Healing Art for 2020 - from Never Easy to After the Rain
The year 2020 is not yet past, but I think most of us are ready to see it go. In the big picture, between the coronavirus pandemic, civil rights protests and the U.S. presidential elections, 2020 has been marked by feelings of uncertainty, fear and chaos. The world changed, and tomorrow feels less certain.
Our individual lives may tell another story. After all, in 2020 babies were born, loved ones wed, and some businesses boomed while others failed. Still, whatever our private victories, I suspect no one has escaped the aura of loss in 2020. Perhaps you know someone who has been hit particularly hard. Perhaps that someone is you.
Have you considered working those feelings out in cloth? If you are a maker, you have a unique opportunity to use art to process big emotions. I know from experience that this can be so healing.
In 2016 I created a quilt called Never Easy. It expressed my experience and emotions for babies like my Eleni whose life is a massive struggle due to oxygen deprivation during birth. Here’s an excerpt from a post about that quilt:
“I sat down with paper and pencil and this design fairly poured out of me, all those half rectangle triangles forming sharp, contrary, capital N’s for Never, Never Easy.
While making this quilt I reflected upon the many for whom life is never easy - some single parents, neglected children, those facing extreme prejudice, war, poverty. In our culture we applaud shows of bravado. We like to hear those in terrible situations focusing on the upside, courageously facing the future with a smile. And I’m not saying they shouldn’t. I’m not saying it doesn’t help. What I am saying is that we have to allow them (when they’re ready) and ourselves (when it’s true) to admit that some things are never easy. It’s OK to be real about the harsh realities. Yes, it does make people uncomfortable, to say the least, but our honesty also opens the door to real help, real community, a fuller kind of love.
I know, because I’ve seen it here, with you. ”
There is power in being heard. Acknowledging the struggle allows yourself and others to practice humanity and compassion.
After our successful immigration to The Netherlands, I remade that Never Easy quilt. This time the quilt took on a different tone entirely to reflect a new season of my life.
Rather than focusing on the dark triangles, my view had shifted to the light ones. It seemed that the lighter forces were forging forward, even uphill. The light was overcoming the darkness. I called the quilt After the Rain, an acknowledgement of life’s sorrow, while also a statement of hope and courage.
As the new year turns and we begin to take stock of 2020 and look toward 2021, it seems timely to return to this quilt once more. On January 1st, I will release the After the Rain quilt pattern and later in January/February, I’ll lead a 4-week quilt-along. This is a relatively quick quilt to sew. The half rectangle blocks are quite easy to achieve via foundation paper piecing. We’ll focus more energy on choosing expressive colors and fabrics and setting intentions for the process.
I invite you to begin contemplating how you might work out your 2020 experiences in cloth. Whether by joining us in the After the Rain sew-along or making another expressive project, how can you acknowledge the hard times and/or pledge to push forward toward a brighter future?
I’ll actually be making my next After the Rain quilt for a friend who’s had a particularly tough 2020. I intend for the quilt to be a love note to her, telling her that she is seen and that I hold hope for her future.
