After many months away, I am somewhat ambivalently trying to reenter the blog world. I feel sure I am not the only one who asks the question, “Is there anything I need, or even particularly want to say?” This is my excuse or rationale for posting so infrequently. On the other hand, I have thought it might be somewhat enjoyable for me and perhaps for the person who happens to land here, to post some visual stuff, with a little commentary. Blocks of black type on the computer put me to sleep–reading them or writing them. If our blogs were lifted out of those visually r e p e t i t i v e and m o n o t o n o u s boxes, illuminated (decorated? brought into the light), written in COLORS in a variety of fonts and sizes, I believe it would be a different and much more interesting/compelling/engaging story.
One of the ways I have found to break out of the box is writing, drawing, and illuminating text with multi-colored threads. Having worked at memorizing scripture, including the Psalms, most of my life, I have a distinct sense that they are physically imbedded in my body. So in my way of thinking, it makes sense to render that inner reality in some visible, tangible form. The embroidery below is one of several of Psalm texts with which I have engaged in my hobby–exploring historical traditions in embroidery while recasting them according to my personal artistic ability and sensibility. The Book of Psalms has become my designated arena. I hope that this give and take between the craft, the text, and my personal experience of them may perhaps serve others to bring the Psalms into a form that more truly conveys their timeless spiritual gifts than what is possible through the undifferentiated blocks of black and white in just about any Bible available post-Gutenberg.
This piece is done on an open-weave linen using drawn and pulled thread embroidery with cotton stranded floss, with cross stitch letters varying somewhat in tonality to emphasize certain words. My alphabets are usually, of necessity, my own design, or modifications of the nearest thing I can find to fit the constraints of the thread count and length of the quotation. I nearly always end up liking my version better. Designing the letters and arranging the text in the space is usually the biggest technical challenge in these pieces.
I have recently uncovered a fascinating, engaging and beautiful book that has given a sort of authenticated coherence to an assortment of my practices and inclinations that I had only vaguely sensed were not purely random and and idiocentric. The writer/designer of Goodbye Gutenberg is Valerie Kirschenbaum, a teacher in an inner-city New York high school. Her bold postulations–considered by critics alternately regressive or outrageous–somehow lend validity to my own precious compulsion to transcribe large excerpts from what I read through my own hand into journals–a way of owning and incarnating the text. I have at times, used different colors of ink to differentiate various aspects of the text according to a variety of criteria. This may change based on such factors as running out of a color or starting a new journal. It often happens, in this process, that the unbidden resonances stirred up in the juxtaposition of various “unrelated” texts I am reading shows them to be, after all, profoundly related to each other, and to what is going on in my life at the moment. I don’t consider this experience unique to me, but still, always a source of great wonder. When I feel more playful, I enjoy transcribing the words into shapes (other than rectangles of consecutive horizontal lines) to find and show relationships that are not necessarily apparent in the printed text. The process of transcription is above all one of discovery.
And another thing Kirschenbaum’s eye-opening treatise has helped me articulate is the underlying impetus for my unrelenting desire to draw, paint (watercolor) and stitch these Psalms, in a way that reflects their incarnational nature and purpose and helps make it possible to stand in that reality. I believe and firmly hold that understanding/knowing the Psalms is increasingly possible when we experience the word in the most palpable physical way–with our senses, hearing them, seeing them–breathing their incense, tasting their “finest of the wheat”, which reading black and white text alone can never provide.
If you get hold of Ms. Kirschenbaum’s book (see at Amazon.com), you will be treated to an amazing sampler of pre-Gutenberg delights–including illuminated manuscripts from all over the world and history. You may even, as I am, begin imagining where the colors might be in what you read, and wondering why, in a time when color printing is no longer technologically complicated or prohibitively expensive, we continue to settle for the default and endless black and white rectangles of type, which hold sovereign sway on our bookshelves and in our consciousness.
I just bought my own copy of Goodbye Gutenberg, Global Renaissance Society, LLC, New York 2005, for $.01 + shipping. It is hardcover, 400+ pages, mostly in unabashed COLOR.
