Mentoring Grace Engobe and Glazed Ceramic 18"h x 14"w x 13"d 2011 $2200

Mentoring Grace is a conceptual piece that maybe is new to some and familiar to others. It speaks to those moments in time when catastrophic challenges present themselves, when there does not appear to be any escape until somehow just the right person steps in to share their Grace and it makes all the difference in the world.

As this piece was being constructed, the people of Japan and collective communities worldwide were overtaken by a devastating Tsunami. Is it possible to pick up the fragments of your life and carry on from something so horrific? Can we seek those quiet moments, that exist on the fringed edges of extreme chaos, to find the miracle in each moment? Before the butterfly can land on our finger, it must give itself over completely to its metamorphic journey. It must not concern itself with thoughts of tomorrow, of yesterday, of more than what each transformational second holds.

When we "mentor grace", we give permission in the form of a blessing to others who may need a finger to land on, to rest momentarily in our care, before lifting off once again to journey further away from this moment with renewed strength and resolve to find joy amidst life's catastrophes. Mentoring Grace reminds us that sometimes we are the ones that need to be doing the holding, the whispering, the nurturing for another, and sometimes we are the one that needs to be held, and thus transformed with the butterfly as it pauses and simply trusts that all is well .... if only for a moment.