A very old bible of the Ethiopian Christian church, carefully inscribed on parchment in the sacred language 'Geez'.
Secrecy by Margaret Atwood
Secrecy flows through you,
a different kind of blood.
It's as if you've eaten it
like a bad candy,
taken it into your mouth,
let it melt sweetly on your tongue,
then allowed it to slide down your throat
like the reverse of uttering,
a word dissolved
into its glottals and sibilants,
a slow intake of breath --
And now it's in you, secrecy.
Ancient and vicious, luscious
as dark velvet.
It blooms in you,
a poppy made of ink.
You can think of nothing else.
Once you have it, you want more.
What power it give's you!
Power of knowing without being known,
power of the stone door,
power of the iron veil,
power of the crushed fingers,
power of the drowned bones
crying out from the bottom of the well.
Secrecy by Irini Gonou. See more of Irini's beautiful work here.
"Tracce di un dio distratto" by Maria La. Read more about this piece , here.
Sharmon Davidson shares details from Book of Secrets, a work in progress. Read more on Sharmon's blog, here.
"My inspiration for the piece came as I was thinking about secrets and how they are so hard to keep; no matter how well hidden we may think they are, or how well-guarded we believe them to be, there is always a bit showing here and there around the edges. I was thinking of esoteric knowledge, such as magical grimoire (spell book), and how these two ideas are related" - Sharmon Davidson
Book of Shadows, a movie prop from Practical Magic.
Saruman's Book by Daniel Reeve (Movie prop in Lord of the Rings)
A Book for Devotion: BL M S Egerton. It is believed that the pages have been partially erased by kissing.
Batak, Indonesia (wood, fibrous leaves and string) Late 18th - 19th Century
Batak Book of Wizards, Indonesia. See more here
The Batak people of Indonesia recorded information on genealogy, religion, devination, and magic on long strips of bark, some as long as thirty feet, which were folded accordion-style and bound between wooden covers. See more here.
"All the secrets of the world are contained in books. Read at your own risk." - Lemony Snicket
Commentary on Averroes' Middle Commentaries on the Isagoge of Porphyry, the Categories and De Interpretatione of Aristotle
If you've read the comments you will be as curious as I am about Priya Sebastian's illustrations for the poem Secrecy by Margaret Atwood. See Priya's blog post, here.
Secrecy, Verse 1 by Priya Sebastian.
Secrecy Verse 1, Verse 2, Verse 3 by Priya Sebastian. See more of Priya's beautiful illustrations at her website, here and see her blog, here.
It's been a busy few weeks amidst a long heat wave
Today seems to be a little cooler
but I won't hold my breath
since every day has turned into a scorcher
The storm that didn't...
Bella and Digby are relishing a cooler morning
Diggers doesn't particularly enjoy the heat
This week, I worked hard getting commissions ready
for fumigation before shipping them out
across the world to two different continents
It's a good feeling knowing my totems
are travelling to countries I long to visit.
Packed for fumigation
When it's too hot to work I have a good excuse to catch up with my reading
Wild by Cheryl Strayed, Notes from an Exhibition by Patrick Gale, West with the Night by Beryl Markham, Cold Tangerines by Shauna Niequist. Click to read reviews.
... a little journaling
.... and endless discussions about wedding plans with the bride-to-be
Wedding chapel at iNsingizi
It's a relief that we've booked the venue
the photographers
the cake
the dj
..... and that's as far as we've got
but it's a start
View from the chapel deck
Inside the chapel
A beautiful setting for a wedding
It's going to be a busy year!
Amanda Boe. See more of Amanda's photography on her website, here.
Hello, sun in my face.
Hello you who made
the morning and spread
it over fields...
Watch now, how I
spread the day in
happiness, in kindness.
-Mary Oliver
St. Charles Sunrise by Dale Janzen. See more of Dales images here
I love early mornings
before the world awakes
Everything is quiet and fresh
and then slowly
creatures begin to stretch and sing
greetings to the new day
Early Morning Web by Mike Autry. See more of Mike's work on Flickr, here.
"I get the invitation every morning to live a life of complete engagement, a life of whimsy. It's ushered in by a sunrise, the sound of a bird, or the smell of coffee ..... It's the invitation to live, to participate fully in this amazing life for one more day." - Bob Goff
Mornings by Billy Collins
Why do we bother with the rest of the day,
the swale of the afternoon,
the sudden dip into evening,
then night with his notorious perfumes,
his many-pointed stars?
This is the best --
throwing off the light covers,
feet on the cold floor,
and buzzing around the house on espresso--
maybe a splash of water on the face,
a palmful of vitamins--
but mostly buzzing around the house on espresso,
dictionary and atlas open on the rug,
the typewriter waiting for the key of the head,
a cello on the radio,
and, if necessary, the windows--
trees fifty, a hundred years old
out there,
heavy clouds on the way
and the lawn steaming like a horse
in the early morning.
I'm watching you by Kim Kocinski (Please don't pin this image... All Rights Reserved). See more of Kim's photography on Flickr, here
for some reason I imagine Billy Collins tapping out poems on an old typewriter
"Is there anything I can do to make myself enlightened?"
"As little as you can do to make the sun rise in the morning."
"Then of what use are the spiritual exercises you prescribe?"
"To make sure you are not asleep when the sun begins to rise."
