creation two ways: a visual meditation

this video is best viewed in full screen.  if you are not able to view it on my blog, you can watch it here on youtube.  creation two ways is a creative response to some of the material i am currently engaging with in an online course, women on the threshold, offered through abbey of the arts.   enjoy!

ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

migration 

i have a new baby...blog, that is!   i have been feeling like i needed to return this one to its intended purpose - that being mandalas, but i've branched out creatively speaking, and wanted another place where i could explore a different kind of art, as well.  over time i will be migrating the art on this blog that is not mandala-specific to the new one.  so if you begin to notice some images  missing, you'll know they've been moved to the other site.

the new blog is called:  sacred alter  and yes, that's alter with an "e."  if you visit, you'll see why...and of course i hope you will visit. :-)

the mandala below came about as a creative response to the current course i'm taking through abbey of the arts, called women on the threshold.  this has been a year filled with thresholds for me personally - and not all of them have been easy to cross...in fact, most of them have been very hard...and i find it very difficult to be creative when things are tough.   through participating in this class, however, i'm finding the creative juices are flowing again...and i am ever so grateful for that.

eve's whisper 

the end of eden

the end of eden (mixed media 2012)

what is it i desire...

what do i long for so much

 that i am willing...

willing to reach for it,

willing to stretch myself,

 to extend myself 

past the point 

of being comfortable,

to take that  risk?

i think of eve...

in that moment.

i imagine her

seeing the fruit of that tree.

was it just out of reach?

did she have to stretch beyond

what she thought was possible....

find a strength inside herself

she'd never known?

straighten and  lengthen her whole body

 as never before?

did she exert herself, extend herself, assert herself -

 more than she ever had?

did she stand on tiptoe

wishing - oh wishing to be taller?

i see her -

reaching...stretching...a l m o s t  there...

just a little bit  m o r e. . .

 when suddenly

  her hand grasps

the object of her desire,

and for a split second

 her feet leave the earth.

and i wonder...

is there something that i long for that much?

or have i told myself...

don't even try,

you know it's out of reach.

-stacy wills (9/12/2012)

crossing the threshold

 i am currently involved in an online class via abbey of the arts called  women on the threshold.  as with any course i've ever been a part of at the abbey, the journey through the material takes me places i never dreamed i could go.

this past week, we were invited to do "gush art" (the focus is on process, not product) while listening to a piece of music of our choosing.   this first image (layers) is what came through.  i was very aware of that big red gash...which for me symbolized a very deep wound - the  deepest kind of wound that affects body, mind and spirit.

(layers)

in my artwork in general these days, i find i do not want to be limited to one medium...one mode of creating, so i took layers into some image editing software and did some "digital gush art" using it as the source image.  thus this...

   

(phoenix rising)

became this...phoenix rising.  when taken into another realm, the deep wound transforms into something else entirely...a healing, of sorts, occurs.

in art, as in life, when the invitation to step across a threshold comes, transformation happens...limitations fall away as you taste freedom, and suddenly you realize you can never go back, indeed, never want to go back to the way things were before.

the song i listened to (i will be free by cindy morgan) while creating these pieces is one i've known and loved for many years.  it has always held special meaning for me...even more so now.  it was not until today, however, that i saw the video for it.  talk about crossing a threshold!