Shrines and Spirit Houses

these little houses are for peices of the dead, usually ashes, and have windows so the spirit can come and go.

i love the texture in this photo. it's of a Shinto shrine to the spirit of the mountain.



this is a shrine to Inari, the fox spirit and god of rice.

Mangrove Trees

looking around the web for Mangrove Branches.

this site has some nice pictures-of everything but the branches. it specializes in seeds.
http://www.seabean.com/guide/Rhizophora_mangle/index.htm

source: http://www.marietta.edu/~biol/biomes/mangroves.htm

this is a picture of the branches of the Red Mangrove, the most common. Their seeds look funny :P they actually look like magnolia trees. i wonder if they are related?

source: http://www.backyardnature.net/yucatan/mangrove.htm

yep, those twigs are distinctive. and the silly looking beans too.

Patrick Veillet

allow me to distract you, for a moment, with something that has nothing to do with class, nothing to do with school, just something to blow your mind.
these are the works of French designer Patrick Veillet, who has a cool (if slightly annoying) website. Unfortunateley, that website is all in french, but if you poke around you can find samples of his sketches and his work. He works in some kind of resin (called "resin de vinyle" in french) for his wearable sculptures. Haven't found anything about his process yet, though.

See for yourself at http://www.patrickveillet.com/main.html

Hollow working Research

i found many examples of hollow working, but not many instructions. Finally, I found a site that is actually posted on the design research board in the studio, with good reason-it's straightforward and clear. The process seems pretty straightforward in itself- use solder to create a 3d form. The hard part seems to be getting the seams to be hidden.

So, here are some of the hollow working examples i found!

source: http://www.lapidaryjournal.com/feature/dreaminginmetal.cfm

Steph Korsage makes hollow metal beads, pendants and earrings with great textures.

Strongarm: Artist Statement

Cast silicon bronze, Cubic Zicronias.

"I lost you
Like I lost my arm
but in my loss
I've found a home
I reclaim these things
that caused me harm
on this plastic arm
I call my own."

In the face of loss and suffering, there are some that, instead of breaking down and giving in to violence, instead pick up the pieces and keep on walking. I have tried to capture their strength in this modern talisman of the Strongarm. It depicts an artificial arm, refrencing the horrific injuries of those who suffered for conflict diamonds, bearing a "diamond" bracelet. It bears a verse, stating the spirit of acceptance and strength.

Paper Casting

having worked with paper before, i was interested in this process. the real challenge is making the cast object not look like a child's paper mache project.

Process:
I've found a few sites, and on all of them the process is the same: create paper pulp and put it in a mold. It's pretty intuitive, and most of the creative part is with the materials you use.

Examples:

source: http://www.castpaper.com/
one of the most eye-catching and creative parts of cast paper appears to be the coloring of the paper itself. Working with paper before, i can attest to the amount of different colors and finishes you can get with this medium. The craftsperson that made this particular piece used acrylics to paint the piece, which give a good opaque finish and have strong pigments.
here is Kevin Dyer's process: http://www.castpaper.com/castpaper.html
He carves a model out of wax, then makes a mold of that, much like with metal casting processes. However, most of his work is shallow relief work. This is common in cast paper.
source: http://artveinvessel.blogspot.com/

Deep releif is also possible. Kate Strickland cast deep recesses in paper and then fills them with natural objects, creating "Reliquaries". Her work is more honest about it's materials-she doesn't paint over the paper.
Kate's blog: http://artveinvessel.blogspot.com/search/label/cast%20paper

source: http://bloggy.com/2008/04/libby_hartle_at.html

Libby Hartle, on the other hand, works in full 3-d. She also used relclaimed materials for this peice. She was sweet enough to document her whole process, from smashing up the paper to casting the twigs (made from molds of real twigs, which is something i want to look into) , right here: http://bloggy.com/2008/04/libby_hartle_at.html

Reserch-alternate casting materials: Resin

Resin-Process

Slush Casting

found this step by step site for a process called "slush casting": http://www.alumilite.com/HowTos/SlushCasting.cfm NOTE: this site has a TON of great tutorials, using the products they sell of course. But they are still straight-forward and nicely done.

