Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Quiet Mary


On Sunday, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, one of my Mary-loving friends had a gathering for all of her Mary-loving friends. We ate chocolate, drank Prosecco with pomegranates dropped in (yummy, pretty and in keeping with the theme), and made Mary art. One of us (so not me) is a theologian/art teacher. Is there a better combination? Really? 

She led us through the art project and even let us all veer from it totally and do our own thing, like all good art teachers/theologians should do, if you ask me. This is a picture of what I ended up with. In Mary's hair is written the Hail Mary over and over again. We were supposed to chop up Mary's face into sections and in each section do a repeated pattern of something that represented Mary: bumblebees, roses, fleur-dis-lis, pomegranates, etc. I was all set to do that, had penciled out my sections and was ready to go to town when I stopped and announced that I didn't want to do that. Not like me at all to buck "authority."

The friend/teacher said, "You don't have to. I can imagine for you that it would be hard to hear Mary through all that noise."

Visual noise. Yes, that was it, exactly. Although I had looked at the prototype and admired it greatly, I didn't want to have it in my home, much less create it. 

Thank you, Quiet Mary. I can hear you now.


10 comments:

Deb Shucka said...

What a great story, and a great way to celebrate this season. I was struck most by how much of you I can see in your Mary's face. Proud of you for listening to your own voice. :-)

Anonymous said...

I love your Mary!! Will you put her somewhere special?

Unknown said...

oh, I love her.

and I could not have touched her face either.

Elizabeth said...

I love this. Just the whole notion of Quiet Mary.

kario said...

How brave you are!

Love.

Wanda said...

Proud Mary keep on turnin'...

(Sorry...just a little free association.)

Ask Me Anything said...

I saw your face in Mary's as well. Cool.

Laura said...

Carrie this is so beautiful...your painting and your words...your ability to listen to "Quiet Mary" and what she needed from you. I hope she will have a special place in your home where she can continue to inspire your sacred growth, and comfort you.

bright blessings

Suzy said...

Gorgeous painting Carrie!


Love you
Suzy

fullsoulahead.com said...

I LOVE you piece.

And this line:

"like all good art teachers/theologians should do"

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