Spirit of the Land

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This piece evolved over almost three weeks.  Many times glimmers of ideas come to me while I am meditating.  Sometimes a spark comes from a quiet walk on the beach and certain stones catch my eyes.  This one came slowly, and grew from the main figure and child to the world around them.  She sat for many days on the floor with purple earth underneath her feet.  The landscape was a gathering of many beloved treasures, hearts, driftwood and shells.  Pine cones stripped bare gathered on one of my walks by a favorite tree.  A naturally gilded milkweed cradle from the wild edges of my driveway.  The net, washed up amongst the spongey seaweed after a storm.  Carefully collected wampum and clam shells for dresses and scales.  The water special treasure from a beloved teacher that collected the beautiful sea glass from all over the South Shore, but couldn't take it with her as she was moving.  She knew it had found its home.  A tiny beaded bracelet pitted and tumbled found in the waves as my boys swam and laughed made a perfect little necklace.  A water spirit rising from the storm to bring life and nourishment to those on land.

We live on Native American land.  Taken from the Native tribes of the Massachusett.  A land rich in beauty and resources.  This is my way of honoring that spirit, the people, the beauty and the land on which I stand.  Finding the beauty and riches under my feet and giving them a story.  The broken shells, the discarded net, the dried up cones, they all held life once.  So I try to give them a new life, a new story, and honor the one they held before.  Everything is beautiful if you stop long enough to listen to its song.  Touch the edges of its story.  My art breathes into me the songs it has to tell, I just listen and follow the sound.