Confirmation


All Saints Day, November 1.  When I went to the car this morning to depart from the Grunewald Guild after two richly creative and happy months, this is what I saw on the windshield. 

 

I couldn't help but be reminded of all the spangling stars I've been living with  (and cutting) over the two months. 


 

 

So the hardest work is done, and I"m now back in Seattle. In couple of weeks once the support framework is delivered, I'll settle down again to cement this piece together, grout it, and then place it in storage until, along with Michael Schultheis' companion cosmos piece (to be painted over the next six months), it will be installed in the new Center for Science and Innnovation at Seattle U in the summer of 2021. 

 

The stellar ice crystals this morning were a nice touch from the Creator, I think. They put me in mind, again, of my favorite poem, Mary Oliver's "Instructions for living a life,"

Pay attention. 

Be Astonished.

Tell about it. 

      And that's what I've tried to do with these posts: to tell about a project full of astonishment. And about the gratitude I feel for having had time to pay attention for a change. 

 

So here we are. The children all all nestled, snug in their beds of bubble wrap and sturdy styrofoam. 

 

After being painstakingly taped together with extra wide sticky tape and marked with a hundred registration marks that will help in the reassembly process, I cut the piece into moveable-sized blocks, fixed them to rigid but soft 3 ft. by 2 ft, styrofoam blocks  then interleaved them with bubblewrap and more styrofoam. The Quester's face and had were the the last to go, waving goodby to the studio in Plain, WA.

Then, gently placed in the car for the 3 hour drive back to Seattle, where I'll unpack them tomorrow, and then, in the week of Nov. 10, carefully mount them with brigh white mortar onto a rigid backer that will be their support on the wall. My colleague Michael Schultheis will then work on his portion of the work, the newly conceived cosmos into which the monk sticks his head and hand. Once all the pieces (125+) are cemented into place and the mortar is cured, I will fill the 1/8 inch lines between them with a leaden-gray grout that will recall the lines of a stained glass window. Michael's piece will eventually abut mine, and the head and the hand will actually be attached to his canvas, part of the cosmos segment. A nice play of 2 and three dimensions, and with Michael's characteristic rich impasto, it should be something. I'll post once more around Nov. 22 or so once my work is completely done. And will send out to all of you photos next summer once Michael's piece is completed and delivered.

 

 

Before I sign off today, I'd like to take a moment to thank my generous hosts at the Grunewald Guild, directors Vonda and Jim Drees, and their dedicated staff Courtney, Gray, and David. They are hospitality incarnate.  I also was lucky to share some of my time there with a five other artists in residence--writers, musicians, and installation artists--whose presence greatly enriched the experience. For the past 40 years, artists, theologians and seekers have availed themselves of the comfortable and homey resources of the Guild, the beloved creation of Liz Caemmerer and her late husband Richard. We're all grateful for their inspiration and hard work that created this unique place where Faith, Art, and Community continue to meet.

Gratitude too, to Seattle University for commissioning this work, and for the funding that allowed me the great luxury of these two, largely silent months in the pines next to the Wenatchee River.

 

I'll keep you posted on the next developments.  Thanks for following along and for the messages of encouragement I've received from many of you.

Blessings.

Tom


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