Durga series

A dear friend and wonderful artist, Danny Dutton, gave me some advice regarding feeling stuck in my art.  I have never had a shortage of ideas for art, however, at times I feel uninspired to actually make the art.  Dan is a prolific, full-time artist of many types:  composing music, building sculptures, and painting, to name a few.   So who better to ask about those times when the muse is dim, or the creative spark can’t be found.

His advice was to focus on a topic or idea and dive deep into it.  Researching, sketching, investigating, whatever ways work to delve and spend time with it.  I have researched and spent a lot of time with goddesses as I did a whole series in clay of various goddesses from around the world.  I had been reading about Hindu goddesses and was especially intrigued by Durga.  The various stories I read about her role in creation seemed so relevant to our world today and resonated with my own experiences as well.

So there are 5 pieces in my series (terracotta, stains, glaze) that tell the story, in my own interpretation, of Durga’s role in early human history:

At first, the world is run by men.  Three male gods in particular who over time become greedy and insatiable as their power grows.  Nature and beings suffer at their selfish and abusive ways.  Out of this turmoil arises a buffalo god who threatens to destroy the world.  So things are out of hand, even for the gods, and they call for help from the divine.  To their surprise, a female deity appears.  She is the manifestation of energy. 

This is Durga and she is extraordinarily beautiful.  She rides a lion as she is strong and fierce and able to control animalistic tendencies.

The buffalo god confronts her.  He scoffs at her, for she is only a woman.  He underestimates her strength and abilities.  He is disappointed and toys with her, not taking her seriously. 

She manifests many symbolic weapons and talismans and slays him with great skill.  The world is safe again.

The male gods learned the lesson that female energy is needed.  Durga restored balance and harmony to the world.  She brought peace, prosperity and order.

We can all call on Durga ourselves in times of imbalance.  She has great compassion for us and will protect and event fight for the weak in the form of Kali.  She represents our own inner power. 

Keep Caves

When I lived in Venezuela, I was obsessed with the grottos scattered throughout the Andes mountains.  To me they were a strange combination of Catholism and pagan offerings.  Carved in mountain sides, erected next to walking trails, sometimes in the most unlikely of places, these mini caves of mystery always caught my immediate full attention.  Sometimes they were small, others were cavernous.  They usually held a saint and had various offerings accumulated, like candles, prayers, and flowers.  You could feel a peaceful aura around each one.

Copper Flower

Keep Cave Series

So I created my own version of these grottos which to me are like small caves that are for keeping tokens of what is important to us, be it mementos, remembrances, or objects of hopes and wishes.  Some people use them for decoration, others as altars or even shrines.

I like to have a theme for the cave, such as a marsh, a flower pattern, or the sea.  I like to make small objects that can go in the cave, such as flowers, mini stands, and symbols. 

My hope is that you will grace your abode with one (or more)!

Transformation Series

Over a period of a couple years I made these three sculptures to depict a difficult transition I was going through.  Several traumatic events happened close together in my life and I was new in sobriety.  I felt overly emotional and at times overwhelmed with what life was throwing at me and my family.  That is represented by the women being made of pieces, stuck together and giving me shape as the events were all consuming. 

I totally connected to the book, “Dark Nights of the Soul” by Thomas Moore.  It allowed me to feel my despair, learn and grow in it, and have hope that light would return.  That is represented by her looking upward.

At the same time, I started on a spiritual path which supported and guided me in this transition.  I learned that I was not alone on a soul level.  That I could turn over people, places, and things that were outside of my control.  That faith was accepting the dark and the light.  That I could flow through life instead of fighting and resisting.  That is represented by the copper spiral that she pulls from within herself and then gazes at directly.

At the end of this transition, she is sitting upright, fully gazing at her new spiritually strong self, a survivor, ready to become a thriver.