Spider Woman

It's funny the journeys that a project can take you on. This started with the prompt "Something Old" announced on the blog Mixed Media Monday. My first thought was to find images of beauty in older women, something one doesn't see much of in the media. Somewhere in the the assortment of pictures (google image search) was an image that related to the First Nation myth of Spider Woman. Now that idea had some real energy and it took off from there. I used silver thread to string a spider web on the door of the box, which I'd just purchased at Found in Portland for $8.00. It didn't have any glass - perfect! It wasn't easy at first - broke the trim at one point - but then it started to flow and I got a taste of the joy of weaving and a new respect for spiders. I used a bead loom to create a mini-weaving and some embroidery thread to create balls of yarn. A trip to a leather store yielded a piece of rabbit skin and some deerskin. The little pot was made with air-drying clay. This was such a joy to make.  

"Spider Woman appears in stories throughout the Americas, even throughout the world. She is found among the Fates that weave destiny. The name Penelope in the Odyssey means "with a web on her face - the one who sees with "webbed vision. In Pueblo mythology Thought Woman, Sun Father, and Corn Mother are the most important deities. These primal deities are interdependent. Thought Woman, the Spider Woman, is the creatrix, who imagines things, and as she thinks them, they become. This is the creative impulse she passes on, originating from the primal center of the Web, an eternally generative thread continually expanding." (From: http://www.rainwalker.com/)

Spider Woman possessed supernatural power at the time of creation, when Dine (Navajo) emerged from the third world into this fourth world...It was Spider Woman who taught Dine ancestors of long ago the art of weaving upon a loom. She told them, "My husband, Spider Man, constructed the weaving loom making the cross poles of sky and Earth cords to support the structure; the warp sticks of sun rays, lengthwise to cross the woof; the healds of rock crystal...Through many generations, the Dine have always been accomplished weavers

SPIDER WOMAN SAVES THE DAY

One day, a peaceful cave-dwelling Dine youth was hunting in Dead Man's Canyon...Suddenly, he saw an enemy tribesman who chased him deeper into the canyon. As the peaceful Dine ran, he looked quickly from side to side, searching for a place to hide or to escape. Directly in front of him stood the giant obelisk-like Spider Rock [where Spider Woman lives]. What could he do? He knew it was too difficult for him to climb. He was near exhaustion. Suddenly, before his eyes he saw a silken cord hanging down from the top of the rock tower. The youth grapsed the magic cord, which seemed strong enough, and quickly tied it around his wist. With its help he climbed the tall tower, escaping from his enemy who then gave up the chase. When the youth reached the top, he stretched out to rest. There he discovered a most pleasant place with eagle's eggs to eat and the night's dew to drink.

Imagine his surprise when he learned that his rescuer was Spider Woman! She told him how she had seen him and his predicamnet. She showed him how she made her strong web-cord and anchored one end of it to a point of rock. She showed him how she she let down the rest of her web-cord to help him climb the rugged Spider Rock. Later, when the peaceful youth felt assured his enemy was gone, he thanked Spider Woman warmly and safely descended to the canyon floor by using her magic cord. He ran home as fast as he could run, reporting to his tribe how his life was saved by Spider Woman. (From http://www.firstpeople.us/)

A Little Serendipity

A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.     ~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Flight to Arras, 1942

Serendipity is one of my favorite things. Jung called it synchronicity, which sounds very serious. To me it's a wink from the universe.

I keep hearing about the importance of exercise for the thinking brain, the emotions, and all the body parts. It's always a struggle, partly because I'm tired and partly because I've got all these achy bits (my hunch is I'd be less sore if I exercised more). But I needed exercise for my body and to air my brain this afternoon; it was time for a walk. I decided to take a slightly different route than usual and set off at a, for me, brisk pace. It started to sprinkle but it was a gentle, spring rain that made me feel invigorated. On my way back home I encountered a lady with a polka dot umbrella who commented on the beautiful green of the Pacific Northwest. She ended up sharing her umbrella with me while we walked and chatted. I learned that she's a retired teacher from California. I learned that she has a beautiful grandaughter who sang to a squirrel with a hurt leg. I learned that she came from Ireland and was descended from a long line of teachers - her great grandmother was what they call a "hedge teacher"* We visited for several blocks and then, about a block from my house we took different roads. I walked no more than 10 steps and caught sight of something green laying on the ground. Yup, that's it in the picture - a shamrock. I have no idea how that shamrock got there but I do know it made me smile.

*Hedge teachers preserved Irish culture by secretly teaching the language, history, and tradition of the Irish at a time when it was forbidden by the English penal laws of 1702 to 1719: "no person of the popish religion shall publicly or in private houses teach school, or instruct youth in learning within this realm..." Ah, the spirited Irish soul!

Not Boring Anyway

I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life's realities. ~Theodore Geisel


I've always wanted to work with tile and the installation of a sink in my studio (aka garage) was the perfect opportunity to play with some of the amazing colors and shapes of tile available. It started with a trek to Pratt and Larsons seconds store where I found some polka dot tiles in bright colors along with some 4X4s. The tiles that edge the sink are from a garage sale.

The polka dots and 4X4s ran out by the time I got to the backsplash. Off to Pratt and Larsons I went and custom ordered polka dots in delicious colors - so much for trying to save pennies. My hope is that the riot of colors and shapes will make people smile when they play in my studio. 

The next project will be to invite friends to a party to "Jackson Pollock" the cement floor. I did it to the linoleum floor in my bathroom to cover up the paint drips left by someone who didn't use a dropcloth. There's nothing quite like throwing paint around without worrying about making a mess or how it looks.

I thought I better capture the countertop on film because this is the cleanest it's going to ever be!

The Hand

No Animals Were Harmed

1,002 Gifts

It has been a rough ride for over a year now. Many difficult and intense experiences - in my life, in the lives of those around me, and in the world at large - prompted me to create something with my hands that would express my grief and perhaps help me find a way through it. What I came up with is a collage called 1,001 Sorrows, 1,002 Gifts. It's pretty damn intense! but it expresses the way little seedings of new life and possibility sprout in the dark soil of sorrow.

There's a picture of my father and me in the cockpit of the Spruce Goose in the upper left hand corner. It was the last trip we took together before his fall two days later. He was in a coma for almost a year before he passed away in March 2010, two days after my birthday. That trip was such a gift for me, probably the best day we'd shared, just the two of us, since I was a child. Above the picture of the Spruce Goose is my favorite picture of my father and me when I was a child.

There's a watch face that symbolizes time and timing. It is a reminder to me that "this too shall pass" and maybe it says something about the right timing for the seeds to sprout. The bolt of lightning suggests the way grief and trouble can break one open, so the heart is more open to receive and give love. In the bottom left corner is a glass lens (if you click on the pictures it should be easier to see). The lens focuses on a bird flying against the backdrop of a sunset - or is that a sunrise?

Then there's the rainbow behind the curtain and all the little crystal "stars" glued onto the canvas - seeds of light or love or life. It hasn't been easy to track the gifts while things have been so difficult but my vision is getting better. Maybe it gets easier over time. Yes, I think so.