You might recognize the artistic hand of Marti here. That’s Marti from New Mexico, often in my and others’ comments telling robust stories about family, culture, food, and yes, resistance.
Her symbolic gestures of resistance give me hope and act as reminders that however we show up in this moment matters.
She commented recently: “The sign that I made in April for the first of the many protests, weathered snow, hail and rain, but this last bout of monsoon rain, crumbled it SO I made another sign, not as large, not planted in my large pot. It is affixed to one of my Kokopelli planters by our front door, away from the elements, where all who come to our door can see. it. Thought about changing the words on the sign to fit the many protest themes but in the end, those three words say it all, HANDS OFF DEMOCRACY.”
Marti hand-dyes fabrics with windfall to produce amazing results. Here’s a lovely bookmark she sent me.
In the top wall-hanging, she features the work of another fiber artist, Liz. That’s Liz from I’m Going to Texas.
You can read about Liz’s Peace Pin Project here. Liz stitched, in her unique and original style, messages of peace to wear and on a flag to signal support of Ukraine.
In her stellar collaborative style, Liz also stitched up a quote from Marti.
Hope is standing up / not standing aside / to connect in a way / that helps to make / us all one.
Rebecca Solnit’s got nothin’ on these two!
While trying to find the bronze leaf (stamped with the word PEACE) that Liz sent me after the Hearts for Charleston Project concluded (see my and her sidebars), I found the Peace Pin she made for me. The date references the day Dylann Roof opened fire at Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston. I wish I could find these items in my boxes of precious objects, but so far they haven’t turned up.
How are you fighting the fascist regime this week?
Honestly this post has me wishing I was doing more … you do have me asking myself what should or could I do to make some kind of difference. Thanks for that and also thanks for sharing Marti and Liz’s thoughts and doings. I’m leaving for Hawaii on Wednesday to visit my brothers and families … getting to spend time with my many siblings leaves me feeling happy and hopeful.
You re remind me of the often repeated advice about STAYING CONNECTED. It’s not trivial. I hope you have a lovely time!.
One of the best ways I know to stand and face this regime is to carry on with our lives, be with our families, make plans, continue living our lives. Showing up with insightful, knowledgeable, caring comments on blogs, as you do, time and time again, Tina, is how we continue. We are all in this together and when I see one of your comments Tina, I feel connected and stronger.
Aloha to your and your family. Have a wonderful time in Hawaii and enjoy a papaya for me. If you can, dance a hula for me as well! I miss dancing on the beaches.
I must admit to being a little startled on seeing my cloth work on the internet. Dee asked me if she could share this cloth work and I am humbled that she has. Thank you. As someone who does not blog, it matters to me to be able to come to blogs that I trust and admire and share viewpoints, stories, info, rants, joys ans sorrows and once in a rare while, some of my cloth work. Staying connected, as you have stated Dee, is so important, now more than ever. More than anything, this allows us to know that we are not alone, to find the courage to stand up and face this regime in any way that we can. In doing so, we build community, community builds movements, and movements, can change the world.
If I got anything wrong here please let me know. Your cloth work deserves a wide audience!
Dee~ Thank you for this lovely, affirming post. The ways we do what we can are always something to consider…but, I do agree that connection is one of the very most important. This post is so soothing. (((smile)))
And I want to add not only connecting but sharing is so important…as in the “resource” post you did.
Today I offer you this young man, since I am always looking for hope for the future.
Take care all
We learn so much from each other.
I watched about half. Tristan is on fire!
Sorry, it was showing it didn’t go through. Ooops.
It warms my heart to see Marti’s art and my own peace-full contributions, especially given that I’m not in blogging mode (hoping that will change soon) … my own peace leaf disappeared and was found just recently in a recipe box that I tucked it into when we moved in 2019! … Liz (in case WP doesn’t recognize me)
I’m hoping something like that happens with my peace pin. I know where the leaf is. But I couldn’t find old pics of it.