Art of Healing Show Impact Gallery Tri-Main Buffalo, NY month of February

Flowers of Secrets will be presented in the

Art of Healing and Mental Health Exhibiton 2010

Impact Artists' Gallery

#545 Tri-Main Center, 2495 Main St.,

Buffalo 14214 The exhibition may be viewed during regular gallery hours Wednesday –

Friday 11-4 and Saturdays 1-4.

Please call the gallery if there is inclement weather.

716-835-6817

http://impactartist.wordpress.com/2008/01/08/art-and-healing-show-in-february/01/08/art-and-healing-show-in-february/

Flowers of Secrets were conceived from the concept of people feeling like trash by something they are ashamed of, a secret that burdens their soul. Since secrets that bother us have the ability to make a person feel like trash; my new favorite art material, used coffee filters, offers an large supply of material for the cost of collecting and washing them loose of excess coffee ground. Like a wound, a sore filled with pus from an infection, the wound needs to be lanced. Once lanced, cut open, exposed to air and sun light, the pus will run out freely and the healing can begin. If the wound is not opened the infection will continue to grow. It will fester and increase in volume, size and pain until a person who was once active and healthy feels like a worthless, piece of trash.

Writing secrets I gather from PostSecrets, an online community where people make handmade postcards with the secret that is bothering them written on the back offers an endless supply of secrets. I decided to focus on secrets most likely written by a female since I understand how a woman may think more than I do a man.

The coffee filter is perfect because it is a circle (sacred hoop, ring): An ancient and universal symbol of unity, wholeness, infinity, the goddess, and female power. To earth-centered religions throughout history as well as to many contemporary pagans, it represents the feminine spirit or force, the cosmos or a spiritualized Mother Earth, and a sacred space.
Each coffee filter is coated with bees wax which served as a base for medicines to act as a healing balm. The wax also adds strength to the paper filter, a pleasant fragrance and a translucent, skin like quality.

Writing the secret on the circular, up cycled coffee filter did not seem like I gave enough time, respect and esteem to either the secret or the anonymous author. I decided it would be better to embroider with soft, speaking, neutral color floss the words I copied from PostSecret. While I stitch each secret I pray for peace in the heart and soul of the anonymous author. Piecing with the needle, a sort of acupuncture, tattooing ritual further adds to the healing process. As I work and pray for the healing of another woman I am feeling a cathartic healing within myself.

"Loaded with so much symbolism: round like breasts; slits like vaginas; soft like the female body; interiors like wombs, vaginas, mouths, and/or the psyche; and then subtly stitched with secrets, like clues that give insight into the person who secret they caress.” I envision this installation growing until I create a large, walk-in, space filled with healing Flowers of Secrets hanging suspended from above.

Carol Ann Rice Rafferty

The face is the mirror of the mind, and eyes without speaking confess the secrets of the heart.

"The face is the mirror of the mind, and eyes without speaking confess the secrets of the heart." Saint Jerome

I have completed three flowers of secrets since this idea flowed into my head on Sunday afternoon. It was an ordinary day, up early, fresh cup of hot coffee, peruse the Internet, face book for a few minutes, five miles on my stationary bike, quick bite to eat, shower then off to Sunday morning mass. It was sometime during the homily that the Monsignor mentioned the activities of his previous day. One part of his day included hearing First Confession or Sacrament of Reconciliation for 61 second grade school students the day before.

My mind went back to the day I first time I received the Sacrament of Reconciliation when I was seven years old. Life was pretty simple back then; I fought with my brothers, I ignored my mothers endless request to run down into the basement to get her a can of something from the pantry for dinner or to bring up a brown paper bag to replace the liner in the waste paper basket. Pretty simple and easy, always wanting to please. Always the " Good Girl" I never stole anything, hit anyone or hurt anyone on purpose.

Years pass by, life gets more complicated, less reward or satisfaction for being the "Good Girl" and my burdens, secrets, regrets grow more serious. I was thinking how fortunate people who practice the Roman Catholic traditions of faith are to have a person and place to tell secrets. Where do people with regrets that are eating them up inside go for stress release?

