I am feeling our need to view ourselves with humility as particles of the incomprehensibly greater Whole. This causes our amazement to expand as we realize the glorious mystery of all particles moving together in the creation of … what is this we name “universe”? Clearly no expression is adequate to explain any one of us, let alone any group, or the mass of humanity, to say nothing of the rest of creation we are part of. But our experience of growing elicits wonder which we need to converse about. Keeping our wonder to ourselves, whether as individual recluses, or exclusive communities, causes destructive consequences. So, conversations of many kinds characterize our interaction with each other.
Conversations of Different Kinds
As a life-long wordsmith I have often found myself at a loss of words and found that I cannot say enough words in the best combination to accomplish what my heart seeks. So, I also turn to the non-verbal, the visual and symbolic. I recall the fresh perspective of a child putting blocks together in various shapes, combining the unique characteristics of a range of individual pieces to make a whole.
The pieces are positioned in relation to each other like conversations. There are infinite combinations we might choose for these arrangements, which is why I also love the expression of Dance. The constellations of stars in our night sky seem to be fixed in place forever, but in reality they are moving, even as we are. Astronomers have given us photos of galaxies which seem dead still in space, but in reality the stars and nebulae of each of the countless galaxies are traveling faster than we can imagine.
That is why I titled my painting “Constellations of Conversations”. See it with my blog “Always Becoming”, November 2023. It takes the form of a sampler of 12 smaller compositions relating to one another on the larger canvas. Each “conversation” is available in my art shops.
Freezing Time
The painting is like an instant in time when all the conversations were that way, like the deep space photos show things that have moved on millions of light years since the light of that moment reached the camera lens. It helps to play with blocks and make paintings of simple shapes to remind us of our own movement and to give us time to consider the effect we exert upon the on-going dance.
The marvel of an artist choosing combinations shows our part in the dance of the universe. We can choose to flow with the on-going growth and changes or fight it and cause much trouble by trying to stop creation, or even trying futilely to put it back the way we like to say it was in some idealized memory.
You Can Download the Original Sketches
I offer the original outlines of this painting on our Crafts page as objects for you to use in contemplating the infinite creative possibilities of relating to one another. Download any or all of these “constellations” and color them your own way. Make an appliqué, quilt, or needlepoint from them. Get your class or group to color together and experience a bit of what one artist painted in 2016. Sign your version next to my signature as a little way to move together. Then show your work and maybe send me a photo of it. We will celebrate our communion in motion.
