Lost and Found
Hello dear friends and followers, it has been a very long time since I’ve checked in. I’m not sure why I haven’t been blogging except to say that I haven’t had the energy to feel profound. And I am quite sure today is not the day for wisdom either, but I wanted you to know that I am here, thinking, reevaluating and sometimes creating. When my mind is unsettled that I can’t find my way to being creative. I can be busy in my studio prepping new stitch kits or for classes but truly transforming a blank beginning into fully formed visual message, well, I’m struggling. My last substantial work was my Na’amah of the Ark piece (more about that below). I have all these profound ideas – big works that address the erasing of the sacred feminine in our patriarchal religious traditions and re-imaging and re-telling the stories that have been lost and found with a more expansive, inclusive imagery. This grand task is both invigorating and daunting so with a complicated life of caring for family in need and crisis and just taking care of the life and business at hand I have not been able to start my next big project.
Just do something small, I told myself. Even that seemed too broad, too blank. How to break the dam of dormancy? On Tuesday last week I was part of a forum conversation with Rev. Julie Graham of Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion in St. Louis. She was interviewing me about my piece Na’amah of the Ark. I had loaned the piece to the church for a couple of weeks and she and I were taping the interview to be shown at their weekly forum. Part of the interview was to share my process and path to creating that piece and there is a direct line from my Women of Wisdom series of collages to Na’amah. So I showed few of those pieces in the interview. As I began to describe them I came to a new understanding for myself of why I was creating them. I realized they are Muses. They are meant to spark creativity and sharing of stories. I have thought of them as a deck of cards since the beginning but I wasn’t sure what the cards were for. But now I think these Women of Wisdom cards are muses, or prompts for us to share our stories with ourselves and each other. So my purpose was reignited. My art is purpose driven and so with new found resolve I made three more muses to add to my series. I now have 13 finished only 39 to go to make my deck of 52….. am I doing it to myself again? creating a daunting task?? Well onward one small muse at a time. (Link to past Women of Wisdom cards)
Here is a link to my interview with Rev. Julie Graham about Na’amah of the Ark.
Laura A Thorpe
I am always enriched by your blog pieces and ever respectful of your process, or more appropriately, in AWE of your process. Yes, this is your sister writing, but still, it counts š.
Lisa Thorpe
Thank you dear sister – you are my most faithful fan and for that I am deeply grateful
Ian
Hi Lisa. Di and I certainly miss you and Jack at Bishopās Ranch. We just attended a final weekend(?) generations meeting with the parents who were struggling with the nostalgia of past times and of their young people leaving for college. Steve Hassett, was also there lending a philosophic and emotional support – change happens – and we move on, grateful to have known you both and benefitted from your beautiful artistry and music. Our granddaughter, Lucy, is intending to come back as a helper in future projects thereā¦
Adjusting to change at a time of Covid and the disarray of fire and divisive politics is a big deal for us allā¦
Anyway, just to say āHi!ā and that we appreciate you. My shared pottery studio space is currently closed and Iām still waiting for the other shoe to drop. Diana and I are still busy doing our Deanery stuff with the Bishopā¦so not all is lost, but sometimes change drags until we let go completelyā¦
Bestā¦
Ian and Di
Lisa Thorpe
Ian, It is so nice to hear from you. This has been a melancholy time for me to change is hard, finding new things, new friends, new meaning is hard. But I guess the struggle is better than the alternative. The edges of this time will smooth, I think, and the rough edges soften, I hope, and we will all find our way on a new path or if not new then stride on with the help of all we have loved and all who love us. I hope you will count me in the loving you all side – kisses to Di and the grandkids – I am happy that Lucy wants to work camp – she’ll be terrific!
Lisa
Nancy Orr
Thank you for posting, Lisa. It’s inspiring to hear that doing something small can prompt our muse to come, if only we are ready to receive her.
Radiance especially drew me in. Haven’t we all met older women who glowed with radiance of survival, joy and optimism, buffed by years of love for others? You captured her perfectly.
Good wishes.
Nancy