"Collaborators" Mosaic for the Clay Coop

Hands of the faculty at the Tucson Clay Co-op, where I'm currently teaching a class.  We came up with this as a statement for the times and the philosophy of the Co-op, but also as a potential arts project that could be done easily with student groups of all kinds, casting hands and making a simple mosaic.  

So we'll see where this goes!  I always seem to love the Circle of Hands motif, Spiderwoman's Hands, weaving the world together.  Or in this case, piecing it together, all the broken shards made into Beauty.

Quan Yin Mosaic

I seem to be fascinated with Quan Yin this summer, and have made several pieces.  In this one I managed to get in Quan Yin's vase with the healing waters, and a blooming tree at her other hand.  They aren't yet where I want, because my vision of Quan Yin, who could also be White Tara, or the Virgin of Guadaloupe, or any other manifestations of divine compassion...........has to do with radient blessings streaming forth from the Being.  

In the one below  I saw those Blessings manifesting as flower petals.  It seems to me that a Great Soul, a Boddhissatva, would be like a light house, emanating light, warmth, beauty and healing.  A fountain.  Like a vision*** I had at a painful time in my life, a vision of "White Tara" that I never forgot..........

Of course, no one can match the matchless mosaic art of Ginny Moss Rothwell, who lives here in Tucson.  That below is, unbelievably, a mosaic icon.  

"Quan Yin and the Dragon King"

And here is her Quan Yin again, as a contemporary woman:

"Quan Yin and the Dragon" by Ginny Moss Rothwell

***

WHITE TARA

This vision came with help from a teacher of mine, Jewel. Jewel is a shaman, who lives on her land  THE SOURCE, in Shutesbury, Massachusetts. When I met Jewell I was living in Brattleboro, Vermont. I was divorcing from my former husband and was full of the grief, anger, and remorse that comes with the ending of a marriage.  I went to see Jewell for an energy healing. When she put me on her table, she said prayers from The 21 Praises to Tara before she began.  I didn't know about these  prayers to the Goddess Tara at the time, although they became important to me later.

I slipped into a trance state - it seemed as if I was watching short clips from movies, without any sound. I saw African men drumming around a fire, then the body of an emaciated black woman lying on a bed, I saw a ceremonial room of some kind with thousands of orange marigolds, and  a white man, balding and heavyset with glasses, and many more brief images. 

At some point, I felt I was pulled backward, given some distance, so that these "movie clips" became like a vibrant patchwork quilt, all occurring at once. I remember thinking how beautiful they were from that perspective.

Suddenly, a Great Being arrived. I cannot actually describe that presence, because there was no form - she was composed of light. The only identification I felt I could make was that she was female. She didn't speak to me, only radiated the most intense compassion I have ever felt. She also radiated a profound sense of humor! It was as if she was saying, "Look Lauren, take a good look at this. It's going to be alright. You'll meet again. Don't take on so."
I shall never forget the power of that radiant being.  As with all true visions, the image is very clear in my mind, it doesn't slip away.  I later learned that Jewell always  begins her sessions with prayers to the Goddess Tara. And to me, that was the Goddess White Tara; which is why I have prayed to her and tried to honor her with my masks ever since.   

And, come to think of it. I've been very fortunate in that way!

Om Tare Tu Tare Tare Soha

New Mosaic - "Our Lady of the Waters"

"Our Lady of the Waters" (2014)

 I've been experimenting with clay and my collection of Afghani fabric presses.  There is something so wonderful about putting these antique presses, all cut by hand, to use again - they have so much spirit or mana in them.  This piece is dedicated to WATER, which is so important here in the desert.  Without the blessings of the Lady of the Waters, there is no life.

Lady of the Desert Spring

Nuestra Senora de las Aguas,

Our lady of the Arroyo,

Come quietly to us,

Come to us, and hear our prayers,

For  those who suffer thirst,

Spread your mantle of green and turquoise

 Among the red, parched lands

Bright artery of life

Nuestra Señora de las Aguas

Mother of the cottonwoods, the Palos verdes,

Snake and mallow, coyote and child

Hear our prayers

O desert spring,

Our lady of the  waters.

Tile made from antique Afghani fabric press (2014)

The Song of the Dry River

Dry.  All you hear

 is the litany of traffic, a dusty haze obscuring the distance.

Nothing sounds now

where once water  sang

among the stones,

voices of the living

where once a river ran

a river, once, here

before  cattle came,

 the cars

the mines

living as if the waters

would always flow

to green the red and barren lands,

as if the breast would never run dry.

As if  there none yet unborn

Who must know  thirst.

Are there only stones

And pottery shards

Left to remember me?

I sing to their  ghosts now,

I sing

where once a river ran

(2002)

The Art (and Orbs) of Ginny Moss Rothwell (Pt. 1)

"Petroglyph" (based upon Tibetan petroglyphs)

I wanted to share the unbelievable mosaic art of Ginny Moss Rothwell, who is also a neighbor of mine, living in the "poet's corner" area of Tucson.  I went  to her house recently to view her paintings done in pieced tile and glass,  and came away not only amazed at the  beauty, and very unique craft  of her work, but also the conversation we had about orbs.  Ginny has photographed thousands of orbs for years, and like the friendship she has with the  birds and animals that live in her back yard (and often visit her art as well), I can say that Ginny has a friendly relationship with  many "invisible collaborators" as well.  Asking for  colors in some of her "orb photos" she has been able to show photos of orbs that appear in various colors - violet, blue, green or red. 

In fact, there's so much material she kindly gave me permission to share on the subject, that I need to break this post into two sections, one to share her artwork, and the next will be about the orb photographs.  

"Jewel in the Lotus"

This mosaic, like "Quan Yin and the Dragon King" below, is the Goddess of Compassion, Quan Yin, who is also related to Tara in Tibetan Buddhism.  In the mosaic below, based on traditional sacred imagery, Quan Yin is with the Dragon, as she is also above, portrayed as a modern woman.  I love the orbs that occur throughout the works as well, the invisible presences and energies.  Here's Marco,  the model for the Dragon King, another one of Ginny's friends who has his own lizard apartment complex in the back yard.

"Quan Yin and the Dragon King"

Here's Ginny at work in her studio, and below a wonderful piece dedicated to Frieda Kahlo - I love the milagros that she uses to frame the work.  For anyone not familiar, "milagros" (I'm used to seeing them in silver, and identified with specific parts of the body, such as the heart, or foot, or hand, etc.)  are religious charms that are traditionally used for healing purposes in Mexico,  They are often attached to altars, shrines, and left as a petition for healing in places of worship, and can be purchased in churches  or from street vendors. 

"Frieda" (with milegros)

This portrait of Frieda includes Chopra, Ginny's friend and model who happens to be a mockingbird.  I once had a mockingbird friend named Mozart, but I suspect Chopra is much more philosophically inclined than he was.

"Hok and Cricket", more of Ginny's friends