I've been to Bali and back

The Woven Voices project continues to grow and grow, almost like the peas in my garden that I planted last April. Every time I turn around there are more pods on the vines to harvest. And here I am to offer to you a bounty of photographs and notes for the Woven Voices project from all around the world.

A neighbor and friend Sally, went to India this winter. I gave her two flags to give away. Here she is hanging them at the Bohdi tree where Buddha the Gotma  became enlightened. 

Here is the plaque that explains about the tree.










Here's what Sally writes:  "This is the spot where Buddha gave his first teaching. Here I actually attached a prayer flag to to Bhodi tree where the pilgrims gather to pray."

The shrine in front on the tree. And another prayer flag hanging inside the shrine. Thanks Sally! Wow!

Back in the USA, my friend Marian in Bellingham, Washington sent me this photo of her prayer flag hanging in her garden. Such sweet, green lushness of the Northwest. Thanks Marian!

And here in the East, a colleague that I met at a symposium this spring in CT has taken the initiative to gather messages for the project. Karen Rossi has graciously set up a table at the Norfolk Framer's Market in Norfolk CT where she plans to gather messages all summer. She says "the experience of collecting the messages is a wonderful gift." I am ever grateful for your effort Karen! I look forward to seeing/reading the messages! Please check out Karen's website. She is an amazing artist who makes these really cool metal sculptures.

And then there was my trip to Bali. I brought 7 Woven Voices prayer flags with me on the trip. The first prayer flag went to Janice and Made, the owners of the BaliKana Resort in the Gili Islands off Lombok, Indonesia. Janice was so moved by the gift of the flag that she immediately found a perfect place to hang it in the gardens in front of the hotel, next to the big laughing Buddha.

We had a wonderful time here on this little oasis off Lombok and a couple of hours by boat from Bali. It is a quaint island with no cars, only these horse drawn carts. The snorkeling was AMAZING!!

The local people survive by fishing and tourism. While we were sitting on the beach between swims, we were often approached to by peddlers to purchase local pearls. We finally succumbed...and I love my new black pearls! The young man who sold us the pearls was very skilled at speaking English, and so after a bit of conversation I asked him if he would contribute a message of good will or peace for my project.

This was my first lesson in Indonesian and Balinese sense of living in the present moment. This fellow's name is Mawa and his message says something to the effect "I just sold some pearls and I am so happy." Wow. So simple, in the moment, and filled with honest gratitude.




At BaliKana there were also two young boys that we called the "cabana boys". Tom and Wayan were young men who served our beach-side meals and drinks, fetched towels, moved chairs and more. Their smiles and genuine presence filled my heart with joy. Here they are writing messages for the project. I gave them each a prayer flag.

My friend Nat is sailing around the world. He left over three years ago  from Freeport, Maine and he has been lingering around New Zealand, Australia and Indonesia for a year. When I was in Bali this June, we met up for a weekend in Ubud, Bali. I gave him one of the seven flags to hang on his sloop Bahati. Nat writes "I have temporarily hung the prayer flag on the wood stove...to keep it warm? ....and safe! Don't want to hang it in the rigging for fear of damage!! Besides it's nice to look at it in the salon."

As Nat travels onward heading West towards home, his prayer flag will spread goodwill across the waters.





The next prayer flag that I gave away as left at a temple called Pura Hyang Api in the village of Desa Kelusa. I went here to participate in something called the Bali Hash House Harriers.

A group of mostly ex-pats gather twice weekly to run or walk through villages, pristine rice terraces and jungle ravines of Bali. Right next to where we started our walk/run was this small temple. I snuck in there and hung a prayer flag.

While in Ubud we met with a young woman who has become friends with our friends who live in Bali. She is trying to start a business selling ikat handwoven sarong. So I bought a few from her and gave her a prayer flag too! Widi has the most wonderful smile! 






 Our final days in Bali were spent on a 'round island tour with Astika, a Balinese priest, who is a friend of our friends as well as a tour guide. On the first day one of the places that Astika took us was to the village of Tenganan Pegringsingan.

This is the only place on the island where true doulbe ikat is still woven.

We visited the home/shop of Ni Kadek Trisnawati a traditional ikat weaver.






 She is from a long lineage of weavers, and uses the loom that her grandfather built.

Her ikat fabrics are amazing.

This is one of her more intricate double ikat pieces.

This is the warp in the process of dying and tying.

Here is the piece that I bought, a stunning, double ikat check.  Kadek and my husband Ben are modeling the piece together. I gave Kadek a prayer flag and she wrote me a message. Sweet exchange from one weaver to another.












