez, another magical word weaver, fits perfectly.
Grace -
Wouldn't that be awesome?
Earth Prayer came about on the last day of 2016 and is the first cloth that I have made this year. It began with the gift of a rusty bolt from my nephew who had found it on one of his trail walks along the Rio Grande. He aid he felt strongly that I needed it, wanted me to have it.
ReplyDeleteThe morning of Jan. 1st, I felt compelled to do something with cloth and the rusty bolt so cloth was wrapped around the bolt, splashed with a bit of vinegar, placed outside, to sit in the wind and cold and sun. When I unrolled it from the bolt, the cloth had a strong story, it spoke to me of land, as do most of my cloths but this one had an urgency, never felt before with other cloths. The markings were rust, signifying decay, time passage but land breathes life in the form of the green of growing, of renewal so I dug through my dyed pieces to find greens and the deep brown of rich earth.
As I searched, I thought about all the places that we have lived in, all of the different landscapes. How each one gave me a blessing unique to its location. I thought of how we desecrate the land by our indifference, by our littering, by our carelessness and how our precious Earth, though struggling,tries to keep on giving. These thoughts dovetailed with the notion that we all come from so many varied places but we connect and come together in understanding and caring for each other, our communities, our planet.
In light of the current political reality, it seemed absolutely imperative to create a prayer for our first Mother, Earth, and so this cloth came into being using pieces dyed from the past two years here in New Mexico. As I do with all of my cloths, when it was finished I placed it outside to receive the wind, the sun and to give thanks to the land for giving me the materials that I used to create this cloth.
Marti -
ReplyDeleteThank you for this ...
Such thought-filled words.
ReplyDeleteLiz...your tiny works are making a huge difference. You are a blessing to many, but, especially, me.
Sue -
ReplyDeleteThank you, as always. I must confess to being a bit overwhelmed, but in a very good way.
namaste
ReplyDelete(((Mo))) ... this too I learned from you
ReplyDeleteit is peaceful just looking in thank you for sharing
ReplyDeletehappy spring gentle day
cynthia
Cynthia -
ReplyDeleteThank you for coming by and leaving a trail of words to mark your presence. Comments such as yours encourage me more than you will ever know.
Well, well, well...this is just the most full, peace-filled, community strong, wise words, color & nature-blessed, loaded with love post ever! Thank you, thank you, thank you Liz, Marti and rest of you lovelies.
ReplyDeletexoNancy