Art of Flow Discovery Class

This summer I've taken several online classes, but Art of Flow was my first art class. I've been going to First Friday Crafternoons with Edie at our library for a couple of years now--it's two hours of exploration and play. I used to sketch a lot as a child (and get punished for it because it was in the school notebooks, or on the walls, oy) so I stopped. Oh, I still doodled and even made a couple of homemade books with stick figures for the kids when they were little, but my creative energy was focused on writing and then music. What a balm it has been. And now something new!

I can't tell you what a gift it is to be a beginner. To play. The older I get, the more I return to my child-self. 

I came into this class thinking I'd like to paint four seasons since we'd be working with four panels. But I let go of all expectations that first day as we began exploring colors--opposites. Then came tissue papers for collaging. On a whim I painted some words too. Why not? I love words. I collected leaves, grass, and flowers, since I love organic materials and natural textures. But oh boy, did I discover that they are a pain to work with the following day. I probably didn't have the proper glue either...but I pressed ahead. My "believe" panel got ruined when I began glazing, so the next couple of days were spent trying different things to salvage it. I wanted to scrape away all the tissue paper, but I decided to see where it might go. So painted over the bits I didn't like, added more tissue paper. 

I discovered that I liked painting the leaves! I added some feathers and tiny words, sand and seashells. I'm still not completely happy with these, but I learned so much, and a lot applies to my writing life. I'm learning to let go of expectations, to sit with uncertainty, to sit with questions. Below, the evolution, the process. Strangely, they tell me a story in the order I've place them at the end. 

 

There was a private FB group for those of us taking the class and some of the paintings were so breathtaking. It gives me hope for my own journey. Gabbi would do a reading before the start of class and share a poem or quote. Some favorites:

Consider all the unknown possibilities for joy. What will thrill you? What might you love that you don't even know yet? What are you certain there is more of? ~ Rhonda Willers (Isolation Journals) inspired by Emily Dickinson's poem: I dwell in Possibility. 

One thing you must do is accept whatever comes of it without concern for the outcome. Otherwise you will be stuttering when you could be singing! ~ Stephen Wesley Gorton, Gabbi's friend and mentor.

Invariably the resistance to this exercise comes from a desire to be in control, and a fear of being out of control. Concern for the outcome becomes the impediment. The desire for control is the left-brain intellect wagging its finger at you because it thinks that your well-being resides exclusively in the known. ~ SWG

Do whatever brings you to life. Follow your own fascinations, obsessions, and compulsions. Trust them. Create whatever causes a revolution in your heart. ~ Elizabeth Gilbert

Home Sweet Home

We are so blessed to live here on Daniel Island. Everything I need or want is at home or within walking distance. I lead a small life--going to church, taking care of my family, writing, singing, and reading--but feel so rich. I've written a story about contentment--it still needs a home--but when I wrote the final sentence, I felt a tremendous wholeness. I should send it out. I used to be so good about sending out my work. Now, after a couple of rejections, I return to writing. Must try to spend one writing session each week on business aspects. 

The crepe myrtles are in bloom, but I thought I'd post a picture of a painting that Dagny made in high school. And since my camera cannot capture the beautiful crescent moon, I painted it instead (on a piece of cardboard). 

We do so love making things from the bounty in the garden--dill pickles and salsa (my Mexcian stepmother, who is a great cook, gifted me Salsas that Cook by Rick Bayless and it is a GEM). I could live on chips and salsa :)

 

Happy Pentecost!

What an amazing weekend! We had the great pleasure of listening to the Charleston Symphony perform some of the most beautiful pieces of music--Samuel Barber's Agnus Dei (swoon), Schubert's Mass in G (my heart soared at the Sanctus), and more. I bought tickets at the last minute because we weren't sure whether we'd be going to the priestly ordinations at the St. John the Baptist Cathedral that very night, but with six priests being ordained, I knew there'd hardly be any room. So we went to the concert instead and given that all of it is a prayer, I felt good about offering it for the new priests. Dagny made an interesting observation--that one can sing these beautiful Mass settings for a concert, yet in many places, the Latin Mass is being suppressed. How can that which has always been holy be restricted is beyond my understanding. But that's a discussion for another day. Many in our Charleston Sound Chorus were able to come to listen to our own Danielle Simonian sing. She's amazing. Listen to her hold a looooong note at the very end in her quartet Encore: How Many Hearts Have You Broken (near). 

Saturday we sang at Fr. Justin Damask's first Mass at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. It was the old Pentecost Vigil, lesser only than the great Easter Vigil, and so very beautiful. Fr. Wilson gave a rousing homily, reminding that in the early church, vigils would go long into the night as the faithful listened to the Word, prayed, and were exhorted to live a good Christian life, and so we participate in that tradition of the Apostles and Mary. Yes, she was there! He spoke about pride, how language becomes a tool to control and the great reversal of Babel at Pentecost. From the beginning, the church is Catholic. It doesn't erase differences, but brings order to chaos. We see the New Covenant reflected in the Old, the Holy Fire, that doesn't annihilate, but transforms. And when we are open, the graces that rain down to us from above overflow. So many blessings! 

