There you are, backed into a corner, walls closing in, ceiling compressing and floor heaving to meet it. Suffering has a way of whittling the world down into compact space with infinite feeling. Like a tiny dandelion in a vast open field, exposed. Like the deafening silence of lonely cries withheld in a crowded room, because no one will…Read more Arise
birds
Elijah’s Ravens
Elijah's Ravens is one of those paintings that flows from a place of deep sorrow and unyielding hope, one of those creative processes expressing inaccessible-by-words movements of the spirit. The closest I can come to verbalization of what this painting means is to borrow words from a powerful little book I've been reading lately, Reversed Thunder, by one…Read more Elijah’s Ravens
Elijah’s Birds
In the wilderness, I build a fire for you. I call you softly by name: come, creep near, warm your hands, shelter in my arms. Like a fearful animal, afraid to trust but desperately cold with nowhere else to turn, you come. We huddle together against howling gusts. But without warning, a wind-whisper triggers memories just…Read more Elijah’s Birds
Quelled
rapid little heart so undone thrashes fragile feathered chest, wings frantically fan fiery fear seen and unseen so in need of just one word held quelled in tender hands cupped and quiet
Of Birds and Parenting
Scampering around in the grass barefoot, my son suddenly squealed and leapt for the concrete patio. I went to inspect the source of his alarm: a quivering huddle of feathers. He assumed it was dead like another hapless victim, a naked nestling, we found earlier that evening on a nearby rock. But as I knelt…Read more Of Birds and Parenting
New Originals and Limited Editions available
I'd love for you to visit my Etsy store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/FragmentsOfLight! I've recently added new originals and fine art giclee limited edition prints. (Note added Feb. 18, 2014 - both originals are sold, but prints are still available!) Sacred Center Holds, 18” x 12” Artist’s statement: If I could, like a weed releasing its tender seeds, stop…Read more New Originals and Limited Editions available
Painting a Place Beyond
I discovered this week that writing about the American/Vietnam War stirred up a torrent of scary emotions. I often “think” in feelings, not words or even images, but currents of emotional energy. After I wrote certain phrases, they tossed around in my head like a bare branch in the wind. Then, as I reflected further,…Read more Painting a Place Beyond
Sojourn
Something autumn seeps among these grasses. Rooted, fettered - bodily, as through me treads the sky. Pressed to this leaden veil, geese consume me there, suspended in their hollow, longing call. Oh, ponderous song! Where the way through? Take flight! if I could, neither north nor south -
A Scary Night in Kenya
Drilling rain rattles the metal roof overhead. Flashes of light cast shadows over still forms of sleeping children. My two four-year-old boys stretch out in a bunk bed. The child I am in process to adopt, almost-two-year-old Lily, sprawls in a port-a-crib. Somehow, in the peace that only children know, they sleep through the tumult.…Read more A Scary Night in Kenya
Safe passage
Life is anything but safe. Its twists and turns leave me breathless, sometimes in wonder and sometimes in shock. “Is all of this going anywhere?” I am prone to ruminate in my weaker moments. But for all my own wrestling, my heart’s greatest vulnerability lies in watching my children tangle with the dangers of life, particularly…Read more Safe passage
Colleen Briggs Art & Writing 