the shadow of his smile...Gene Bertoncini is still with me....

Thank you to the Morris family for sharing a jewel of an evening at our theater...The Midland.... with us...the music has been inside my mind all day as the raindrops gently washed in a gray day of our "nesting" in our home. Music has the power to put a fingerprint on our imaginations and Ken has been gathering images of my design elements for a dvd to play in the gallery when I won't be able to be there. I continued my research on mandalas...I have been inspired by these prayerful sacred circles of life. Different religions and cultures have made these ceremonial installations and I am incorporating a mandala in two ...maybe... of my processes. He chose on selection that Gene played last night to open the dvd process...it is powerful for me to witness this body of work coming together to fruition. My hands will be very busy for the next eight weeks and if I think too much about it I will be traumatized into a stone! One day at a time... one stroke at a time...one transfer at a time...I already need more ink for the printer...time to physically transform the images with embellishments, brush strokes and overlays of text and written language. Lord give me strength and the passion to push forward...it is not like a commission for someone else ...I am hopefully creating a dialogue with members of my family and community that will prove to be authentic and valuable. Time is my most valuable gift I have to offer my exhibit and those who believe in me as I work through this process. My Journey is becoming visible to me with Grace I received from women who came before me.

I am working on my small works tonight so I am trying to keep my focus and at the same time when my hands are busy with my intuitive motions; my mind is playing with compositions of other works I am pulling together.

Today is the 43 birthday of Steve Curati...Steve was a student of mine back in 1975 when I was a teacher in Canton, Ohio. I am so blessed to have several of this first classroom students who have remained in my life. We try to visit at least once a year and exchange phone messages over the gaps in our holidays and birthdays. They have invited me to join Facebook and such but my day's minutes are tied up for now...I can not see how I could add another social network to my schedule and do it justice. I love my small circle of friends and artists so we can really maintain a connection...remote yes over the keyboard...but of so valuable. We are worthy of good thoughts and kind spirits to enrich our solitary lives as isolated artists working in our studios. Imagine and Live in Peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart

My tribute to Rosa Parks...in process...come close and this is the style of frames I have selected to tie the power of written words inspiring actions ...in my whispers.