picture from the site:
i anticipate making molds of all my little plastic animals out of all sorts of shiny plastics. just for fun, of course.

helpful things learned:
-silicone will only bond to silicone, so if you use a silicon mold you might not have to use a release.
-Slush casting involves putting a thin coat of resin on the surface of the mold, so there is an outer shell of resin that picks up the details but the shape is hollow (in the example, the rest is filled with foam to re-enforce the fragile shell. This saves money and weight.
-though the mold has to cure overnight, casting the peice only takes about 10 minutes, including resin and foam. Yay!

Epoxy Resin
this site may be for model makers rather than artists, but the advise is sound: http://www.torreypinesgulls.org/epoxy.htm

important points:
-mesure both parts on a scale so that you mix it just right.
-paper cups, popsicle sticks, and crappy brushes are all you need, besides the molds.
-you can strengthen the epoxy by adding in fibers (like fiberglass)
-if you type in a conversational tone, your readers will imagine you as a cute old man puttering about in a hobby shop.
-epoxy can also be used as a glue, and it's not always clear weather or not your talking about using it as a glue or a mold material, so after you type an entire list thingy and you realize that the person was talking about using it as a glue you feel like a total moron.

epoxy seems to be used as a surface treatment rather than a model-making material, so i'll move on. For now.

Final note: DO NOT EAT CASTING RESIN.

"Embodied Sympathy": i like the idea, bet there's something tripping me up...

and that is, the author seems to be stating that art is incapable of displaying sympathy (or, as the author puts it, to exhibit a feeling while anticipating the feeling of the viewer or purchaser.) As someone who has lived in the "Art World" for many years, i have to differ with this opinion. Art that is made to be SOLD is flat and feelingless. GOOD ART has a feeling, it is not simply an intellectual exercise made for those that are "in the know". Art is a part of the artist, as the author himself quotes, "When he speaks of embodied meaning, Danto suggests an idea made vividly present, practically given flesh and blood. Alternatively, he connects embodiment to a manifestation of the artist's mind: "It is as if a work of art were like an externalization of the artist's consciousness, as if we could see his way of seeing and not merely what he saw". I found this article very nice, touching on things I've found in other sources- like the Japanese ascetic "Wabi Sabi", characterized by modest objects that get more beautiful as they age. I think that it is important for artists too to think of how the veiwer will recieve it- something comforting to you might be kind of freaky to the veiwer, and vice versa, so it's good to take this into account so you can communicate your message more effectiveley.
However, the ugly "art vs. craft war" completely ruined it for me. Good art doesn't need to prove itself. Craft and Art are one, there is no one or the other, they merely are. The author's idea that Art is distant from the veiwer is fundamentally wrong, and it is cultivated by ignorance. Artists (at least the ones i admire and claim as peers) are trying to tell the audience something. Unfortunateley, it seems that we are like Mimes in front of people on cell phones, it's not that we are aloof and far away from the populus, but that people don't take the time to look at art with anything other than "Modernist"-colored glasses. So much GOOD ART is out there, and it doesn't matter weather it could be called craft or art or entertainment or music, it all shares the same thing: Embodied Sympathy.

special art picks that show emotion and embodied sympathy:

http://www.alexgrey.com/
Alex Grey's Phsycadelic paintings show that the human body is just another manifestation of the divine, and draws the user into the artist's wonder and enlightened feeling through their complexity and glowing colors.

Laurie Anderson (Smoke Rings on YouTube)
Anderson is a performance artist and musician. She likes to talk about how lost and confused people can become in modern society (specifically American society), though her pieces vary, and often speaking about longing, confusion, and displacement. This particular piece haunted me for years, (not the first 60 seconds, i'm not sure what that's about.) People naturally connect with music, and Anderson's work is both enjoyable and approachable (if a little kooky.)

err...that's all i can think of right now. There are a lot of good ones out there, you just have to look, and they are hidden pretty well, because most artists that make art this good aren't looking to be famous. They just want to make art.