Speaking of which, Please forgive these very black and white rectangles, which I am not blog-savvy or financially able to circumvent at this time. If I continue to write here on a regular basis I may invest in some program which will give me more sovereignty over the shape and color of my posts. In the meantime, I’m determined to learn the available techniques for making my blog more visually engaging with photos, drawing, etc. If you like it, let me know. If you have any help to offer, please do.
Martha Jane, to change the look of your blog, thy the “appearance” section of your WordPress dashboard. Mine is on the right column.
It may not be exactly what you’re looking for, but it’s a place to start.
Have you thought about adding some videos to the article? I think it might enhance everyones understanding.
Have you given any kind of thought at all with converting your website in to German? I know a couple of translaters right here that will would help you do it for no cost if you wanna get in touch with me.
Most of the opinions on this particular weblog dont make sense.
Jesus Christ theres lots of spammy feedback on this page. Have you ever believed about trying to eliminate them or installing a wordpress plugin?
How come you dont have your website viewable in mobile format? Can not view anything in my phone.
Virtually all of the comments on this blog page dont make sense.
Please message me with a few pointers about how you made this blog site look like this , I would be thankful!
When I open up your Feed it appears to be a lot of nonsense, is the problem on my part?
An insightful post right there mate ! Thank you for the post !
Wanted to drop a remark and let you know your Feed isnt functioning today. I tried including it to my Yahoo reader account and got nothing.
I like that site layout ! How did you make it. Its really sweet!
It looks to me that this website doesnt load up on a Motorola Droid. Are other people getting the same problem? I like this website and dont want to have to skip it any time Im away from my computer.
An interesting post right there mate ! Cheers for the post .
Whilst I actually like this post, I believe there was an punctuational error close towards the end from the 3rd paragraph.
Have you given any kind of consideration at all with translating your main site into German? I know a couple of of translaters here that would certainly help you do it for free if you wanna make contact with me personally.
I adore the blog layout ! How did you make it!? It is very nice!
Dude. This blog site is awesome. How did you make it look like this !?
Nice post . Thank you for, posting on my blog dude! I shall message you soon! I didnt know that!
Re: Whoever created the statement that this was a great website genuinely needs to possess their head looked at.
I believe that one of your current advertisements initiated my internet browser to resize, you may well need to set that on your blacklist.
I Will have to visit again when my course load lets up – nonetheless I am getting your Rss feed so i can read your internet site offline. Cheers.
I have got one recommendation for your site. It seems like there are a handful of cascading stylesheet problems when opening a selection of web pages in google chrome as well as internet explorer. It is working fine in internet explorer. Probably you can double check that.
When I at first commented I clicked on the Notify me any time new comments are added checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get 4 emails with the identical comment.
I experimented with looking at your website in my ipod touch and the design does not seem to be correct. Might wanna check it out on WAP as well as it seems most mobile phone layouts are not working with your website.
Re: Whoever created the comment that this was a good website actually needs to possess their head analyzed.
This website is really cool. How can I make one like this !?
Nearly all of the opinions on this blog site dont make sense.
Can you email me with a few hints about how you made your website look like this , I would appreciate it.
Weird , your post turns up with a dark color to it, what shade is the primary color on your site?
If you could message me with some hints & tips on how you made your website look this cool , Id appreciate it.
It appears to me that this website doesnt load on a Motorola Droid. Are other folks having the same issue? I enjoy this website and dont want to have to skip it when Im away from my computer.
Awesome post ! Thanks for, writing on my blog man. Ill message you soon! I did not realise that!
A insightful post right there mate . Thanks for it .
Fantastic Stuff, do you currently have a bebo account?
The design for your blog is a bit off in Epiphany. Nevertheless I like your weblog. I may have to use a normal browser just to enjoy it.
Im having a teeny issue. I cant get my reader to pickup your rss feed, Im using msn reader by the way.
I have got one recommendation for your site. It looks like there are a number of cascading stylesheet issues when opening a number of webpages inside google chrome and opera. It is working fine in internet explorer. Probably you can double check that.
This site has got lots of extremely useful info on it. Thank you for helping me.
Whenever I initially commented I clicked on the Notify me any time new comments are added checkbox and now each and every time a comment is added I receive four messages with the exact same comment.
