Transformation
“And as with prayer, which is a dipping of oneself toward the light,
there is a consequence of attentiveness to the grass itself,
and the sky itself, and to the floating bird.
I too leave the fret and enclosure of my own life.
I too dip myself toward the immeasurable.”
~ excerpt from Mary Oliver’s
“Winter Hours: Prose, Prose Poems and Poems”
Let me tell you a story about transformation...
When my husband and I moved to Carmel-by-the-Sea nearly a decade ago, I joined a meditation group that meets weekly at All Saints’ Episcopal Church, a few blocks from our home. Through a daily practice of meditation, my art – and my life – were transformed.
Every day, I walk through the peaceful grounds of the church, and pause in the Memorial Garden, where calla lilies and wisteria bloom gloriously in the spring.
One night, I had a dream in which I was working on a painting of calla lilies and wisteria for the church. The dream was so vivid that it stayed alive with me for weeks. That beautiful dream is about to become reality.
Soon I will begin to create a BIG painting – 8 feet x 4.5 feet – for the space above the door in the nave of the sanctuary. The theme of the painting is transformation, and I will be using calla lilies and wisteria to symbolize the power of metamorphosis that resides within each of us.
One of my reference photos from the Memorial Garden at All Saints’.
I’ll be sharing moments (from time to time) of the painting’s journey from blank canvas to its ultimate unveiling and installation at All Saints’ in July, so stay tuned…
Until then, wishing you moments of transformation – both large and small.
Interior of All Saints’ Episcopal Church (my painting will be installed on the wood panel above the doorway).
