Summer is Here
Last year at the Summer Solstice, I was, quite honestly, feeling very stagnant and lonely. By the time the Fall Equinox rolled around and we celebrated with a festive dinner with friends, I had snapped out of my doldrums.
Earth Magic
Innermost desire to romp naked through the forest, unashamed of my body, with fellow women who feel a kinship with the earth
Perhaps it was the swelling heat and inactivity that got me down. This year, I am feeling the complete opposite. Since leaving behind my position as a graphic designer and embracing “come what may”, I have felt a renewed and energized spirit! I am bringing my optimism and passion for making into the summer months with clay.
Summer Sculpture Inspiration
Many inspirations have found their way to me in the last few months. I am always inspired by nature. It’s the one truth I know in this life: our planet and its wonders are all we have. This is Paradise. Eden. Heaven. What have you. It’s a miracle we’re here. From the mantle to the atmosphere, Earth is alive. Knowing my place in the Universe, the connection I have to all who came before me, and all who come after me, fills me with peace.
“My art is the way I reestablish the bonds that unite me to the Universe. It is a return to the maternal source.”
Ana Mendieta ❀
Having a garden and watching flowers bloom from seed or pop up renewed from winter’s sleep never fails to amaze me. Flowers are a constant inspiration. Next month, Dahlias will begin their petal showcase. I cannot wait.
Fruit. I love bananas and lemons and funny little things that grow on trees. I’ve just finished When God Was a Woman by Merlin Stone. I am very interested in Goddess mythology, the worship of Goddesses like Artemis (Diana) and Selene (Luna), sex magick, pagan rituals, the worship of nature. I grew up in a very repressed evangelical environment where the laws of the Old Testament were ingrained: women are inferior. Women brought about the downfall of humanity. Women are the property of their husbands. Women who have pre-marital sex are whores. We have periods and painful childbirth because of Eve’s actions - eating the fruit of knowledge (Merlin argues this fruit was a fig). I knew it was all a bunch of hooey by the time I reached adolescence; however, being raised this way was very damaging. It took me years into adulthood to process the internalized shame around my body and my sexual experiences.
Merlin’s research, including archeological finds supported by Biblical text, both fascinated and deeply disturbed me. It brought great understanding to the creation myth and why the Hebrews wanted to subjugate women. Women were heads of household, church, and state. Women and men both worshipped a female deity, a Goddess and her lover (the inspiration for Mary and Christ?) Women were sexual and free to have sex with multiple partners. It was a holy ritual in the Goddess temples where priestesses had sexual intercourse with worshippers to channel the Goddess energy. Women owned property and their lineages were passed maternally, not paternally. I highly recommend it if you are interested in history, feminism, and women’s studies.
I’ve been reading in this vein for several months now, non-fiction books that focus on a strong female presence. Anna Wintour, Diana Vreeland, Judy Blume, Marie Curie, Patti Smith, Sylvia Plath. Documentaries of female scientists and creatives like Sally Ride and Diane von Furstenberg who lived life on their own terms! It’s all so empowering.
I’ll be thinking about nature, womanhood, and the symbols of the Goddess while I mold my clay. Stay tuned!
❀ Ana Mendieta, Image from Yagul, 1973. Vases by Hilary Green, a Australian ceramicist who is very inspiring! I feel such a connection to her even on the other side of the world. Her work embodies the themes mentioned here —exploring a connection to nature through the female form and clay.