If you don't have a place, a release valve for something that is eating you inside perhaps you will resort to drinking, drugs or foods that make you feel good for a little while until you remember your secret again. Like a wound, a sore filled with pus from an infection, the wound needs to be lanced. Once lanced, cut open, exposed to air and sun light heal the pus will run out freely and the healing can begin. If the wound is not opened the infection will grow. It will fester and increase in volume, size and pain until a person who was once active and healthy feels like a worthless, piece of trash.

One way I was thinking to get secrets to write down was to ask people to send me secrets that bother their hearts anonymously. Then a place that does this flowed into my mind, PostSecrets. It is an online community where people make handmade postcards with the secret that is bothering them written on the back. The designer of this community art project then posts the card on line http://thesecretpostcards.tumblr.com/.
That's solved, I have an endless supply of secrets from no one I know.

I decided to focus on secrets most likely written my a female since I understand how a woman may think more than I do a man. Since secrets that bother us have the ability to make a person feel like trash; my new favorite art material, used coffee filters offer an large supply of material for the cost of collecting and washing them loose of excess coffee grounds.

The coffee filter is perfect because it is a CIRCLE (sacred hoop, ring): An ancient and universal symbol of unity, wholeness, infinity, the goddess, and female power. To earth-centered religions throughout history as well as to many contemporary pagans, it represents the feminine spirit or force, the cosmos, a Mother Earth, and a sacred space.

I like the stains left behind by the process of coffee being made. These filters have life, they have been used, served a purpose and carry a stain or scare from the act of being used. I have been coating my sheets of handmade paper with bees wax for years to add, strength, a pleasing fragrance, a translucent quality that allows light to shine through.


A LITTLE BEESWAX INFO by http://www.rachelssupply.com/bwax.htm

"Beeswax is a byproduct of honey production. It makes wonderful lip balms, hand lotions, hand creams, moisturizers, in cosmetics, wood finishes, waxes, leather polishes; waterproofing products, and dental molds. It is impervious to water and unaffected by mildew. It has a melting point of 143 to 148 degrees F. and should only be heated using a double boiler as it is flammable when subjected to fire and flames. It is pliable at 100 degrees F.
Beeswax is produced by the (female) worker honeybees. The wax is secreted from wax glands on the underside of the bee's abdomen and is molded into six-sided cells which are filled with honey, then capped with more wax. When honey is harvested, the top layer of wax that covers the cells, must be removed from each hexagon-shaped cell. Bees use their wax to "glue" together the wooden frames in their hive, and that must be scraped off so the frames can be separated. The beeswax, which contains some honey, bee parts, and other impurities, must be melted and filtered or strained. Most beeswax is gold or yellow but can also be in shades of orange, brown, etc. The color of the wax is in most part determined by the type of plants the bees collect nectar from. Beeswax has a delightful, light fragrance of honey, flower nectar and pollen. Beeswax makes superior, slow burning candles. Beeswax burns more beautifully than any other wax. It exudes a faint, natural fragrance of honey and pollen. When candles are made with the proper size of wick, they are smokeless, drip-less, and burn with a bright flame.
If you wonder why beeswax is so expensive, consider this: It has been estimated that bees must fly 150,000 miles to produce one pound of wax. Bees must eat about six pounds of honey to secrete a pound of wax. For every 100 pounds of honey a beekeeper harvests, only one to two pounds of beeswax are produced. "


Bees Wax http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/timelines/topics/beekeeping.htm
"While there are scenes of honey production, it is unknown how the Egyptians rendered the wax. It has been suggested, that after crushing the combs and extracting the honey they used the "hot water technique", placing the broken down combs in a metal vessel filled with water and bringing the water to the boil, pouring the vessels contents into a sack and pressing it. In every day life wax was used for sealing things,[5] coating the inside of wine amphoras, making amulets,[41] which were at times gilded,[42] and, since Ptolemaic times, for covering writing tablets. [41] Beeswax found use in boat and ship building, as a binding agent for paints and in metal casting. Sometimes it served as a base for medicines. Mixed with pulverized stone it made an adhesive for connecting razor blades to their handles. Wigs were waxed[43] to give permanence to plaits. Although people must have known about the flammability of wax, it was not used for lighting in ancient times.
In a religious or funerary context wax was used in mummification where small bodily orifices were plugged with it. From the Saite Period onwards votive bronze statuettes were cast in large numbers using the cire-perdue method.[38] In Roman times wax was mixed with pigments and used to paint the encaustic portraits, which came to replace the funerary masks. Corn mummies buried during the Osirian mysteries often had faces made of wax.[39] In the Third Intermediate Period, when canopic jars began to fall into disuse, figurines of the Sons of Horus made of wax were at times included in the packages of embalmed viscera returned into the mummy's body cavity.[40] "

