A couple weeks back, I was on a short quest to find a book of profound substance at the used book store. I wanted something that would change my way of thinking and challenge everything I’ve known… I didn’t quite find that, but I’ll tell you what I did find.

Everyday Sacred: A Woman’s Journey Home by Sue Bender.

This book, published in 1995, combines thoughts, stories, ideas and hopes that all center around one concept, a begging bowl. Now, you’re probably thinking to yourself, “what’s a begging bowl?”

In my 27 years of attending a church regularly, this concept was never shared, and probably never will. My guess is because the idea is somewhat uncomfortable, but mostly because it describes the practices of a group of monks.   Sue told the story best, so I’ll let her tell it to you.

“EVERYDAY SACRED appeared one day in my mind’s eye, in sure, bold letters, like one of those blinking restaurant signs. I didn’t even know what everyday sacred meant, but I knew it would be the title of my next book.

Two years went by and I didn’t write a word.

Than on a day when I was feeling particularly discouraged, another clear image appeared:

A BEGGING BOWL

Actually, it reappeared.

I had read M. C. Richard’s Centering years before. It was a book about clay and art and life. In it, Richards described Jean Genet, a French playwright, who had said he wanted to roam the countryside like a monk, holding a begging bowl, having filled it with what he needed for the nourishment in his life.

EVERYDAY SACRED and now the BEGGING BOWL.

It was obvious to all who knew me that I wasn’t a monk, and the very idea of begging would make most of us uncomfortable. In spite of that, the image of a begging bowl reached out and grabbed my heart.

The image of the bowl became the image of the book.

All I knew about a begging bowl was that each day a monk goes out with his empty bowl in his hands. Whatever is placed in the bowl will be his nourishment for the day.

I didn’t know whether I was the monk or the bowl or the things that would fill the bowl, or all three, but I trusted the words and the image completely.

At that moment I felt most like the empty bowl, waiting to be filled.”

Excerpt from Everyday Sacred, by Sue Bender. HarperSanFrancisco An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 1995.

As an artist, and a woman, this concept of filling your begging bowl has really hit home with me. Sue mentions that she doesn’t know whether she’s the monk the bowl or the things that fill the bowl, and then leans toward being the empty bowl.

I didn’t see it that way. I feel more like the monk, and the bowl is my everyday life.

Yes, these two ideas are similar, but they are also very different. Sue strives to find herself by filling herself up, like the bowl. I feel like I’m already filled. My faith fills me and gives me hope and peace. Even though days are rough, I know this to be true.

My challenge now, is to accept that I have no control over what’s placed in my bowl everyday, and to be grateful for what is. As the monk, I realize my situation of choice, and now I’m learning to let go of controlling what’s placed in my bowl.

A while back my mom-in-law gave me this art calendar that now sits on my coffee table in the living room. It’s the kind where you move to the next page everyday. It features famous works of fine art. I came across one that I love the other day. It’s a photograph by Man Ray from 1924 called Le Violon d’Ingres (first photograph in the bunch). I thought it was so beautiful, so I looked up more work by Man Ray and now he’s one of my favorites!

Man Ray was born with the name Emmanuel Radnitzky. He was an American artist who spent most of his career in Paris, France. Although he explored many forms of art such as film, painting, sculpture, collage, assemblage, performance and conceptual art, Man Ray was best known for his avant-garde fashion and portrait photography.

Man Ray (August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976)

Typography has always been a form of art that I’ve been super interested in. Composition created in the simplest form. type + white space = love

Recently I watched the documentary Helvetica and loved it! So interesting. I have to admit though, I fell asleep toward the end… only because I had a crazy long day and it was very late. The movie itself was fantastic. Check it out.

Brief history of the typeface taken from www.wikipedia.com: Helvetica was developed in 1957 by Max Miedinger with Eduard Hoffmann at the Haas’sche Schriftgiesserei (Haas type foundry) of Munchenstein, Switzerland. Haas set out to design a new sans-serif typeface that could compete with the typeface Akzidenz-Grotesk in the Swiss market. Originally called Die Neue Haas Grotesk, the aim of the new design was to create a neutral typeface that had great clarity, had no intrinsic meaning in its form, and could be used on a wide variety of signage.

In 1960, the typeface’s name was changed by Haas’ German parent company Stempel to Helvetica — derived from Confoederatio Helvetica, the Latin name for Switzerland — in order to make it more marketable internationally.

I want to backtrack a bit to tell you a bit more about my experience at the MOMA on Saturday. I’ve been a few times before and obviously loved it enough to want to go again for my birthday. It’s like a lot of other museums with multiple floors and a lot of walking and standing, but it’s more of a magical, almost spiritual place for me. When I’m there, I feel like I could be there forever and nothing else matters in the world.

Stephen, God bless him, was so patient with me as I made my way through… slowly. A bunch of us started out together but eventually headed our separate ways as we felt lead to. It wasn’t too crowded and it was quiet. Occasionally, I would over hear someone making some comment about how their five year old could paint the same thing. I silently laugh to myself and feel a little sad that they don’t see the hours, days, even years of work this person put into it. They don’t see the years of study or the hundreds of drafts that came before it. They don’t see the multiple layers, specific choice of color and composition.

This last visit I decided that I have a favorite room. At the end of the long chain of rooms, there’s this huge Rothko titled No. 14 (1960) hanging on the end wall. It’s a brilliant blue and red/orange. It’s super bold and impressive. I love it. But directly to the right of this is a piece by Franz Kline titled Lehigh V Span (1959-1960). This was my favorite in the room. It’s incredible and has so much depth. I had to make another turn around that floor to see it again.

I hope everyone enjoyed the day as much as I did.

Mark Rothko, No. 14 (1960)

Franz Kline, Lehigh V Span (1959-1960)

So, here it is, almost January and I’m just now writing about this. Tis’ the season to pack one’s schedule so full that there’s barely room to breathe, let alone tell the world what you’ve been up to, eh?

I have my art hanging at Panama Bay Coffee, in Downtown Concord for the month of December. I guess you can say this is my first “real” art show. I’ve had a few peices in other places in the past, but never a grouping of this size. It’s a good feeling.

I shared the joint (he he) with my sister-in-law, Shalina, who hung samples of her photography. I love her work. This is all old news to my close friends and family, as most of them were able to be there at the opening. Steve’s band, In Reverent Fear, played their acoustic set. We just hung out; it was a great time. Go to my portfolio page to see the work. Peace.