Part 1: beginning
The invitation to again be part of the
group exhibition of Blue Mountains textile artists in 2017 was exciting. I had
been gathering basic ideas about a Goddess series quilt, based on the 9 images
of ancient women produced in a project of dear friend and mentor, thea Gaia who
had died in 2016. This series had been included in my thesis as part of the
correspondences for the Creative Wheel of the Year.[1]
In spite of my initial enthusiasm I tried to opt out of the exhibition, because
even though the images of ‘women of power’ were there, available to work with
in concrete form through the cards that thea had produced, its form remained
dormant, buried in the dark recesses. I was not finding the motivation, energy
or creative input to bring the raw materials together. I was feeling the
influence of the season of Samhain – or Hallowe’en as it is know in general
parlance.
There were several reasons for this
lethargy, which is why I suspect the tangible manifestation of ideas remained ethereal,
elusive and intangible. Firstly, an acute attack of cellulitis took hold in mid-January,
which had me hospitalised receiving antibiotics intravenously for 4 days, with
the discomfort lasting for many more weeks. The experience of being dependent
on others in the hospital was soul destroying. And of course the whole melanoma
thing came crashing down again: that here I was, still at the effect of the
first malignant melanoma removed when I was 25. Excised at that time also were the
lymph nodes in my right groin, leaving me with a lasting and permanent lymphoedema
of the right leg and foot. Not a good space to be in when trying to encourage
the creative juices to flow. But slowly, they did start to flow thanks to the
curator’s encouragement, just as the warmth of the Sun starts to return to
renew life beginning at the Winter Solstice.
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