Symbols for the Cycle Pendant: Mistletoe

source: http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/winter_solstice.shtml

most people only think of mistletoe at Christmas, but in anchient times it was considered a plant that was very sacred. It bears fruit on the winter solstice, and it grows without touching the ground-between earth and sky. The most famous legend of mistletoe is the tale of the death of Baldur, the god of light and truth:

"Balder was a popular and righteous God, but in a dream he foresaw his own death. After discussing this with the other Gods in Valhalla, the Goddess Frigga offered to make all things living on the earth, or growing in the earth, promise not to harm him.

This was done, and resulted in a new sport for the Gods - 'slaying' Balder with whatever weapons they could find. They knew he would always survive.

During one of these sessions the evil God Loki offered to help Hodur, a blind God, who was Balder's brother, join in.

Knowing that mistletoe, which did not grow 'in' the earth, was not covered by the promise Loki gave Hodur an arrow of mistletoe wood and directed his throw.

Balder was killed by the blow, thus fulfilling his dream. A period of significant mourning followed, during which Hel was visited in an effort to resurrect Balder, and mistletoe was designated a plant of peace."

source: http://www.mistletoe.org.uk/home/mtoetraditions4.htm

as an epilouge, it was Frigga who designated the mistletoe as a plant of peace, to remind people of Baldur's goodness. Baldur will only return at Ragnarok, the end of the world, and he will be the only god to survive, leading the people of earth into a new age.

Mistletoe's role as a plant of hope is a good match for the "Winter" panel for my cycle pendant because that part is about rebirth. It is also about the state between life and death, and because it grows between the earth (land of mortals) and "heaven".

Propaganda Assignment for Computer class(aka giant can of crazy aka proposal of idea)

WARNING: this is a free-flowing prose peice. It may not conform to a main idea, conventional veiws of grammar, or common decency. Anyone reading this should be informed that they are about to be exposed to the contents of on GIANT CAN OF CRAZY. Management of this blog is responsible for the content, but not for any emotional damage caused by it.







signed your waiver? Good. Nothing pisses me off more than the way people treat animals. My pets have always been like family to me, my cats in particular have always been very close to me, and i try to treat them as best as i possibly can. But many people either are ignorant of their pets needs, both emotional and physical. This results in terrible crimes against animals. The thing that makes me the most angry is the pet overpopulation problem.
People don't neuter their pets. It's cheap, it's fast, it has very few side effects.

They think, "Oh! But little Butch or Tiger need to be a man! They can't be manly without their man-bits!" Wrong! Cats and dogs have no sense of manliness. They just do what their instincts tell them.

They think, "Well, I enjoy sex, shouldn't my cat? Or dog?" Wrong again! Mating is actually painfull for domestic animals like dogs and cats. Don't need to go into that.

"My children should witness the miracle of birth!" Okay. Mommy kitty has her babies, which is already dangerous. Then, when they are all grown up, you can't find a house for them. What to do? You can't take them to a shelter, they might put them to sleep! And you can't keep them all, it would be too expensive. So what do you do? Drop them in the countryside! What have your children learned? That adults- specifically adult humans- have control over the life and death of other animals, and that the aforementioned animals are disposable.

And finally, the greatest bane of them all: "Won't the Kittens be so cute? And Princess is so pretty-Maybe we can sell them!" This is wrong in all the most shallow ways. It'll just turn into the scenario mentioned above.

As you can see, this makes me very angry. People's ignorance has always pissed me off, mostly because I've been the brunt of it many times. So when i see innocent animals, who rely on us for care and life, being needlessly killed, it makes me see red. I want them to pay. I want them to feel like dirt. Because that's what they are.


