The prayer board inspired me today.
Detail of the prayer tree board located near Ascension Chapel at Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois.
The prayer board at Augie stretches six feet long. There is always a supply of blank paper leaves or blossoms on which to scribble a prayer. The paper blossom may remain on the branch for a long time if it needs to.
What prayer would you pin to the tree today?
© Jacqueline Perry, “Black Bear”, spray paint on paper
Each summer, our family would return to the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. We might spot a black bear sometime during our stay. One might ramble across my grandmother’s field or be spotted in a forest. Just before sunset, it was hard to tell if the shape was really a bear.
Once, while walking deep in the woods, we spotted a large black bear with cubs. I was hoping that she wouldn’t spot us. We walked three miles out of our way to get back home.
© Jacqueline Perry
Pelicans Return 05.03.13 by Jacqueline Perry, gouache and marker on paper
A flock of twenty Pelicans flew high over downtown Davenport. In LeClaire, dozens of the birds appeared as large white dots floating on the river. With a wingspan of 95 to 120 inches, you can’t miss them.
American Pelicans spend the winter in Mexico and along the United States Gulf Coast. In the early spring, they migrate up the Mississippi River and throughout the West heading to Canada for the summer, but many stay–the birds don’t honor our boundaries.
Stone Labyrinth, pencil on paper, Jacqueline Perry, 2013
Entrance to the stone labyrinth at Our Lady of the Praire Retreat Center. Tiny stones make the path; larger ones mark boundaries.
A person enters, walks the winding path to reach the center and takes the same path out. Sometimes there are benches at the center, and sometimes not.
Most times, it takes me twenty to thrirty minutes to walk a labyrinth. The first one that I walked was mowed into a grassy field atop a hill near Des Moines. Though it was lovely, I didn’t get what I was suppose to do; other people seemed to know. They would enter and walk the path at their own pace. Even a goose started at the entrance and walked around a bit.
Now, I appreciate the chance to walk a labrinth–it serves as a stop sign for me. Labyrinths invite us to down shift. They resist our worship of hurry. Outdoor pathes made of natural materials such as stone, grasses, sand or brick remind me to be mindful of my steps, breathe fresh air, and notice that the earth has a slower rythm in which we are invited to step.
Labyrinth at Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat Center, Wheaton, Iowa
Prayer: Thank you Spirit, for stop signs.
The Rock River flows over its bank today in Moline 04-19-13. Marker on paper by Jacqueline Perry
Returning from Iowa City today, I crossed a swollen Cedar River. The boundaries between field and stream had long disappeared. Once home, I went to take flood pictures of ‘The Rock’. Between the Ben Franklin Store and the river I met a mom and some kids doing the same. A TV cameraman in a winter jacket prepared to shoot video footage of a young newsperson with a row of homes surrounded by water in the background.
Then I spotted a man in a row boat paddling toward the parking lot–I recognized him. It was Buck, a member of my congregation and self-professed ‘river rat’. When it floods, Buck and Coralee know to move the furniture upstairs and get out their waders. He and his neighbors park their vehicles on dry land and use waders, or Buck’s row boat, to get to their cars. It works for them.
Since moving to Moline, I’ve met a number of ‘river rats’, people who have grown-up on the river or have chosen to make the water’s edge their home. Most days, there are great advantages including: recreation, wild-life, and amazing views. When the waters rise, they know the drill and adapt.
Gesture drawing of a running deer by Jacqueline Perry, charcoal on newsprint, 2013
I didn’t intend to take the winter off, but I’m happy to be back blogging on nature and faith, and how art seems to bridge these for me.
The Pastors on Parade event scheduled for January was cancelled due to an ice storm. Last Sunday afternoon, local clergy gathered to entertain the community and raise money for Churches United of the Quad City Area. The church was full and we all had a good time.
We missed our friend and former CU Director, Ron Quay, but went on with the show. Thanks Jane for inviting me to draw on stage – a first for me and a stretch. I drew this four-minute drawing to Bobby McFerrin’s “Common Threads” from Medicine Music.
I just don’t pull an image like this out of my head. In January, I practiced drawing the running deer from a photograph about seven times to music. Last week, on the day of the event , I pulled out my January practice drawings and remembered the form and the feeling of drawing quickly. I didn’t sense a need to actually practice drawing one more time.
I like the physical character of drawing briskly–it feels good to draw fast. Once I’ve worked out the plan and design of a drawing (the head), then my body and spirit are able to fly.
Deer sketch, winter, marker on paper by Jacqueline Perry
Churches United of the Quad City Area will hold a fun afternoon of entertainment on Sunday, January 27, from 2-4pm at First Presbyterian Church in Davenport, Iowa to raise money for their 24 food pantries, meal sites, the women’s shelter, and all the other great work they do.
Organizers invited area clergy to put on a fun show. There will be music, poetry and art, and even Rabbi Tamar and Imam Saad Baig will do a comedy routine. At first suggestion, I would show some work and talk about my summer sabbatical. Things have evolved. Now I will be sketching on stage to music…or nature sounds.
I decided today, that I want to practice drawing everyday, small sketches to get in shape. Drawing on stage is a stretch for me, but I am surprisingly excited and relaxed about it–it will be fun! Now I need to select the music (or nature sounds)…any ideas are welcome.
Prayer: Thank you, Holy Spirit, for Christian unity, for friends of different faith traditions, and for Sharpie markers.
Sketchbook drawing of the creek at Pilgrim Park, by Jacqueline Perry, 2012
At sunrise, I hiked the steep hill to a favorite spot in Pilgrim Park (near Princeton, Illinois). In the past, I would always find deer there; but, no deer this time.
I sat on a crude camp bench to watch the sun come up through a line of bare trees.
POP POP POP…POP POP POP, the sound echoed loudly from the next hill. Hunting season, I remembered. Was I wearing any orange?
Examining my brown coat with the fake fur, I decided to head back, down the hill to walk the labyrinth instead.
Geese by the River, by Jacqueline Perry. A print made by drawing with a stick on a styrofoam sheet, inking the sheet and printing the image on paper.
For a short time today, I drew by the river. On the riverbank, about one hundred Canada Geese forged for food in the grass. The geese made poor models, moving every few seconds. It was cold, too.
Each time a small flock came in for a landing on the water, every goose on the shore would stop grazing to stand at attention, as if watching the Color Guard from the VFW present the colors.
The gesture was meaningful and memorable.
tobeamazed 