Collage Universe

I still have water on my mind.

This morning I started up the fountain in my office which had been emptied and turned off for about a week while I was traveling.  It was time to turn it on and get the chi of my work flowing again along with it. Water….

Over the 4th of July weekend I was invited to swim several times in my friends’ pool. Such a treat to flit about like a mermaid and lounge in water’s cool refreshment on a hot summer day….

Last night while having a bath my mind began to merge with the beloved element of Water. I wondered if our relationship with water here in the U.S. is about to change drastically.  And if so what will be the new normal?

Here is a collage I made back in 2003. I had just returned from a week long seminar on the four elements- Air, Water, Fire and Earth. There I rekindled a new, old love affair with the element of Water. I realized that Water is my #1 Elemental Ally.

Making this collage was a trip down memory lane from lifetimes gone by. It reconnected  me with deep, ancient parts of my soul. Water…….

Water is about emotions, sensitivity and fluidity. We humans are composed in large part of water. Did you know that-   “In a newborn infant, this may be as high as 75 percent of the body weight, but it progressively decreases from birth to old age, most of the decrease occurring during the first 10 years of life.” ? (Source- Wikapedia)

Water is so powerful. We are just beginning to to understand a bit of its power. If you want to dive into the mysteries of Water I highly recommend you read anything by Dr. Masaru Emoto, such as The True Power of Water: Healing & Discovering Ourselves.

Dr Emoto’s main premise is that all water is sensitive to our words, emotions and prayers. So the more love and grattitude we express toward water the more the water absorbs this vibration and gives it back to us. Just try saying, “I love you and thank you.” anytime you are with water and see what begins to happen.

Water…..

Here is a collage I made about a week before the explosion of the Icelandic volcano, Eyjafjallajökull. Wish I could remember the exact date I made this now, but have forgotten. A good reminder to always date one’s work.

The interesting thing about this piece is that the images I used had been hanging around my collage bench for a long time. A few were in a basket together of small images I keep to fish through when I’m in search of some unknown embellishment to a piece. Another one was buried in a pile of random clippings from magazines. Suddenly I had the urge to make a volcano collage and these images all came forth very quickly. The entire thing was finished in about 30 minutes.

I kept thinking about how volcanoes ultimately bring us more color, more beauty and richness. It will be interesting to see what depth of color, beauty and riches come from the event in Iceland….

Breathe, Relax, Tune In and Collage On!

For me collage is really a form of meditation. It has a way of instantly relaxing me and I slip into a very quiet place. I often play instrumental music when I work. Music with words seems to keep me too much in my left brain so I avoid that. But sometimes I listen to favorite spiritual authors on tape like Robert Moss, Marion Woodman or Gregg Braden. Their work on dreams and the Divine Matrix is a close cousin to my type of collage work so it can be really interesting to listen to them and see what unfolds from my stack of images….

Here is a collage that was born in two stages. For a long time, several years as I recall, this was just two images- the cathedral scene with the monk in the background and the meditating Jesus statue.

Then one day I suddenly realized that it was missing something- a photo of Eckhart Tolle whose work often references Christianity and Buddhism. It was as if until I added the Eckhart photo I didn’t really know what this collage was all about. For me it speaks of the mysterious years where Jesus disappeared and we don’t officially know where he went. I believe he was off studying meditation and learning to do “miracles”. Somehow was taken out of the sacred texts and kept secret from us until very recently.