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In Beauty before me, I walk
I was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA on January 19, 1949 and ever since I can remember I had a ‘dream’ which filled my days with wonder—that dream was a quest for ‘Beauty.’ Even within the smallest rill of running water on a derelict building site, I found beauty. I dreamt of prince charming and living happily ever after. I dreamt of angels in heaven sending love. I dreamt of the birds singing and poppy fields as I stood upon a stone wall overlooking the Mystic River pretending to fly.
As I entered my adulthood my quest led me into the world of Pink Floyd, the rock band. Their music touched my very being and further inspired my dream—the quest for Beauty and that one can live it! As it happened I fell in love with David Gilmour, their lead-guitarist. Our first moments were a girl’s dream come true. We married on 7th of July 1975 and over the next ten years gave birth to our four children: Alice, Clare, Sara & Matthew. During this time my life expanded to include the development of my own innate artistic qualities. I studied for eight years with the English Visionary Artist, Cecil Collins. He inspired me to touch the essence of life and then allow one’s own uniqueness to create the form or drawing that would capture its treasured quality.
One summer as I was reading the biography of Georgia O’Keefe, a quote from Stieglitz (her husband-to-be) further empowered my quest; he said, “I must meet this woman! She has the courage to reveal the Truth of Woman!” Wow! I thought. When I returned in the autumn to my studio I had the question, ”Do I have the courage to reveal the Truth of Woman?”— the one that many keep silently within for many reasons. This was to be quite a challenge for it was about this time that David and I chose to go our separate ways.
It seems that throughout my journey of discovery of Beauty several questions, inspired often by the wise words of another, served as keynotes leading me on my way. One that was revealed to me through the teachings of Alice Bailey has become the basis of my quest…. ”To Create an Environment where IT can happen.” My first interpretation guided me into the ART of Creating ME! The question appeared…. Who Am I? In doing so I discovered my inner dance, my inner Beauty and the courage to reveal it. This gave me my song—the melody of which is just beginning to be sung.
My life up until the early nineties had given me the opportunity to live amongst Beauty—now I saw that it was my quest to Create Beauty—to BE Beauty! I painted long hours with a wish for this to become. I was drawn to create forms that would capture a growing love of the many dimensions of our being and the world. I was discovering: to manifest Beauty one had to acknowledge the aspects of the visible and invisible aspects of life… Another question appeared…. How does one do that? Cecil said “the invisible is captured between the paint and the glazes.” Rudolf Steiner says, “it is caught between the line, the curve and the empty space.” Other spiritual masters say “it is caught within the Silence that Sounds”…. I feel ultimately it is YOU! It is ME! It is our Vision! Our point of identification shapes our life.
Within the deepening out of this last question I studied and then taught a form of esoteric healing called Mental Colour Therapy founded in England by Lily Cornford and Ronald Leech. Its main premise is to unlock the “Healer Within” through the use of Colour and Love. This experience changed me; it changed my work; it gave me a depth of understanding of How To BE and then to Create. Now I create in order to Remember.
In the refurbishment of my new home the saying “To create an environment where IT can happen” took a new turn. At first I sought to find a home where I would have more studio and teaching spaces, where my own and other people’s creativity could expand. I made the plans for the redecoration; to create living spaces and studio spaces. Then one morning I awoke with an idea “to sculpt the walls!” After one year and six months of concentrated work, I feel that I have taken a further step into creating spaces and forms that give an experience of Beauty. To do this my work plays between the visible and the invisible. It seems this activates the imagination of the viewer and then opens them into their own world of Beauty. I have seen this in action now by creating my home from this point of view…. my children, my workmen, my friends, the postman and myself seem to be touched by a flow of tenderness and courage to be Oneself with a Vision which brings Joy! For me this is BEAUTY. And I hope and encourage everyone to Remember the BEAUTY that we are and then Live It!
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