IIt's June. It is a season of celebration, marked by the Solstice, not to mention birthdays of my mom and brother and several good friends. Celebrations are opportunities to tap into the creative spirit. Creativity loves joy, loves the spacious quality that celebrations create within our being. Anything to celebrate is good enough to stir my imagination and release and renew. When the time to settle down at the loom comes, I enter my creative space with calm and entrust my spirit to creative Sophia. A felicitous time of reflection precedes the weaving process.

The year began with snows and they melted into the greenness of Spring. I mused on and played with several “kimono” style tapestries, adorned with silks and pieces of lapis, copper, and ceramic beads. Reflecting on the promise of Spring and the beauty of the Colorado foothills, I also wove a tapestry of green hills with a salmon sky, embellished with dancing figures of wrapped copper threaded with peridot, lapis and malachite. Additionally, I revisited several themes for a weaving for one of my sisters. Claire enjoyed both Laughter Awakened and Beatitudes. So my challenge was to create something that would speak to her joy. We also contemplated a title and I am now almost completed with a tapestry called, Aurora Borealis. She likes the idea of Northern Awakening....That stirred my imagination and I am certain she will be pleased with her commission.

Now, with the Solstice, the crowning light of seasonal gems, I extend my studio to the outdoors. The garden, a burgeoning vision of green and color, is beginning to open. Greens are washed with purple larkspur, pink, yellow and red snapdragons. The gentle nuance of pansies gives grace to the bold reds of the geraniums. Anticipating the sapphire blues of morning glories, pink and white yarrow, and the symphony of zinnias planted earlier this Spring, my garden is a sanctuary where meditation offers a place to create. A trusting heart is a creative heart.

Not only is my garden a place of poetic flora, it promises the bounty of herbs and salad greens and tomatoes. This is a place that nourishes body and soul. The perfumes and treasures of beauty unwrap their gifts in my imagination. My art flourishes in the feasting. Touching the Earth, I touch the verdant meadows of my heart and translate those threads into tapestries on the loom. The studio and garden are not a place of blithe reverie. Attention is needed to keep the mundane tended with devotion. At times, Summer's ubiquitous intensity withers my spirit. With our hills and mountains so green right now, it is easy to forget Colorado is, in actuality, a semi-arid desert. The evening tide echos refinement and I find myself enjoying the cool of the trees and sky blue hues muting into twilight. The vesper chants of evening birds and whispering winds weave their way into my loomed cords. Nature renews me. Seated at my loom, I express my gratitude. Strands of color connect my love with evolving woven narratives. The mysterious power of art seems to be in listening to the “gentle whisper.” Studio and garden meld into a balanced relationship of calm abiding and creative expression. Love and contentment.

As I had mentioned earlier, the garden is not only a place of poetic inspiration, it is also a place where beauty is created to nourish and sustain our physical well being. My apprentice, Maria Gonzalez and I are working on woven baby blankets. It seems that Spring was a very creative time for friends and family. We have been threading the loom with an array of cottons: lavender, violet and aqua. We have decided on a Monk's Belt pattern. New life deserves the love of a handwoven blanket.

This past Spring, I was fortunate enough to visit, The Retreat, an assisted living facility in Broomfield. I brought 2 of my looms, we shared stories and I demonstrated weaving techniques. After I gave a brief instruction on how to use the loom for rag rugs, we gathered around the loom. The tapestry of our friendship began. We wove and laughed and shared more stories. What an inviting, warm atomosphere, just the right kind of place to share the threads of our lives and talk about weaving. It is the beginning of a wonderful friendship and creative venture. If you are connected with anyone from any asisted living facility in the area of Boulder/Denver and would like me to come and demonstrate, please feel free to contact me via email or phone.

Of course, this balance of weaving and garden is conjoined with music. Just over the Solstice horizon is the annual Celtic Harp retreat. I am continually nourished by playing the harp and meeting with my friends. If you visit the website of the Colorado Celtic Harp Society, you will find summer offerings for harp concerts. The harp, like the loom uses strings to inspire, commune with and conjoin Spirit and heart. Whatever nourishes your creative well being...move towards that and partake. Be open, explore your creativity. You will be blessed!

So in this season, the Fountain of the Sun, may you prosper, grow and be have a bountiful harvest of Beauty and Love.
 

How do you work with images that are inspiring your heart? I will be adding a calendar later on this month and will offer you opportunities to explore and play.

OTHER OFFERINGS

This weekend you can visit Cris Davenport. He will be in Old Town Arvada starring in the lead role as Martin Luther King, Jr. in the play, The Meeting.