Finally, I share a bit of my own artwork. On First Fridays, our local library hosts Crafternoon, so I go there to play for a couple of hours, then off to First Friday Mass (devotion to the Sacred Heart). Given the plethora of AI-generated art that's trained on the work of humans who are not compensated, I wanted to share my first efforts at painting animals. I made the collage for Put a Ring on It quartet that sing the cutest song: A Dress with Pockets (my mother sewed pockets in all of our dresses). The stained glass is a gift from Dagny. Fitting for Pentecost! Come Holy Spirit! May this be a summer of great growth in all the gifts that God has bestowed upon us.

Octave of Easter and Divine Mercy

What a wonderful Easter! I only just learned about the Via Lucis--the Way of Light--and it is so wonderful meditating on the Resurrection and all that He promises. From Mary Magdalene mistaking the Risen Christ for the gardener to recognizing Him (Noli me tangere by Fra Bartolomeo) to telling the disciples, "I have seen the Lord!" Peter and John running to the empty tomb (Disciples Running by Eugene Burnard) and discovering the folded napkin (it means He's coming back) to the Apostles receiving the power to forgive sins and Thomas believing because he can see and touch our Lord (Incredulity of Thomas by Caravaggio). I am so grateful for Confession, where our Lord's Divine Mercy is poured out on us, making us as new as the day of our baptism. 

Some pictures from our Easter Octave: a visit with my friend from CA, practice with my quartet, Adoration, singing at a wedding, enjoying a meal out, meeting the kids at a brewery (very important for Michael's research), and with my barbershop sisters, dancing on the pier! Every day I am grateful to God for bringing us to beautiful Charleston, where we've grown so much in our faith, thanks to our good and holy priests and our friends.

Merry Christmas!

Adoration of the Shepherds, Seville, 19th century unknown artist

 

I love preparing for the Christmas liturgies. O Holy Night is one of my favorite Christmas songs. The text is brilliant, giving us the Christmas story in a nutshell. I love that from the beginning it tells us why we need a Savior--because we sin and cannot save ourselves. He loves us so much and He comes down from heaven to teach us to love. He is Love Himself. True Love. A Blessed and Merry Christmas, my friends!

Advent: A Time for Waiting, Praying and Singing

One of my favorite ways to prepare for Christmas is to pray 15x/day beginning on the Feast of St. Andrew (Nov. 30th) until Christmas Eve:

Hail, and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in the piercing cold. At that hour vouchsafe, I beseech Thee, O my God, to hear my prayers and grant my desires (mention your intentions here), through the merits of Our Savior Jesus Christ, and of His most Blessed Mother. Amen. 

It places me immediately at the manger and into the mystery of Christmas. So many prayers have been answered over the years. Deo gratias! I love how succinctly Enid M. Chadwick depicts Advent (and other feasts and other Anglo-Catholic traditions) in My Book of the Church's Year.

A couple of years ago, I learned the delightful story below about Gregorian chant. Our choir director sings the trope that tells how the Holy Ghost whispered into the ear of Pope St. Gregory in response to his prayer and then we all come in for the Introit for the first Sunday of Advent, Ad te levavi... When I poked around to learn more, I came across the art here. Translation: When the most holy Gregory poured out prayers to the Lord that He might surrender to him from above a musical gift in song then the Holy Spirit descended upon him in the form of a dove and enlightened his heart to such a degree that at last he began to sing saying this: Ad te levavi... (Introit for the first Sunday of Advent). A most blessed Advent to all.

Marian Eucharistic Conference Recap

This is an annual retreat for us--it's a small conference that has grown but not too much. I'm estimating about 300 people... What I like best is the quality of the speakers who come and help us grow deeper into our faith. There are always lots of wonderful books to purchase and I still haven't read all the ones from previous years. And then there are others that I read over and over. So this year, I was so excited that we could offer our books to the attendees. There aren't very many children at this conference, but when the organizer discovered I was a children's writer, she suggested that I invest in a table, because she would like to have children's books to offer to the attendees as well. So here we are and the best part was that we were right next to a priest from Peru, who had brought these exquisite religious paintings--all hand painted, each one unique. He had Our Lady of Guadalupe taped to the side of his table and my eyes were drawn continually to her serene expression. I knew we had to purchase one of these to grace our home so I asked Michael to take some time to go through them. We both loved the Holy Trinity with the Holy Family best (and within our budget) so it shall be properly framed and displayed. I loved St. Philomena (what is it about teenage saints that gives my heart courage?) and Madonna of the Grapes by Pierre Mignard (I have a little triptych in my office  that I picked up from the sacramental box at church shortly after I joined the Seven Sister Apostolate--I thought it was such a lovely wink to me from Mary herself, given she's one of the patronesses of the apostolate under this very title). 

