Archive for Meditation Art Quilts

The Visionary Art Quilt – “Medicine Area” Finished and Being Used as a Healing Tool

"Medicine Area" - a contemporary, beaded visionary art quilt - full viewNancy Smeltzer, MFA

Creating visionary art is an interesting experience as you never know where you’ll be led along a spiritual path or what the final image will look like. When I began this beaded art quilt about a month ago, I spoke of how my new spirit guide, Brian Baker, who died in an accident in January, 2013, began to show me a much more amplified version of the Medicine Area that I had been taught when I began shamanic training around 2005. In the Lakota Sioux and Mohawk traditions, the medicine area is where one does healing work. All of the ones that I have seen have been in caves, and so it was interesting as this piece began to evolve that I realized that it was part of the Meditation Gardens series that I’ve been working on. I’ve found that when I let the work tell me how it wants to look and I surrender and follow along, that my best pieces evolve. This has certainly been the case for this piece, as it felt as if it were sewing itself, choosing where each embellishment would go in the composition.

Detail of beaded, visionary art quilt - "Medicine Area" The squashed battery that I picked up off of the street and used as embellishment in the upper left hand corner shows up well in this detail photo. The label on the outside had long since peeled away by the time that I found it, and the terminal end had been bent on its side. looking like a small face. This is actually the 2nd battery that I’ve found that appears like this; perhaps I should take some old, spent batteries and see if I can do the same thing in my driveway. I’ll have to do some research as to how much corrosive materials are in a AA battery before deliberately trying to squash them. The seed beads that I chose for the mottled gold background turned out well. They are a transparent, olive green color with an opaque amber lining, and I would never have guessed they would have worked by looking at them in the vial that they came in. Seed beads have to be seen flush against the fabric they’re going against, so I carefully spill a few out of their container and thread them on a straight pin to see if they’re going to work on the site that I’m considering for their use.

Detail of beaded, visionary art quilt - "Medicine Area"I was really pleased at how lovely this detail shot came out of the middle and bottom pools in my cave of healing. Just to the right of center is one of my beloved glass buttons from Czechoslovakia. It turns out that my favorite seller on eBay, Spirit, Inc., who probably has the best selection for these beauties in the world, lives about 15 miles from me. People always respond to these buttons and want to reach out and touch them, as they’re that compelling.

In the middle of each of the pools are some dark purple lines. These are 3mm cubes of transparent aqua glass beads on the outsides with a dark amethyst transparent interior. The height, shape, and intense color of these cubes justify the added expense because of the visual appeal and shine they add to the water.

I said in a previous posting that this piece I was keeping and now it has a home over the headboard of my bed. As I fall asleep, I know that it’s creating a space of safety where I can pass into the dream world and sort issues out from my day. I can also see that it will be an effective “Dream Catcher” for me, as well as an effective place for me to focus my attention when I’m working with my clients. I’ll fall asleep tonight thanking my spirit guides for guiding my hands as they were used to create this image for me and my artistic and healing work.

To find out more about my healing work and that part of my life. please visit my healing web site and blog…. www.transitionportals.com I’d also love to hear about your experiences with having a particular image, mandala, or object on which to focus when you meditate or pray. 

Why not leave a comment as to your thoughts on this posting. Please take a minute, fill out the form below or by clicking on the “comments/no comments link” at the top of the posting, and then share your ideas with the rest of us. We all grow when we share our thoughts and impressions, so why not join our growing community of those who appreciate art quilts and textile arts. We’d love to hear from you!… and PLEASE tell like minded souls about this blog! The more readers and contributors, the more I write because encouragement helps the words flow!

You can see more of my art work on my web site at www.fiberfantasies.com (be patient as it loads; it’s worth it), my healing work at www.transitionportals.com and can find me on Google + , Facebook (for Transition Portals) Facebook (for Fiber Fantasies),  and Twitter.

To find out how to buy my art work, please check out “How to Buy my Art Work” in the “Pages” section to the right of this blog.

