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PRAISE SONGS IN MANY GUISES
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These are images of PRAISE SONG, the installation of nature-based art I created for the Earth Dance exhibit at the Farley Center (for Peace, Justice and Sustainability) in Verona, Wisconsin. It's installed in the Nature Path Sanctuary, a natural burial ground located in the woods. You can get some sense of scale from the photo of my grandson and I cavorting as we put it up.
This piece brings together different aspects of my connection with the natural world. The prayer sticks that send their songs (gratitudes) up to the spirit realm are made from cup plant stems, collected in previous seasons from nearby prairies. Their hollow stems are square and woody, and have long caught my imagination. They are wrapped in sheep’s wool that I spun into (rather uneven) yarn over 40 years ago, and dyed with natural materials such as bloodroot, goldenrod, calendula, parsley, thyme, iron, and fermented indigo. It is a pleasure to let these old dyeing experiments come see the light of day, and in such a praise-worthy setting. I peeled the bark that contains the sticks from a just-cut tree, and as it dried, it curled itself into a heart shape. The purple stones are Baraboo quartzite, gathered one by one and treasured as reminders of our beautiful nearby hills.
The praises or prayers are held in the heart, and in the skin of the tree. The different colors, which come from different elements of the earth, call and bow to all forms of life.
PRAISE SONG and the other installations that are part of Earth Dance will be on view until November, 2019.
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This piece brings together different aspects of my connection with the natural world. The prayer sticks that send their songs (gratitudes) up to the spirit realm are made from cup plant stems, collected in previous seasons from nearby prairies. Their hollow stems are square and woody, and have long caught my imagination. They are wrapped in sheep’s wool that I spun into (rather uneven) yarn over 40 years ago, and dyed with natural materials such as bloodroot, goldenrod, calendula, parsley, thyme, iron, and fermented indigo. It is a pleasure to let these old dyeing experiments come see the light of day, and in such a praise-worthy setting. I peeled the bark that contains the sticks from a just-cut tree, and as it dried, it curled itself into a heart shape. The purple stones are Baraboo quartzite, gathered one by one and treasured as reminders of our beautiful nearby hills.
The praises or prayers are held in the heart, and in the skin of the tree. The different colors, which come from different elements of the earth, call and bow to all forms of life.
PRAISE SONG and the other installations that are part of Earth Dance will be on view until November, 2019.
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Another kind of praise song came through recently on a magical morning walk on the prairie. The cup plant thread shows up in this poem (only one of many!) that I wrote that day. You'll certainly note some repeating themes...
Heart of August: Prairie Poem
Stepping into the yellow fields
taking in the sun, taking in the yellow,
sea of yellow calling to the sun
the heart of august
the square-stemmed cup plants reaching skyward
cupping those stems, familiar friends
and the butterflies come, swallows swoop,
overhead trilling of sandhill cranes, always thrilling
and frogs in the pond, barely visible through the duckweed,
each popping off with a plippy sound as I make a motion,
dragonflies, of course, against the blue sky
and feathery little clouds
I am in the temple, here,
under the nut tree, the oak tree, the hanging vines, the cool shade
the birds singing
Yellow field, heart of august
blessed be
on the prairie
on the earth
in this moment
all reach upward
for the light
another amazing piece of the prairie morning
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Other types of praise songs have come through in other guises--in photo adventures, in work created by participants in some of my workshops, and in my own studio work. I recently taught at the Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts, a really delightful place that seems out of another time (many of the buildings actually are) in Mineral Point. The gallery below includes images of some of creations that happened in my workshops, and photos (sometimes "enlightened") that I took in town. Remember that images will enlarge and captions will show up if you click on the image.
Other types of praise songs have come through in other guises--in photo adventures, in work created by participants in some of my workshops, and in my own studio work. I recently taught at the Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts, a really delightful place that seems out of another time (many of the buildings actually are) in Mineral Point. The gallery below includes images of some of creations that happened in my workshops, and photos (sometimes "enlightened") that I took in town. Remember that images will enlarge and captions will show up if you click on the image.
In answer to your suggestion, I am going to respond to several of your works with the titles that came to mind when I saw them.
Autumn Migration - Porpoises Swimming in a Pod; Bird Leading the Way - Mother, Maiden, Crone (arial view) participating in a ritual to call the birds; Haughty Queen - The Indomitable Tree; The Aspirant - An Elongated Fitted Corset; Church Choir - Female Warriors Preparing for Presentation; Feeling the Cosmos - Night Sky Dancer.
Thanks for including photos of your installation piece at the Farley Center Earth Dance Exhibit. I especially enjoyed the one that included your grandson! Praise Songs - The Congregation Standing to Sing. And my favorite line from your poem, Heart of August - " I am in the temple here." and my favorite photo featured the native spirit figures posing together.