workshops

Swimming to the Other Side

~ MaryG ~ 14 Comments

For the second time, I participated in a creative arts workshop led by Niela Miller—a 91-year old force of nature who is also a member of my church. The workshop is held monthly on Zoom. We were given a prompt to find a song lyric (1-2 lines) that moved us, write it in a fanciful way, and then illustrate it. I went with one of my favorite songs by Pat Humphries of Emma’s Revolution: Swimming to the Other Side. I once heard Pat say that this song tends to come to people when they need it most.

Chorus: We are living ‘neath the great big dipper
We are washed by the very same rain
We are swimming in this stream together
Some in power and some in pain
We can worship this ground we walk on
Cherishing the beings that we live beside
Loving spirits will live forever
We’re all swimming to the other side

I am alone and I am searching
Hungering for answers in my time
I am balanced at the brink of wisdom
I’m impatient to receive a sign
I move forward with my senses open
Imperfection, it be my crime
In humility I will listen
We’re all swimming to the other side

Chorus

On this journey through thoughts and feelings
Binding intuition, my head, my heart
I am gathering the tools together
I’m preparing to do my part
All of those who have come before me
Band together and be my guide
Loving lessons that I will follow
We’re all swimming to the other side

Chorus

When we get there, we’ll discover
All of the gifts we’ve been given to share
Have been with us since life’s beginning
And we never noticed they were there
We can balance at the brink of wisdom
Never recognizing that we’ve arrived
Loving spirits will live together
We’re all swimming to the other side

Chorus

Swimming to the Other Side
© 1990 Pat Humphries
Moving Forward Music, BMI

Creativity workshop

~ MaryG ~ 15 Comments

I’m participating in a two-hour creativity workshop on Zoom today. The focus is on “exploring our art making process,” not learning particular techniques. It’s described “as a time to feed our souls and learn with and from each other.”

To prepare I need to:

Find a piece of clothing or textile with an interesting pattern or texture and bring it to my artmaking space. Assemble a bunch of different drawing tools such as any drawing paper of any size, pen, markers, pastels, colored pencils, watercolor, charcoal…

OK, I’m good on drawing supplies, but a bit stumped on the textile. Maybe I’ll bring my favorite skirt. It’s reversible so it has two cool fabrics to choose from.

I’ve gotten lazy painting things that I didn’t draw myself, so I experimented with a Calla Lily yesterday.

Drawing is hard and can be tedious, but the only way you get better is to practice. Painting is the fun part, in my opinion.

I was mainly trying to draw/paint the flower. The scene behind was me not wanting to waste the paint and paper.

Update:

In the creativity “playshop” (rather than “workshop,” get it?) we looked at a section of our textile, and experimented with it in some way.

I experimented with changing the colors and layering the colors. The shapes were giving me sea creature vibes.

My textile: