Wednesday, April 24, 2013

I have been using my wings, and flying as high as I can in my "Wings" art class.  I got behind after I had my lupus infusion this month, which was a little bit gruelling.  We could not find a vein to put the infusion in, and once we did, each one of them kept blowing up.  The infusion that was supposed to take two hours took two days and many hours.  I was black and blue all over, and it hurt.  It feels like shards of glass are in my arm when I touch it after getting so bruised up.  I gave myself a bit of time to heal.

This is a collage using "Wings."  I really like this one a lot.  I used a Navejo Prayer where the seeker requests from the Great Spirit to walk in beauty all the days of their life.  It is very similar to Psalm 23.
There are various versions of this.  Being in a hurry to create the art, I did not copy down the version I used but here is the idea:

Walking In Beauty (Blessing)

Today I will walk out, today everything unnecessary will leave me,
I will be as I was before, I will have a cool breeze over my body.
I will have a light body, I will be happy forever,
nothing will hinder me.
I walk with beauty before me. I walk with beauty behind me.
I walk with beauty below me. I walk with beauty above me.
I walk with beauty around me. My words will be beautiful.

In beauty all day long may I walk.
Through the returning seasons, may I walk.
On the trail marked with pollen may I walk.
With dew about my feet, may I walk.

With beauty before me may I walk.
With beauty behind me may I walk.
With beauty below me may I walk.
With beauty above me may I walk.
With beauty all around me may I walk.

In old age wandering on a trail of beauty, lively, may I walk.
In old age wandering on a trail of beauty, living again, may I walk.
My words will be beautiful.

Here is the collage I made to go with it.  Feathers are sacred in Native American medicine.  The medicine people will use them to fan incense with and to send away evil spirits. 

“The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. To dig for treasures shows not only impatience and greed, but lack of faith. Patience, patience, patience, is what the sea teaches. Patience and faith. One should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach – waiting for a gift from the sea.”
– Anne Morrow Lindberg from “Gift from the Sea”

Monday, April 15, 2013

I was working on this painting today for my "Wings" class.  I did not follow the exact assignment, which was to paint a heart with wings framed by some squiggly lines.  While I was sitting here at my computer, a bald eagle flew over the lake in front of my house.  I had not ever seen one up close before.  It did a couple of loops and flew off further down the lake, very near an American flag.  It was quite a moment of beauty to see a bald eagle fly by the flag in the backdrop of a beautiful nature scene.  I love being an American, I love our freedoms, and I love my country.