Last Saturday, participants came from Atlanta, Charleston, Hartsville and Columbia to gather at the Columbia Museum of Art to pause from the hectic pace of life and delve into the creative process. They came in search of inner phosphorescence, that glowing luminescent quality that enlivens and inspires the direction of our lives. I Heard A Voice - The Art of Leslie Dill , an exhibition on display until January 23, 2011, was the catalyst for this workshop.
Leslie Dill calls herself a collector of words and she finds great inspiration and guidance from others, poets who eloquently weave words together into magical nuances of what it is to be human. Leslie takes words, poetic fragments and integrates them into powerful visual meditative "knowings".
Emily Dickinson is one of Leslie's muses. Emily loved words and phosphorescence was one of her favorites - "Now, there's a word to lift your hat to, to find that phosphorescence, that light within, that's the genius behind poetry." I would say that is the genius behind all art and life itself.
Marion Woodman teaches us that the light within, that still small voice "burns away what is no longer relevant and gradually reveals our essence. Until, at last, we are strong enough to stand in our naked truth."
Being able to dip in and out of the spacious galleries that are holding the artwork of Leslie Dill allowed everyone to become closer to that naked truth. Leslie's work inspires that within us and encourages us to unearth, to find the courage to reveal the next layer of personal unfolding.
Reading out-loud and silently reflecting on the words of poets such as Emily Dickinson, Mary Oliver, Pablo Neruda, Rumi, Marge Piercy...ushered our inner voices forward.
Consider picking up a book of poetry and seeing which lines might sing to you.
Become a collector of words...and images...and see where it might lead you.
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