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Thursday, December 1, 2011

rectangles!

Sometimes my head spins with all the circular art. Here are 2 pieces (one old, one new) that are deliciously rectangular. Watercolor and ink.

My home is the home of light.



Be thou a fountain flowing with the waters of the mercy of God, 
a myrtle perfumed with the fragrances of God 
and a bird warbling the most wonderful melodies 
of the knowledge of God in the garden of Faith.
—  'Abdu'l-Baha

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

3 more star-mandalas

O Lord God! Make us as waves of the sea, as flowers of the garden,
 united, agreed through the bounties of Thy love.
O Lord! Dilate the breasts through the signs of Thy oneness, 
and make all mankind as stars shining from the same height of glory...
—  'Abdu'l-Baha


O God, guide me, protect me, 
make of me a shining lamp and a brilliant star.
Thou are the Mighty and the Powerful.
—  'Abdu'l-Bahá

Release yourselves, O nightingales of God, 
from the thorns and brambles of wretchedness and misery
and wing your flight to the rose garden of unfading splendor.
—  Baha'u'llah

Saturday, November 26, 2011

more stars

Here are three more stars...  (watercolor and ink)

O Ye Sons of Spirit!  Ye are My treasury, for in you I have treasured
the Pearls of My mysteries and the gems of My Knowledge.
—  Baha'u'llah


... the fragrant breezes of the rose garden of divine mercy
will waft through the windows of your souls.


Love of God and spiritual attraction do cleanse and purify the human heart...
and those souls whose inner being is lit by the love of God are even as spreading rays of light,
and they shine out like stars of holiness in a pure and crystalline sky.
For true love, real love, is the love of God,
and this is sanctified beyond the notions and imaginings of men.
—  'Abdu'l-Baha


Friday, November 18, 2011

small stars

These stars have 5 points. They are hanging on a cool metal cord that has a weight at the bottom and attaches art or photos with super-magnets. These stars are about 5" in diameter.





Thursday, November 17, 2011

more birds

3 stars with wings...



O servant of God! Through the power of God's love the weak become mighty,
the poor become rich, the little bird becomes a great eagle soaring on the ethereal wave,
the tiny plant grows into a great palm tree.
—  'Abdu'l-Baha






Monday, November 14, 2011

a few more stars — with birdies

These 3 pieces have birds dancing in circles and singing sweet melodies...


'Neath the shade of Thy protecting wing let me nestle,
and cast upon me the glance of Thine all-protecting eye.
—  'Abdu'l-Baha


Confine thy thoughts to whatever will lift up the human soul to the Paradise of heavenly grace,
and make every bird of the Kingdom wing its way unto the Supreme Horizon,
the central point of everlasting honour in this contingent world.
—  'Abdu'l-Baha


O My brother! Sanctify thy heart, illumine thy soul and sharpen thy sight,
that thou mayest perceive the sweet accents of the Birds of Heaven
and the melodies of the Doves of Holiness warbling in the Kingdom of eternity...
—  Baha'u'llah

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Constellation Series

I've started scanning my pieces from the Constellation series, but it will be more work than I expected because most of the large star-mandalas do not fit on my scanner, so they will have to be pieced together. In the meantime, here are some photos. A bit dark, but I'll add a few each day...

Take thou thy portion of the ocean of His grace and deprive not thyself
of the things that lie hidden in its depths. 
Be thou of them that have partaken of its treasures.
—  Baha'u'llah


So intensely hath the glory of Divine Unity penetrated souls and hearts
that all are now bound one to another with heavenly ties,
and all are even as a single heart, a single soul.
—  'Abdu'l-Baha


In the Rose Garden of changeless splendor a flower hath begun to bloom,
compared to which every other flower is but a thorn,
and before the brightness of whose glory the very essence of beauty must pale and wither.
—  Baha'u'llah

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Spirit Maps

I'm just home from 5 days at Green Acre Baha'i School where I attended the 14th annual Spirit of Children Arts Conference. A wonderful sharing of spirituality, creativity, and arts-making. I led a "Spirit Maps" workshop where people used the visual metaphor of maps to express a variety of spiritual concepts. We had maps about the afterlife, about the journey from lower self to higher self, a garden-map of the highway of guidance (from the tablet to NE states) complete with wandering birds and thirsty fish, a map of the cord of constancy, and a few poetry maps. Here is the sample I made -- a map of the key components of the Institute Process:


Thursday, July 7, 2011

Map Books

I'm teaching a number of library workshops this summer. To prepare for a recent map-book workshop, I made some sample maps of my neighborhood and my apartment. I'll take some photos of the completed books and post them soon. You can see more of my personal maps at my website here:




Friday, February 11, 2011

Traditional Palm Leaf Books


lontarpalm-wh, originally uploaded by jeanniehunt.
Here are some traditional palm leaf books made in SE Asia. You can see different styles of binding. See more examples here.

My Palm Leaf Story Book



This is a palm leaf book that I made after meeting a bear in the woods near Smith College. See more of my palm leaf books on my flickr page.

Palm Leaf Poetry Books -- Student Work




DSCN2715, originally uploaded by jeanniehunt.
This is a palm leaf poetry book made during a residency project at the Hilltown Charter School in Haydenville MA during the spring of 2010. These poetry books were made by grade 3 and grade 5 students, based on the palm-leaf books made in SE Asia. Strips of tag-board are woven together with mat-board covers on each end. See more examples, and download instructions  in this post.

Baha'i Story Illustrations


I haven't had much time to post because I've been working so hard to finish this project. I will try to make a few posts each day until I get caught up with showing you my recent work.

These are four double-page spreads for a story book produced by the Baha'i National Education Committee (for the Core Curriculum story book series). These images will illustrate a story by John Hatcher about a young boy who is drawing fancy star designs to represent the Bab and Baha'u'llah. They are done with ink and watercolor and measure 81/2 by 17".The text will be printed over the central mandalas.