It was a beautiful Monday, when dear friends Krupa Devi, the birthday girl, and Darlene Charneco came for a visit.
Krupa was on visit from her home in Auroville, in India, where she has an incredible therapeutic art practice within her community through Sankalpa Journeys . Over lunch, we discussed the dissovling boundaries between art education, art therapy, community engagement, and a personal art practice. Krupa shared a life-story weaving created by women in a recent workshop at Kripaulu, and I previewed the upcoming dance into art-making mandala workshop I’ll be teaching next month at a nearby yoga studio. There are so many serendipitous connections, and we celebrated by going down the studio to collaborate and make art together.
Sitting around a circle, Krupa guided Darlene and I in a visionary meditation, after which we shared what had emerged. We cut out symbols from actetate – seeds, triangles, phases of the moon, fractal growth. After rolling out an intense red ink on a plate, we took turns adding the shapes to the plate, intuitively, spontaneously. Alternately we turned the press, and as each print emerged, we returned to the plate to move around the shapes, creating variations in the ghost prints. Our 3 sister prints carry a multitude of shared intentions.
Afterward, I was honored to paint a contribution onto Krupa’s veil, which will be part of her wedding ceremony in January. The next day she and Darlene visited The Watermill Center where we continued to envision possibilities for shared future work with families, teachers, and communities. It is all more than I can articulate here, but stay tuned for something magnificent.
Wondrous seeds have been planted that will scatter across the creative globe. I can’t wait to see what comes.
Please take time to visit Sankalpa and see the incredible work Krupa is doing: www.sankalpajourneys.com
• To provide supportive spaces, resources and education for open creative expression, nurturing awareness reflected in art.
• To facilitate global art exchanges, bridge barriers between cultures, and explore transformation through connection.
Starwheel Press & Projects 