Beginnings

beginnings

A collection of visual meditations by the Continuing Residents of The Enso Circle

Copyright © 2022 by Lyn Belisle and Michelle Belto for The Enso Circle. All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher and the artists whose works are included except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Printed in the United States of America First Printing, 2022

The Enso Circle An invitational online Artists’ Residency Created and led by Michelle Belto and Lyn Belisle theensocircle.com

beginnings A collection of visual meditations by the Continuing Residents of The Enso Circle

“Do not wait until the conditions are perfect to begin. Beginning makes the conditions perfect.” – Alan Cohen

introduction When Michelle Belto and I began planning a new kind of artistic community in 2015, we knew what we would want for ourselves – supportive colleagues, accountability, fair-minded but constructive dialogue about our work – but there was something missing that kept these beginnings from taking a tangible form. In 2019, that missing factor appeared, and it was fearsome.

Covid-19 brought uncertainty and isolation across the planet. Galleries and art schools closed, critique groups and in-person workshops disappeared. But out of this crushing isolation came a new beginning for a virtual arts community, The Enso Circle. Without the isolation of Covid and the resulting accessibility and acceptance of virtual meetings through Zoom and other applications, the Enso Circle would not exist in its present form. Now beginning its fifth term, this Circle has nurtured over 40 international Artists-inResidence and produced four spectacular catalogs of their artwork done while working within the Circle.

In this book of words and images, the Enso Circle artists share their thoughts on beginnings that often come from broken places that are repaired by souls who stitch with gold. -- Lyn Belisle “I am broken beyond repair.

There is no going back to the person I was before.

There is rebirth, rebuilding, reinventing, and soul stitching with gold that needs to happen.”

Najwa Zebian, Sparks of Phoenix

artists FLO BARTELL ANNE L. BOEDECKER ANN BONESTELL GAIL BYRNES SUE CONNER WALLY LAFAIETE ANN LEACH VANESSA MARTIN-LANGONE MARIAN MCKENZIE-CONE INGRID TEGNER HEATHER TINKHAM MICHELLE TRACHTMAN SARAH TREANOR STAN UNSER LYN BELISLE MICHELLE BELTO

FLO BARTELL Reflecting on the power and beauty of the sea, the cool mist I feel and fascinating shapes I watch as the fog rolls in, the soothing rhythm of my torch, and the repetitive motion of my pen are meditative and bring me joy.

“Quiet the mind and the soul will speak.”

– Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati

GIFT Encaustic with ink 10”x10” $200

ANNE L. BOEDECKER Leaving the safety and comfort of the nest is the beginning of growth as an artist. The Enso Circle has provided me with both the aegis and the impetus to take that first flight and dive into new forms of artistic expression. This piece combines botanically-dyed fabric, vintage lace, handmade paper and natural elements to evoke whispers of beauty both ancient and new, beckoning.

“To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest.”

Pema Chodron

BEGINNINGS BOTH ANCIENT AND NEW Vintage fabric and lace on hand-dyed linen NFS

ANN BONESTELL In the beginning of my Enso residency, I spent weeks focused on creating new work space at home so I could return to art making after health challenges had kept me from my “big” studio for too long.

Continuing this Enso residency has been by far the most enriching contribution to my creative practice. I have come to a deep love for this Tribe and for the richness of the ebb and flow we share with one another.

After a lifetime of striving to “keep up” I am learning to slow down, follow the breadcrumbs, and take whatever time it takes for the unfolding. I am full of gratitude for all the pathways that have brought me to this sweet and powerful gathering of souls.

“Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now.”

William Hutchison Murray

FINDING HER TRIBE Mixed Media 6” x 6” NFS

GAIL BYRNES Although I enjoy many forms of creative expression and art making, it always seems to come back to sewing, which was my first love. Recently I was introduced to slow stitching through several classes with Helen Layfield. Slow stitching to me means meditative hand stitching, sometimes following the patterns in the fabric, sometimes meandering into my own patterns. I get lost in the colors and textures created.

This small wall hanging was created using scraps from my large stash, and luscious variegated threads.

“The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul.”

