Enlettered Essence

"The Holy Essence of Blessing transformed itself into letters in order to take up residence within the underworlds"

Midrash Tanchuma, Naso 16

This latest illumination is about being as "enletterment". Life is encoded, as we know.  From the standpoint of Hebraic Mystical Tradition, the Hebrew letters themselves .are the matrix of mattering.  All aspects of Life are embedded with a resonant frequency, a song cycle.  

It was wonderful to find that the central spinning geometry precisely incorporated all 22 Hebrew letters beginning with Alef in the center.

work in progress

Two bees find there place to imbibe Divine nectar from the flowers.

I have the sense that the spheres on either side are the sefirot of cHesed and Gevura - "fluid benevolence" and "restraint,"  harmonizing the elements.

I thought of this at first as a threshold piece, something in a garden, maybe a library's garden.  The vertigris patina is so subtly lovely however, that I'd rather see it a bit more protected.  Still as threshold sema, perhaps, but at the covered entrance to a home or a library.  I even think it would make an exquisite crown to Hekhál or Aron Hakodesh (Torah Ark) within an intimate setting, or as a focus piece on a mantle or within a circumscribed sacred space.

The size is relatively small - 25" wide by 14" high by 1" deep.  Lighting from behind would amplify the swirling pattern of the glass plate behind the central geometry and the textured glass behind the two sefirot.

Acid-etched copperwork illumination with cutwork backed in textured glass. Letters are engraved.  Framed in cedar.

hebrew art for sale

Dynamic Intervention

Acid Etched Copper in two parts with fretwork, engraving and oxides.  

Fretwork backed in amber mica. 

29"x16.75" x 1.5"

Here is the latest illumination to unfold in my studio. The name I was given for it is Dynamic Intervention. I can tell you some of the elements that I believe I understand.  Anything that you see here that sheds more light on the meaning of this piece is, as always, much appreciated.  If you aren't up to posting a comment then please email me (as usual).

The seed for this copperwork arrived with an investigation of the Hindu feminine divinity known as Aditi - the power underlying temporal reality and the primordial energy that powers the universe.

According to that gratifying, ubiquitous and omniscient source, Wikipedia :
Aditi (अदिति "limitless") is mother of the gods (devamatar) and all twelve zodiacal spirits from whose cosmic matrix the heavenly bodies were born. As celestial mother of every existing form and being, the synthesis of all things, she is associated with space (akasa) and with mystic speech (Vāc).  

That reference to 12 caught me immediately as the thread I was to follow and that you can see expressed in this copperwork as the theme of 12 around 1 in various iterations.

As I continue to explore the meaning of the symbolic elements I was directed to include, I came upon an article which, within its discussion of quantum string theory suggests that 
"Our civilization is out of balance, and it all starts with our God image, (God, a.k.a. the creator, the field of intention, the universal super consciousness, the matrix of all matter, divine intelligence). We have overlooked God's other half, the Goddess energy, the healing and transformative power of heavenly mother."  

To paraphrase the article:
Rather than the 3 dimensional definition of reality that is limited to hard animate matter we see, sense touch and feel with our five senses, matter does not arise from hard animate building blocks or particles of anything solid. Atoms are 99.9999% empty space, and, recent theories of Quantum physics describe a "field of infinite possibility" from which all matter arises. This energy field has even been described as being responsive to the intentions of the observer.

Perhaps it is the response to the intentions of the observer that is implied by the name "Dynamic Intervention."   Dynamic Intervention may be a pictograph of an evolutionary process (suggested by the DNA spheres) that is emerging out of our collective "mattering" intentions. 

 

 

hands art for sale

3 Day Copperwork Immersion

Class size is limited to 4.
Immersion begins Saturday, April 4^th continues Sunday, April 5th and then resumes the following Saturday, April 11th to allow time for the solvent bath to work its alchemy.
Each participant begins with a sheet of 26 gauge copper approximately 8"square.

