Overcoming Obstacles

Totem for Overcoming Obstacles (photo by Lorna Stevens)

Totem for Overcoming Obstacles: Tap the ball gently toward the goal.  Smash through walls.  Unlock the door.  Or simply fly over it all. 

Materials:  Antique Japanese croquet mallet, merino wool, kid mohair, feathers, rusted barbed wire and key. 

This creation came at an interesting time in my life.  Have been feeling stuck, unsure of what comes next.  Creating this piece left me feeling very free and open.  Without going into unnecessary detail, I've decided to enroll in a Certified Yoga Therapist program that starts next January.  I firmly believe that my work these last years in the art and craft of felting is significantly responsible for opening me to this next stage in my journey, while at the same time yoga has been essential in tapping into a deeper, more mindful creative consciousness.

I also feel confident that I will likely find a way to combine felting and yoga therapy.  The practice of yoga and a creative outlet like felting are a perfect fit.  With your hands in the wool and soapy suds, or with the needle and a pile of raw locks, you lose yourself in that eternal present moment.  In the same way that felting brings all the different fibers together into a coherent and beautiful whole, so can the practice of art and yoga be a means to bring together all the various fibers of your life experience.

Exciting journey ahead!