WARNING! GRAPHIC IMAGE BELOW! TURN AWAY IF YOU ARE A WUSS!












that's the cremation area of an animal shelter. Almost all of these animals were perfectly healthy. The could love. They could make you smile, they could catch mice, they could fetch a ball. But now they can't. There are too many of them. So now they are dead. All because some dipshit was too cheap to get their parents fixed or too lazy to even look at the prices. This blood is spilled for no reason. These animals, who are our brothers and sisters in spirit and only a few chromosones away from us, give us nothing but love. And this is what we do to them. 70,000 cats and dogs are destroyed every year. This image haunts my sleep. Now i hope it will haunt yours.

Mask Project: Polynesia

source: http://www.besttattoogallery.com/samoan-tattoos-the-mystery-ancient-tattooing-art
the design of the Polynesian islands, which encompass a large area in the pacific ocean but nonetheless share a culture. This is because the peoples of the islands were travellers that settled on the various islands. It's impossible to talk about Polynesian culture without going into their rich tattooing tradition.


source: http://www.honolulumagazine.com/Honolulu-Magazine/April-2007/Hawai-8216i-by-Design/

Polynesian tattoos did differ between islands and cultures, there are many similarities between the traditions, mostly focusing on repeated geometric design elements.

Mask Project: South America

whenever i think of central and south america, i think of the amazing civilizations of the Aztec and the Inca.

pre-inca textile, http://beforecolumbus.net/brooklynmuseum.html

there aren't many examples of Inca art left in Peru because most of their decorative art was made of gold. Melted down by the Conquistadors, it's all gone now.  So is their written record, obliterated by the Missionaries that came after the gold was all gone.  However, this little pattern really caught my eye-the alpaca is very important in Andean cultures all up and down the west coast of South America.

Mask Project: North America

it was hard to pick a decorative tradition for North America, because of all the rich cultural traditions of both the natives of the land and the settlers that colonized it.

in the end, i chose the carvings of the Northwest tribes, because they reside both in America and Canada, and the designs would be easier to cut out of cardstock.

"Moon Mask" from http://www.artnatam.com/first-nations/troy-roberts/gallery/moon-mask.html

native northwest carving is characterized by abstracted, highly decorative geometric forms.

Strongarm Project: Maquettes

overview of the final drawing, plasticine and wax maquettes.

plasticine maquette. i love plasticine- except for the smell, and that nasty feeling it leaves on your hands.wax maquette. i still need to get a hold of some CZs that don't shatter when i make it with metal. i am still worried about the text showing up in the final model, or looking weird. guess i can't know until I try!

Blood Diamonds: The Strongarm Progect final Sketches

the final plans for my Blood Diamonds response, now named "Strongarm". Originally conceived as a piece about the reconciliation of the folk of west Africa and the diamonds they mined, it evolved for me into a piece about strength and moving on. As an amulet, it invokes the spiritual strength of those who were hurt and who carry on, rebuilding their lives with only one arm.

Reserch for Blood Diamond project: Prosthetic arms

Jan, here's another one for your collection! Stumbling around i found Giho Lee's super-cool Prosthetic Arm Projects, which is a series of little wire thingys that help people that only have hooks for hands with everyday tasks, like using an I-Phone or a keyboard mouse.
the annoying thing is, most of the pictures i could find of prosthetics were of more modern, which have actual hands. these seem more common now in developed countries (showing how behind some of these countries are).

i looked around and found all sorts of cool stuff though...here are some highlights!

source:http://www.switched.com/tag/prosthetic (all sorts of stories about futuristic prosthetics)
look at the design of that arm! it looks like something from sci'fi. future, here we come!
a "sustainable" prostetic arm, as shown at "Compost-modern" and fetured on the blog "Core77"
(Jan, tottally blogroll these people. even if their presentation video put me to sleep, I know they will make you happy.)

finally! it's not a good picture (and it's probably on this blog illegally) but that's the model i'm looking for. i'll edit the design of my pendant to reflect it a bit more.

here's a simple illustration of the arm and how it works- from a site about child amputees.

Mask Project: Russia and East Asia

Russia
source:http://www.lanasgallery.com/decorative.html
traditional enameling, called Khokhloma, from Northern Russia. This is done by a modern artist, but is a traditional pattern and materials.

