REDONDOWRITER'S SACRED ORDINARY

Day 9 - 12 Days of Mary - Our Lady of Cobre and Haiku

Religion is gone

from Cuba, Mary isn’t

El Cobre proves it.

Several years ago I created this page in one of my art journals and named it Our Lady of Cobre. She is the patron saint of Cuba. I got the inspiration from one of the late Thomas Merton's poems "Song of Our Lady of Cobre," 1944. Merton's 1948 autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain  played a key role in my life when I first read it in the early 1970s.

Her statue is in the mining town of El Cobre outside Santiago. She is also known as the Virgin of Charity (La Virgen de la Caridad). 

She was designated as the patron saint of Cuba by the Pope in 1916. Pope Francis visited Cuba last year (2015) and said Mass at the Basílica Santuario Nacional de Nuestra Señora de la Caridad del Cobre. I found this article from the New Yorker very interesting. The Pope visited the late Fidel Castro and Raul Castro had visited the Pope at the Vatican earlier that year. The Pope apparently had a key role in healing U.S. and Cuba relations. I wonder what Thomas Merton would have thought about all this had he been alive to see it. 

You can visit Recuerda mi Corazon to see the offerings of other participants in 12 Days of Mother Love. 

Day 8 - 12 Days of Mary Love - La Morenita

La Morenita, by Adry del Rocio

I found this painting at a website called Global Worship and next found Adry del Rocio’s blog where there are many photos of her creating art and out and about in her community. Google Images also has a treasure trove of photos. Now my appetite is whetted to find out more about her and her work. I just fell in love with this particular painting. If you visit her blog, be sure to read her artist statement and ask Google to translate if you don't read Spanish. Her words are filled with so much passion--like our own dear Rebecca's. 

Please join us at Rebecca Brooks 12 Days of Mother Love at Recuerda mi Corazon. It is time consuming to participate each year, but it also has deepened my connection with Mary and the divine feminine. I so look forward each of the 12 days to see what the other participants are sharing. 

Day 5: 12 Days of Mother Love - Queen of Stars Variation

Queen of Stars Variation 1 - Polyvore

Queen of Stars Variation 2 - Dreamscope Fractal Filter

Queen of Stars Variation 3 - Dreamscope Highlight Filter

I created the first image Queen of Stars in Polyvore in March 2016. Last night I played with filters in an application called Dreamscope. When I have time, I like to try out various filters with my own photography and with images I make in varied media. Over the centuries the divine feminine has been created by countless artists in many mediums. If you haven't tried this app, it opens up new artistic worlds--and even a way to worship in new ways. 

Visit Rebecca Brooks Recuerda mi Corazon to see other people's offerings for today in the 12 Days of Mother Love meme. 

Day 4: 12 Days of Mother Love - Gas Station Madonna

Madonna

Photo by SheepInABottle on Flickr

Stephanie Mancini

Passersby leave rosaries on this madonna in a gas station. I found her originally on Pinterest. Does anyone know where the gas station is? 

If you would like to see the work of other participants in Rebecca Brooks annual Twelve Days of Mother Love, go to Recuerda mi Corazon. 

 

Four Versions of My Garage Sale Mary

I used to go to estate and garage sales a few Saturdays a month but then when I had successful bladder cancer surgery last fall, I realized for the sake of my kids, that I couldn't keep accumulating "stuff." But, for some reason, I decided to drop by two sales yesterday and three today. I really do get a very special rush from "junking," I'll admit. I set an intention of finding a new office chair today--and, I found a great one for $15 at the first estate sale I stopped at. This woman, who had passed, was a crafter personified and I had to rein myself in, but I couldn't resist a beautiful plaster of Paris madonna and child, even though she was pretty dinged up. Those of you who know me well, know that I love all things Mary, madonna and divine feminine. Made in Mexico originally, I got out some of my Lumiere paints and touched her up. This is what she looks like now. 

She is approximately 14" high and 10" wide--and I absolutely adore her. 

But, I also love putting some of my photos through the Dreamscope app  Following are three more versions of Mary. I am downloading all the images to my Pinterest account but I'm also downloading them to my Polyvore account so I can play more later in making some digital art with her. Who could imagine that my $15 Mary would bring such pleasure? And thank you to the woman who once sat at her old Mac in my new office chair and sometime long ago bought this Mary. 

Mary using the Glory filter. 

 Mary using the Tangerine filter. 

Mary with the Terrace filter. 

