Handthoughts2: Prickly Pear Pods

"We'll Be Here When You're Gone"

The BP obscenity left me nearly paralyzed with rage.

For me, it is imperative to let go of destructive fury and find some place of hope that I can believe in.

In our garden, the hesperaloe had put out its splendid tri-lobe pods that captivate me every summer. I decided to try recreating a series of Sonoran desert seed pods in polymer clay.

As I dissect and probe and struggle to convey something of their power to move me, I plunge deeper into the paradox of seeds and pods: how they live by partly dying; how we depend for life on them, while they they come and go regardless. Their transcendence offers me a place of hope. Giving them my fullest attention is a potent way to heal myself while I celebrate Nature's creative vanquishing.

Handthoughts2

Monday, August 30, 2010

More Prickly Pear Pods