China (and Japan, kinda)

source: http://www.chinancient.com/chinese-paper-cutting/
traditional Chinese Paper cutting. I'm already making most of these texture plates out of cut paper, and this image is similar to some in Japanese traditions, so that saves me a mask.

Masks Project Pt. 2- North Africa and the Middle East

source: http://www.rugtent.com/K109-KA.jpg
'course, the first thing i think of when thinking of the Middle east is carpets. I know that's stupid, but it's true.

the dominant founder of the Middle Eastern and North African cultures is Islam. In Islam, you can't decorate with pictures of people, so they developed a tradition of rich textured organic surface design. This is what I want to emulate!


source: http://www.lacma.org/islamic_art/lma.htm
the border on this late medieval cup is just what i'm talking about! that organic scrollwork-i'll have to look for it everywhere!

Creative Caffine: Kitty Rings

Assignment: Emulate Droog (boy am i sick of hearing about them!) by making jewelry or products out of things that are plentiful in your environment.

Response: Rings felted out of kitty fur =^_^=
i simply brushed my cats and felted the undercoat fur that came out. It's very easy to felt, you just roll it in your hands to make a little rope, then roll together the two ends.

Design Reserch- Masks pt.1: South and West Africa

first idea: masks for each continent/region. Images for each area as follows:

Africa: South

source:http://www.endegigallery.com/africanartandpatterns.html
woven baskets, made by folk of the Zulu nation.


source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/un_photo/3311565423/
woven beadwork by the Ndeble tribe.


Africa: West

source: http://www.travel-images.com/photo-liberia7.html
a house made of mud, decorated by handprints.

source: http://www.travel-images.com/view.shtml?mali2.jpg
thatched mud huts in Mali.

Droog pt. 2

okay, i still don't trust Droog. But i figure i got to find some common ground, so i'll adopt some of their quotes.

"Droog stands for a luxury of content rather than luxurious materials."

this is almost a personal motto for me ^_^. I make jewelry out of anything- i've got plans for anything from a prayer locket made from plumbing parts to construction paper origami.

designs that: "change perspective on daily life, informed by the local context, yet in relation to urgencies on a global scale."

this makes so much more sense than what they said in the little brochure. i'm still not so good at the whole "look at the new world in a new way" thing, but i'll give it a try.

i like the hidden meaning show they put on in New York. i love puzzles, i even have a puzzle box in my purse (to be feature in a future "cool things" post) and i love finding the hidden meanings behind works of art. i did, however, find the Da Vinchi Code improbable, along with all of Dan Brown's very silly books.

some other things i like:
Trim your own glowing bonsai! :D
Cute little critters! (note on this: i appreciate the artist's effort and creativity. however, i do have a real problem with this: making things out of trash has become a big fad in the "craft" community now, and as such things like this have started to underwhelm me. they do show some specialness in that they actually have electronic and animated components.)
they look so squishy :P

Droog Rant

According to Droog's statement, that i was required to read, they want to make solutions. How am i supposed to make solutions to global problems with jewelry? I'll happily make peices that react to global problems, but i just don't see how i can possibly help people with jewelry-at least the jewelry i like to make. I think what i'm trying to say is perfectly summed up by Maya Angelou's famous poem:

The caged bird sings not because it has an answer,
But because it has a song.

I can sing a song about the boy that comes to the lighthouse to escape from his life of poverty, but i can't imagine a way out for him. I can sing a song about a box of abandoned kittens, but i can't convince their former owners to take them back. I can sing a song about a bruised child hiding from his daddy (who always comes home smelling of booze) but i can't get him and his mom out of there. Not with Jewelry, at least.

How do you make a pendant that saves the world?

Cool Stuff: Sleeping Cat Netsuke

What is it? It's a Netsuke, a button-like thing that people in ancient Japan wore on their obi, or belt. Because kimono don't have pockets, they would have little bags or boxes that they would hang on these cute little "buttons". Some of them are very elaborate, some even pornographic (don't know where you would wear those, but whatever floats your boat.) Real netsuke are made of fancy wood or ivory, but this one is a replica made of plastic.