 

SoulCollage® Card - Natalie Wood

This is the second of three SoulCollage® cards I recently made. This one is called Natalie Wood and is in the Community suit. 

"I am the one who had crushes on several movie stars as a kid and adolescent and Natalie Wood was one of them. I first started my obsession when I saw her in Miracle on 34th St. I was 9 and she was 8. When I was 13, both she and Tab Hunter, another of my male heart throbs, were in our small town Sunland Tujunga parade and I got both their autographs. She rode in a convertible and was all made up and absolutely adorable. She got out of the car a few times and she was so tiny. I hand’t even started to wear lipstick yet. We followed our celebrities back then in movie magazines long before celebrity media hype was born. I gobbled up each tidbit, new boyfriend, husbands, children, and most fondly remember Rebel Without a Cause (James Dean, another hearthrob), Splendor in the Grass and Westside Story. I am the one who was shocked when she drowned off Catalina Island in 1981 under unusual circumstances. She and Robert Wagner had quarreled, Christopher Walken was aboard, along with the captain. In her autopsy they found excessive alcohol and painkillers and I felt very sad about that. I am the one who still sees Natalie as a beautiful woman, a coquette, mysterious, almost Goddess-like, and eternally young although she would be 77 now."

Lady of the Cosmos SoulCollage® Card - Day 10 - Twelve Days of Mary

Lady of the Cosmos SoulCollage® card

This particular week I have been feeling puny and certainly haven't created anything new. Fortunately, I have a few hundred SoulCollage® cards and art journal pages on Pinterest, as well as hundreds in my Madonnas and Divine Feminine category. Or, I could call on 60 or so stored Polyvore sets at Polyvore or at Pinterest. I say I'm not a "real" artist, but even I know that is no longer true. I'm just not a classic studio artist. 

Please join our little group or leave us some comments at Twelve Days of Mary at Rebecca Brooks Recuerda mi Corazon. Today is day 10 or a 12 day cycle culminating on Dec. 12, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. 

 

Hail Holy Queen - Day 9 of Twelve Days With Mary Art Journal Page

Hail Holy Queen Art Journal Page by Fran aka Redondowriter.

This art journal page was made several years ago, but just tripped across it.  Though it's not a SoulCollage card, I probably could make it into one. That's the nice thing about scanning and photographing your own work. You can repurpose parts of it endlessly. 

Several of us have joined Rebecca in celebrating her 12 days of Mary love at her blog. Everyone is invited. While this is not about religion, it is about sharing, opening hearts, rejoicing in ultimate mother love. It is about light, compassion, inspiration, and the sweet chance to begin each day together in beauty and peace. Thanks, Stephanie at Mango Studio for the words in this paragraph.  

 

Blue Madonna SoulCollage® - Day 8 - Twelve Days of Mary

Blue Madonna SoulCollage® made in Polyvore by Redondowriter

One of my favorite madonnas was painted by Carlo Dolci, Italian, 1616-1687. The focal image here is his madonna and I'm making a variation for one of my favorite art processes, SoulCollage®. You can access information at the Ringling Museum in Sarasota, Florida about the original art. I created this SoulCollage® card in Polyvore, however, not cut and pasted by hand like I usually create cards. 

In the SoulCollage® process, you write "I am the one who" statements to personalize the experience. I am the one who has hidden inside your unconscious long before you became Catholic. You came into life loving the color blue and when you became upset as a child, you'd shut your eyes and think blue to calm yourself. In your 30s I came to you tangibly the first time in a reproduction you found in an art book. My image has brought you comfort ever since. 

We are encouraged to ask the card a question and mine would be, "Now, thanks to the wealth of information on the Internet about you that I never knew, how can I make you part of myself in a more meaningful way?"

I am one of several women joining Rebecca in celebrating her 12 days of Mary love at her blog. Everyone is invited. While this is not about religion, it is about sharing, opening hearts, rejoicing in ultimate mother love. It is about light, compassion, inspiration, and the sweet chance to begin each day together in beauty and peace. Thanks, Stephanie at Mango Studio for the words in this paragraph.  

Spiral Journey Mary: Twelve Days of Mary - Day 7

Spiral Journey Mary - made by Redondowriter in Polyvore

I am one of several women joining Rebecca in celebrating her 12 days of Mary love at her blog. Everyone is invited. While this is not about religion, it is about sharing, opening hearts, rejoicing in ultimate mother love. It is about light, compassion, inspiration, and the sweet chance to begin each day together in beauty and peace. Thanks, Stephanie at Mango Studio for the words in this paragraph.