Leah's week five

where to begin? Everything has begun to blend together. Work seems like play seems like learning seems like love seems like dream. And what was once my social life is now my prayer life, what was once drawing is now theme sequence.

John Sarra told my painting class, "There will come a time when your life and art are the same thing." And now, really there is little distinction. Theme sequence allows me to process things. It allows me to think about my life, my faith, my future. If that's too vague:

life/faith/future
I'm thinking about the impact my life will have. In Siena I was sitting in the Church where St. Catherine of Siena's head is. I had a mixture of emotions: embarrassment at how strange this religion I practice is, shock at how "cheesy," huge, and plain the church was, and then finally, I was at peace and I felt more authenticity in this church than any other church that I've visited in Italy. It was peaceful because there were very few people/tourists in this huge church, so it was quite quiet. And it was authentic because it wasn't trying to impress anyone. It was what was, and it didn't need to have marble stripped columns to contain God and all that the church contains (the people of God, the sacraments, the Eucharist, the saints and angels).

Anyway, as I was sitting there, it made me wonder about what my role in the church and in this world is. I decided that I don't need to be anything great. My mission is to improve other people's lives. It's not about me, who is a speck of dust with the life time the span of a second in terms of the universe and eternity. But if I can change others, if I can help them realize just how beautiful life is, and then they in turn can influence others to live more "wholesome" lives, then my little life may be significant.

I know that I am an artist, and that's how I operate in this world. I know that I can and will use art to carry out this mission.


how art (and this week in particular) pertains to life/faith/future
I swear Jana and Regan can read minds. In both conversations I had with them this week, it seemed like I was saying ideas, but my words got muddled, and I ended up talking about not the main thing that I had been thinking about, but other things. Particularly with Regan, I showed her a bunch of images and talked about the human figure. Then she took all my confused words and said "So what I think you are getting at is that holiness exists in the realness of things." and I was like "EXACTLY!" that was EXACTLY what I have been trying to say for months now, but just was never able to express it that concisely. And now it's my mission to show that though art.

I can't wait to do that!

I've been experimenting with the vespa mirror light reflections. Photos can be found in my photos for this week.

I have about five projects on the go right now:

1) a button sculpture connected with red thread to show how belly buttons/umbilical cords connect us to our mothers, and their mothers and their mothers, etc, etc.
2) the vespa mirror project
3) developing the idea with connecting the orange, the moon and the belly of a pregnant woman
4) researching saints and honoring them in a way that connects to their lives. (Regan suggested this, and I'm sooo excited to try it and develop it farther.) maybe my orange donation project can fit in somehow.
5)taking photos/collecting things that I consider to be beautiful or precious but other people may not notice

I'm excited and overwhelmed. But that's life. :)

Photos!