“Going Home” for last 2009 show…

I look forward to ending this week with a show in my hometown of Orange, Texas. It is a nice juxtaposition to show my creations in the context of the home where it all began. I grew up in an unusually contemporary home for the time and place and my early exposure to clean simple design definitely shaped, influenced, and developed my own sense of design. I think growing up in a “not so normal” house in a small town also gave me the courage to step out on my own and “march to the beat of a different drummer”. My “going home” to show has brought me to much reflection on early influences in my life and how they worked together to shape and form me as an artist. The years of our childhood are such a short window of time in the big scheme of our lives but yet those early years are ever so important in our adult formation. I am very grateful for the people and things that shaped my life. I hope to share more along this theme as the week goes on and I continue to reflect upon the many variations and concepts that “going home” conjures up in my mind. And if you live in the Orange/ Golden Triangle area, do stop in for our Open House & Art.

Here are a few quotes I have been reflecting on as I start this new week.

“Home is where one starts from.” T.S. Elliot

“Where we love is home – home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts.” Oliver Wendell Holmes

“The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.” Maya Angelou

“If a man loses pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured, or far away. ” Henry David Thoreau

Open House & Art

Flying by the seat of my pants, trusting the Spirit has hold of a belt loop…

I am finding myself a bit overwhelmed with chairperson duties for a fundraiser at my church this weekend. Of course it is an event that my friend Margaret and I created for the church so I have no one to blame but myself! My big ideas often lead to lots of work. I also have a speaking engagement on Thursday morning. When I committed to both in the same week, I knew it could be a bit much, but trusted in advance that I would find a way to pull it off. So I started this week, lying in bed early Monday morning, thinking I should just accept that I would most likely “fly by the seat of my pants” this week. Then I lay there wondering where that saying comes from anyway. First thing Monday morning, with my morning espresso routine, I googled it. The meaning I found: “Decide a course of action as you go along, using your own initiative and perceptions rather than a pre-determined plan or mechanical aids.”

That is pretty much how my week is unfolding and I’m really going to hope for the best that this style works as I give my talk at St. Dunstan’s on Thursday morning. There will be some kind of advance prep and I guess it may appear here as my next blog post. I realize that this blog was probably made manifest the first week of November because I woke up on November 1, realizing it was time I gather my thoughts for this presentation.

Spirit Wind Beneath My Wings

I would like to think that the trust, hope, and using my own initiative is guided by the Holy Spirit. Trusting that the Spirit is the wind beneath my wings, I take these things on, knowing I will be given what I need, as I need it. As this week continues to unfold I will greet the opportunities with gratitude. I trust my chaos will turn to order as I go along. I am grateful I have these opportunities to serve. These occasions always seem to present opportunities to encourage others which gives me joy. I am grateful that my church trusts me with these events I dream up, and gives me a big green light to run with them. I am grateful that the Daughters of the King at St. Dunstan’s believe I have a story worth sharing. As I fly by the seat of my pants this week I will trust that the Spirit has a hold of one of my belt loops and will see that I don’t fall as I fly.

Working on my attitude of gratitude this morning, I found this quote which so eloquently sums it up: “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity…. It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.” ~Melodie Beattie

And of course I have a responsibility as a co-chair of this event, to not miss an opportunity to make my plea for folks to come on out and support it! We have a nice variety of show offerings and this will be my last local show before Christmas. More preview photos may be viewed online here.

click the image to link to map

Working as if it were a prayer

“There are some people who, in order to pray, use as an excuse the fact that life is so hectic that it prevents them from praying. This cannot be. Prayer does not demand that we interrupt our work, but that we continue working as if it were a prayer.”  – Mother Teresa

Carving Wax Model for Bishop Doyle's Pectoral Cross

I ran across this quote this morning that sustains the theme of my recent blog posts. I have learned to recognize my thoughts while working, as a form of prayer, and my continual inner conversations to be conversations with God, therefore a form of prayer. I know I would benefit from more intentional quiet time in prayer but I find that I am not so disciplined in my prayer life. My life is hectic. Yet, I am grateful of the awareness that I can live out my life as a prayer. Everything I do can be a prayer, so maybe there is more intention there than I realize. At least there is an intention to live my life as a prayer. Just reflecting here on this quote. Any commentary? Thoughts from others are welcome. I’ll close with another quote from Mother Teresa that speaks to living life as a 24 hour prayer.

