Joining SouleMama and others in {this moment}.
Joining SouleMama and others in {this moment}.
I recently discovered the artist Kate Hansen, and her Madonna & Child Project, and I really wanted to share it with you. Although I no longer consider myself a “Christian” in the traditional sense, I have always felt a strong affinity for the image of the Madonna and infant Christ, most famously portrayed by Raphael and da Vinci (below, left and right, respectively). This is especially true since I have given birth to my two children.
Kate Hansen has re-created this iconic image using contemporary mothers and their children, and accompanied the portraits with compelling birth stories. Her materials are conte crayon accented with gold leaf. For the patterned halos, she used paper snowflakes as templates. All images copyright Kate Hansen.
In Kate’s own words:
After the birth of my son in 2007 I felt an incredible energy and drive to make art. Contrary to the popular belief that art making is one of the things that fall to the wayside after the birth of children, in my case I felt inspired and compelled by my experience of childbirth and motherhood. It was almost as though the creative act of making another human being awoke a creative drive in me…After my daughter was born in 2008 I had determined to form a series of mother and child portraits and accompany them with birth stories written by each subject. I wished to express simultaneously the imperfection and fallibility of the mothers but capture an element of the divine in the mother/child bond. Each mother also shares a birth story, be it life changing, beautiful, or a harrowing experience, and these common stories serve to unify a very diverse group with a common theme- of love, of self sacrifice, and transcendence. I owe this inspiration to my children- for their beauty, for their challenges and for the unique bond of motherhood that I hope to capture here.
I highly recommend you check out Kate’s web site to see more of her Madonna & Child portraits, as well as her other works.
Finally some gorgeous weather in New Hampshire!
Well, I’ve finally gotten all of the photos of the assembly and installation gathered together, and I’m ready to tell you all about our closet adventure! Our house is a small ranch, and each of the bedrooms has a built-in closet, which is great. But, there was just not enough space for two adult’s clothing in one small closet (oh, the troubles of a middle-class life of plenty!). I started doing some research, and I thought that standalone wardrobes might be a good solution. I knew right away that I would probably find what I wanted at IKEA. And, I was right! After considering several options, we decided to purchase two BOTNE wardrobes from IKEA.
We made the 2+ hour drive down to the New Haven IKEA on a Sunday after my daughter had left for Florida with my parents for vacation week (I figured it would give me something to do so I wasn’t obsessively texting them to make sure she was okay!). Of course, it was raining. And, I mean RAINING. My poor husband got absolutely drenched while we were trying to load to boxes into my dad’s truck. Thankfully, we had brought some plastic with us to cover up the boxes, so there was really no damage to the wardrobe parts during the drive back in the rain.
And now, without further ado, an illustrated view of the assembly process.
Step 1: Unpack boxes (it’s always handy to have a helper, or two).
Step 2: Begin assembly (again, help is always appreciated).
Step 3: Break something (or how our BOTNE wardrobe earned the nickname “Botch-Me”). Thankfully, this cross-bar did absolutely nothing for the structural integrity (ha!) of the frame.
Step 4: One Botch-Me completed!
Step 5: Two done, and in place! Now we’re getting somewhere!
Step 6: Kelli installs the shelves and rods and fills her side with clothing and shoes because she is too impatient to wait for Damian to come home from work. Pretty colors!
Step 7: Damian completes the assembly of his side, under strict baby supervision.
Step 8: Completed wardrobes (minus handles).
Step 9: The most wonderful thing that has ever happened to our clothing, ever. I am in love.
Assembly took about four days, with many breaks in between for working (Damian) and other things. I am beyond pleased with how this all turned out. The wardrobes actually blend together seamlessly and look like they are built-ins. We have so much well-lit, clean space for our clothing, and now we can use our old closet to store other things, like the vacuum (which has been living by the front door since we moved in). As always, I am impressed by the quality, design, and price of IKEA’s products. They have a lot of other wardrobe storage options, so you should check out their website if you’re in need of more space for your stuff.