Why is it cool? Look at it! it's a big, round kitty! With a bow! I love things about cats, especially Japanese cats. This kitty is a japanese bobtail, which is kind of a symbol of Japan. This is extra-cool because it is a really good reproduction- it shows the skill of the artist who origionally carved it. He even put on darling paw-pads and his little curly tail!

Where did you get that? I found this cutie at the gift shop at the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore. While you're there, go to the Asian Arts gallery to see real, antique netsuke, not to mention the gorgeous laquered boxes that once hung from them. If you're in Baltimore and you like ancient Japanese culture (or even if you're just an Otaku) it's a must see!

This just in! I Googled "Lacma" and "Netsuke" and found something incredible- the Los Angeles County Museam of Art's online Gallery! They have all sorts of great stuff to look at, with a huge collection of netsuke and prints. And, in the "Urban life in the Edo Period" collection, i found the origional version of this darling little netsuke.(don't tell the folks at the Museam website I posted that image...)

Suicune Ring

Suicune (diamond clarity ring)
silver- peirced, soldered antiqued w/ liver of sulpher)

often i have come to the theme of "Suicune", the spirit of the north wind. Based on a Pokemon that is the "embodiment of pure springs" who moves with the purifying north wind, this spirit cuts through illusion and removes disease and corruption. (think a laxative, only cold.)
I envisioned this ring as a protective amulet that protects its wearer from various...entities. When it came out all beat up (they told me not to use pliers. why didn't i listen? I had to find out for myself...) I wasn't upset- it looks like an ancient magic ring that has been through a lot.

Grand-Mother Star slide (Give me your heart)

Grand-Mother Star slide (Give me your heart)
heavy paper, tissue paper, stamped images, ink, watercolors, glitter ink

"Prana Spindle"

"Prana Spindle"
blown glass ornament, brass bells, lampwork glass bead, crystal beads, glass beads.

A rare double-topic! One of the coolest things I found I made into jewelry. I got the ornament i used as a pendant at Rennfest. That particular vendor focuses on Faerie dust pendants and wands, and this ornament is filled with golden glitter.
I envision Prana, or Chi, as beautiful sparkling gold dust. I probably got this image from the "His Dark Materials" series, where the mysterious magic that fills the air (but nobody can see) is golden dust. This is like a reliquary, life force itself trapped within a bottle like a genie.

Origami Pocket-Book

"Sigil Book"
folded paper, fake leather, metallic paper, aluminum, ink, sigils inside are mixed media.

unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the inside and the sigils within. I really just made them for fun, and some of them aren't that great. I found a great pattern for a little pocket-book in one of my bookmaking books (enough books for one sentance?) and i just simply added a cover to it.

Cool Stuff: Hope Pocket Heart

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all

What is it? A pewter heart, probably made in a mold, made out of the letters of the word "Hope".

Why is it cool? this tiny heart is part me and part Thomas Mann. There was no interaction, of course and the only thing i really did was add a plastic feather bead. I added the feather because it reminded me of a certain poem. I know i've written it down somewhere...

Where did you get it? The American Craft Council show. This is a "Pocket Heart", one of the little dewdads that Mann sells for cheap. Five for Fifteen bucks, baby!

Can I get one? Yep. here's a link to Mann's Catalog online! You'll find the Pocket Hearts in the Miscelanious section. Unfortunateley, you cant pick which ones you get- you have to wait for a show to pick through the little tray for about fifteen minutes (sorry Mom.)

Morrigan's Tooth

"Morrigan's Tooth"
laser cut plastic, copper, silver chain.

this is not the best picture of this object. Morrigan's tooth was the product of rage, frustration, and the nightmares i command. As an artist, i command many dreams, some of them not so pretty. But enough silliness.
Morrigan was (is?) the Celtic goddess of madness and war. She was the Queen of Nightmares, and ruled with fear. Morrigan would appear as a raven and feast on the dead of war. As Neil Gaiman says in his masterpiece "The Kindly Ones", "There will always be sacrifices to The Morrigan."
However, if you coould face your fears, you earned the respect of the Raven Queen. I imagined this as a badge of honour, given for facing your worst nightmares.

