As many of you know, our dear friend and fellow blogger, the hilarious, courageous, wise woman Renee, shed her veil last Tuesday, March 9th. She had suffered for so long, from advanced inflammatory breast cancer, that I have felt a sense of lightness knowing that at long last her pain has ended. I have missed Renee deeply, for she was a great support in those early weeks of my own diagnosis of breast cancer, and again when I started chemo. She in her final weeks, and at her worst, taking time to share how best to take care of myself and alleviate side effects... She is still very present with me each day.
On Friday I started to work on this mandala with her in mind - beginning with the image of wings... I had sketched out the wings and began painting them, not knowing what they were to be attached to, or much more when the power outage left me in darkness, unable to finish until today (with the return of both sunshine and electricity). I'm not sure how the mandala may have evolved if there hadn't been such a disruption, shifting gears, and break in time - but isn't that just they way life goes?
It seems fitting.
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The pause, the change of dark back into light seems very fitting indeed.
ReplyDeleteI hope your friend Renee has found peace, and I am glad she was such a comfort and support to you.
Your mandala is beautiful, as they always are. Much love to you and to Renee.
The image of the wings and birds is so beautiful, last Sunday at the Memorial to my friend who died of breast cancer, she was 44, i read this poem from Rumi called Birdwings:
ReplyDeleteYour grief for what you’ve lost lifts a mirror
up to where you’re bravely working.
Expecting the worst, you look, and instead,
here’s the joyful face you’ve been wanting to see.
Your hand opens and closes and opens and closes.
if it were always a fist or always stretched open,
you would be paralyzed.
Your deepest presence is in every small contracting
and expanding,
The two as beautifully balanced and coordinated
as birdwings
Thank you for your art
oh, karin, i love this and if renee were here she'd be loving it too. maybe cussing a little as she told you just how much she loved it! : )
ReplyDeletethe three sections are really nice...
xo
It's Renée ... it's Renée ... through and through.
ReplyDeleteYou are a grace, Karin xoxo
Your mandala's are so very beautiful. I found your blog through Seth. Thankyou for these luminous creative journals you share. I have become a follower and look forward to reading your posts.
ReplyDeleteCheryl~HealingWoman
This is very thoughtful and beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI love and miss Renee too ;)
best wishes
Ribbon
Hi Karin,
ReplyDeleteRenee would love this piece. We all miss her so much. She sent me an angel card last year and I find myself staring at it all the time. I think she is smiling down on me.... on all of us.
your mandala is beautiful Karin and though I never met up with Renee in Bloglandia, I have read a lot about her lately, I am saddened for your loss of a such a friend and helpmate and I honor your own journey. we all need Angels to watch over us, and I am sure she is aware of this beautiful piece! xoxox
ReplyDeleteThis mandala is so full of love and prayer for your dear friend, lovely Karin. It is just beautiful. The winged love energy is tangible to me - for your Angel-friend, for you and for all of us.
ReplyDeleteBig Love to you, Beautiful One.
I'm sure she would be pleased, it is beautiful and peaceful.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you did okay'ish with the storm. It was a terrible one.
Guess that means you won't be hanging from that limb like one of those little kittie posters-that says Hang In There
:-)
Hi Svasti, I am sure that Renee has found peace, and perhaps some new ways to have a whole lot of fun as well! She sure seemed to have living fully, through it all, down really well. Thank you for your sharing of love. Much love to you, too.
ReplyDeleteSevapuri - Thank you so very much for sharing this Rumi poem. It has brought tears to my eyes. I love how we humans tap into the universal at certain times - those touching wings must be one of those times, for our shared grief in the loss of our dear friends to this disease... I am sorry for your loss, and share this image with you in her honor.
You got it lynne, I've been thinking about that side of her! I can imagine her hopping from blog to blog thanking us, sharing her tears and then coming out with something that would have us roaring with laughter through those tears, by dropping an f-bomb her and there! ❤
oh, thank you Jaliya xox
Hi Cheryl, welcome. I'm glad you found me - I'll be by to visit you, too :)
Thank you Ribbon, yes - it's just amazing to me how many many lives she has touched so very deeply...
Thank you Manon. Her generosity was endless. She sent little pieces of herself all over the world! I have something from her art collection that hangs in my bedroom, so it looks over me nightly, and I think of her daily. With the way we connect in such an etherial way anyway, it really does feel as though she is still looking out over us all, and who's to say she isn't!
