Jeanne Dowd Cohen--Brighid the Flame

Category: Wall Hanging.
Brighid was created using sculptural peyote and ruffle stitch.

I have recently made the transition from working with clay to beads. For 10 years I had created hand carved clay vessels and embellished them with colored anodized metal and beads. During the past few years I have had to reevaluate my artistic goals due to reoccuring back problems. Here I was at a crossroad not knowing where to go. I found working with beads gave me a lot of pleasure. I also started seeing a lot of beautiful three-dimensional work being done by other bead artists. This intrigued me, so I decided to take a couple of workshops. Needless to say it had its many challenges. I accidently cut into my first amulet bag and not knowing how to repair it decided to cut it apart and redesigned a freeform peyote piece. I discovered I liked the texture of it and was amazed at what you could do with the stitch. Now I was hooked.

I was inspired to give the 2nd Delica Challenge a try after seeing "Ocean Artisan" by Jane Davis from the 1st Delica Challenge. It was on display at Creative Castle, in Newbury Park. It was incredible to see it in person. The other motivating factor was the theme of Myths and Folktales of the World.

I have always been interested in Celtic folklore and Mythology and being that my grandparents were from Ireland I decided to choose the Celtic Goddess, Brighid. She is known as the Triple Goddess, ruling over the domain of fire, smithcraft, and healing. Brighid is the daughter of the mighty De Dannan God, Dagda, who is known as the "Good God." They say that when she was born a fire came out of the top of her head that reached all the way to heaven. The flame was so large and bright that the neighboring villages thought her house was on fire. The Druids held her in honor as a torchbearer of the eternal light, the Daughter of the Morning. Brighid had an exclusive female priesthood at Kildare, that tended an everburning sacred fire. The elements of fire binds all her domain together: the fire of the hearth, the flame of the forge, and the spark of poetic inspiration. She is the matron of poets, seers, hearth fire and sacred wells.

I was inspired to bead around Diane Briegleb's Ceramic face. Her face constantly guided me every step of the way. This piece was done in a sculptural peyote and ruffle stich. The work was a labor of love and defintely taught me a lesson in patience. At times, I was so focused on doing my piece that I didn't realize the needle had gone through my finger until my daughter told me and then when I saw it I realized ouch this hurts. During this beading journey I learned a lot about myself and the challenges that come with creating such a piece. I truly believe I was divenely guided in creating this work. When I was in New Mexico, I happen to come across this beautiful piece of copper, which I mounted her on. This Delica Challenge produced my piece, entitled "Brighid the Flame".

Since creating this piece I have had the opportunity to visit Ireland and see my Grandfather's house. It was an incredible experience to visit his house where he was born and to meet some of the family. My father never got a chance to go over and see his father's homeland and the journey over there was both for myself as well as for him. I felt his spirit with me the entire trip. I was given the opportunity to visit one of Brighid's Sacred Wells, which was a wonderful experience. Inside the well on the walls there are pictures of people and statues. People came here to be healed and offer prayers and intentions for others to be healed. Strips of cloth and ribbons are tied onto the vines that grow from the walls. From my understanding, for a healing one takes one of the strips that hang from the vines and replaces it with a ribbon or cloth that they have brought. At the end, there is water that trickles from the rocks. Being at this site was very powerful and I drank from the well.
It was the purest water I have ever drank. I felt at that moment I had come full circle.

Here are some websites I found interesting on Brighid:

Brighid Links
http://members.fortunecity.com/ton_cher/blinks.html

Sanctuary of Brighid
www.webcoves.org/brighid.html

Words of Wisdom

Take many workshops on beading. Learn the basics and then be inspired to put your own creative spirit on your pieces.

Be inspired by other artists, but don't feel intimidated by their work. We all have the capacity to create beautiful and unique pieces of art work with our own style and creative flair.

Let your creative spirit guide you.

Do not be afraid to make mistakes, it might be an opportunity to redesign and create a beautiful piece of art work.

Don't be afraid of Change. Change can take you through some exciting adventures and open up infinite possibilites.

Have Fun--Have Faith--Honor your Creative Spirit

Jeanne