"I am for an artist who vanishes, turning up in a white cap painting signs or hallways..." - Claes Oldenburg

You So I wasn't wearing a white cap but I did turn up painting signs.  I repainted the lettering on signs for the St Aidan's Christmas Tree sale today.
I was also an event photographer for the 15th annual Fox Trot for Fort Hunt Elementary.
Here are some of the runners...

...and a beautiful view of the park in the morning fog....

It's fun when making happens in different settings in roles in the community.

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.  

Ephemeral Art Making...

I spent the morning with teachers planning for studio activities for 2,3 and 4 year olds.  One theme we discussed was using loose parts and the opportunity to work just with designing with objects.

It was a fitting connection that this evening our theme for the Community of Hope gathering at St Aidans was Art and Nature.  We spent our quiet time arranging natural objects on a round cork base. 

Here is my creation...

And here are the others created in the group...

...so fun to see all the variety in both the materials chosen and how they are used.

Home together and making space to reflect...

One more long day of driving and our last camper is home.  It was a lovely closing worship and good to be back at Shrine Mont for a few hours this morning.  

This evening I led the Sanctuary Studio time at St Aidan's.  We reflected on seasons of the year and times of the day on accordion books with collage.  

I found myself back at Shrine Mont and on the drive near the mountain, picturing flowers seen along the roadways.

It was a long day in the car so it was nice to create some time for myself for reflection along with creating space for others to create.  

Making frames and making space...

I spent some time today on in-between steps, cutting wood for frames, sanding and organizing supplies.

Here are the new frame molding pieces...

And a photo of my labyrinth glazing workshop at St Aidan's - I can't wait to see how these turn out after glaze firing...

Making new ways to do things...

Today I led a clay labyrinth workshop.  We create ceramic finger labyrinths by tracing a path in clay.

Typically, we use a paper labyrinth to start and trace over that on top of the clay to transfer the pattern.  From there we move to deepening the lines and path with our fingers.  

Today I experimented with a new method to transfer the pattern to the clay.  Before the class I glued yarn in the form of the labyrinth to the back of the paper pattern.  

We used this paper to roll the design into the clay, creating a distinct line to then follow with our fingers.  It worked!  

It's great to have a way to make this process more accessible.  And thanks to my participants for being willing to try an experiment with me.  

I'm once again thankful for the opportunity to create space for making in this beautiful sanctuary space.

Writing and clay

I spent time today writing.  It's a different sort of making and doesn't give the same sense of completion as work with my hands with materials.

At the same time it's a great way to practice reflection, honoring and sharing, particularly after a group gathering.  

For me to take the time to write and reflect on making in community offers an opportunity to share the experiences, connections and discoveries.  In the moment there is a sense of the privilege of getting to participate and witness as people create and share.  Telling a bit of the stories of the makers through writing afterward allows me to reflect and look for deeper themes and connections.  

Here's my reflection on Wednesday night's Sanctuary Studio gathering at St Aidan's.

http://sanctuarystudioreflections.blogspot.com/2016/07/sanctuary-studio-with-inspiration-from.html?m=1

I made a few more red clay touchstones and loaded the kiln with the finger labyrinths from last week's workshop.  They will fire Sunday but can complete their drying time in the kiln.  

I'm thankful to Anna Waters for these beautiful photos of the touchstone she left in the labyrinth in Chartres Cathedral after walking the labyrinth there today.

Art adventures and making space...

Today the kids and I visited the National Portrait Gallery.  We found their Art-o-Mat machine.  My collages sold there in the past but there weren't any there currently.

We also went to see a new installation at the Hirshhorn by Linn Meyers.  It is marker drawings on the walls all the way around the second level...

Pretty amazing the way the lines create flow and a sense of movement...

This evening I led the Sanctuary Studio at St Aidan's.  We listened to a story from this conversation with Rachel Naomi Remen and responded to the imagery in the story with collage.

Finally at home I tried making a few touchstones with red clay.  I look forward to experimenting with glazes on these...

 

Making, community and knowing when to stop...

Today was a full day.  We celebrated our son's 13th birthday (more than 2 months late) with a great group of boys.

In the afternoon I led a labyrinth making workshop.  

Part of our discussion focused on knowing when to stop working.  I thought if that this evening as I continue to work in these recent collages....

I'm hoping with a good nights rest to feel more decisive in the morning and get these completed and framed.

Making time and space...

PThis morning I walked at Huntley Meadows without my camera or my phone.  It was nice to make time to just be in nature.

Tonight I made a space for community making.  We had an intervene rational group gathered in the church at St Aidan's for Sanctuary Studio.  We focused on careful observation and drawing of flowers from outside and also had collage materials.  It was interesting to watch artists move from careful detailed drawing to more expressive representations with colored paper...

My own exploration began with drawing and then I experimented with adding collage...may come back and add more later...

I also made a collage of greens inspired by a tree in my back yard but I forgot to take a picture before I put on the photo transfer...will have to see how it looks tomorrow.

Making a mess...

Today I worked on a lot of middle steps in my process.  Loading the kiln, glazing clay, printing photos and trying to work out how to make a thicker kind of framing molding.

There isn't as much to show for these middle messy steps but I do feel I took solid steps toward completion.  

Here are some of my mini pots during the glazing process...

And the dragonflies with clear glaze on top...

This evening I got to enjoy a beautiful quiet moment in one of my favorite spaces, the sanctuary at St Aidan's.  The labyrinth is visiting for a workshop tonight...

Collaboration...

I've posted a few photos of my process glazing these tiles for a labyrinth sign for the St Aidan's labyrinth.  It's complete - thanks to the amazing work of Mike Brynczak who mounted the tiles, built the structure, painted the wood and installed the sign today.

It is very exciting to see it all put together and in place.  And I'm so thankful for Mike's technical expertise to build such a beautiful structure to mount it.  

Thanks too to Elizabeth, John and Lisa for their text editing and to Peg for her great eye for size and color and the use of her laser printer.

In this last photo, Kevin does the finger labyrinth while Ryan walks (runs) the labyrinth...I think they were racing...

Making and sharing space...

Today I focused on making space for others to create.

I spent the early afternoon with high school students and preschoolers.  I was there to talk about process-based art with the teen teachers and to demonstrate by offering opportunities for them to create with the kids.  

The best part was how the teens found themselves enjoying the space along with the young kids.  Several even noted how the process was surprisingly stress relieving and meditative.  I noticed the quiet in the room and the focus.

In the evening I led Sanctuary Studio time at St Aidan's and again again enjoyed the energy of sharing creative space.  In the quiet I noticed the rhythm and energy of drawing and coloring as others worked. My own practice focused on collage.

Here's the beginning of a new series of collages for art-o-mat...

Preparing, making, completing...

I enjoyed a lovely walk at Huntley Meadows this morning - lots of new animal activity and then new views on trees, reeds and vines I've come to know well...

This afternoon I've been researching tools and methods for framing collages and preparing for the final step of making a tile labyrinth sign go St Aidan's.  

Here are the glazed tiles - all that is left is adding the text...

Experimenting...

I fired 3 of the tiles of my painted glaze labyrinth to test out the glaze - works well - now for another coat of glaze on the remaining six tiles and another firing tomorrow...

Also made a trip to the ceramic supply store today to purchase image transfer paper - more experiments to come...