And later, still with the idea of protection, I thought about Imagemaking as a form of Prayer. Not Artist-as-Channel, where any creation made in the zone (i.e. connected to holy source) makes the Making a form of prayer. But rather imagemaking as prayer for someone, the way a Unity Church group, for example, might pray for someone. Below combines at least 3 images.
That first image really captured my imagination … I’m looking forward to seeing where you go with it …
almost no color and almost no form…. wd be interesting and certainly a departure for me
Visual prayers…what a beautiful idea! Your pictures project a sense of divine presence underlying the lives of those you love, and the deep protection you hope that will afford.
that’s the idea…
the image next to the last one is fabulous. i love superimposing images. wish we could do that in real life.
I think we kinda do, in memory, anyway
I was a little taken aback yesterday when you said you bored with your blog. Of course, I felt immediately responsible (I’m KIDDING). But I am greatly relieved to see that you didn’t remain bored for too long 🙂 :). Did I tell you I am working on what I’ve been calling a “healing painting”? … not quite the same as your prayer image idea – but I love the concept and love your images here as “protective”. keep going!! BTW the background of this webpage, the closeup of the intensely stitched fabric is really really comforting and beautiful.
thanks Maggie. I DIDN’t know about the healing painting… would like to!
i am drawn to the cluster of leaves (?) in the branches of the first photo. it whispered “bat” or “crow” when i first saw it. and again when i did a double (and triple) take. perhaps it isn’t a cluster of leaves after all, but a cluster of wings?
thank you for these thought trails about image making as a form of prayer. reminds me of my own practice which seeks to bring meditative awareness into every moment of our activity, not just when seated on a cushion.
namaste’
I really love how another person’s eyes on an image can reveal something new. I thought there were just dead leaves but then the next images kinda fly with wings. So who knows. Seeing can be meditative tho sometimes i find the act of taking a picture pulls me away. Not sure actually. It is so automatic now.
the trick, it would seem to me, would be to allow the act to be nothing more than the blink of an eyelid. a passing moment, unregarded. to let go of the act itself and allow the moment to continue to unfold. allow the act to recede into the background so that which is being seen may continue to whisper its story uninterrupted. i would think the act becoming automatic would help in this regard. a gift actually. 🙂