Dieter F. Uchtdorf

HEART AND SOUL Fabric, thread, sari ribbon, ephemera 9 1/2” X 12” $85

SUE CONNER “Hidden Deep But Ever Present” merged my continued passion for depicting the wonders of nature and the surprising, yet serendipitous encounter with the Tao Te Ching, a book of wisdom authored by the Chinese prophet Lao-tzu over 2500 years ago. This marked the beginning of a profound and reflective quest for achieving a way of life that embodies joy, peace, and balance

“Destinations are endpoints. Journeys are learnings, paths of possibilities, blossoming—fresh beginnings.” – Rasheed Ogunlaru

HIDDEN DEEP BUT EVER PRESENT Encaustic, PanPastel, oil stick on MDF panel 8x12 $150

WALLY LAFAIETE This piece has a “new beginnings” meaning to me because my first assemblage art was an altar for an exhibition in 2021.

Old, damaged and discarded items may seem useless to a lot of people but I often see them as an opportunity to ‘reLOVE’ forgotten objects and give them a new meaning, often with a sacred approach.

This form of art expression has taught me to become more aware of my carbon footprint on this beautiful and delicate planet!

“A return to new beginnings where forgotten objects now have a new artistic identity: A Sacred Remanifestation”

THE MEDITATION ALTAR Assemblage Art 24” x 24” x 16” NFS

ANN LEACH We have sewn the seeds of possibility, nurtured the dreams, and are now ready to watch them begin their journey to fulfillment and growth in a season of caring and celebrating that which is within them as they spring forth to bring us all that we desire.

I feel this season currently as I step forward on the path of my second half of life that finds me still creating, still dreaming, and still nurturing the possibilities within me. I look forward to all that is even now growing and springing forth for my good!

Every blade of grass has its angel that bends over it and whispers “Grow, grow!” The Talmud

GROW Fabric and clay on sticks 9” X 16” From the collection of Dianna Graddy

VANESSA MARTIN-LANGONE Beginnings and endings border on each other. Sometimes they overlap. Then there’s the ambiguous grey area of “in between” the beginning and the end.

There’s a lot that can happen in that space. Our eyes open, our senses alert, we breathe, we shed, we feel the truth in our solar plexus. We move forward into the newness of beginning, surrendering and hopeful in this present moment of vulnerability.

Intuition has been my lifelong guide and it has never failed me yet.

AND SO IT IS Oil on canvas 6” x 8” x 1.5” $500

MARIAN MCKENZIE-CONE Be You: A piece born out of loss of special people in my life, five in five months. The piece reflects on life and the impermanence of all things. The birds nest abandoned after protecting and giving life, the monarch butterflies who are fleeting and pansies which represent my Mothers love for us as individuals and collectively as family. Be You, make the most of all our days and take time to reflect on the beautiful memories we carry in our hearts for ever.

“There is no need to run outside For better seeing, Nor to peer from a window.

Rather abide At the center of your being; For the more you leave it, the less you learn. Search your heart and see If he is wise who takes each turn: The way to do is to be”. Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

BE YOU Wax, Photo and Pastel on board 8”x 8” NFS

INGRID TEGNER Fallow: land left unseeded after plowing to restore its fertility; a period where nothing seems to be happening. This has been a time for me of letting the creative soil rest. A time of less exploration and more integration. This work is part of a new series based on looking at how nature restores us.

“Connections are made slowly, sometimes they grow underground. You cannot tell always by looking what is happening.”

-Marge Piercy from the poem, Seven of Pentacles

EMERGING INTO NEW LIGHT Encaustic and handmade paper on cradled panel 6” x 6’ $150

HEATHER TINKHAM Be our circle 2, 5, 10 or more, including perhaps even younger versions of our selves.

When we start, it is dark, uncertain, and there is much to learn.

If we dare to open to the circle, to reflect, to be vulnerable, to share the journey, that wee beginning shifts.

Others have trod this path, are on one themselves, and join arms with us to lend their strength and support.

Our start merges with the middles and ends of those around us, and transforms from a place of fears to one of exploration and community.

Our tender limbs and roots, cast forth into the unknown, become wrapped with experiences, support, and care.

If we let it. If we let ourselves be vulnerable. If we open, and reach out, and gather close.

Beginning becomes Being.

The circle has healing power.

In the Circle we are all equal. When in the Circle, no one is in front of you.

No one is behind you. No one is above you. No one is below you.

The Sacred Circle is designed to create unity.”

—DAVE CHIEF, OGLALA LAKOTA

Beginning Within The Circle Fiber 12x12x18 In progress work

MICHELLE TRACHTMAN Beginnings mean different things to different people. Does beginning mean to start something new or does a new beginning start when something else ends? That’s the question I pondered while preparing this piece. Because it’s a different style for me is it a beginning of a new way of doing art? Or because I thought about it for so long is it no longer a beginning??? Does a beginning mean a first? Who decides what constitutes beginning? Does beginning require creativity and innovation. “Creativity is intelligence having fun” Albert Einstein So many questions to ponder so….. I decided to just begin! And don’t even get me started on finishing!!