Writing the secret on the circular, up cycled coffee filter did not seem like I gave enough; time, respect and esteem to either the secret of the anonymous author. I decided it would be better to embroider with soft, speaking, neutral color floss the word I copied form PostSecret.


Throughout the entire time I am stitching the secret I am praying, sending good energy, well wishes to the female in pain enough to share her secret. I pray that healing power is sent her way to heal her wounds, open her heart and make her feel more precious than feel like disposable, throw away trash someone is finished using for their own needs.

. I now have three secrets embrodiered on the coffee filter objects. These rounded art objects are according to an obsevation from a well respected Artist- MFA who looked at the begining of my project; "loaded with so much symbolism: round like breasts; slits like vaginas; soft like the female body; interiors like wombs, vaginas, mouths, and/or the psyche; and then subtly stitched with secrets, like clues that give insight into the individual. " .

" I touch the future, I teach" Sharon Christa Corrigan McAuliffe (September 2, 1948 – January 28, 1986)

Where were you when you heard about the Challenger Disaster January 28th 1986 ? I was vacuuming my living room with two small children sick, one home from school that week. On the day of the national funeral memorial service I had Barry conduct his own memorial service for the astronauts using his Playmobile characters and Fort Randall flag. He was home from kindergarten due to illness, still, I wanted him to understand something very sad had happened in American history that week.

As many of you know I went back to college each time my children were looking at colleges program they wanted to attend. The deep desire for knowledge is a quality I hope I never outgrow, as well as, one I have instilled in both Barry & Kara. They know my motto, "when your life reaches a dead end, take a class..."

My personal enrichment adventure turned into a Bachelor's of Science Degree in Design with a strong background in Educational Psychology. Being a teacher was a good fit for me after being a nontraditional student. During my time as a Design student, I was a role model for many of my peers. Often I would help the other students with design decisions, loan them supplies, teach students skills I process that were not offered in the class... you get the point.

When I first began taking classes preparing for my second career, first career being a momma/ homemaker par excel lance, I began with a class at Community College of Allegheny County in Career Research. During the entire semester we took personality inventories, CAPS, COPS, COPES test and researched career options. http://www.careerachievers.com/services.html

According to the Meyers- Briggs Personality inventory I am an ESFJ. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ESFJ It was no surprise to find ESFJ's excel in careers as Homemakers, Nurses, and Teachers, all people who are in the leadership position of helping others create a better life.
ESFJ's are happiest when they have keep the home fires burning. My sister in law Mari Pat and her friend Rita called my Hestia as an endearment when they were guests in my home.
My brothers wife, Wendi, used to laugh and call me " Susie Homemaker". http://www.goddessgift.com/goddess-myths/greek_goddess_hestia.htm

When I went back to college after Barry and Kara were adults I saw a natural leap from being a mom/homemaker to Adjunct Lecturer @ Buffalo State College. The concern I maintained for the welfare of my students was the same guidance, concern and nurturing enthusiasm I extended to my own children.

Being a teacher is an awesome moral responsibility, no matter what the age of your student. If you hold a title of teacher the students are trusting the teacher is someone who knows the material, loves to share the knowledge and has the students welfare at heart. When a student finds one of these qualities lacking in the teacher a power struggle may ensue. Students should be wise consumers. They know when they are being used as reason for a professor to acquire grant money for free travel abroad or to attend conferences for free. They know when the projects they are assigned benefit the professors efforts to gain tenure rather than providing a well rounded education as the course description prescribes within the class curriculum. Too many professors/ teachers are in the profession to have; free use of studio space, equipment and supplies or teachers who are in the career because they want summers and holidays off.