“It is not necessary to always be meditating, not to consciously experience the sensation that we are talking to God, no matter how nice this would be. What matters is being with Him, living with Him, in His will. To love with a pure heart, to love everybody, especially to love the poor, is a twenty four hour prayer.”  – Mother Teresa

This says it so well, “about that job”

As I worked yesterday and laid in bed this morning, I listened to the messages rolling around in my head as the next lead to what I might share here. In general I was gathering my thoughts together in a theme to convey how I grew from a “frozen chosen” Episcopalian to one who lives out my faith moment to moment in everyday life finding myself quite comfortable sharing and talking about it. Trust me, it did not come easy. It was a gradual progression. The “art part” of this art & faith story is that my art made it possible. My art made it comfortable for me. My art opens the door. Art is my job. Art is my ministry. Well…that post is yet to come…but it will come. In one of those serendipitous life moments I found this in my facebook feed this morning and thought…”same message” of sorts, so I will just share this link for today as I continue to formulate my own story. It speaks for me in so many ways on this theme of our job as our ministry in the world. It’s all about HOW we do the job that makes it ministry! More from me later on this theme. For today, read and ponder this: at the Episcopal Cafe.

Shine In My Heart

VISUAL STORIES AND STATEMENTS OF FAITH

ABOUT MY SYMBOL JEWELRY
Visual Stories and Statements of Faith…

the calling…

One In The Spirit Sterling Silver Pendant

In the late 80’s, after hearing a stewardship sermon, I felt called to communicate the love of God through my jewelry work. I understood it to be my responsibility, as a good steward of my artistic gifts, to create a body of work for the Glory of God. It was the best way for me to give God a good return on his investment in me. As a Lenten discipline, I created the first pieces of my line of jewelry incorporating Christian symbology. I named it “From the Heart Line” as many of my first pieces were hearts incorporating different Christian symbols. Through the years, I have continued to add to that original body of work, which is now over 55 designs strong. With that first calling, I committed to give each piece a story or scripture explanation to help the wearer communicate their faith to others with words, as well as the visual design. One of my favorite quotes, attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, is “Tell everyone around you of the great love of God. When all else fails, use words.” It is my goal as an artist that each jewelry piece stands on its own as good design without the attached symbolism. It is also my goal that the symbols will communicate without words. This often results in perfect strangers, being drawn to comment on the design, opening a door for the wearer to share their story of faith. My ministry is sharing the love and glory of God through my design work, offering the wearer a “love story” to visibly wear and verbally share.

every picture tells a story…
Being an artist, I am such a visual person, so I seem to learn best through visual means. I remember focusing on the symbols in church settings as a child. I still use the big beautiful window in my church today as a place to focus my eyes while listening during the service. God “speaks” to me through all my senses, but the visual often seems to provide the most direct line of communication for me. For me, symbols serve as portals to enter a world of thought, contemplation, meditation, or just pure pondering. I am constantly researching symbols for historic as well as contemporary meanings yet I’m not afraid to create my own, since “every picture tells a story”. How primal and basic. Mankind has been communicating with pictures from the beginning of time. My research always leads me to inspiration, better understanding of concepts, and spiritual growth, which in turn is reflected in my design work. One time I took a step back and looked at the body of work I had created over time and realized through my choice of symbols and stories it was a pictorial time line of my own life experience. I can often recall the life event speaking to me at the time that influenced my design or the naming of the design. This body of work is my own story of faith.

