A Stewardess in Paradise

The garden becomes my canvas in the spring. Removing debris and watching for signs of life projects me happily into a new mental state and welcome routine. Away from the walls and windows of the studio bring new compositions born of lighting, textures, colors, sounds and fragrances. And silence. A different way of responding to the world.

Viriditas.......the greening........the earth becomes alive in such a palpable way. I need no over active imagination or leap of faith to witness the miracles of life and be humbled in the presence of its Divinity.

I've been working in this garden for 9 years now. Carrying stones, digging beds, making paths......helping me through many tumultuous times. It's always a refuge and an opportunity to lose my self and perhaps gain new perspectives. As a gathering place for friends and family it is an absolute paradise to behold.

In 2003 as the garden matured, I began incorporating it into my work. Understanding impermanence in relation to my surroundings, I don't feel any particular ownership over this garden. I tend it contemplating life and try to share some observations through metaphor. Some of the graphics tell stories. One is a Yahrzeit, made a year to the day after the death of a dear one. Some combine images of my glass layered into the photographs as "Glass in the Garden."

I feel like a "Steward/ess in Paradise," living here and maintaing this property. What a life.........in a world filled with so much suffering.........I live every day with a profound sense of gratitude. Soon it will be time to move.

Before he died, my dear friend and mentor Lou Bunin (see The Puppetmaster by John Canemaker in Print Magazine XLI:V) gave me a beautiful conch shell and said, "Anything you need to know about art can be found in this shell."

Perhaps anything we need to know about life can be found in the garden.

Ellen Miret