Summer, sweet as…..

Summer is in full swing here in Maine. All winter I wait for these days when I can get up at 7 AM and have my tea on the deck in a 75 degree sultry heat. At the end the day I swim in the local cove with my dog, husband and perhaps a friend. As the big sign says on Rte 95 as you enter our state: “Maine, the way life should be.” But as with all things in life, this is a temporary time, and so the rule is to make the most of each day.

Siblings making a dream catcher in the trees

I am just back home from a 7 day Artist in Residency at Searsport Shores Campground in Searsport, ME. While I was there, I worked with all ages of camping friends from grand mom and pop to little ones and teenagers in between. It was such a delight see families and new friends working happily side by side.

A talented Mom weaves herself a belt

This campground is a unique and amazing place that is rich with gardens, animals, art and beauty, right on the ocean’s edge.For seven days we wove, shared stories of joy as well as sorrow. We became friends and expanded our concept of family. Each day I would share my food scraps with the goats in the pen right next to my studio. Each day I went for a swim in the cool ocean waters. Each night I slept in a tent inside the studio made from crocheted and embroidered fabrics.

A weaving family

On my last day, I went two miles up the road to the site where my dear brother Weston was killed last August. Although this site brings me deep sadness, it feels like holy ground to me. For the past 11 months I have decorated it with handwoven prayer flags from the Woven Voices project. I was so amazed and pleased to see how beautifully the old flags have weathered the seasons.I added a dozen more flags. Healing from life’s wounds is an unpredictable journey. I am blessed to have beauty, love and community as my companions.

My sleeping tent next to the rug loom.

Weathered prayer flags in Searsport ME

Michy looks for some fruit scraps

happy camper with paper plate dream catcher

Balancing on the Solstice

Here we are….on the official commencement of summer and the beginning of our days decreasing in sunlight (sorry to ruin your day!) This is the Solstice balance, balancing the light and the dark, the positive and the negative, the hot and the cold, plus for us on coastal Maine, the tourists and the townies!

CT workshop for families

For me it is the end of my school residencies and teaching. And today, it being almost 93 here in York, I went for my first swim!

Jim Wilson shows off his vintage reed making equipment.

Yesterday Ben and I went down to Central Falls, RI to visit The Gowdey Reed Co. I have started a blog about Jim’s family business as I am gearing up sales for them. Please check out this new blog, Gowdey Reeds, Heddles and Handweaving, where I explain how this company has been making reeds for 4 generations. The basic process has changed little, and each hand loom or industrial reed is made to order for the customer.Tomorrow I head back up to Haystack MT School of Crafts. I was up there last month, cleaning and repairing all the looms in the Textile Studio. Friday and Saturday, I will return to complete the job with a van load of parts from Macomber Looms. I think we picked the perfect week to be up there, as the temperatures here are going to be unseasonably warm.

My Woven Voices thesis with it's clamshell box

And here is a BIG TAH- DAH…drum roll……. I received my Masters of Art and Healing from Wisdom University this month. I am so proud of my thesis which is a series of hand-bound books that document and illustrate this four year global peace project.

Happy and proud boy with his self portrait for the Mandala

Thanks for checking out my website. I always love hearing from each one of you.Happy Summer!!~~ Sarah

Winter play and winter creativity

It has been an entirely snow-less winter so far.  I cannot recall a winter that has not only been so snow-less but so warm.  Last night at a non-profit board meeting the Chairwoman opened with the question “How you you feel about this winter? Do you miss snow?” The answers were as diverse as those attending the meeting. My answer was YES… I miss snow days. I miss playing in the snow. I miss the unbelievable quiet that a heavy snow fall makes as it muffles all other noises.

1st Izzy's installation

I have been involved with a new arts organization in Portsmouth called 3S Artspace. Last fall they put out a submission call for a winter long installation in a local ice cream shop that is closed for the winter. This collaborative project has three artists rotating installations once a week for nine weeks, culminating in a group installation for the final two weeks. My first installation was inspired by our road trip to Florida in January. Riding in the car ave me the opportunity to sky gaze for hours on end. I saw so many beautiful hawks soaring along the highways edge, and the sky was so wide and beautiful. Each installation is supposed to build on the previous one. I used the red sticks and blue background from the artist before me, stenciled the cranes and added more sapling branches.

2nd installation at night

My second installation followed the same artist who had built these trees out of bark and created this forest scene with glass balls inside the trees and rubber snakes. I added these balls out of Styrofoam and plastic spoons and forks. I covered the windows with paper snow flakes and red cellophane, plus added more rubber critters. The spoon/fork balls were on motors and slowly rotated. I felt wintery and bizarre to me.

beginning the mandala at Izzy's

My third installation was this past Friday, and I followed a different artist who is much more of a minimalist. All of the previous materials had been removed and the space stripped clean. She painted stylized mountains on the walls and hung painted pieces of bark (from the a fore mentioned trees).

