Seven years ago I sat with Willy Whitefeather, a Cherokee storyteller in Oregon, over coffee. While most days spent with Willy would be filled with stories, this day he was a bit more serious and subdued. He talked about his garden and the vegetables he was growing and about a recent siting of a bear on his property. He asked me about what I was currently creating in art and was interested in hearing about the inspirations behind my pieces.
We talked about art and life and everyday things, and before he left he reached over and took my hand and urged me to continue Creating, especially the pieces that help to empower women. He said "The Women are being called...called to Rise Up...for the World needs Healing." His words have stayed with me all these years.
Those words inspired my most recent gourd sculpted Art Doll, titled "Rise Up".
This Art Doll is a Gourd and Clay Sculpture. She has a complex headdress, painted in a finely detailed black and white design, symbolic of the knowledge she carries. Her dress is half black and half white, the yin and the yang, the balance that is needed for this Journey. She has pledged to be a Lightworker, focusing her energy on helping to heal the world, where an abundance of fear, anger, and sadness are overflowing.
She stands in a resting position with her arms crossed, looking off to the side. Her expression holds a myriad of emotions, for in her soul she is feeling thoughtful, focused, and filled with empathy and compassion, even sometimes a bit of sadness, as she offers a caring hand to many. When she wakes in the morning and prepares for her day, she asks "What can I do today to make a difference?"....and an answer always comes.
She is continually busy, though at the end of the each day she does not feel drained but rather Complete. She continues to Rise Up each and every day, listening and helping wherever she can in the world. Often the Listening is the most valued of her offerings, as so many need a shoulder to lean on and an ear to hear their story.
She reminds us by her example of extending Acceptance and Tolerance, cherishing that each one of us humans are individuals with our own ideals and thoughts, and that our Beauty is in our Diversity. She does not give energy to divisiveness or hate, but responds only with Love, for she will not allow another's negativity to change her own spirit.
Her healing spirit stems from the immense Love she has for her Self, her family, her friends, her sisters, her neighbors, and...the World. When your work is based from Love, your soul is refilled each day with the energy you need.
She is continually busy, though at the end of the each day she does not feel drained but rather Complete. She continues to Rise Up each and every day, listening and helping wherever she can in the world. Often the Listening is the most valued of her offerings, as so many need a shoulder to lean on and an ear to hear their story.
She reminds us by her example of extending Acceptance and Tolerance, cherishing that each one of us humans are individuals with our own ideals and thoughts, and that our Beauty is in our Diversity. She does not give energy to divisiveness or hate, but responds only with Love, for she will not allow another's negativity to change her own spirit.
Her healing spirit stems from the immense Love she has for her Self, her family, her friends, her sisters, her neighbors, and...the World. When your work is based from Love, your soul is refilled each day with the energy you need.
She also knows that she Too is being watched over by another, included in another Sister's caring community. They along with others, create a networked web of healing that will eventually extend to every person and element of our Earth...the Caring that our World so desperately needs.
Rise Up can be found on my website here
Rise Up Gourd and Clay Art Doll
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