Oh Cat, you would have absolutely loved her feisty quick wit and big heart. Yes, she makes a good guardian angel, and I can see her being a bit of an over achiever at it, loving oh so many people in the world. xox
Thank you Kim, and your big beautiful heart!! xox
HA!! I just laughed out loud reading that Paige!! no, there won't be any hang in there dangling :) and yes, we made it through quite well. The roofers are out there replacing the shingles as I type...
Beautiful image.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure your friend would appreciate it.
Karin this is beautiful. I see hints of doves and hearts (symbolic of peace and love) entwined within the wholeness of this mandala...serene colors, a blend of warm and cool...again, embracing the wholeness of all that is.
ReplyDeletesending you healing light on your sacred journey,
Laura
Oh Karin, this Mandala turned out absolutely beautiful, you are so talented to put your feelings in your works. A wonderful tribute to Renee, I like it a lot.
ReplyDeletexoxo ~ Bettina
Simply perfect in every possible way - it resonates with the essence of Renee. Thank you for sharing that beautiful visual tribute with us. xx
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry for the loss of your dear friend, a friend to so many in cyber space and beyond...this is such a lovely tribute...I love the subtle patterning of lotus leaves so delicately radiant in the back ground...and always your color so brilliant and rich .
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful honor and way to remember her. Hugs to you and a note to let you know I care and am sorry for your loss.
ReplyDeleteTake care,
Liz
This is so wonderfu. Renee would like this. I know you will miss her support and we all will miss her friendship.
ReplyDeleteTake care my friend.
Katelen
Those images of that storm with the fallen trees are horrific-- the power of nature can be so strong and destructive. And am so sorry for the loss of your friend-- but your mandala is a beautiful loving tribute to her and your friendship and your memories will sustain you.
ReplyDeleteThe colors, Karin! The colors are bright and wonderful. They are celebratory. Beautiful, that you have created a circle of birds. Only these birds are now calm, peaceful, happy. Love the hearts in there as well as the subtle patterns. She most certainly would have clapped her hands over her mouth in joy.
ReplyDeleteOh my, Karin, I had no idea about Renee... I'm sure she is still watching, guiding, but it is so sad to lose someone whose vitality was a healing presence in your life. We'll all have to send a little extra love...
ReplyDeleteRenee would have loved this as she loved every work you did. She told me she loved you and wanted me to meet you and Tessa too. It was on the same email.
ReplyDeleteAnyway she was right. You are brilliant.
CRUD! CRUD!
I just saw the photos from the storm below. Oh Karin. What a bummer. I hope you are doing okay. Are you wearing jackets and maybe burning wood in the fireplace. Now there's firewood, thought not the type of wood gathering you would have preferred. Mother nature sure has a temper tantrum.
I hope you rise above this one soon. Take care Karin.
What a beautiful tribute from one beautiful soul to another.
ReplyDeleteI hope she is at peace now.
Hugs to you
IT'S A BEAUTIFUL TRIBUTE TO RENEE. She was an awesome person. I miss her very much too.
ReplyDeleteYour mandala is a spiritual tribute dedicated to the white light spirit of Renee... a child at heart and she will always be with you dear lady in your heart. Renee is smiling down on you as you make your journey. Imagine and Live in Peace, Mary Helen
ReplyDeleteI am home from the hospital...very fortunate to be in my home ...very tired and the headache is beginning to diminish with each new morning. I was literally held in the hands of a heavenly father.
Lovely to meet you today. Your energy is really beautiful and shines out through you. Love this piece.
ReplyDelete:D
-Rose
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ReplyDeleteit's been awhile since i've visited so i spent a bit of time catching up. know that i am deeply moved by your beautiful art, your words, but mainly just the "you" that embodies this space and shares so tenderly with your blog readers. i appreciate all this and much more and am lost for more words. know that you enter my thoughts now, are part of my consciousness, and i send you love.
ReplyDeleteWhat a gorgeous tribute to Renee; to me, it just emanates a sense of peace. Peace to Renee, as she journeys on...
ReplyDeletekarin, i don't know how i missed this tribute to renee. it warmed my heart.
ReplyDeleteam i being a nag saying that i want you to visit marianne's mandala blog?
thanks for your comment on my 'bullets'. wise, you are..
love
kj