Sunday, October 28, 2012

A Reliquary

For my Ignite Class, our first project was to create a reliquary as a vessel for the spirit of our journey in the class. (Typically reliquaries hold the spirit and possibly parts of loved ones who have passed on.)

My reliquary actually has 3 parts: a container, a book and inspirational cards.
The container is a box that formerly housed one of my daughter's toys.  I broke it apart and covered it with fabric.  I chose the fabric because I love the colors and the flowers look like hearts joined together in circle to me. Our Ignite group is a circle of 12 amazing women, and Connie our teacher.




The book, which to me is the main feature of my reliquary (the relic) is a book that I originally made in a journal making class.  One of those classes where you feel like you want to hand over what you're doing over to the teacher because you just can't get it right.  Well, I have put my own special twist on this book now. I've filled it with pages collaged with thoughts from my journals and photos of my painting that capture the spirit of Ignite and the true, deep, keeping-me-up-at-night excitement that I feel for this journey.


The book contains envelopes to hold things I want to keep.  I made little inspiration cards that I put in one of the pockets.  On the front of the cards are photos of my paintings and on the back are little nuggets that I've gleaned from the sessions so far, or quotes that have influenced me on my journey. Symbols that I included: Mirrors-to reflect the truth back to me so I may see who I really am.  A Bundle-To represent our group.  A picture of my daughter-To remind me that one of the main reasons I'm doing this is to keep her little creative heart alive and thriving.  For her to know and own her own creative spirit.  Pieces of lace from my grandmother's sewing kit.  Grandmother has always been close to my heart, encouraged and supported me in many ways.



I love these cards because I can carry them with me.  I have pictures of my artwork on my phone already, but having the messages on the back will encourage, inspire and/or cause me to think throughout my day. Everyone in the group had their own interpretation of the project and this was mine.  It was an incredible learning experience for me and I'm happy with how it turned out.  It has room to grow and expand with my journey as well.

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