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A Visit to the Art Museum

This past weekend I took pleasure in my inaugural visit to Harvard’s Fogg Art Museum in Cambridge, Mass. This museum, which opened to the public in 1895, is Harvard's oldest art museum. Around its enchanting Italian Renaissance courtyard are galleries illustrating the history of Western art from the Middle Ages to the present. The galleries particularly strong in Italian early Renaissance are a great reminder of how religious and liturgical symbols have been incorporated into visual art for centuries. I found the tempra and gold painting of Saint Catherine of Siena by Giovanni de Paola (as seen at left) particularly charming. History knows Catherine Benincasa as the persuasive mediator who negotiated peace between Florence and the papacy. In this portrait, St. Catherine of Siena appears with a sprig of lilies as a symbol of peace, and is wearing the black-and-white vestments of the Sisters of Penance of St. Dominic. Paolo’s graceful approach to Catherine of Siena is accentuated by her elongated figure.

The seasons ahead of Advent and Christmas can be so busy. I recommend you take time to pause and enjoy an art exhibit. There is something very theraputic about walking through the quiet of an art gallery, meditating on, contemplating about or simply enjoying what you see.

Need a gift idea? Enrich a life with the gift of an art museum membership!

Preparing for Christ the King Sunday

Christ the King is the last Sunday of the liturgical church year calendar. The day completes our annual journey of celebrating and learning from the life of Christ on earth. We can worship with confidence and joy that Christ is the King!

We can reflect upon: Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation! O my soul, praise him, for he is your health and salvation! Let all who hear Now to his temple draw near, Joining in glad adoration! (Psalm 93).

Marking the kingship of Christ makes a healthy transition that leads directly from Ordinary Time into Advent and the remainder of the Christian year. So ignore the Christmas tunes on the radio and the decorations in the mall and recognize Jesus as the King of Kings.

*pictured stole is new to our collection and illustrates the "I Am" statements. The photo is a link to this item on our website.

Thanksgiving

Here in the United States we are preparing to celebrate Thanksgiving. At Carrot Top Studio we love this holiday because it is not terribly commercial. We can simply take the time to be reverent for the gifts of the earth at this harvest festival. Interestingly our American commemoration of the Pilgrim's feast might be a carry over from the European tradition of St. Martin’s Day which celebrates the end of the agrarian year and the beginning of the harvest.

Many faith communities gather on Thanksgiving Eve or Thanksgiving morn to worship. In addition to worship banners and minister’s stoles that represent the colors of a fall harvest, churches might enjoy the use of a cross created out of sheaves of wheat and offertory processions that include food items that can be distributed to those in need. Our home congregation includes the giving of five pieces of corn to each family. We take them home and place them on our table as a visual reminder of the hardships the Pilgrims endured. The story has been handed down that this faithful community of Pilgrims was able to be thankful to their Lord even on days when they only had five pieces of corn to eat.

I’ll close by sharing a favorite recipe that usually graces our Thanksgiving table:

Pumpkin Apple Bake

Clean out a medium pumpkin. Fill with a mixture of raisins, chopped apples, nuts, dates, cranberries, dried apricots, a small amount of brown sugar and cinnamon. The amounts are very flexible and you can use items that you enjoy that you might typically find in fall pies. Pour fruit and nut mixture into the pumpkin, dot with butter. Bake on a cookie sheet 1 hour 15 min.-1 hr. 30 min. The pumpkin will turn a lovely deep color and can be used as the center piece on your table for you to serve the wonderful warm fruit directly from.

And as Ralph Waldo Emerson said:

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food,
For love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
Thank you, Amen.

Life of the Mill Girls

In my spare time I enjoy quilting. I’m pleased to share that I have a quilt in a museum exhibition at the New England Quilt Museum in Lowell, Massachusetts. The show opens November 15th and sounds like it will be inspiring, delightful and diverse. This is our inaugural exhibition in a museum so we’re quite excited!

