family is where you find it

while attempting to make some sort of order from the chaos in my studio, pulling together clovage (salvaged cloth) into workable "families", i realized that the idea of family is always forefront in our culture's mind. be it the often televised political organizations seeking to put forth their ideas of what a family "should" be, or a simple family of like-colored cloth salvaged from old clothes or purchased from stiff new bolts at the local quilt shop.

as i make my rounds through favorite blogs, and adventure to previously unfamiliar (un-family-ar) blogs, i frequently see family references. from jude's frequent jaunts to her mom's house to annnie's poignant remembrance of her beautiful mother (i still can't stop the tears from gathering in the corner of my eyes).

coyote toe bones in ancient tibetan begging bowl

i have been thinking a lot about bones and frameworks lately as a rather large group of very talented people have embarked upon jude's latest adventure, spirit cloth diaries. jude has been talking about "filters" and we have each turned our respective eye toward determining our own personal filters...either for working within the context of her workshop, or even beyond into the filters we use in our own work. our homes. our lives. while i have many discernible filters in my artwork, i am currently focusing on bones in the sense that they are the framework upon which our bodies are hung, and thereby our lives and interactions with others and their frameworks. their bones.

when contemplated from this vantage, i found that i frequently voice thoughts about being "without family" here under the big sky. having moved here ten years ago. a few years later finding myself alone. without the partner whose vision was shared for a time. whose bones once shared the framework of our lives with my bones. found myself thinking in terms of "consoling myself" with "at least" having my "fur-family". but i do myself, and my many loved ones, a great disservice with this direction of thought. for families are created and nurtured and grown. not limited to blood relations. or even distance. family is where you find it. not only where you were born.

my born family resides nearly a thousand miles away in idaho. further in washington and further still in southern california for siblings. but they are never further away than a few seconds of digital button touching. but families extend even beyond this. dear friends who live across the country are also merely a call away. other dear friends live closer to home and are seen throughout the week. and my wondrously talented and creative family of friends here on this blog are never more than a keystroke away.

all of these blessings that are my family of friends and relations hang upon the framework...bones...of time and space. it is a great family that stretches its branches deep into space and provides shelter and warmth for these bones upon which my body and life hang.

...i am humbled by the blessings you all provide. and full of gratitude.

namaste'