Instruction includes:
Using an open-throat shear to cut the outside form; preparing copper to receive transfer of pattern; scribing in pattern; using asphaltum as an acid resist; acid etching; stopping etch and placing copper into solvent bath for a week. Revealing the etching via polishing, flaming, coloring, forming or whatever is required.
The first two days begin at 9am and end ~4pm. Due to waiting times required between processes, each day of the immersion consists of about four hours of actual hands on working time.
The final day of the session begins between 9 and 10am with participants typically bringing their copperworks to completion an hour either side of noon.
Cost for the 3 Day Immersion is $300 which includes all materials.
To register call (719)256-5442 or email moresca.copper@gmail.com .

If you are interested in being informed about upcoming immersions, please email me with your request as well as the month and days of the week that would work best for you.

Preparing your Design at home:

You'll need to bring a finished concept to transfer to your 8” square of copper sheet.

As you're designing you piece, think in terms of thick lines. You might want to include a geometric form (Celtic knotwork, arabesque mandala...) , maybe some calligraphy (your initial, a focus word - maybe a wprd, letter or symbol from a sacred language). Google Image searches can help you find a logo, symbol or tattoo design that you can use. Coloring books can also be a good resource, especially some of the Dover publications for artists. You can also email me early on for guidance if you need a little nudge in the right direction.

Design a form that will take your piece out of the square 8”x8”. Think medallion, shield, arch, hamsa ... I recommend you stay away from “perfect” cicles or pointed stars. You'll also want to draw an inner border within the form to frame it and keep acid from eating away at the edges.

Here is an example of a simple, yet beautiful copperwork created by a first-timer at a 3 Day Immersion: Fluid Islamic geometry, thick lines (inscribed with free-hand designs) and an interesting border design. A little formwork really brought this piece to life!

Creating Transitional Entrances

A Pattern Language, a book that addresses the human needs of public and private spaces, speaks to the need for transitional entrances as a space to leave behind one's exterior, streetwise self in order to enter a more interior, personal frame of mind. "If the transition is too abrupt there is no feeling of arrival, and the inside of the building fails to be an inner sanctum."

Creating a transitional entrance can be accomplished in many ways, by marking a path which connects the street to the entrance with "a change of light, a change of sound, a change of direction, a change of surface, a change of level, perhaps by gateways which make a change of enclosure, and above all with a change of view".

An approach that I have taken to mark transitional spaces is the Threshold Sema.  

Until this morning I was really at a loss as to what word to use to express what I had in mind. Emblem, motto, banner, focus, sign... it's all of those things.  I began exploring the etymology of each to see if I could find a word with the appropriately fitting nuance.   I was led to the word "semantic" (via "sign") which stems from the Greek semantikos "significant," likewise semainein "to show by sign, signify, point out, indicate by a sign," both deriving from sema "sign, mark, token; omen, portent; constellation..."   I have known the word sema from its Arabic meaning of "listening," the name for the ritual dance of the whirling dervishes.   Threshold Sema then.
 
The blog "Light is Planted at the Garden Gate" discusses the Threshold Sema created for the Art Song Garden.

Here is a version that I created for the portico of my studio:


JoAnne, a friend as well as a member of the Sri Aurobindo Learning Center here in Crestone, asked me to create one for the garden gate of the Mother's Garden at the Savitri House last autumn. Here is the result:

The Mother's Garden gate is overhung with trees and there is no light that would come through the back as there is in my garden, hense the rectangular banner form with no light revealing cutwork. 

The central flower symbol is the that of the Mother, Mirra Alfassa, closely associated with Sri Aurobindo. Here is a link to the meaning of the symbol: Mother's Symbol.  The Sanskrit on the left is Bhakti - Devotion. The symbolic language beneath it is a lotus with a flame. The Sanskrit on the right is Ishvara Pranidhana - surrender to the Divine unfolding. Centered within the Sanskrit calligraphy is a flower facing out, away from the Mother's symbol - listening, as it were, to another voice.

It came out so beautifully that they now want to create a more sturdy and beautiful gate for it to hang on, which I hope will happen in the Spring.  In the meantime, Ginny, who caretakes the house, created it into a mantle piece until then:

As with the Crestone End of Life Project, for which I create plaques with a symbol that represents a significant element of the life of a person past,  I love the thought of creating a symbolic language for the daily thresholds we transition while living.