The Visionary Art Quilt,”Medicine Area”, Part Three

Detail of the Visionary Art Quilt - "Medicine Area"Nancy Smeltzer, MFA

The photos on this page were taken on the third day of embellishing this small art quilt with buttons and beads. Since the piece is only 16″ x 20″, (41.5 cm x 51 cm), the area quickly fills up and I have to restrain myself not to cover up every square piece of surface area. Some of the mirrored squares that I wrote about in previous postings are at the tips of the red arrows I added just for this photo to point out the mirrors. In the vision where I was shown this image, this cave of healing has the walls of it lined with shining crystals, so these mirrors are meant to suggest that reflective quality. The brass metal feather that I mentioned in the last posting as being used to represent one of my spirit guides can be seen much better in this photo in the middle of this picture. As the feather only had an attachment circle at each end of its length, it flopped around too much when I picked up whole quilt. I rarely use glue to secure anything on to my art quilts, as I feel that it could leach out over the years. However, since this metal feather is so heavy, besides sewing it down at the top and the bottom, I used E-6000 glue on the back of the feather. I hate the smell of it, but usually by the time a piece has dried over night, the smell has dissipated.

Detail of visionary art quilt - "Medicine Area"I was worried about how to handle all if that mustard colored background fabric around the square portal, seen here in the upper right, so I sewed on lots of small, yellow buttons with purple embroidery floss. I love the luxury of having lots of the same embellishment material, so the halo of yellow buttons trails off into other parts of the composition. I wanted to suggest the “pow” of energy radiating outwards that would be released as someone enters the square portal and comes into this cave “garden”. (The commands or mantras to help you to access the energy of the piece are found on the Meditation Gardens page – scroll down past the pictures to find them and the directions on how to use them.)

At this point, showing more pictures of this art quilt before it’s finished, would be like showing the building of a new house after the inside has been framed and the walls are up. There’s not so much to see until the piece is totally completed, as the work now will be slow and subtle. I call it the “Time of the Long Sew”, because at this point, there will be hours and hours of stitching and not so much obvious work to show for it. I’ll post the blog with the finished piece when it’s all done, so check back to see how this cave “garden” looks when it’s completed.

What do you find to be the most time consuming parts in the construction of your own art work? Do you feel that those times are worth it, or merely time draining?

Why not leave a comment as to your thoughts on this posting. Please take a minute, fill out the form below or by clicking on the “comments/no comments link” at the top of the posting, and then share your ideas with the rest of us. We all grow when we share our thoughts and impressions, so why not join our growing community of those who appreciate art quilts and textile arts. We’d love to hear from you!… and PLEASE tell like minded souls about this blog! The more readers and contributors, the more I write because encouragement helps the words flow!

You can see more of my art work on my web site at www.fiberfantasies.com (be patient as it loads; it’s worth it), my healing work at www.transitionportals.com and can find me on Google + , Facebook (for Transition Portals) Facebook (for Fiber Fantasies),  and Twitter.

To find out how to buy my art work, please check out “How to Buy my Art Work” in the “Pages” section to the right of this blog.

The Visionary Art Quilt,”Medicine Area”, Part Two

"Medicine Area" Meditation Art Quilt after first day of embellishing with buttons and beadsNancy Smeltzer, MFA

This photo shows the “Medicine Area” visionary art quilt after the first day of embellishing with buttons and some beads. When compared to the previous posting about this quilt, as you can see, I sew pretty fast when I’m inspired. I solved the problem of how to deal with the large area of gold fabric at the top and in other areas of the quilt by using a transparent, gold ribbon sewn in horizontal lengths. Unfortunately, in the photo, because of the angle of the photographic lights, the ribbon appears to have a red cast, when in reality, it’s really quite gold. Not to worry, because in later photographs, you’ll see that much of the ribbon gets covered over anyway by seed beads.

As you look around the middle and lower pools, you’ll alsoDetail of "Medicine Area" visionary art quilt see a lot more buttons than were in the first blog about this piece. To the lower right of the portal square, are some small square buttons. These are actually square mirrors. I’m already using this piece for my own meditations, and as my new spirit guide, Brian Baker, continues to show me more and more of this healing cave, I can see that the walls are covered with shining crystals. That’s what the square mirrors are supposed to simulate. You can also see a half circle of gold chain maille rings stiched down with purple embroidery floss around the purple outcropping on the upper left. These outlines of circles suggest the round shape of the more traditional buttons that are always included in my art quilts. I like to use repeating patterns in different sizes, colors, and whether it’s a solid or outline shape.

