Birth/Afterbirth

Each mandala I create has a life of its own.

It begins, as many lives do,  with an intention

and the planting of a seed.

A mandala in its embryonic form, holds

the promise of what is to come.

The gestation period varies, but always

I know when transition hits…the final few pushes

that must come before a mandala's birth

always lead to...

a time of joyous celebration!

"Any Way You Slice It" came into this world

at 9:36 am on 11/14/14

(20" x 20" mixed media on canvas)

And naturally, what follows next...

is the afterbirth,

with a beauty and a purpose all its own.

awaiting the birth-hour

everything is gestation and then bringing forth.  to let each impression and each germ of a feeling come to completion quite in itself, in the dark, in the inexpressible, the unconscious, beyond the reach of one's own understanding, and await with deep humility and patience the birth-hour of a new clarity:  that alone is living the artist's life - in understanding as in work.

-rainer maria rilke (1875-1926)