The New England Quilt Museum asked quilters to interpret how Lowell could inspire them to create in fabric. You can see my answer to this challenge in the photo. The corresponding artist statement reads:

I am a fiber artist. I have been sewing since I was old enough to lace a shoestring through a cardboard sewing card. Today I enjoy quilting for pleasure and sewing for my business that caters to pastors and churches. My work usually tells a story.

I find contentment in researching, contemplating and designing a new piece. Once I am comfortable with the design, I dive in and become very focused in the actual production.

“Inside the Life of a Mill Girl” grew out of reading about the young women who headed to work in the mills with great anticipation of how their lives would be changed. The symbols represent the bell that rang for every step of their grueling work schedule. The shuttle and the saw tooth borders symbolize the type of work that was performed amidst much machinery. The oil lamp stands for the dangerous working conditions in the mills. The promises made of a safe life with healthy meals and a regard for high moral standards are characterized in this quilt’s boarding house and church steeple. Lastly the steps of picking, carding, spinning, warping and weaving are graphically included to complete this piece.

The accomplishments, courage, and independence of the young mill girls are something we can learn from and be encouraged to apply to our lives today.

I think we can easily find inspiration in the story of the mill girls who went to work to earn money for their struggling farm families, tolerated work conditions that did not promote a joyful environment, yet diligently went to church, loved to read and appreciated the arts.

For Your Bookshelf

For my birthday, my brother recently gave me a photograph of an ocean scene with a person walking on the beach. Upon opening the gift I pondered the symbolism of peacefulness one gets when walking on the beach, the imagery of water curing thirst and cleanliness, and a desire for retreat to the wilderness.

This makes me think of the history of Christian worship and how it is immersed in symbolism, beginning with the symbols from the Jewish scriptures such as the rainbow God gave Noah. Until modern times literacy was limited therefore worship depended upon signs and symbols to remind and teach and aid us with the mystery of God. Signs and symbols still serve this purpose today.

A book I often turn to while researching the design of minister’s stoles or worship banners is Worship Without Words by Patrica Klein. This little guide is a very helpful explanation of the liturgical calendar and the signs, symbols, gestures, vestments and architectural elements that accompany liturgy. You may also enjoy it for your bookshelf.

Banner Commissions

At Carrot Top Studio we enjoy the challenge of making banners for a specific setting. That is why we don't carry ready made banners. We think it's important that the color, size, and visual message accentuate the existing architecture and environment.

Above is our latest commission. It is a set of seven banners for Advent/Christmas that focus on God's messengers, the angels. The narrow banners are embellished with symbols of Mary: the rose and the fleur-de-lis (a stylized lily). The center banner uses the symbol of a Natal cross which is shaped like a star. This reminds us of the story of Jesus' birth and the foretold purpose of his birth. The decorative flower borders are created using the Glastonbury thorn plant. According to legend it budded from the staff planted by Joseph of Arimethea when he took refuge in Glastonbury. Because it blooms during the Christmas season it has become a symbol of the Nativity.


And here's a glimpse of the process it took to get a finished product.

All Saints Day

The day after Halloween, November 1st, is a time to turn attention to those who have inspired us by their unselfish actions. Who are you thinking of today?


The above is All Saints Day as interpreted by William Kandinsky, an oil painting from 1911. It does not represent the exterior world but rather expresses inner feelings of the human soul.

A Prayer of Thanksgiving for All Saints Day

We give you thanks and praise, O God,for by your great power you have called us to a rich hope and pledged us a glorious inheritance among the saints. In time before dreaming you sent the wind to stir up the sea of chaos and bring forth the earth.Through your law and prophets you promised us that your Kingdom would belong foreverto those who embraced your holiness.Through your son, Jesus Christ, you proclaimed a day when the hungry will feast and the mourners laugh. When he was killed on the cross you raised him from the deadand seated him at your right hand. In him you give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that we might know that hope to which you have called usand embody the fullness of Christ who fills all in all.Therefore, with our hearts lifted high, we offer you thanks and praise at all times through Jesus Christ our Lord,who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.



©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net