Can you email me with some hints on how you made your blog look this awesome , Id appreciate it.
Have you considered adding several social bookmarking links to these blogs. At the very least for flickr.
Many of the opinions on this blog page dont make sense.
Jesus Christ there is lots of spammy feedback on this site. Have you ever believed about trying to eliminate them or installing a plugin?
It seems to me that this site doesnt load in a Motorola Droid. Are other folks getting the same problem? I enjoy this web site and dont want to have to skip it any time Im gone from my computer.
I have got 1 idea for your web page. It seems like right now there are a handful of cascading stylesheet issues when opening a number of web pages inside google chrome as well as safari. It is operating fine in internet explorer. Possibly you can double check this.
Dude. This blog is amazing! How did you make it look like this !?
How do you make your blog site look this cool! Email me if you want and share your wisdom. Id appreciate it!
I have got one suggestion for your site. It appears like there are a few cascading stylesheet troubles while launching a selection of webpages within google chrome as well as opera. It is operating okay in internet explorer. Possibly you can double check that.
Ce sa nu faci in promovarea site-ului online
Hmm it seems like your blog ate my first comment (it was super long) so I guess I’ll just sum it up what I had written and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog.
I too am an aspiring blog writer but I’m still new to the whole thing. Do you have any helpful hints for newbie blog writers? I’d genuinely appreciate it.
At this time I am ready to do my breakfast,
afterward having my breakfast coming over again to read further news.
Amazing things here. I’m very happy to look your post. Thanks a lot and I am taking a look ahead to contact you. Will you kindly drop me a e-mail?
I every time emailed this weblog post page to all my associates, as if like to
read it then my links will too.
I hardly write comments, but i did some searching
and wound up here Writing out of the Box | Highways in the Heart.
And I actually do have a couple of questions for you if it’s allright. Could it be only me or does it give the impression like a few of these remarks come across as if they are coming from brain dead folks? 😛 And, if you are writing on additional online social sites, I’d like to keep up with anything fresh you have to post.
Would you list of all of all your public sites like your twitter
feed, Facebook page or linkedin profile?
Hi there outstanding blog! Does running a blog such as this
require a massive amount work? I’ve absolutely no knowledge of programming however I was hoping to start my own blog in the near future. Anyway, if you have any recommendations or tips for new blog owners please share. I understand this is off topic nevertheless I just wanted to ask. Kudos!
Outstanding story there. What occurred after? Thanks!
Fine way of describing, and good paragraph to
obtain facts on the topic of my presentation subject matter,
which i am going to convey in university.
It’s going to be ending of mine day, but before end I am reading this enormous piece of writing to improve my knowledge.
It’s going to be ending of mine day, however before end I am reading this enormous post to increase my knowledge.
Fastidious respond in return of this matter with firm arguments and explaining the whole thing
concerning that.
Nice weblog here! Also your site a lot up fast!
What host are you using? Can I am getting your affiliate link in your host?
I wish my website loaded up as fast as yours lol
I know this web site gives quality based articles or reviews and other information, is there any other site which provides these
kinds of information in quality?
I do not even know how I ended up here, but I believed this put
up used to be good. I don’t recognise who you might be but certainly you’re going to a
famous blogger in case you aren’t already. Cheers!
Pretty! This has been a really wonderful article.
Many thanks for providing this info.
WOW just what I was looking for. Came here by searching for monumental life insurance indianapolis in
We have been in business for almost 20 years,
and believe in making products that really work. If your perception
of a washroom is merely a usable space you can do your renovation with just a little work
like replacing worn-out or broken fixtures and a fresh coat of paint.
The millions of viewers who religiously watch HGTV learn
different monetary savings, remodeling shortcuts,
and instructional methods to modernize homes.
It is because the muscles in your body are still warm and
supple, thus less prone to injuries. The emphasis on protein sounds like the popular Atkin’s
Diet. Reason #5: By Using the Large Muscles of the Legs, A Treadmill Is Helps You Burn MAJOR FAT Calories.
Hi! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any trouble with hackers?
My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and I ended up losing months of hard
work due to no backup. Do you have any methods to prevent hackers?
This page truly has all the information I wanted concerning this subject and didn’t know who
to ask.