”Have no fear of perfection, you’ll never reach it” Salvador Dali

FIRST MARKS Mat board, tinted gesso, Khadi paper, black embroidery floss 11 x 14 NFS

SARAH TREANOR This piece is a glimpse into uncharted lands for me... a place of combining the old with the new. Made from a delicate eco-print with encaustic wax, tucked inside a ceramic box, it brought a childlike sense of wonder to create.

This small piece honors the moments of beginnings in nature and ourselves, and the way in which the seeds of life become infinitely grand and connected to all things over time. It all begins here.

“Everything is so inseparably united. As soon as one begins to describe a flower or a tree or a storm or an Indian a chipmunk, up jumps the whole heavens and earth and God Himself in one inseparable glory!”

- John Muir

ALL THE UNIVERSE Encaustic, eco print, and ceramic 3.5” x 3.5” NFS

STAN UNSER My unfilled expectation was to further explore encaustics use and I designed a work for this after seeing a Jasper John show at the Whitney Museum in New York City. I also learned about printing on silk for use in encaustics and wondered if chalk paint would work as a base for wax on canvas. My “Beginning” contribution is a trial run using wax over a silk print on top of chalk paint on a canvas substrate. It worked!

IT WORKED Photo transfer, chalk paint, beeswax, printed silk 9” x 12” NFS

LYN BELISLE ENSO CIRCLE CO-FOUNDER

These two figures were the first in a series called Gatherers. I thought I was ready to end the series, but am rapidly coming to realize that this is just the beginning of an exploration of ways I can use all of my beloved media – fiber, wax, clay and paper – to creature small figures which reflect life’s passages. Nuances discovered in the process of building these figures – the twist of a branch, the tilt of a head – can endlessly change the meaning and perception. Endings can change to beginnings with just one new glance at a familiar object, revealing at an unexpected open path.

Dreamed some rain so I could sleep.

Dreamed the wind left handed so I could part its mane and enter the dance that carries the living, the dead, and the unborn in one momentum through the trillion gates.

--From the poem My Clothes Lie Folded for the Journey by Li-Young Lee

MICHELLE BELTO

ENSO CIRCLE CO-FOUNDER

There is something about small steps that allows for large leaps. This encaustic collage is part of a series of “Words on Wax” paintings that have become my daily studio practice during the Enso Circle summer break.

“Destinations are endpoints. Journeys are learnings, paths of possibilities, blossoming—fresh beginnings.” – Rasheed Ogunlaru

EVERY SINGLE MORNING collage, mixed media, encaustic on cradled panel 8” x 8” $110

CONTACT THE ARTISTS FLO BARTELL Flo.bartell@gmail.com www.flobartell.com

VANESSA MARTIN-LANGONE Instagram @vmlwOrks MARIAN MCKENZIE-CONE marian@planetnz.com

ANNE L. BOEDECKER annelboedecker@yahoo.com www.arthealsthesoul.com

INGRID TEGNER ingridtegner@gmail.com www.ingridtegner.com

ANN BONESTELL abonestell@gmail.com BonestellStudios.com

HEATHER TINKHAM heather@tiglioarts.com Tiglioarts.com

GAIL BYRNES gailbyrnes@gmail.com harmoniahealingarts.com SUE CONNER runbalance@gmail.com www.sueconnerartist.com WALLY LAFAIETE waldinei@hotmail.com www.creativesparks.art ANN LEACH ann@AnnLeach.com www.annleach.com

MICHELLE TRACHTMAN michelle.trachtman@gmail.com SARAH TREANOR sarah@streanor.com streanor.com STAN UNSER stanunser@aol.com stanunser.com LYN BELISLE lyn@lynbelisle.com www.lynbelisle.com MICHELLE BELTO michellle@michellebelto.com www.michellebelto.com

“At the sight of the notebooks lined up in the window I feel the same flurry of anticipation for clean pages, fresh ink and new beginnings. If only I could crack myself open like a new book, and know that there were hundreds of blank pages waiting to be filled.”

Maryam Diener, Beyond Black There Is No Colour: The Story of Forough Farrokhzad

A PUBLICATION OF THE ENSO CIRCLE WWW.THEENSOCIRCLE.COM