We all heard the quote, "Those who can -- do. those who can't-- teach." H.L Mencken http://www.watchfuleye.com/mencken.html Unfortunately, most of us have been victim's of self centered teachers/ professors who being unable to support themselves in their craft have resorted to teaching as way to make a buck. There is no way to judge the motives within another persons heart, one can only pray that those who are holding teaching positions to exploit the system through grants and giveaways will eventually burn out opening positions for teachers called to the vocation of pedagogy. Education is the hope of the future.

It is a teachers responsibility to help the student to go beyond the teachers experience. I will always remember Christa McAuliffe, an American teacher from Concord, New Hampshire, and one of seven crew members killed in the Space Shuttle Challenger disasterteacher,
" I touch the future. I teach."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christa_McAuliffe

It is a disaster and never acceptable for a teacher/professor to bring harm to a student as a result of jealous competition. If you are given the authority to make a difference in a persons life by holding the title of teacher/ professor/in any pedagogical career, may you live up to your responsibility to be a trustworthy leader and a disciple of integrity.

"You're only as sick as your secrets. " ~Author Unknown
Lately, I have been reading about the ongoing community art project PostSecret created by Frank Warren, in which people mail their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PostSecretiki/PostSecretiki/PostSecret.

I have been thinking a lot about secrets. The ones we keep to protect our self, secrets we keep to protect another, secrets about things we were proud of and never wanted to keep secret at all. There is a saying, " You are only as sick as your secrets." I don't know who said it, maybe it has been true for all mankind for as long as anyone can remember.

Carrying a secret in your heart, something you are ashamed of, a grief you can not ask someone to share with you, or something that would really hurt another if you told the secret is a big burden. Keeping something a conspiration when you never intended to be part of a secret can create stress and make you sick inside. Stress does all sorts of nasty things to our bodies including; high blood pressure, high cholesterol, muscle aches, tension headaches not to mention how much it cuts down your flow of creative thought.

During my first quarter in the graduate school fiber program at Savannah College of Art & Design, September 2008, I was enrolled in a class, Stitch as Language or Object. I signed into this class even though I had little to no experience to embroidery at that time. All of my efforts up to that point had been self taught from watching my grandmother doing her needle works as a young girl. My goal was to get some advice from the professor and the other graduate students on what they saw in the beginning of my project, Fleur de Mon Secrets.
I selected french as it is a romance language and it would make the secrets a bit more difficult for most English speaking people to read.

Everyone had so many ideas, so much input, ways they saw my project developing that I felt so confused I abandoned my project in favor of developing a my sewing skills for the rest of the quarter. I decided the place I needed to begin was learning how to embroider fine stitches to create a script text with needle and thread. I practiced for many, many hours on numerous pieces of cloth until one day I began to see progress in my embroidery skills.
During my time in Savannah I was exposed to so many new ideas, tried so many new medium, changed my way of working from 2-D to 3-D sculptural objects, then eventually to making garments. Basically, it was a year of experimentation that I thoroughly enjoyed. What I needed most was the freedom to be all over the place. A good thing if you are an open to adventure person, a bad thing if you need to focus on one project for a masters of art.

Taking some time to regroup at home, to work on my cottage industry ricerafferty wearable art and accessories since June has been prolific use of my time and energy.

My mind has cleared enough to again think about the Flowers of my Secrets. This time I am taking a bit different approach. For my medium I have selected used coffee filters. You know, the kind that you toss in the waste paper basket every time you make another pot of coffee. Since the summer I have been collecting my own coffee filters and from anyone else who will save them for me. Everyday I shake out the excess coffee grounds, rinse the filter and hang it to dry. After months of collecting these filters I began to sew them on a cotton muslin dress I am making. My eyes are attracted to the textures and natural hues left as stains on the used coffee filters. I like the idea of making something interesting to look at that could also be worn if you wanted to, from something others see as trash.

The coffee filter is a perfect circle an ancient and universal symbol of unity, wholeness, infinity, the goddess, and female power. I coat each used coffee filter in pure bees wax to give it a a pleasant fragrance and translucent effect. Four thousand years ago in Egypt, the honey bee wax was regarded as a symbol of royalty. I like the contrast between a throw away item being coated in a symbol of royalty.

