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!  

coming into being

chrysalis

she enters as one

weary of the struggle

the slow crawl

of a soul in agony

to know the purpose

of her existence

surrendering to all

she cannot change

to all she cannot fathom

a fine button of silk

is all that holds her now

to this world

as the final ecdysis* reveals

a harder skin

a tough exterior

belies her vulnerability

inside the chrysalis

a metamorphosis

is taking place

it is the movement

toward imago

the movement

toward realization

the movement

toward emerging

in triumph she sits

atop an empty shell

she leaves as one reborn

-stacy wills (3/30/2012)

(*ecdysis: from the greek, ekduo - to take off, strip off)

the mystery at work

darkness and light

dance on the edge

of a razor-sharp blade

the mystery at work

no dull sword here

every movement - precise

-stacy wills (2/18/2011)

recurring dream

the one that keeps

recurring

this is the dream

to which

i must awaken

-stacy wills (11/28/10)

source image: national geographic page

treated with citra solv

blackwater mirror

in the old birdbath

autumn leaves

steep like tea bags

blackwater mirror

reflects an azure sky

-stacy wills (11/03/10)

emerging

when patterns are broken,

new worlds emerge...

-tuli kupferberg (b. 1923)

unbound

i am currently taking a class through the abbey of the arts called eyes of the heart, photography as contemplative practice. yesterday while i was out walking with my camera, a cedar tree caught my eye because of the interesting lumps and bumps in its trunk. as i drew nearer, however, i saw that the unusual formations had been caused by barbed wire that had been wrapped around her years ago. i was grieved to the core, and received this image as a stark reminder of the cruelty and suffering that exists in this world. i could not get the image out of my mind, and longed to see it transformed in some way. this morning, while looking again at the photograph, i saw a figure in the bark - it looked like a woman dancing, as one released from bondage. i offer this mandala in the hope that one day all who are in bondage (in whatever form that takes) will be released from their suffering.