"Mary Moon" slide

"Mary Moon"
mulberry paper, metallic paper, glitter glue, stamped image, glass slides, metal frame.

There was this big fad a while back in Mixed Media circles (that have since degraded to "bad craft") that you made a little collage and put it between two slides. Held together with either solder or a metal frame, you could wear it as a pendant and carry around a bit of your art with you. I've never been big on the babies-with-clown-hats-and-wings thing, so i made my own kind of design.
One of the best things about this particular piece is what i did with the papers. I layered translucent mulberry paper on top of metallic origami paper, using a glaze to make the mulberry paper even more see-through. It makes a really cool, layered effect on the ocean part of the picture, and I've used the technique many times since.

"Mary Moon" slide back
stamped images, pigment chalk.

much of the base of the Mary character in my artwork is based on a poem by T. S. Eliot, my favorite poet. Through his words I realized the spirit of this Goddess, who has become very important to me. The full text is Here, but some of the most influential bits of it are as follows:

Who walked between the violet and the violet
Who walked between
The various ranks of varied green
Going in white and blue, in Mary's colour,
Talking of trivial things
In ignorance and knowledge of eternal dolour
Who moved among the others as they walked,
Who then made strong the fountains and made fresh the springs

Made cool the dry rock and made firm the sand
In blue of larkspur, blue of Mary's colour,
Sovegna vos

Here are the years that walk between, bearing
Away the fiddles and the flutes, restoring
One who moves in the time between sleep and waking, wearing

White light folded, sheathing about her, folded.
The new years walk, restoring
Through a bright cloud of tears, the years, restoring
With a new verse the ancient rhyme. Redeem
The time. Redeem
The unread vision in the higher dream
While jewelled unicorns draw by the gilded hearse.

The silent sister veiled in white and blue
Between the yews, behind the garden god,
Whose flute is breathless, bent her head and signed but spoke no word

But the fountain sprang up and the bird sang down
Redeem the time, redeem the dream
The token of the word unheard, unspoken

Till the wind shake a thousand whispers from the yew

And after this our exile

...

Will the veiled sister pray for
Those who walk in darkness, who chose thee and oppose thee,
Those who are torn on the horn between season and season, time and time, between
Hour and hour, word and word, power and power, those who wait
In darkness? Will the veiled sister pray
For children at the gate
Who will not go away and cannot pray:
Pray for those who chose and oppose

O my people, what have I done unto thee.

Will the veiled sister between the slender
Yew trees pray for those who offend her
And are terrified and cannot surrender
And affirm before the world and deny between the rocks
In the last desert before the last blue rocks
The desert in the garden the garden in the desert
Of drouth, spitting from the mouth the withered apple-seed.

O my people.

...

Although I do not hope to turn again
Although I do not hope
Although I do not hope to turn

Wavering between the profit and the loss
In this brief transit where the dreams cross
The dreamcrossed twilight between birth and dying
(Bless me father) though I do not wish to wish these things
From the wide window towards the granite shore
The white sails still fly seaward, seaward flying
Unbroken wings

And the lost heart stiffens and rejoices
In the lost lilac and the lost sea voices
And the weak spirit quickens to rebel
For the bent golden-rod and the lost sea smell
Quickens to recover
The cry of quail and the whirling plover
And the blind eye creates
The empty forms between the ivory gates
And smell renews the salt savour of the sandy earth This is the time of tension between dying and birth The place of solitude where three dreams cross Between blue rocks But when the voices shaken from the yew-tree drift away Let the other yew be shaken and reply.

Blessed sister, holy mother, spirit of the fountain, spirit of the garden,
Suffer us not to mock ourselves with falsehood
Teach us to care and not to care
Teach us to sit still
Even among these rocks,
Our peace in His will
And even among these rocks
Sister, mother
And spirit of the river, spirit of the sea,
Suffer me not to be separated

And let my cry come unto Thee.

and that is a secret between us.