Monday ...my moment in time with a pure,sweet soul

Today was so beautiful and I worked with a pure, sweet soul... known on this planet earth as Sophia. I helped her guide a needle and thread around her first quilted wall hanging that we made together after she returned from her first European adventure in Italy. She beams like a beacon when she enters the studio because immediately she begins an exploration for her possible collage we will joyfully play with this day in October. She wants to create her collage to celebrate Halloween...her favorite holiday in the whole wide world. We worked on her beautiful lion and added details to her whiskers and her green cat eyes. She then rushed to my "wet" table to Gesso her canvas and to select her design details and special selected papers and images to incorporate in her very special way. I delighted in her free and trusting spirit as she touched...shaped...selected... rearranged...and then rearranged once again. I should have made a small video...you would all be smiling. While we were working another quilter came in to return my mannequin she had borrowed for her weekend quilt exhibit. Kathy then shared her latest quilts and encouraged Sophia to keep up the good work and her stitches were so neat and even. I enjoyed the moments spent...witnessing a youthful young girl about to become a woman making her own special marks of creation. I cleaned up the tables after she walked out with her loving father and realized how much she had been giving me... a chance to reach out and be part of an important chapter or paragraph...in a young child's heart memories. Sophia you have blessed me as I once again reaffirm that Art Saves Lives....mine and the others growing through making shapes, colors and designs for a beloved holiday. She also made a new bookmarks from the leftovers of her afternoon's exploration and played with the stamps on the back. Joy is such a simple expression and I hope to explore more Joy every day!

I am watching Lifetime's "Five", a special five part narrative with women who have been diagnosed with Breast Cancer. It is a brutally honest portrayal of the struggles of facing, challenging and preparing for the fight for their lives. Cancer never just hits the individual...there is a circle of family, friends and communities. There is no silence when it comes to cancer ...a roar is more appropriate for the emotions that erupt in an ever evolving circle of fear and frustrations and pain. Research is so close...but there are still women waiting... waiting... waiting for the cure. How can you help? Without our good health ...we lose time...and time is the most important gift or wealth of all. Open yourself to the light of information to protect yourself and those you love. Imagine and Live in Peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart