May 2012
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Patina
The word of the day is PATINA. I love the textures that the tools in my studio take on with use, the stories that the layers tell of what they have seen and where they have been. Part of what draws me toward the Benedictine path is its reverence for the tools used in the course of daily life, the items that help us move more smoothly through our work. In his Rule, Saint Benedict writes of how...
January 2012
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The (Prayer)Book of Tea
Each year, I travel across the country to the Grünewald Guild, a wondrous retreat center and art-and-faith community in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State. For some years I taught a class there called Soul of the Book, in which folks created books that evoked something of the sacred text of their own lives.
I don’t always make something when I’m in the midst of teaching a...
November 2011
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On the Eve of All Hallows
Ten years ago tonight, my husband and I had our first date. Fitting, no doubt, for a girl who loves this trinity of days of Halloween-All Saints-All Souls, and a boy who once starred in a Halloween horror movie. Over dinner this evening, on this All Hallows Eve, I talked with Gary about my friend Tammy. One of my best friends in seminary, Tammy was among my first artist-heroes. I wanted to...