It's not that one necessarily starts or sets out to create a "Grief Quilt" but rather that one is grieving during the making of that quilt. It is my experience, that the life behind the quilt has a way of showing up, in the quilt.
I started my journey, map in hand, with the cocky idealism of youth. With a relatively pain free childhood behind me, I thought I knew where I was going. Nothing really prepared me for the unexpected bumps in the road. The mountain tops and the valleys....the exquisite moments of joy and the dark valleys of pain.
Somewhere along the line I threw my map away and discovered that many roads lead home. At times there is the death of a dream but often around the corner is the birth of a new one. The longer I journey, I find the less I know....perhaps that's a good thing.
There is vulnerability in working improv, as it documents one's journey through life. Perhaps this is why I love working this way so much....for me it's cathartic as I loose myself in the process.
Then suddenly, the quilt is finished and I am often somewhat restless and bereft at that moment. Such was the case when I finished the quilt I started in Krista's Hennebury's Class (Improv Under the Influence).
Finding My Way Home
Finding My Way Home...close up
The center of the quilt is the orginal set of instructions or map, if you will. Then somewhere along the way, the quilt took several twists and turns of it's own. The colours started to mingle and things started to fracture. I also incorporated several different techniques along the way....changing things at will.
I will always see this quilt of part my journey of finding my way through.
Below are several process shots.
And through it all we had a wedding......
My two beautiful daughters at the rehearsal...
And of course, there is nothing like my beautiful grandchildren to give me a reason to Find My Way Home!!