the mandala completed

close up of the mandala, spoons, forks, twigs, oranges, styro-balls

So on Friday, I came in with the idea that I would take down the bark, but not remove it, and create a 6 foot mandala on the wall using any/all materials from previous installations. Here’s the result. I love it! I also wrote a short quote from Rumi along the edge of the mountains and their shadows.This installation will disappear on Friday when the third artist returns and creates her final installation. What an amazing process!This winter I am also bringing to an end”Woven Voices: Messages from the Heart”. Please check out my blog and learn more about the closure of this four year global community art project. I am in the final stages of completing my Masters of Art and Healing, with a non-traditional thesis on this project.

the last prayer flag

All is well, even without the snow.Namaste ~ Sarah

Summer of Love, Peace and Grief

I know from experience that the wider my heart gets stretched the more deeply I feel every breath, witness the smallest details and am able to be present. This summer events in my life stretched my heart wider, deeper and taller than I thought possible. On August 18th my dear brother Weston, my traveling soul mate on our trans-Atlantic crossing, was tragically killed. Please go to my Woven Voices blog to learn and read more.

Wes in his ever present welder's hat

Along with the enormity of this event, I have been weaving hundreds of prayer flags and sending them out across the lands and waters to fly in homes, gardens, schools and churches. Thank you again to all my Kickstarter backers who have supported this project. We have woven over 600 prayer flags just this summer!Wes would be among the first to say “Life goes on.” And on.Another milestone is that “Each One: The Button Project, a 9/11 Memorial has been purchased and has a permanent home!  On September 6th,  the city councilors of Portsmouth NH voted to use gifted funds to purchase the art work in honor and recognition of  Mayor Sirrell, Portsmouth mayor from 1997-2005.

"Each One: The Button Project, a 9/11 Memorial" at City Hall Portsmouth, NH

This posting will be brief, because truthfully I am often at a loss for words.As the healing and transformation continue, I trust that my words will return. Meanwhile I make art, weave and draw in an attempt to navigate this new landscape. My expanded heart is my north star.

Keep moving!

This summer my mother, Mary Louise, will turn 90. Look at her in this photo with my sister. Believe it or not, this photo was taken this weekend, one month before her birthday!

Lucia and Mary Louise in South Freeport Maine, June 2011

Doesn’t she look amazing?? I know her secret……she has always been an advocate of “move it or loose it”. Back in the 1960s she started taking yoga. I know for a fact that the daily practice of her exercise kept her from being bed ridden the couple of times that she had to be hospitalized.She is an living example of how important it is to keep moving.I try to keep moving in all aspects of my life. Most specifically right now I am trying to keep the momentum moving on the Woven Voices Kickstarter fundThe Grand Finale is now at 37% funding. Since Kickstarter is an all or nothing funding, I must meet the $4000 goal or no funds are dispersed!So in the spirit of Mary Louise, I ask you to take a peek at the Kickstarter video and make a pledge from $1 to $1000. Let’s keep this project moving.Thread by thread we can build a more peaceful world.Ok, gotta run….Sarah

Wake Up!

It is SO beautiful outside right now, I could almost cry. The angle of the sun as it highlights each tender green blade of new grass makes my heart vibrate with joy. The peas are up about an inch. The daffodils and hyacinth are still blooming. The leaves are not quite fully out, which makes the view through the woods like a lace scrim.  Glory is visible in every direction.

friends and family supporters of the Woven Voices project

Yesterday I went to Market Square in Portsmouth, NH to read messages for the “Woven Voices: Messages from the Heart” project. It was an interesting experience, even though I have been doing this for three years. Read more about it on the project blog. Here in my studio I am working on several things. I feel sort of like my gardens with life exploding in every corner.  And because I have so much still to share from my Atlantic passage…here is a journal entry.  Peace, Sarah

Atlantic passage journal entry

Join me

This week on May 11th, I will be back in Market Square in Portsmouth, NH. It has been several months since I have been there to read the messages of hope and peace that I gather for the Woven Voices Project.

messages of hope and peace

I have about 200 messages that I collected during my recent travels to South Africa, St. Helena and Barbados. I hope that you will join me to read and/or simply listen and witness these personal prayers.

giving away the prayer flags in South Africa

After these messages have been read on Wednesday they will come back here to my stdio and be woven into prayer flags.I am in need of weavers too! No experience necessary to weave, just call/email me and we will set up a date/time for you to come. I ask for only a two hour commitment.

Sailors Duncan and Irene from Canada about to hoist up their prayer flag on board "Moose"

After the flags are woven, I will send them out to the world. At this point there are over 500 flags flying from East to West and from North to South.There are even some prayer flags that are traveling on sail boats!

"Moose" picks up a mooring arriving at St. Helena.

