Art as Prayer

This is from my morning class today at St Aidan's.  We began with time with natural objects as a meditative prayer practice.  I returned to a familiar practice of creating a color wheel.  I also added the beeswax candles for light and sent.  They have a small clay vessel, morning glory seeds, barnacles and smooth stones set beside the candles. 

Light...

Tonight I led a gathering to create prayer candles for the Sanctuary Studio at St Aidan's.  It was lovely to come together with others to share a time of creativity and quiet.  

Something Small

Today my class at St Aidan's focused on humility and blessing of small selves.  We began with natural materials and arranging and drawing them inspired by descriptions of Wabi Sabi art in the book. I found myself drawn to small objects and created a small drawing.  

I also like to reflect on how I create creative space for others - here is my table setting for our beginning of class.  

Sanctuary Studio

I led a Sanctuary Studio gathering tonight at St Aidan's.  It was fun to watch creations grow as participants worked.  The photo below shows two collages in process.

We used this poem by Mary Oliver to begin our meditative time...

My own making included this treeish collage...

... and a close up drawing of a willow oak branch.

Art and Quiet

I lead a Thursday morning class at St Aidan's Center for Spiritual Deepening.  We always begin our time together with some art making.  Today it was creating a collage on the outside of a prayer candle.  Here is mine...

Sanctuary studio...

For our sanctuary studio time tonight at St Aidan's, we began with arranging small natural objects.

The second step was to observe carefully by drawing the arrangement...

I was thankful for the courage of those who joined in, particularly in taking on the challenge of drawing.