These past 5 months

These past 5 months have been a whirlpool of stress. As some of you know, I was in a serious car accident on February 10th and have been dealing with the after effects of it for the past few months.  I had every intention of filling my post-Mardi Gras days with art making, but unfortunately, have ended up dealing with the bureaucracy of car insurance/health insurance/ etc. I've been able to get a new car and have finished up physical therapy. I have a herniated disc so I've been taking everything else slower and more mindfully.

My schedule has changed yet again, but with more time to create as well as more time for self-care and healing.  I still have 5 sketches waiting to be turned into paintings, but until recently, I was unable to easily set up my supplies to work. New Harvest Womb paintings should be coming soon, though.

Last month, Michelle Baker, the owner of Swan River Yoga where I work and practice, approached me about painting a kolam on the entrance way to the mandir. A kolam is typically a brightly colored sand or chalk drawing done by the woman of the household in many Indian communities. It is created each day as an invitation to thrive and, traditionally, uses compostable materials. The specifics of the design vary from community to community and the supplies used have changed over time. Michelle wanted a geometric design similar to a mandala for protection.  I used a black and white image she sent me and added color to it.  Painting on a cement sidewalk brought it's own set of challenges, especially since we wanted it to be semi-permanent (as permanent as these things can be). After some research and prep time, I was ready to start at the beginning of May. I prepped the sidewalk and painted a primer layer. I created a cardboard stencil of the larger guidelines, then laid out the large swatches of color with different spray paints. I made smaller mylar stencils for the repetitive images. Last, I went back in by hand to add the connectors, some outlines, and small details. I declared it officially finished this past Sunday.

 

It's been a great experience making something new and using unfamiliar materials. I've been experimenting with spraypainting through lace on the walls in my kitchen to give it some texture and color without repainting the whole wall or wallpapering it.