WOOD CROSSES WITH SYMBOLS
I have added click through PAYPAL price links to this gallery. The purple price links include shipping costs and can be found on the full image of each item available for purchase. Click each image to view prices, details, and symbolism.
This gallery shows the collaborative pieces I have made with wood artist Margaret Bailey. Those currently available for purchase are shown first in the gallery before the teal "SOLD" marker. Ones following the "SOLD" marker are no longer available but shown as examples for custom orders.
While these crosses are each unique and one of a kind, we continue offering different versions as we find pieces that marry well together. We invite customers to choose a cross from Margaret and one of my symbol jewelry designs and let us combine it for you. Most symbol designs may be made of polymer clay or sterling silver. Many times, the collaborative experience of the customer working with us has led us in new unexpected directions. A customer may also choose one of my symbol designs and let me choose a wood cross that suits the design. Approval by emailed photo is usually an option before final commitment to the special order piece.
The reflection below was written by Mel Ahlborn to accompany the first Spirit In Motion sterling on cedar cross featured on The Episcopal Cafe website. The reflection captures the spirit of all these collaborative pieces we have created.
God's Unknowableness
This work of art is titled 'The Spirit in Motion', and upon close examination we can see that it does a fine job of illustrating both the immanence and the transcendence of God.
Put simply, the concept of God as immanent speaks to the God of our intellectual and sensory understanding, and addresses those aspects of God that we as humans are able to discern and comprehend. Motion, the moving through time and space, is a quality that we are able to recognize, understand, and even reproduce with a fair amount of ease. The artists' use of 'Motion' in this piece suggests God's energies moving throughout the earth, evoking a clear understanding of God as immanent in the world.
God is both knowable and unknowable, and there are aspects and qualities of God that we are not able to assess, measure, or even describe. God's unknowableness can be thought of as the 'transcendence' of God, the 'transcendent' God, the ephemeral God of our faith beyond our human understanding. The artists' inclusion of 'Spirit' depicts the transcendence of God, through the use of a symbol for Spirit, the dove.
With this idea in mind that God is both knowable and unknowable, we can view art with room for faith to grow. God is both immanently present in our daily and at the same time is transcendently present. Art can assist us in cultivating a wholesome awareness of both.
