Baby Steps, Allowing Magic, and Believing in Miracles
Last April, a long time friend and former colleague reached out to discuss the possibility of commissioning me to do a piece related to a powerful ongoing connection she has to the CORE Kidney Group at UCLA. Of course, I said YES, and this blog entry is an effort to describe the suite deluxe of sweet magic that has enfolded me ever since. Read on to step into the process and preview the behind-the-scenes that is actually the center stage.
As I'm working on this CORE Kidney Commission, I notice that it requires me to stay longer in the liminal stages between digital planning and implementing the hand-painted stages In fact, I linger for longer than usual, and it has led to some really great developments. Crucial!
For example, I have not begun inscribing the ribbon scroll yet, even though my productive, on-time, diligent, striving, artist self told me to last weekend. But, I'm not listening to her right now. She doesn't allow the magic to happen. The Edy who is in cahoots with Edymade allows the magic. And if I had listened to the person who takes the reins and sticks to deadlines, I would have inscribed a less relevant, even non-sensical Latin on the ribbon!
Digital Rendering from late July with inaccurate ribbon scroll inscription!
Instead, I've been showing up to slow down in this process. And that allowed for me to be paired with a Latin teacher during a work meeting. She gave me many options for expressing the sentiments of this piece, which is "I Believe in Miracles." Siri had told me initially that the words were, "Credo Miraculous." Well, Siri missed the mark.
My very astute Latin teacher friend from Brentwood School said, "So I thought about it, and as I warned, there are usually options when it comes to translation. So all of these essentially mean the same thing, with just small dialect differences. You can pay attention to the small differences, or you can choose whichever you think sounds or looks the best. They'd all work! This is also standard word order, but the meaning is unchanged no matter how you change their order, so feel free to adjust for what looks or sounds good.
1. Miracula Credo - this one can also kind of mean like, "I trust miracles."
2. Miracula Esse Credo - this one means more clearly "I believe that miracles exist" or "I believe that there are miracles"
3. Credo in Miracula - this one is probably more typical for Church Latin, and is very literally "I believe in miracles" in the sense that we use it today."
I'm going with option 3. I believe in slowing down, taking baby steps, allowing magic, and then sitting back to let it all sink in (as the miracle that this life truly is!) I think it's miraculous the way I get to paint this and it unveils itself to me in the most perfect way possible. I have no idea whether the ribbon is going to be green or gold. The painting will tell me when it's ready to be painted. For now, I just get to have fun seeing the possibilities.
Stages of development as of 08/28/22—CORE Kidney Commision
Answering the Call from Trees
I find a deep sense of awe that the tree roots into that hilltop location seeming to sing praises to the Rancho's most valuable resource of all, the fresh-water spring right below the hill. The trunk sprawls and gestures like an undulating landmark, mapping the presence of the spring as a sacred site. Each time I look at the tree with my daughter emerging from its roots, I feel transported to the realm of the Magical Child Archetype. I feel the same captivation whenever I interact with my own creative flow
Tree Portals
Playing with tree portals -->answering the call
A walk with dear friends at the Rancho Los Alamitos in Long Beach was the original inspiration for the WIP piece I am temporarily titling "Magical Child." It all started with a photograph I took of my then 4 year old daughter at the base of a magnanimous tree near an adobe home the Nieto family built (sometime between 1800-1834) on a hilltop near the location of Povuu'nga land. I find a deep sense of awe that the tree roots into that hilltop location seeming to sing praises to the Rancho's most valuable resource of all, the fresh-water spring right below the hill. The trunk sprawls and gestures like an undulating landmark, mapping the presence of the spring as a sacred site. Each time I look at the tree with my daughter emerging from its roots, I feel transported to the realm of the Magical Child Archetype. I feel the same captivation whenever I interact with my own creative flow and remember my trip to Glastonbury with my visit to the fresh-water springs near the base of the Glastonbury Tor. Trees and other plant life have a way of communicating the presence of such sacred waters. In fact, the Vesica Pisces symbol in the well-head at the Chalice Well Gardens keeps flashing in my mind's eye as I venture into these Rancho tree portals that allow me to feel a reverent connection to Povuu’nga and Tongva sacred sites.
Fast-forward to New Years Day of 2022, when I took a different walk through Descanso Gardens with dear friends who treated us to an evening to celebrate our daughters' birthdays. Descanso is now featuring their annual "Enchanted Forest of Light" exhibition (on display until January 9th,) which is an amazing treat to behold. It is an interactive, nighttime experience, featuring a one-mile walk through unique lighting experiences created by installation artists amongst the most beloved parts of the gardens. As you can see, I was particularly awe-struck by the moon-like light with reflective waters and dancing trees lit by deep ultramarines. I plan to go back to visit and learn more about the history of the place, in particular, to visit the exhibit titled Full Circle: A Return to the Land, on display at the Sturt Haaga Gallery from Nov 13, 2021 to March 13, 2022. I look forward to learning more about the history of Toypurina, a Tongva woman who took a leadership role in the 1785 revolt against the San Gabriel Mission. I feel that the art I am currently creating is particularly dependent upon the interweaving of history, art, and ethnobotany.
Following this hunch, I have already discovered that deep listening to my creative voice can be hugely enlightening in revealing my divine purpose on this planet. I can derive and communicate a mantra of hope from largely unheard perspectives, which fosters a deeper understanding of how I can relate to the land and how I can accept my role and therefore sing my purpose as I traverse this Enchantress-inspired path of evolution from pre-European contact to the present time.
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