For my secrets I am reading through the website of PostSecret to select ones that are from females. Next I write the secret on the wax coated coffee filter then begin the slow process to embroider the secret to give it value, take time to pray for the bearer of the secret and send healing wishes to the anonymous owner of each secret. Here is a pic of my work in progress.
The website has an endless amount of secrets for me to create my healing garden; Flowers of my Secrets or Fleur de Mon Secrets.

Secrets to Embroidery from Post Secret http://postsecret.blogspot.com/s

· I made a deal to show my Tits on Webcam so I could get my calculator back before math class.
· I didn’t want to be a mother before I had an abortion
· I never knew what it meant to stay in it for the children until I stayed in it for the children
· I miss him even though I know he would eventually kill me
· After how I lost my virginity, I can’t imagine sex as something you do out of love
· To my daughter's birth mother- She turns 17 today! You would be so proud. She is Brave & Strong (from you I think).
· Getting to my goal weight will be another push to finally end our lifeless marriage.

I'll post more work as it is created. I have to get back to work now. See you soon ;~)

Please save used coffee filters for my Trash to Treasure project creating Fleur de mon Secrets.
Just dump the coffee grounds into the garden, store the unwashed filters in the freezer until you want me to pick them up. I'll wash the filters and prepare them for my art project. The Lord Bless you for helping me to create this healing project, you are only as sick as your secrets...

"People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. " Unknown

When you figure out which it is, you know exactly what to do.
Just like an answer to a prayer when someone comes into your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed outwardly or inwardly. Much like a guardian angel this person appears to assist you through a difficult time, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally, or spiritually. They are there for the REASON you need them to be.

Then, without any warning or wrong doing on your part, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end. Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away. Sometimes they act up or out and force you to take a stand. What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled. Their work being done it is time for them to go.

Your prayer has been answered, it is now time to move along.

When people come into our life for a SEASON, it is because it is your turn to grow, learn a new skill or share an insight. With this person you may find a peaceful place of rest. You may bring each other joy and make each other laugh. You may teach each other something neither of you would ever have done alone. Through this relationship you may experience an unbelievable amount of joy. Savour it! Rejoice in it; if only for a SEASON.

The difficulty arrises when you want to make a REASON or SEASON relationship into a LIFETIME relationship.

Your job is to accept the lesson of life, the love you shared with this person, then figure out when it is the right time to say goodbye. Much easier said than done; knowing the correct time to leave without staying too long at the fair.

The good news is, when you allow those relationships to end, you open yourself to a world of new possibilites with new people. You are once again an "Open for Adventure Person".

My prayer for you is a peace filled day full of goodness and light. May your path be crossed by many good people who bring joy and peace into your life. Finally, may you have the wisdom to know you already have all you need inside of you. Be open to what this day has to offer you.

I close with a song that my daughter shared with me

Adventures in Solitude
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhtPjs-Sqcg&feature=related

"Deep inside this armor, the warrior is a child"
The Warrior is a Child by Twila Paris
lyrics http://www.gagirl.com/misc/warrior.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Tu0vJg3RSA

One of my favorite places to go when I am in New York City is of course the Metropolitan Museum of Art. One of my favorite exhibits at the Met are the rooms dedicated to the Knights in Armor. I love the intricate patterns carved into the metal with the care and delicacy of a fine textile.
When I was in a 1750's French and Indian War reenactment group in Pittsburgh, Captain William Trent Company, I studied the historical garments while I made the reenactment clothing for my family.
http://www.metmuseum.org/special/Armored_Horse_in_Europe/1.r.htm

One particular element on a suit of armor that interests me most is a gorget.
"Most Medieval versions of gorgets were simple neck protectors that were worn under the breastplate and back plate set. These neck plates supported the weight of the armour worn over it, and many were equipped with straps for attaching the heavier armour plates.
Later, Renaissance gorgets were not worn with a breastplate but instead were worn over the clothing. Most gorgets of this period were beautifully etched, gilt, engraved, chased, embossed, or enamelled and probably very expensive."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorget

The newest rice rafferty creation of wearable art is a series of women necklace or adornments inspired by the knights gorget. Nouveaux Antique Necklace- gorget style adornment made of 100 % silk charmeuse handcrafted floral shaped elements embellished with vintage jewelry, beads and lace. These Necklaces look great as a room decor as well as to embellish your body.