I really enjoyed talking with the people who stopped by our table and learning about their children and grandchildren. So fun to be able to recommend books for them. Many Seven Sisters were excited to see Tina's book, One Hour for My Priest--it almost sold out. It's a hidden apostolate so we don't always know who's involved but what a blessing to learn so many Seven Sisters are praying for their priests. The book is a wonderful resource. We were also able to attend many of the lectures and hear Mass and go for Adoration because there's only one track and typically there aren't too many people milling about during them. So win-win. I'm excited to return next year and hope we'll have even more offerings. I'm so happy that all of us in our critique group have several more readers of our stories. 

Tidbits from the conference speakers. You can learn more from their excellent books and talks online:
Fr. Larry Richards is such an energetic priest. He speaks the hard truths that we don't always want to hear. I love how he runs his parish--he makes the people take three classes on: Jesus is Lord; worship; service. If you want to be an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, then you'd better have extraordinary devotion to the Holy Eucharist, meaning spending time with Him in Adoration.
How are you? Blessed. Who's the first who said it? Mary in her Magnificat. We have one purpose in life--to do God's holy will. He speaks but we don't listen. Be still and silent. Sit with the Scriptures with an open heart. We need the Heart of Jesus. Offer your poor heart to Him and He'll give you His Heart. Learn to love from Him. 
Fr. Larry told us a story about a American and a Japanese in a POW camp. The Japanese man was very sick, so the American would share everything he had with him, be it food or a blanket. When he realized that the man might die, he thought, I've shared everything except Jesus, my Savior. So he told the dying man about Him, and the dying man said, "If Jesus is anything like you, I can't wait to meet Him." 

Fr. Chris Alar is passionate about Divine Mercy. And Mary as the mother of Mercy. He quoted Fr. Don Calloway: "If you could make your mother, wouldn't you make her perfect?" Mary is the guide to Jesus. In Genesis, who crushes the head of the serpent? Mary. Who does Satan fear more? God or Mary? He then told us a story about wrestling in high school. He lost to a Japanese national champion. Yet, both his father and his coach said, "good job." But when he was in 4th grade, he drew a girl, who was confident. He was terrified--to lose to a girl would be complete humiliation. Likewise, Satan knows God is God. But to lose to a 15-yr-old Jewish girl is absolute humiliation. It wounds his pride.  

There are four Marian Dogmas: her Immaculate Conception, her Assumption, her Perpetual Virginity, her Maternity--she is the mother of King Jesus. She is our advocate. Protestants have a difficult time with Mary. And because our barbershop chorus is practicing Christmas songs for a concert, I'm reminded why we have songs like Mary Did You Know? It's a lovely lullaby that invites us to ponder like Mary, but the second half of the first verse is flat out wrong [I propose a revision to make it theologically sound because words matter]: 

Did you know

That your baby boy has come to make you new? [make us new]
This child that you've delivered
Will soon deliver you [has done delivered you]

See, she was already delivered from all stain of original sin by the foreseen merits of Christ's Sacrifice on the Cross. She is the Immaculate Conception. Her DNA has no sin. Not a single molecule of her being is under sway of Satan. She is 100% opposed to him. She lives completely in the Divine Will. But I digress. 

The second reading of that Sunday was from Hebrews and Fr. Alar preached on the priesthood. It is so terribly misunderstood. What is the purpose of the priest? To offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. You cannot have worship without sacrifice because the penalty for sin is death. Either you die or someone else dies on your behalf. Mass is the re-presenting the sacrifice. Jesus presents Himself to the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit. We are at Calvary. We enter sacred time. We must be present to receive the grace (when I lie in bed with my kitties and listen to Mass, I am not receiving the graces I would if I were present at Mass). Everything comes from the Father and everything returns to Him. There are three acts of Love and Mercy: God the Father creates; God the Son redeems; God the Holy Spirit sanctifies us so we can return to the Holy Trinity.

There were more lectures. Fr. Bartholomew, a Maronite priest, spoke about the early apostolic churches, their timeline, how they spread to the East and the West. I've been told by a couple of Eastern Rite Catholics how much I would enjoy experiencing their liturgies but we've not managed to go to one. Perhaps when we're praying/singing only one Sunday Mass, we might get the opportunity.

Dr. Ray Guarendi, a psychologist, encouraged us to be strong parents and grandparents, steering our kids in righteousness. It's not easy when the culture tells them the opposite, normalizing sin and making it sound like fun. I used to love listening to his show on Catholic radio on my way to pick up the kids from school and I found his books on discipline and family life especially useful. I was so pleased to meet him and let him know what a difference his books made when we went through a rough patch with our kids.  

Fr. Chris Smith, pastor of Prince of Peace, also spoke about building a Christian culture. It begins with us, at home. As always, we ended our retreat by hearing a beautiful High Mass at Prince of Peace for the Feast of Christ our King. What joy to sing: Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat!!! Come, Lord Jesus!!!