more about the storytelling…

Feed My Sheep Quatrefoil Cross Pendant

I feel I can best communicate my faith through the use of symbols and I especially like to combine symbols to tell a story. That began with my first pieces when I incorporated different symbols into hearts. One of my older, yet still favorite designs is “One In the Spirit” which tells a story through the combination of 2 hearts, a fish, and a cross all entwined inside the outer shape of a descending dove. The accompanying story fleshes out the design with, ” Two hearts joined together by and in Christ form a union, which is encompassed by the Holy Spirit.” Another design incorporates sheep, a shepherd’s crook and wheat in a quatrefoil shaped cross, titled “Feed My Sheep”. Those 4 symbols combine to tell a big story about our relationship with our Lord as the “sheep of his pasture” and our own call to “feed his sheep” by taking the gospel to the ends of the earth. Most of my designs are much more than a static symbol, or a smattering of unrelated symbols. Even if the piece is a lone symbol, its shape will communicate more, like the “Spirit In Motion” or “Filled with the Spirit”. Each is a simple descending dove but a dove that is in motion with flame like wings. My fish are fluid, emoting a sense of the fish moving through water.

my Source and motivation…

Filled With The Spirit

I hope my work reflects that it is inspired by a Source greater than me. People often ask how do you come up with your ideas? There also seems to be a pervading thought that one would run out of ideas. I cannot fathom ever running out of ideas. There are so many known and unknown designs begging me to give them life but I know I will not live long enough to ever make that happen. I also trust in the Source from whence they flow. It is an ever-flowing fountain for anyone who chooses to drink. I often have people sharing their “good ideas” with me being delivered in a phrase such as “you should make a ___ it would really sell well.” My motivation is humbler than a monetary motivation. I hope to be a faithful and obedient servant to the work, as a co-creator with God, my Inspirer. I feel blessed to be able to combine my ministry with my work life. It has made me a happy and whole being, which I believe leads me to create better work. My aim is to just feed the lake, even though my contribution may just be a trickle. What matters is the lake, and we are all called to feed the lake using our own unique gifts with no required quantitative measure.

discerning what to make next…
There are many influences of what ideas actually get brought to fruition. Is that idea “speaking to me” at the time in some way or another? Do I have a unique voice for that concept? There is plenty of well-designed Christian jewelry out there already, so for me to add another fish to the table, I want to know that it will be fleshed out with a new voice before I give it my energy. Will there be something different spoken in the way I present it? People often have requests for me to make specific symbols. If that symbol holds no special meaning for me, I don’t have a voice for it. I heard a long time ago of a teacher advising his art students to “paint what you know”. If you live in Texas, don’t try to paint snow scenes. I am a Christian and my designs are a reflection of my own faith experience. That is what I know. I avoid the term “religious jewelry” as a description of what I do since that term should encompass symbols of many faiths. I call mine what it is, “Christian Symbol Jewelry”. Many times in my research of symbols, I will get to know an unfamiliar symbol and fall in love with it as I learn more about it and embrace it’s meaning. Sometimes that research may have an opposite effect. It may shed new light that will turn me off, as I learn of some negative connotations attached. But in the end, I will only give it life when I know it well enough to give it a voice, with something new to say.

confliction to conviction…
You may notice that many of my recent designs began as a commission from a church. I have seen some jewelry companies making statements of conviction and assurance that you will not see “your design” being sold elsewhere. While that seems honorable, here is my statement on the subject. If I created a piece especially for you or your group, it is “my design for your use”. Better yet, it is really not wholly “my design”; it belongs to the ultimate Creator for His glory. I was faced with this confliction one day in my studio when a visiting customer noticed all the crosses I was working on and wanted to purchase one. I choked as I thought to myself, “How can I tell this woman she cannot have this cross that speaks to her also?” I really didn’t answer that day as there were numerous church members’ orders in front of her and I knew it may be months before I had one to spare for her to buy. That gave me time to come to terms with my confliction, which eventually lead to my own statement of conviction. I will not create exclusive designs. That is not the statement of faith I want to make. Our faith is meant to be shared and we do not belong to an exclusive club. Once again, it is not about money, it is about feeding the lake. That struggle with confliction led me to better discern the projects I will currently accept.

share the love…
It is my belief we best share our faith by actions of love and in conversations of love, using Jesus Christ as our perfect model of living life in love. I hope my symbol jewelry may serve the wearer as a daily personal reminder of where we are to center our lives and as a tool to open doors, offering opportunities to share their own love story of faith with others.

In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. 1 Peter 3:15

(click each image to link to my website for design details and purchase information)