Involution

This Immovable Object reluctantly engaging an Irresistible Force showed up in my mind on April 3rd. Yet another horse. When I saw the oval object at level with the horse's heart, I didn't know what I was looking at.  A ruby? No - a chrysalis.  

 

As I looked for images appropriate to the unfolding of this new assignment, I came upon a photograph of a chrysalis (yep, the right shape) with the forming butterfly wing already visible through the thinning cocoon. The red pattern of the wing struck a personal cord - it is very close to the 4 branched Shin, the letter  I use as a signature somewhere within each copperwork as a symbol of an emerging reality with feminine implications.

I completed the actual copper etching June 28th. It was then that I heard the name I was to associate with this work. INVOLUTION.  Interesting.  I thought it might mean something like "inner evolution" but I found it actual has a very specific meaning within the context of mathematics:

 

a function, transformation or operator that is equal to its inverse, i.e., which give the identity when applied to itself.

I can't imagine a more perfect definition to what I think I'm seeing here.

What thoughts do you have about this imagery?

The Violets are Blueing in the Green

 

I woke up this morning with this little tune buzzing in my head from A.A. Milne.  I took it as a sign that the time had come to finally upload the photos I had taken of Art Song Garden as during its exquisite Spring blooming.

I was so excited by the return of the bees that I went crazy trying to capture the little critters at work. They don't exactly hold still while you're trying to catch them in the act.  It seem the bigger, slower ones were the most cooperative.

Bumble bee on crabapple blossoms:

Here's one working on the Black Currant bushes:

 

Here is my precocious squirt of a Centennial Apple tree that is all of 3 feet tall blooming with everything it's got:

 

 

Yes, Dorothy, Nectarines do grow in Crestone, CO - ask the black bear who broke through the fence in the middle of the night last year to get at the yet unripe fruit :

Here is one of the ever beautiful,  hardy and forgiving Caraganas (Siberian Pea Shrubs):

And glory of glories, beyond all hope,  one of the Etrog trees started from seed 4 years ago blossomed for the first time :

She and her mate have spent their lives indoors.  For the first time both are (courageously) living out of doors (for the season). 

Life is luscious!

Earthly Images and a Ghost Horse

With Earth Day approaching, here are two profound internal processes that have emerged from intracellular space.

Acid-etched and fretworked copper with colored pencil and Vitrail enamel. Fretwork backed in mulberry paper.

Placed on plywood backing and surrounded by fertile earth.

20” x 20”

Here is the description I wrote up and sent to friends:

Shimmering emerged from a Directive regarding sounds I perceived encircling the Earth. Not music, exactly, more like a high pitched chorus of voices that I can best describe as shimmering.  I couldn't tell at the time if the shimmering sound was coming from the Earth and radiating out or if the sounds were entering the Earth's atmosphere from an external source.  The "seed syllables" I was given to include seem to suggest the former.  The Alef and Bet are the first 2 letters of the Hebrew alphabet -- the Alef (on the left), is open to all four directions and emits no sound but contains all sounds; the Bet (at the bottom) being an incubator of possibilities and directional (opening in one direction only), suggesting a timeline of sorts - evolution perhaps. The other 2 symbols are Tibetan.  The one at the top is Bam, written in uchen script, is associated with the element of Water and with protection of nature and the environment (I didn't make this up, I'm just following instructions regarding what symbols to include). On the right side is Hrīḥ is, the seed syllable of great compassion - Govinda describes hrih as the "inner voice, the moral law within us, the voice of conscience, of inner knowledge". He links this with what he calls the emotional principle of goodness, compassion and sympathy, as well as with the illuminating aspects of the sun: light, making things visible, the faculty of perception, of direct vision.  I am unfamiliar with Tibetan seed syllables per se but this is what I could find about the symbols I was to incorporate into a "sound vision."  As you can see, blue became an important element, both in the etching process and in the mulberry paper that backs the fretwork planet. That particular hue of blue is also around the copper's perimeter border, in the letters and the interwoven half-circle of antennae,  in the form of an iridescent medium which took on that appearance.  The whole is embedded in Earth itself.

