Remembering my friends Adam Lee and Jason Mejia
“There you go, swimming deeper into Mystery. Here I remain only seeing where you used to be…….Gone from Mystery into Mystery. Gone from daylight into night. Another step deeper into darkness, closer to the light.” Bruce Cockburn
Silk, Cotton, poly ribbon, metallic and cotton thread and floss 24″x36
8.5″x 11″ Hahnemuhle Fine Photo Rag Paper, archival inks
The 4th of July is nearly here, and I was thinking about flags and what mine might look like. As a 71-year-old person, perhaps I spend more time than I used to, reflecting on what I believe is important.
What I know is that I take delight in knowing so many different flavors, textures and colors of the humans that are woven into my life. Many of my online art entries are responded to by you who live not only all over America, but also in Italy, France, Germany, Norway, England, Australia and Japan. Many of you I know as musicians, composers and artists, whose work resonates with me, and in whom I take pleasure, even though we have never met in person. Quite a few of you I have known for less than five years, and many are under the age of 30. Some I have known since my childhood in Vineland, NJ, my past employment, college experiences or some are family members or friends of family members whom I have found to be especially shiny.
I feel exceptionally blessed!!! This is what I was thinking when creating this “Flag”. It isn’t my most awesome drawing as a piece of art, but it is certainly one I delighted in creating as I thought about the beauty of you all, and your unique unrepeatable gifts to my personal history. Thanks for being!
“Joy Will Find A Way” by Bruce Cockburn
Make me a bed of fond memories Make me to lie down with a smile Everything that rises afterward falls But all that dies has first to live.
As longing becomes love As night turns to day Everything changes Joy will find a way
This is a cover for an Artist Book I designed prior to our trip to Italy in 2013. We made this visit to my nine Italian composer/musician friends who lived in Catania, Campania or Lucca, and who created the music that was my soundtrack of healing when I was very ill in 2009. This poem by Tagore and the five drawn color variations of the hand sewn cover, are included in the Book.
The eternal Dream
Is borne on the wings of ageless Light
That rends the veil of the vague
And goes across Time
Weaving ceaseless patterns of Being.
The mystery remains dumb,
The meaning of this pilgrimage,
The endless adventure of existence –
Whose rush along the sky
Flames up into innumerable rings of paths,
Till at last knowledge gleams out from the dusk
In the infinity of human spirit,
And in that dim-lighted dawn
She speechlessly gazes through the break in the mist
At the vision of Life and Love
Emerging from the tumult of profound pain and joy.
Tagore
September 16, 1929
I drew this when my shoulders were mostly paralyzed and I could not move more than a few inches. As a result, the original was only a few inches high, rigid and filled with the tension and stress of my infirmity. The final, fabric version was transformed into a totem of my improving health after I recovered. Through this journey, I felt like I was reaching out to the spirit world to help me survive and release me from my paralysis.
Inspiration: Max Maffia “On the Road.” 2005. Anywhere in the World! Daybox Records. | Length: 3:12; Musical Genre: Ambient Guitar
A few years ago when I underwent radiation treatments as part of my journey with cancer, I created a sound track on my iPod to support my healing. This image is the sound of a single harmonic guitar chord that I visualized as cutting a slice off my tumor and making that slice explode and disappear with the radiation treatments. In October 2013, I had the greatest pleasure to finally meet the composer/guitarist, Max Maffia in his beautiful home city of Salerno, Italy. I cherish the memory of the concert Max organized in my honor, in a Salerno art gallery with his entire band, and 50 of his dearest family and friends. I finally got to hear a live version of the song that supported my healing.
Living Out Loud: The Art of Geri Hahn 