Monday, June 21, 2010

Prayer for the Gulf

When Lakota Chief Arvol Looking Horse, 19th generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe, sent out his call for prayer for the wound in the Gulf of Mexico, I entered silence to find what to do.

What I found was a 5-canvas painting prayer. Each 12 x 12" canvas will have a prayer written across its surface. Over this background texture I'll paint representative Gulf animals, transparent but clear: pompano, green turtle, pelican, blue crab, & triggerfish.

This first one is the pompano. Its prayer is my thought while sketching:

How much of our way of life has to go? Will I be able to paint? Will I need to go to some northern island & hunt & fish & gather? How do so many humans agree to live in harmony & respect--gentle to the fiber of kinship--newly beloved of countless beings we no longer terrorize. What do we need stripped down to love & how much can we take with us? May every heart open to this question & accept the diminishing answer with grace & joy.

No comments:

Post a Comment