 My final prayer flag was given away to Astika, our driver, priest, tour guide. On the final day of our tour he, his wife and son arranged and help perform a traditional Balinese Hindi blessing at two temples. Here we are dressed in traditional Balinese temple clothing, with Astika's wife.

The final temple was Tanah Lot, a famous temple on the west coast that is a HUGE tourist attraction. We were able to go out to the small temple on the small separate the island, accessible only at low tide, where no other tourists were allowed. Look at all the tourists lining the rocks!

The view from this rock temple was magnificent!





Up on this rocky temple we had the most sacred blessing with Astika, his wife, his son and another priest. A glorious moment in time, and a wonderful way to end our two week visit to Bali!

So there you have it, seven prayer flags with seven messages of peace and goodwill. Seven prayer flags spreading your hopes to people of all faiths and many cultures.

Thanks to everyone for the continued support. Keep the messages coming...and PLEASE come weave if your are able!

Namaste and Peace,
Sarah

Breezy voices .... full of gratitude

Today, May 11th 2010, Market Square Portsmouth NH, I was joined by four wonderful women. New, old and newer friends joined me to read the messages of hope and peace that have been gathering all winter.


The cool mid-day breezes of May lifted our voices and our hearts.

We read messages that were written on a long red ribbon from a Brownie Troop in CT, a large paper banner from a Womens' International Peace Gathering in Italy, from a Bahai" School in PA and messages from folks all across the USA.

I am always amazed by who shows up and what happens when I make the effort to be present.

A few times in the past when I have read messages in Market Square, I have been questioned by the police and even asked to move the prayer flags.

I am conscious of being in a public space and my need to be considerate of the passers by.

So today, when a Portsmouth police officer was approaching, I hoped we would not be asked to stop or move. Instead, he cheerfully offered to take this photo so I could be in it! I am reminded to be open to surprise!






And now for some prayer flags out in the world...these images come from a delightful group of women who came to my studio to weave flags this winter.

Here they are hanging their flags outside on a river bank for all to enjoy. 

Peace and joy to all, Sarah

Voices in the Square ~ May 11th

Please join me on May 11th, 2010 Market Square, Portsmouth, NH at noon. I will read the messages that I have gathered over the winter.

I welcome your voices in reading these messages of hope, peace and positive intent that have come from all corners of the earth.

Peace to all and gratitude for your continued support ~ Sarah

East, West, flying, floating or at rest

The Woven Voices prayer flags have been traveling. This blog posting will be mostly to share images of flags that have traveled East to the Bosphorus, West to California and flying here in New England. My college friend Susan's daughter Gillian took a set of prayer flags to the Bosphorus, a strait that forms part of the boundary between Europe and Asia. It connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara. She writes in her blog about the view where the flags flutter ~  

"Curled on a sofa in a cozy apartment, I am gazing out the window onto the Bosphorus. It's a cloudy day, but it's warm in the bright and airy sitting room. I can see Topkapi Palace and the Blue Mosque, Aya Sofya and Galata Tower. Across the water way I see Asia, though I sit in Europe. Ferries speed between the two continents, fishing boats dance in their wake. A small island of a cruise ship is parked in my sight-line, little ant people walking swiftly up in their black coats or brown jumpers. Every time I look up from my little computer I am awestruck."

 She continues ~

 "Don't fret, the windstorm only unhitched one side of the flags. I've tied them back up and they're fluttering away."

And then ~ "Unfortunately it appears the flags have blown away in a real windstorm we had a few days ago. I would have loved to see them weather away." 
So somewhere, either in Europe or perhaps Asia a set of Woven Voices prayer flags has taken flight!

Closer to home, this photo came with this letter: "The beautiful flag that you had given me last year....is tied to a bush that produces the sweetest flower clusters in the early spring, after the daffodils and tulips have arrived but before the trees have budded. It's fragrance permeates the air as you enter the front door of the house."

In late March I went out to Mill Valley, CA to take one more course towards my Masters of Art and Healing . The course was held at a retreat center that was nestled in the Mount Tamalpais foothills. At lunch break each day, I would hike in these hills, that offered a spectacular view of San Francisco.

It was warm (compared to Maine!) and I felt like a flower unfolding in the spring. The red woods were amazing, tall and graceful. There had recently been a fair amount of rain, so the mountain streams were flowing.

On the last day of the course, I went back up the trail and hung a prayer flag in a scrubby tree.

