Growing in Gratitude
Fall Collection
2021
Gratitude is a habit that must be cultivated and this series is here to help! Each Piece from "Growing with Gratitude" is packed with energy and intentions to keep you grounded in what you have to be grateful for.
The Sound of Water
Water is an essential element to our lives yet is often taken for granted. Fully aware that water drinking is an activity intended to stimulate the taste and feel senses, I created The Sound of Water to present an abstract representation of how water sounds to the body. My goal with this piece was to visualize the cleansing and healing frequencies water allows our bodies to access as a way of reminding myself to be grateful for the nourishment it provides.
Intended Placement: Use this piece in spaces and rituals intended to refresh or hydrate the soul.
Joy Portal
As I shifted my mindset from happiness as a default goal, I found myself mystified by the idea that joy was a sense of peace and appreciation that extends beyond fixed instances and reasons. Joy, it seemed to me, was a condition of the heart that could be reached regardless of the subjective quality of our experiences. Joy also seemed significantly harder to experience than happiness, as it is found deep in the essence of our existence and seems to have a holy or sacred purpose. In creating Joy Portal I created a visual experience that would remind my soul that joy was an intentional choice I could always make.
Intended Placement: Use this piece in spaces and rituals aimed at grounding and connecting with joy throughout the day.
Heart to Crown Mandala
Gratitude is an extension of our own grace to our current circumstances. As I embodied this belief in my own practice, I found it useful for me to purposefully connect my heart's energies with the best intentions of my higher chakras - namely the crown chakra. Though the crown and heart share similar color energies (pink is associated with both the heart and crown chakras), there are a host of other colors energetically associated with the chakras between the heart and crown. These interactions between the upper chakras inspired me to create a piece speaking directly to the heart and crown chakras.
Intended placement: Use this piece in spaces and practices for heart sensing, healing, and connection to the divine.
Heritage Mandala
Though I have known and celebrated my African Heritage, it wasn't until 2017 that I started exploring my Indigenous Heritage. After scouring family memories and ancestry sites, I was able to track part of my lineage to the Choctaw Nation in Mississippi and am getting to know Native folks and practices in my local community. As I learn, I find Native symbologies and beliefs that align with symbologies and beliefs I've long held as a Black Woman. In Heritage Mandala, I situate colors, patterns, and symbols from both sides of my heritage into a single mandala representing the kaleidoscope of tools and perspectives available to me as I navigate this life.
Intended Placement: Use this piece in spaces and rituals associated with honoring African and Native Heritages.
Esoteric Temple Blueprint
As I've done things that felt impossible, I've learned that with a clear intention, even steps taken in chaos can still lead down the right path. With Esoteric Temple Blueprint I used layering and techniques that complicated the journey toward the piece feeling complete. I chose colors that typically drown each other out and patterns that would typically be too busy to pair with others and allowed myself to work through the process of making it beautiful. Though the journey from layer to layer felt ugly at first, I slowly noticed a blueprint-like layout beginning to emerge. This blueprint reminds me that even in the least optimal circumstances, my intention and presence of mind can continue to lead me to exactly where I need to be.
Intended Placement: Use this piece to bring clarity and grounding to spaces and habits that facilitate learning or growth or currently feel unclear/misguided