Today I’d like to share with you a review of the children’s book The Secret Garden, written by Frances Hodgson Burnett. First published as a series in 1910, our modern hardcover edition was published by Candlewick Press in 2008, and features hundreds of gorgeous illustrations by Inga Moore to accompany the 279 pages of Burnett’s timeless story. I originally decided to buy this book as a Christmas present for my daughter because I was really attracted to the illustrations. I never had a chance to read The Secret Garden as a child, but now I have read it to my daughter at least three or four times. It’s her all-time favorite.
Set at the beginning of the twentieth Century, the story centers on a young girl named Mary Lennox, a disagreeable and unloved child living in Colonial India. Her parents die during an outbreak of cholera, and Mary is sent to Yorkshire, England to live with her recluse of an uncle, Mr. Archibald Craven, at his sprawling estate called Misselthwaite Manor. Most of the action takes place in the gardens or in the rooms and corridors of the manor, although there is a brief description at the beginning of the book of Mary’s life in India and her voyage to England.
Throughout the story, Mary encounters many interesting characters, in particular the family of her maid, Martha, who live in a little cottage on the moor. Mary’s friendship with Martha’s brother, Dickon, is an integral part of her healing process, and his love of the natural world, and his gentle nature, help to bring out the best in everyone he meets. Mary’s sickly cousin, Collin, who is hidden away from life by his severely depressed father, Mr. Craven, is also helped immensely by his encounters with Dickon, as well as his own experiences in the gardens at Misselthwaite.
When she first arrives in England, Mary’s heart and soul are sick from a lifetime of neglect from her parents and pampering from her caregivers. She does not know how to relate to anyone, or how to live in the world without being waited upon. Collin had a remarkably similar upbringing, though in very different circumstances. His mother, Mr. Craven’s wife, was killed when he was quite young. Grief-stricken, and unable to care for his son, Mr. Craven locked Collin away from the world and very rarely spent time with him. Because they were instructed to do whatever it took to keep Collin happy, his caregivers indulged him in much the same way that Mary’s ayah did in India. When Mary finally discovers Collin one night, it is the beginning of an awakening for both of them.
Where you tend a rose, my lad…a thistle cannot grow.
Mary was told by Martha of a secret garden somewhere on the manor that Mr. Craven had locked up ten years before, and into which no one was allowed, not even the gardener, Ben Weatherstaff. Intrigued, Mary makes it her goal to find a way into the garden to see for herself what Mr. Craven finds so abhorrent that it must be locked up. With the help of a friendly robin (who shows her the key, buried in the dirt), Mary is able to open the door to the secret garden. What she finds is that, despite years of neglect, there is still life to be seen. It is a mirror to her own soul, a once-dead and forgotten garden that will bloom to life again with care and compassion.
See here, don’t let us talk about dying; I don’t like it. Let us talk about living.
Dickon helps Mary to revive the overgrown garden, and over time it grows in magnificence and beauty, but they tell no one about their activities. Eventually, they decide to let Collin see the garden, and it is through his experiences in nature and his friendships with Mary and Dickon that he regains his strength and joie de vivre. In the end, Collin and his father are reunited and the children are able to show Mr. Craven the garden they have resurrected. Three broken souls are healed by the beauty of nature and the power of human kindness.
Each time I read this book I am reminded that we are not insular creatures. We need the companionship of others, and we need to spend time cultivating and appreciating the beauty of the natural world. It is easy for ours spirits to become sickly, what with the stresses of daily life, and the exhaustion of raising a family. I love this story because it shows the interconnectedness of all life, and the redemption to be found in each other and in nature.
The place was a wilderness of autumn gold and purple, and violet and flaming scarlet, and on every side were sheaves of late lilies standing together –lilies which were white or white and ruby. He remembered well when the first of them had been planted that just at this season of the year their late glories should reveal themselves.
*As a brief disclaimer, I must note that there are a few places where you will need to explain some sensitive social issues. Martha repeatedly refers to people native to India as “blacks,” and Mary’s disdain and mistreatment of her servants is also something that might warrant a discussion. It is a book of its time and, though that does not justify these objectionable aspects, it is a reflection of the worldview of its characters. All in all, it is one of our favorite books, and I would overwhelmingly recommend it to anyone.