From Mill Valley, I traveled south to visit a RISD colleague who lives in Malibu. We spent five wonderful days together, hiking, eating, reminiscing, laughing, and feeling grateful for our long friendship. One day we hiked up in Corral Canyon, part of the Malibu hills on the Backbone Trail. This trail overlooks Simi Valley and Santa Monica as well as Malibu. The ancient rock formations attest to the power and beauty of nature, what was once sand lying flat is now vertical rock.

I hung a prayer flag in a shrub tucked into the shade of the caves.

On my last days in Malibu, Lori and I decided to go to the Getty Museum. I had this idea that it would be cool to hang a prayer flag somewhere on the museum grounds and to document it with a few photos. It was a warm gorgeous sunny day. When we got up to the museum site, we sat in the sun at the edge of the main fountain, checked out a few exhibits and had an amazing lunch sitting outside on a small patio.

This idea began to percolate in my mind...this vision of seeing the flag floating in the fountain pool. Could I pull this off without one of the guards catching me?? Could I document it with a few photographs? Here is the story of what happen....more than I could have dreamed.

The pictures tell the story of how the prayer flags catches the boys' attention. They scoop it up out of the water it, read it out loud and then toss it on a rock. Later they pick it up again, toss it around and then carefully lay it out to dry on the flat marble. The wind then takes over and tosses the flag on it side. I walk away and let it go.

Thread by Thread

If there is one thing that I should have learned from my 40 years of experience of a weaver, is that good work takes time, is often slower than my mind wants to move and I cannot predict or control the ultimate outcome.

Never the less, I confront this lesson all to often! Here we are two years into the "Woven Voices" project, and I am just now sending out prayer flags to folks who sent me messages two years ago. The part of my spirit that feels a commitment to these folks, feels a twinge of guilt for taking so long. Then the lesson rises up...."it is not about time Sarah! This is about commitment and consistency."

The lesson continues. Ultimately I know that my role in this project is to keep doing the work.  Keep gathering the messages. Keep reading them out loud. Keep inviting and teaching weavers to make the prayer flags. Keep sending them out to the world.

Message by message, thread by thread, flag by flag. Each action is movement towards my vision of creating peace and healing for our home, this planet.

With Patience and Heartfelt Gratitude ~ Sarah

Photos from a recent public weaving event in Exeter, NH.

Invitation to participate!

If you live near by or want go on a trip ~

I will be bringing the Woven Voices ~ Messages from the Heart project on the road.

I will be at the FUZZ FEST

Saturday, January 30th 2010
from 10 AM - 2 PM

at the
Exeter Congregational Church
21 Front Street
Exeter NH

Please come join me to weave a prayer flag and learn more about the project. There will several other fiber related activities for all ages.

Hope to see familiar and new faces there!

Peace, Sarah

Two candles!

This week marks the two year anniversary of the launch of Woven Voices. The past year has been one of multiple lessons and highlights. Perhaps the most exciting was the honor of receiving the Sarah Farmer Peace Award. The PEACE flag that I received for this award flies high above my studio, reminding me to "stay the course".

Another feather in the cap for this global art project was the cross country radio interview on November 2nd with Gabriele Bartholomew, host of the radio show called The Power of Peace on KSER Independent Public radio out of Snohomish County Washington. I have recently received a recording of the interview, and (with help) I hope to post it soon.

 

I celebrate this anniversary with much gratitude for all the folks who have given time, materials and effort to this Peace initiative.  

 

As I reflect back over the two years of working on this project, I believe that the most important lesson that I have learned centers on that of giving with out expectation. In the beginning, I thought that this venture would be a 6 month project. I would weave the prayer flags and move on to new horizons.

As time went on,  it appeared that the pace of this effort moved more slowly than I had anticipated. I was forced to slow down and honor what was being offered to me. Messages kept arriving, messages were read out loud (rain or shine), weavers came to my studio to weave and flags were sent out. All of this effort was paced slowly and thoughtfully. I became a student of my own work.

I learned that I am committed to this effort, this pathway to building PEACE. One step and a time, one thread at a time, one messages at a time, one prayer flag at a time. One voice woven from many to sing out loud that PEACE is possible.

I believe that if we each make a small step each day to grow PEACE, the world will move closer to becoming a safer more habitable place for all beings. My efforts toward PEACE might be to weave a prayer flag today,  to speak words of truth to a friend tomorrow, and to sit in prayer the next day. I simply commit to small actions each and every day. 

 

This is the lesson that I have learned from Woven Voices ~ that PEACE requires a steady effort and is not an actual destination. PEACE is a process. I am committed to taking the slow train on this journey ~ one message, one thread, one voice, one prayer flag at time. 

 

I hope that you will join me on this journey.

Sarah