My friends Duncan and Irene aboard “Moose” sailed near us from South Africa to St. Helena. They had a grueling passage as their auto-pilot stopped working only a few days out from Simonstown. They hand steered for 11 days, arriving in St. Helena exhausted. What heroes! Look closely and you can see the prayer flag still flies high after over 1400 miles at sea.So if you are able and interested, please join me Wednesday at noon. I so appreciate everyone’s support of this global peace project.Peace ~ Sarah

Sea Change ~ 5000 nautical miles, Cape Town to Barbados

Table MT in Cape Town with the traditional January "table cloth" cloud

On December 29th, 2010 I flew to Cape Town, South Africa with my brother Weston. We had signed on as crew on Bahati a 43′ Montevideo cutter rig sail boat from S. Freeport Maine. The skipper/owner of this boat is an old friend who is completing his 5 year circumnavigation of the globe.  We were in South Africa for about a month preparing for the trans-Atlantic passage as well as getting some time to sight see. It was hot and beautiful I especially loved the people of South Africa.

Cape Town, BoKap area where mostly Muslims live.

The Egg Man in Green Market, Cape Town

the Egg Man with the prayer flag on his shoulder

The Egg Man is a world known street artist from Benin who wears this ridiculously tall creation on his head made out of found objects and eggs! He is a sparkling personality and a wonderful “street ambassador” for all the tourists.I gave him a blue prayer flag, you can see it tied to his left shoulder. I loved his smile, so typical of the radiant grins we saw on many faces as we traveled. We also had the opportunity to travel up to Kruger Park, an immense  game preserve up near Johannesburg.

the giraffe that greeted us when we first entered the park

We spent about 5 days there sightseeing. It was amazing to be able to be so close to these large wild beautiful creatures.

an elephant who munched his way past us, ripping whole tree up for dinner

At the first game lodge that we visited, Monwana I gave each of the staff a prayer flag. They were so sweet, even though most of them did not speak English and had no real clue what these prayer flags were all about. Didn’t matter to me, I just had a feeling that this was a place and the people where the flags belonged.

the Monwana staff with prayer flags

After our safari we return to Simonstown, just south east of Cape Town where we prepared the boat for the 5000 mile voyage back to the Caribbean.

jackass penguins live in Simonstown

South Africa has a very dramatic coast line with tall rugged mountains that drop right to the frigid ocean

Diaz Beach, Cape of Good Hope

Before we left Africa, we went to the Cape of Good Hope. It used to be called Misery Cape, because of the storms and wind. It was very windy when we were there, making it hard to relax in the sun. Diaz Beach was amazing, you can see how big it is by the size of the person (our captain) walking in the distance.

sun rise

We sailed from Simonstown on January 26th, heading North West towards St. Helena, a tiny British island mid-Atlantic. On the 14th day, we landed at this rugged isolated island.We spent 4 days here, resting, visiting, provisioning, and making repairs. I will share more on my

dramatic skies over the horizon

next posting…it was magical.

approaching St Helena

Off to Africa !

weaving a prayer flag for Africa

Wednesday morning, December 29th I will be heading out the door, bags packed, ready to fly to South Africa.Please read all about this trip on my Woven Voices blog.I am so blessed to be traveling on this mission ~Art-ambassador of peace and love from Maine.See you in March ~ Sarah

Closing in

She who breathes

This week we had seven weavers in the studio. Women who came and breathed their energy into this project. I thought this prayer flag message particularly appropriate!Each flag is woven with messages that come from all over the world. Many voices for peace, for hope, for love.

One voice, One world

Each message is read many times before it finally gets woven into the prayer flag. Then the message is often fractured and the language becomes mixed with other language.This prayer flags reads: “I love music for awake people to be awake.” Interpret this however you like.

I love music

I see compassion and joy.

Forgiveness forever

Forgiveness Forever. Yes to that.This week we are closing in on the 100 prayer flag goal. Many many thanks to everyone for the support, words of encouragement and energy.

Weave Hope

84 prayer flags

Our world is moving like the sun; moving ever so slowly and steadily toward a new horizon.Happy Solstice ~ Sarah

54 and counting….

Weaving messages of peace

This week nine lovely weavers came to the studio to weave prayer flags.These weavers came in response to my challenge/invitation to the community to help me create 100 prayer flags to take on my travels to South Africa and crossing the Atlantic to the Caribbean.

What color is hope?

Some weavers came in the company of an old friend or two. Some came as individuals.

Weaving in the spirit

Some had never woven before, some had woven as younger people.All came with an open heart and open mind. Giving the gift of time and effort to unknown friends. So far we have 54 prayer flags woven and ready to go!

Hands for peace

Sewing the prayer flags after weaving

Many thanks to all who lend support through time, effort and voices.~ Sarah

100 Prayer Flags for the world

On December 29th 2010, I will be flying to Cape Town, South Africa. This will be the starting place for a very amazing journey.

Bahati

I will spend about two weeks in Southern Africa and then get aboard the yacht  Bahati, a 43′ Montevideo owned by dear friends from Maine who have been circumnavigating the globe since 2005.During my two weeks in South Africa, I plan to share handwoven prayer flags from the Woven Voices project.My goal is to have at least 100 community woven prayer flags to distribute freely both in South Africa and en route to the Caribbean.

Pile of hand woven prayer flags

Please go the the project blog ~ Woven Voices: Messages from the Heart to learn more.And please contact me if you are able and interested in coming to the studio to weave. All I ask is a two hour commitment of your time. No experience necessary!Namaste ~ Sarah