Sep 5, 2020

'Ode to the Light Within' - September Public installation, 675 Tyler St., Port Townsend, WA



 

“Ode to the Light Within”

 

These luminous figures give visibility to my belief that within each of us there exists a kind of light that encourages us to be our ‘best’ selves.  My hope is that this poetic, figurative rendering supports that light within us and encourages us to offer it out to the world through the quality of our interactions.  Our thoughts, feelings and acts of kindness can spark compassion, tolerance, equanimity and empathy for ourselves, each other and for the earth. 

 

May we all be well.






Comments:

Materials used for this installation are clothes dryer, venting hoses and glittery bird, scare tape along with several of my photographs made by scratching into slide film.

I have much gratitude to the North Peninsula Chapter Surface Design Association, https://sda-np.com/ for the opportunity to use their window exhibition space to realize this installation which has been brewing within me for some years.

Creating ‘Ode to the Light Within’ in this space felt a bit like a homecoming for me, reminding me of other installations I created in that window from 2010-2016
http://glorialamson.blogspot.com/2016/04/changes-and-what-if-window.html .

I welcome your thoughts, comments and questions via email, at glolamson at gmail.com


Jan 16, 2020

2020 New Year Retreats Report

January 2-5, 2020 I had the wonderful opportunity of facilitating the creativity components for two New Year's retreats at Madrona MindBody Institute in Port Townsend, Washington with Aletia Alvarez and Renee Klein. The first retreat was a half a day of mindful movement, meditation and creative play. The second retreat was a 4-day yoga retreat including creativity play with Renee Klein.  

Weaving through the various activities was focusing on identifying and releasing what no longer served us and exploring our intentions for what we did want for the new year. At one point we all worked on a group collage of what we wanted to help create in this new decade.




We had a creative studio space for folks throughout the four days to do collage, make totems, or prayer flags with an array of provided materials. There was ample free time for friends to visit, explore Port Townsend, walk around the fort and beaches or spend extra time in the creativity studio. 

After sharing many of our hesitancies, fears and judgments for doing "creative work" there were many pleasant surprises in "doing it anyway" and any which way!   :-)

Kay Jensen shared the story of her journey with her creative work here: 


"I felt grumpy, even irritated, as I left my cozy yoga retreat room. Making my way to an Art Creativity class was the last thing I’d ever personally choose to do, but I’d committed to at least showing up, and hearing opening remarks, suggestions for how to proceed. I could, at the very least, say that I’d participated that much. After too many childhood/youthful artistic and creative “failures” (feedback from teachers, and comparisons to what I thought to be “gifted” artists), I had relegated myself to stick figures and the occasional color crayon attempt. So, I felt more than a bit of dread.

As I rounded the final corner on the path to the workshop, I began to hear energized characteristic raven vocalizations. Looking up, I spotted a pair of the all-black birds as they sat closely together, high on an evergreen branch. They paused as I walked underneath the tree, and then surprised me as they began to hop, treetop-to-treetop, following me, and calling with their raven voices, all the way to my Madrona classroom destination…a distance of at least a city block or so.

Settling in to my place with the other students, I knew my resistance was now mixed with the curiosity of the Raven communication and visitation; what it could have meant in a Bigger Picture sort of way…

After Glo’s generous examples, and invitation to play, artistically, with a myriad of cards, books, markers, paints, fabric, yarn, paper, magazines, pens, pencils, tubes and tiles, I raised my hand and confessed, “I’m sorry. I don’t know how to start; I actually feel creatively paralyzed…”. She nodded, as if she’d heard this before. Then, she said, simply, “Just start. Take one color, one magazine, one book, and begin. Trust that the process will lead you in, and on your way. Stay with it. There is no rush, and no wrong way to do it.”

And, thus, my collage, “Raven” assembled its way into being. I owe great gratitude to Glo, and to the two Raven messengers, for the awareness that 1) it’s never too late for artistic ability, and 2) for the invitation to add more vibrance, magic and lightheartedness to my life, one color, one choice at a time."


And thank you Kay for reminding us what would be helpful for all of us to remember.