"During the 18th and early 19th centuries, crescent-shaped gorgets of silver or silver gilt were worn by officers in most European armies, both as a badge of rank and an indication that they were on duty. These last survivals of armour were much smaller (usually about three to four inches in width) than their Medieval predecessors and were suspended by chains or ribbons."

This feminine gorget shows your rank and will definitely draw attention that you are on duty. Consider yourself warned, don't wear this neck adornment if you want to go unnoticed.

visit us on facebook @ http://www.facebook.com//profile.php?v=feed&story_fbid=261631097127&id=733985197#/pages/rice-rafferty/203899441756?ref=ts

this neck adornment along with other handmade items are available @
http://www.etsy.com/shop/ricerafferty

Thank you for the many nice comments & feedback on our merchandise ;~)

Chase away the winter blues, shop with a purpose this weekend. Look for merchandise featuring the new rice rafferty label at the Burchfield Penny Art Museum Shop for someone special on your Valentine list.
http://www.shopformuseums.com/MuseumInfo.aspx?MuseumID=900&aId=&oId=&pId=

My one of a kind 100% silk scarves are available right now for only $25 each. Shopping @ the Burchfield Penny Art Museum Shop will make you feel good knowing that 40% of the purchase price stays right there to support the Burchfield Penny Art Museum. This lovely silk rayon velvet Devore scarf is another one of the new items I took into the shop last week.

Look for new rice rafferty scarves and draw string bag along with other quality one of a kind items featured @ the Burchfield Penny Art Museum Shop for Valentine's Day

.

"Rich and poor have this in common: The LORD is the Maker of them all." Proverbs 22:2

These past two weeks have been cold with a slow, steady, stream of blowing, drifting, snow in Western New York.

It has been a perfect time to work my new series of art work keeping warm inside from the winter chill.

I made time also for a run into the city of Buffalo to deliver the nearly new stash of goodies; warm winter coats, hats, scarves and sweaters to the homeless women's shelter to Cornerstone Manor @ Buffalo City Missions.
http://www.buffalocitymission.org/site/PageServer

As I delivered the large basket of clothing the woman at the desk wished me a BLESSED DAY. Somehow I knew I already was. Why don't you take some time this week to be thankful for all you have and share something from your bounty with those who are in need during this cold winter weather.

Are you free to imagine that 2010 could open your life to new possibilities or are your old rules holding you in a pattern of non productive behaviors because you are afraid to make a change?

The beginning of a new year, a new decade, could be the perfect time to open yourself to new adventures, break old bad habits, adopt a positive can do attitude, start a gratitude journal, take a chance and reach for a dream you have kept simmering on the back burner of your life.

Remember how warm and inviting a Christmas tree looked in the early days of December? The darkness caused by the shortening of days inspires humans do odd things like; cutting down a healthy tree, taking it into our home, placing lights/candles on the tree to illuminate the space, drinking and eating rich foods like eggnog spiked with rum and butter cookies.

Notice how much larger a home feels when the dried out tree dropping needles all over the floor as it exits the front door opens space for a breath a fresh air. I love clearing my table, creating a open space. Pause for a moment, take a deep cleansing breath in this empty space and allowing yourself to be free to imagine what the future might be.

These three Winter White Velvet Devore scarves were created in the spirit of new possibilities, new beginnings.

Are you free to imagine going on a new adventure in 2010?

Consider one scarf as a gift for yourself. Wearing the luxurious warmth of Winter White Velvet Devore is a perfect way to adorn yourself for imagining a life open for adventure.

Perfect also as a gift to a special friend expressing your love and appreciation for all the kindness she has brought to your life. Imagine the joy you could bring to your favorite bride this season. Winter White Velvet Devore is a gift of elegance and warmth she will cherish as a remembrance for years to come.

Clear the table, be free to imagine new beginnings, surround yourself with elegance in 2010.