Here are some of the thoughts I received in response:

from Larain Matheson
I thought and felt the throat chakra in this piece  of Shimmering. It represents the vocalization, self-expression and its color is blue with the element of ether. It looks like an aerial view throughout the windows into the ethers of space… 

from Anne Barber-Shams 
George Gamov said we live in an ocean of whispers left over from our eruptive creation. These whispers come from the hydrogen atoms in space, emitting radio radiation. There is a very slight instability in the hydrogen atom that causes it to disgorge a quantum of energy ONCE in about every 11 MILLION years. There are so many hydrogen atoms because of the vastness of space that these single PEEPS of energy every 11 million years amount to a continuous radio roar.
 
from Leigh Ann Philips
In the ancient Celtic culture, actually the Tuatha de Danaan, the Shimmering was how the Druids traveled inter dimensionally. There were certain sounds that created certain primordial doors, so the story goes.  and also

A sound vision is a visual mantra. That is how and why I am etching ancient mandalas on the bowls these days. It amplifies the intention of the sound, can also help manifest, as well as there is inherent beauty in this artwork.

from Robin Ross
Blue: with medicine Buddha mantra, all beings and the earth are simultaneously infused and radiate Buddha's azure blue healing light. The whole world is filled with this blue healing light...

and my own subsequent reflections
The evening after getting the mud on I felt agitated and disoriented.  I needed Flower Essences. After a long session that brought me back into balance, the final Essence which was called for in 7 times the strength of everything else I tested for was Bowl from the Perelandra set of Nature Program Essences.
Here is an excerpt from the accompanying description:

...Visualize,... the planet as a container of these impulses. Energy held beneath the Earth's surface. This energy is seated within the very soul of the planet, seated within its heart.  It is there to be released and integrated into all levels of life on the planet.  Now picture one small co-creative garden on the planet's surface.  See it as a window into the interior of the planet, into its soul.  As the gardener works to align this garden to the new dynamics, watch the window open and the energy contained within the core ... gently gravitate to be released through the window.  Feel the sense of relief and freedom within the Earth's core as the energy moves outward and up.  And watch the actions and the form living on the Earth's surface .. shift to reflect the impact of the heart energy that has now surfaced.  That which exists on the surface has begun to connect to and integrate with the heart and soul of the planet, which, in turn, is fully aligned with the heart and soul force of the universe...

In 1992, an energy bowl one hundred feet in diameter formed in the Perelandra research garden.  The bowl contained a thick liquid, golden in color to some and blue to others... 

Acid-etched and fretworked copper with colored pencil, wax oxides and Vitrail enamel. Fretwork backed by amber mica. Framed in mahogany.

19” x 19.5”

Shortly after finishing Shimmering I was given another vision, which, after searching every mythology I could find to try and decipher what it might mean, this description knocked on my door (in the guise of Karin Di Giacomo) and answered my bewilderment:

The original vision was of a celestial horse bearing a cloak in the process of turning around. This, somehow, in relationship to the Earth that was in rapid fire communication mode.

What you see is a ghost horse, or maybe a horse-like cloud shape thundering Earthwards towards the exchange of intense emotions symbolized by the cantillation marks etched into the woven grid lines.

What I (now) imagine to be happening here is the return of the essence of the messenger as reported by Malachi 3:23-24

Here do I send you Eliahu Ha'Navi before the great and terrible day of Havaya.

That the hearts of parents be reconciled to return and rest upon their children,

and the hearts of children be reconciled to return and rest upon their parents -

lest I come and annihilate the Earth completely.

Considering the present state of increasing climate chaos, corrupted communications and a poor world indeed that we are leaving to the generation directly behind us, for me this vision has engendered a sense of hopeful anticipation.

As always, any input or reports of horse visions in your life will be received with great delight.

Both images are now uploaded to my website at: shahna-lax.artistwebsites.com

prophecy art

winged horse art

pegasus art