Language of the Heart

Through ages of time, we have sought to express our inner dialogue. Impressions, memories, and emotions were expressed on flat surfaces of stone before written language was fully developed. This thoughtful, active process connects us on a global scale, to our ancestors, contemporaries, and future generations. Visual expression is a language easily understood by any culture at any point in time.

Day by day I go about my world; working, caring, existing, trying to find moments and means to let my heart speak. Expressions come slowly and with difficulty. A tiny spark ignites but only smolders. What can I do to allow it to burn? How can I allow the external to quiet and the internal to speak? I want to express my own inner language, to explore and uncover what is hidden or not easily seen. How can I allow my subconscious to come to the fore directing and guiding my creative expression? This was my prayer.

I began as my ancestors once did and used the same materials. Foraging to make pulp for paper, adding pigments, shaping and sculpturing fibers, connected me both to the earth and to those who have done so before me in an especially meaningful way. I imagined my ancestors doing the same, those who directly contributed to the very core of my being. I wandered untethered with no preconceived idea or process. I allowed colors, textures, sounds, and elements in the natural world to capture my attention, to direct my heart and hands.

I could never have imagined the direction in which I was taken. An awaking and a brightening began. Hues emerged. Light danced across the clear, open waters. I experienced a deep, restorative breath. We are all capable of profound insight. The ability to see beyond the surface is readily within our grasp. All around us, pulsing with rhythmic exuberance, is our direct link to discovery. This human-nature connection is our universal language.