Detail of a visionary art quilt, "Medicine Area"The square mirror buttons are much easier to see in this last detail shot. Square buttons can be hard to place, as they have to be sewn on just so and tightly, as it’s obvious when they’re crooked. Just off to the right of center, just below the middle pool, is a large bronze, curved metal feather. Another of my spirit guides uses a golden eagle as his totem animal, so that feather is to honor him. The golden steps, edged in black that lead down from each pool to the other are more visible in this photo. Obelisk like fabric motifs, surrounded by circles. were cut from a fabric from Africa, and were used to suggest the sacred quality that I feel about this piece.

This small art quilt, which is the same size as my other Meditation Art series measures 16″ x 20″ (40.5cm x 50.5cm), but is filled with many reverent sensations for me as I stitch on it night after night. When I hold it up at the end of the night at a distance to see how the work is going, I feel honored that I’m being shown the image for this piece by my spirit guides. This piece, I’m told, is for me to keep, and I certainly am glad that it’s chosen to stay with me, too.

 Have you ever had pieces of art work that you just knew that you were meant to keep? How do you decide which to keep and which to sell? For me, the ones that I sell were never mine to keep from the first second that I started them. How do you make your decisions?

Why not leave a comment as to your thoughts on this posting. Please take a minute, fill out the form below or by clicking on the “comments/no comments link” at the top of the posting, and then share your ideas with the rest of us. We all grow when we share our thoughts and impressions, so why not join our growing community of those who appreciate art quilts and textile arts. We’d love to hear from you!… and PLEASE tell like minded souls about this blog! The more readers and contributors, the more I write because encouragement helps the words flow!

You can see more of my art work on my web site at www.fiberfantasies.com (be patient as it loads; it’s worth it), my healing work at www.transitionportals.com and can find me on Google + , Facebook (for Transition Portals) Facebook (for Fiber Fantasies),  and Twitter.

To find out how to buy my art work, please check out “How to Buy my Art Work” in the “Pages” section to the right of this blog.

“An Image from Beyond” Completed

Small, contemporary beaded art quilt, "An Image From Beyond"Nancy Smeltzer, MFA

In an earlier posting, I wrote about how the image for this small, beaded art quilt was given to me during Dreamtime, or that State of Being when you are in between half awake and half asleep. The original image that is printed on the fabric and the choices made to embellish this small art quilt, were all orchestrated by an amazing sound and vibrational healer, Brian Baker, who drowned in Hawaii a few weeks ago. His vibrant energy gave me the original image for the piece, which I quickly jumped up from my dream state and preserved in Photoshop. I then printed it out on fabric, using my ink jet printer, and then used that printed fabric as the background for this piece.

Measuring 10.25″W (26 cm) by 7.5″(19 cm), it is almost completely covered with beading and buttons. I always try and leave a little of the surface fabric showing for future art historians to use when studying the piece. I had wanted to add shells hanging off of the edges, but even the smallest ones that I had were too big, not the right color, or in some way, just didn’t work with the composition.

Detail of small beaded art quilt, "An Image from Beyond"I was however, able to include flat white shell discs along the outer edge of the magenta rectangle. They look exactly like those old white paper reinforcements that you glued around the holes of notebook paper for school assignments that you needed to keep. I attached them with a contrasting blue embroidery floss. Along the outer edge there is a scallop of aqua blue rings that are used in making colorful chain maille. The white “X”s that were so visible in the original print are not quite so neatly outlined, as the beads that I used were a size 8, and so perhaps a little too large for the shapes. Along each of the longer sides is a row of blue, glass stars, as I know that Brian loved to dance and is now dancing among the stars.

Brian was much loved by several communities that he belonged to out in the San Francisco area and will be sorely missed. I’m giving this piece to one of his best friends so that it can be taken to gatherings so that Brian’s energy will always be there with them. Not that you could keep him away, because wherever there’s music and dancing, Brian will be there. I’ve also been “shown” another image that will be used in one of my Transition Portals quilts so keep reading in the next few weeks, as I show pictures of that piece as it unfolds.

Which ways have you used to create a memorial for someone special in your life? Are you recording your thoughts as you created the work, so that they can be passed along with the art work?