The Healing Nature of Bas Relief
I have left the title of this journal open because it could literally be named so many different things.
I typed and deleted 3 times already. So, I will leave it until the end which will inevitably make more sense. Please consider my journals from this point a stream of consciousness style of writing.
After delivering two separate collections that I was asked to create by local designers and landscape architects I found myself with a genuine curiosity. Will they actually hold them or will they just look at them as objects on a wall meant to be pretty adornments? I have been asked to join along to the meeting where the architects will present my reliefs of their garden. Now I will finally have an opportunity to share my vision for these pieces in person, in real time.
Allow me to share something very dear to me. Some of you may know but before I was an artist I was an interior designer, I bought homes, renovated them, and sold them with integrity. Each one had a soul. These homes were all over the world, England, Germany, Arizona, maine, and Washington. Then my passion for outdoors became blissfully dense (in the best way) and I found myself with a business of designing and creating gardens and food forests for my clients. I loved it so much - helping people learn how to feed themselves from the land is one of my passions. Fast forward a few years and we just finished our small vegetable garden at our home in Carefree.
I spend every sunrise and sunset in the garden. The mountains are glowing with from the sunrise or set and everything is peaceful. The birds are singing their songs and my coffee is hot, perfect I would say.
You might be asking where are going with this? Well, we are going to peel back a layer that most people never speak about - the removal of life in order to give more life.
Plants want to give us life. They were created to nourish us - this is universal truth. No one can deny that a bean plant first gives us leaves to admire, flowers to bring us bees, and then glorious beans to eat for protein. What happens when we pick the beans? The plant gives us more? Why? That is the entire point. We are meant to use them. We are meant to pick the fruit, not just look at it.
The same principle applies to trees, shrubs, even cacti. This might seem simple but if you look at this under the veil of our cultural blindness you will see the natural world in a whole new way. We are as a whole very blind to nature - don’t be offended by this because if you are still reading you are not part of that consciousness.
If we want a plant to give us more blooms we must help it to produce more. It is designed to be prolific, wild, and give us the kind of moments that take us to a quiet place. Like when two butterflies are floating through the air, there is no possible way to think of anything else for a split second that there is a problem. For the slightest moment - there are no thoughts, just wonder. THIS IS THE ENTIRE POINT. This gives us more creative life. Yes, just the nano second of wonder opens up our entire creative consciousness giving us space to be open.
How do I know this? I have experienced this for decades. Over and over again I have been a witness to fascinating migrating birds, butterflies, and flowers opening right in front of me only to transition my mindset to a place of peace. This is not by chance, this is what a conversation with the natural world looks like, it is silent and it is bold. However, we must me open to allowing it to speak to us.
It occured to me this morning as I was harvesting herbs for our lunch that all the plants love to be used. Their desire is to be useful. Think about it, if we don’t use a parsley plant for the reason it was intended for it sets seed and dies. Why? It did not get used the way it wanted to. This is the same with any object we add to our home. Including art.
When I began making my bas relief pieces I quickly realized they were more than wall objects. They are meant to be held. They are meant to be felt. Each piece has a job whether it be to bring inspiration, peace, motivation, or even just a subtle invitation to be still.
If there is one thing I would want people to know about my work it would be this:
When you purchase a bas relief from me it is an original work of art made completely by hand. It is the only one of its kind which means it is alive and full of connected vibrations ready to stay with you on your journey. What is shares with you is up to you. Each piece has the ability to bring you healings that you need. It is our job to be open to its stillness.
Of course you can hang it on the wall and just look at it, let it be stagnant and collect dust. Or, you could use it as a companion to open yourself to more creative energy and flow. This is the opposite of what people tell you when it comes to art. My work is meant to be touched and held. It is meant to be used in ways most people never think of - the textures of the flowers are so profound you cannot help but feel connected to the piece. When were are still enough to receive inner whispers THIS is when we can shift. A small shift leads to big openings and those lead to ideas and new inspirations that were meant for only you.
So, my entire point here is that the natural world invites us to be a part of its life. Acknowledge its importance, harvest it wisely, give thanks, and watch it give you more life over and over again in that season. The same is for my pieces, hold them, allow then to speak to you and give you a sense of peace and calm. Sit back and watch your moment shift. This takes practice and can become a daily practice if you let it become one.
My next collection will be about “The life we hold” and each piece will be handheld size. They will come with prompts you can use to go deeper into your practice of peace. This collection will go live on my website on October 28th at 9 am PT. Please make sure you are signed up for my newsletter to be in the know of everything happening.
Thank you for being here,
Jocelyn x