- One minute wisdom
(Images without links are from pinterest. If anyone knows the name of the photographer please let me know)
Grid by Carol Lee Shanks (stitched cloth remains onto hemp). See more here
Carol Lee Shanks designs and constructs unique handcrafted clothing from fine natural textiles. The textile art pieces you see here are made from the scraps of cloth left over from Carol's 2011 Fall Fashion Collection.
"She has a great reverence for cloth allowing it to be the foundation of her inspiration. An integral part of her work is manipulating the cloth to create different surface textures." - World Shobori Network
Horizon by Carol Lee Shanks. Website here
Hercacleum Sphondylium by Cas Holmes. (Paper and textile layers, print, worked on top of old teacloths, dye, paint, print, machine and hand embroidery. Ink drawing and transfer). See website here.
"Cas Holmes is deeply moved by the stories of ordinary people's lives, the births, marriages and deaths; the diseases brought on by harsh working conditions and the way these hard facts are hidden from history, forgotten with the passing of time. Her work often contains snippets of text or discarded materials that have associations or conjure up memories. There is always a dialogue with the materials she uses. They bring their own history which is woven into the work" - Moira Vincentelli, Review for Reflections exhibition.
W.I.P by Christi Carter. See blog post here
I love Christi Carter's beaded piece so much I couldn't wait for it to be completed before posting it :-)
Mieke Renders-de Greef. See more at website here
Mieke Renders-de Greef. Website here.
David Quinn. Website here.
I enjoyed reading about David Quinn's process....
"The starting point can be anything, a colour, a found piece of paper, another painting etc. I work on a lot of pieces at the same time. I like being able to see as many of them as i can while I'm working. They feed into and off each other, some sit for ages before coming to fruition, others can come together quickly, the trick is knowing when to step back. I like to layer things up. I probably approach each piece more like a page in a notebook, that's why having lots is important, it means I don't get too precious and am not overly concerned about messing something up. I try to make the most of every mark and layer, look at it from a few different angles and think about how, if at all I could make something of it. This can mean sitting for ages just looking at the work. I want each piece to contain an element of the unexpected and for that to happen means not having too many plans beforehand. Working on a small scale and on lots of pieces at the same time means you can be a lot more spontaneous which I think is crucial if the work is to have life." - David Quinn. (Read the rest of the interview here and see David's website here)
David Quinn. See website here
Indigo by Jennifer Davies (pigment and plaster on handmade paper). Website here
"In the collages, diverse papers are sewn and glued into surprising combinations. The papers used are often covered with prior visual information -- scraps of old monotypes or failed drawings. Their history animates the collage." - Jennifer Davies
Thyer Machado. See more here
Mary Lloyd Jones. Website here
" I search for devices that will enable me to create multilayered works. This has led to my involvement with the beginnings of language, early man made marks and the Ogham and Bardic Alphabets." - Mary Lloyd Jones
Between the Layers post here
Belinda Clements art journaling space
"Where's your church?"
"We're standing in it."
"But this is a bookstore and it's Friday."
"Yes, but you might also choose to see it as a cathedral of the human spirit -- a storehouse consecrated to the full spectrum of human experience. Just about every idea we've ever had is in here somewhere. A place containing great thinking is a sacred space."
- Forrest Church
Shakespeare & Company, Paris, France. Click to see the 20 most beautiful bookstores in the world
I'm re-posting a well known quote by Joseph Campbell as a reminder......
"You must have a room, or a certain hour or so a day, where you don't know what was in the newspapers that morning, you don't know who your friends are, you don't know what you owe anybody, you don't know what anybody owe's to you. This is a place of creative incubation. At first you may find that nothing happens there. But if you have a sacred place and use it, something eventually will happen."
Kevin Titzer's studio. Click to see more studio spaces here.
"Our life has become so economic and practical in its orientation that, as you get older, the claims of the moment upon you are so great, you hardly know where the hell you are, or what it is you intended. You are always doing something that is required of you. Where is your bliss station? You have to try to find it. Get a phonograph and put on the music that you really love, even if it's corny music that nobody else respects." - Joseph Campbell
Elizabeth Gilbert's Sky-brary. Click to read an inspiring interview here.
Elizabeth Gilbert created what she calls her "Sky-brary" in the attic of her home. This is where she wrote her latest novel The Signature of All Things . It's so important to find your own sacred space ..... or think tank ... sky-brary.... or bliss station.
"Your sacred space is where you can find yourself over and over again." - Joseph Campbell
Jill Nooney creates sacred space in the garden with her wonderful rock stacks.
"By bringing a soulful consciousness to gardening, sacred space can be created outdoors." - S.Kelley Harrell, Nature's Gifts Anthology
I search for quiet spaces in nature to sit and gather my thoughts.
Land art in the forest. Photographer: Sylvian Meyer on Flickr.
"Many of the tribal peoples of the world recognize that there are four places in nature where you can find deep peace and remember who you really are. One is in the deep woods; one is in the desert; one in the mountains and one near the ocean." - Angeles Arrien, The second half of life.
If you have the time to delve further into sacred space follow these links...
Defining your sacred space by Tod Henry
5 Tips for Creating Sacred Space by Debbie Woodbury
Honouring Sacred Space by David Jones
Nature's Solace
Wide Open Spaces
Creating sacred space
Robyn Gordon 2013
"Every man should be born again
on the first day of January.
Start a fresh page.
Take up one hole more
in the buckle if necessary,
or let down one,
according to circumstances;
but on the first of January
let every man
gird himself once more,
with his face to the front,
and take no interest in the things
that were and are past."
- Henry Ward Beecher
Wishing you all everything of the best for 2014
