Eastman Angel Project Update

“Thank you for Yes” 16×20 art quilt 2012

“I thank you God for this amazing day for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes.”        ee cummings

“Fountain” 12″ x 32″ art quilt 2012

“We all flow from one fountain – Soul.  All are expressions of one love.  God does not appear and flow out only from narrow chinks and round bored wells here and there in favored races and places but He flows in grand undivided currents, shoreless and boundless over creeds and forms and all kinds of civilizations and peoples and beasts, saturating all and fountainizing all.”  John Muir

After lots of indecision and (self-imposed) mental angst, I think I ended up in a good place on my Eastman Angel project.

The themes behind both of these reflect an idea of the impermanence of our works, and that God’s presence and love are everlasting, infinite, timeless, available and present to us all.

For “Thank you for Yes,” the idea of the “green man” myth – of vegetation taking over everything that man creates, and eventually consuming and obscuring every handiwork of humankind was the start of “Thank you for Yes.”  The ee cummings quote is a perfect expression to accompany the mother nature figure that my Eastman Angel face became.

I struggled with “Fountain” because the Eastman Angel figure is secondary to the words.   Certainly, the words are the powerful part of the work.  They describe a faith and love that is more powerful, more invasive than whatever constructs humankind sets in it’s way.  I love the quote from John Muir, the preeminent naturalist.  It’s just right.  The angel, whose spirit flows through the quilting between all the cracks in the words, symbolizes the protective force that permeates as water flowing through the piece.

I specifically thank you all that commented on my struggles to figure out which direction I wanted to go.   What would I do without bloggy friends who ask me to focus, to figure out what the angel is saying and how to handle the uncertainty and dig deeper into the emotions that cause confusion and paralysis?  And to exchange fear for curiosity?

It’s amazing what gifts a difficult project like this give!

I have a trash can full of false starts and shredded ideas, so don’t be thinking that any of this was easy, neat, and business as usual.  I still have just some finishing touches and a little clean up on both – and then they are what they are.

All the best to you – and thank you all.

Chris