healthybeing.com
to sell as a small fundraiser.Indian Rock School
This spring the First congregational church in Poughkeepsie, www.fccpok.org, sent out a call to artists contesting them to design a creative space within their chapel that reflected the concept of resurrection and new life. First of all I want to thank the congregation and vestry for their vision and generosity in reaching out to artists in this current economy. The idea and the project were heartfelt and inspiring to all, even to those artists who did not submit proposals. Both Michael and I were pleased and stirred by the contest.
The challenge was how to bring in anything that would stand out within the beauty of the arched alter, the glistening organ pipes, and the magnificent stain glass.
It seemed as if very little needed to be done to enhance the spiritual aspect of the church as it is, and whatever we brought in should be as simple as possible.
Our original idea involved an egg suspended over a nest, and since this is still the Easter season, it seemed logical to think of what the egg would bring. By using the Dove we pulled in the iconographic vocabulary of Jesus’ message of Peace, the Holy Ghost, and Moses’ journey to new Life.
The Dove is about 13 feet wide, cut out of four joined together birch luan panels, suspended in a cable ring embellished with “feathers”. It is painted in an undercoating of a rainbow of colors and subdued with silver and white to enhance the silhouette. Miraculously there was a pulley already installed inside the top of the alter archway. Feeling that the concepts of Peace, new Life, and the Resurrection can be difficult for mortals to grasp, Michael and I offer, as an interactive part of the installation, a few wing feathers for each of the congregation members and visitors to take in hope of inspiring further reflection. The feathers are inscribed with individual biblical passages from Matthew, Isaiah, Luke, and John. They are contained loosely in a nest on the alter.
The project was a joy to work on. We hope you enjoy it and that it inspires all the peace and happiness for you that we felt collaborating on it.
To go with the large Dove hanging above, a nest on the alter made with weaving twigs, vines, fabric notes and paint holds the wisdom of prophets. Nearly 100 feathers have been inscribed with ten different Biblical passages from Isaiah, Matthew, Luke and John, and are offered as a gift to the congregation. The passages pertain to Peace. This is the interactive part of the installation- where each viewer must "pluck" a fetahre from the nest and leave with a piece of the art that gives them some deeper thought and inspiration.
Everyone has a story, something different to say.
It's absolutely brilliant to collaborate with another artist. You get such inspiration and energy from it. Here is how it has gone:
playing with maps and narrative...
This 7 x 9.5 inch panel is mixed media- paint and collage. I am fascinated by the way the California freeways swoop this way and that, slinking to the east, merging in the west, splitting up north and linking down south. So many decisions to make this time of year- 
THE CHICKS ARE in the store! (This is a quick sketch). It's still 32 degrees outside but hope springs eternal.
A Prisma Color meditation
7 x 10 inches, pulp, pigment, maps, paint, ink
Same methods all week long
SOLD
This is a small mixed media piece I finished today. I used the paper I made last summer at WSW using blue and white liquid pulp and stencils to create a seamless patterned background. A few days ago I played around with messing the surface and adding collage birds (that are actually silkscreen prints on cut maps). Today I painted with acrylics. 
SOLD
