As I walked down the alley I found this piece of chamois. It was oil-stained.
                    Later I cut it down into a square and hand-stitched embroidery thread
                    along its edge. Then I mounted the square on an inverted Pizza Hut sauce cup,
                    beneath the squashed plastic Dr. Pepper soda bottle (above). A mooshed
                    grocery bag, covered with red acrylic paint, created the ridges that cradle
                    a most precious find. The fine mesh of a potato sack gives it the finishing touch.
                  
                   The city of Carrollton, Missouri is a most precious find.
                   .......this retrieved oil rag has been renamed "My Beloved One"
                   .......once tossed aside as useless, she has been reclaimed by a king.
                   .......through no effort on her part....in the eyes of another she is an object of beauty
                   .......like a breathing canvas -  the One who paints on her takes delight
                   in his timing, his technique, his boldness, his persistence.

                   She gives herself to the Beautiful Fire.
                   She dances with the chromosone...with dancing feet before his throne.
                   History is re-worked. Outsiders are included. A Vision from the Past is a Oracle
                   for our Future. A song of wonder rises from her lips:

                   how can you still love me?                 how can you still want me?
                   how can you still love me?                 how can you still want me?
                   you have seen me even when           i have turned a deafened ear
                   i don't want you to and then               and said words you don't want to hear
                   somehow you still love me                 and somehow you still want me

                   sometimes you amaze me                  oh yeah, Lord, i love You
                   sometimes your spirit slays me          and, Lord, i'm singing of You
                   there is nothing i could be                  i know it don't always show
                   that could turn your love from me       but right here now i'm going to let You know
                   sometimes you amaze me                  that, Lord, i love You     
                                                                                                      ( lyrics from lost and found, 1998 )

                 

Beautiful Fire

             So phat becomes
                                                                pretty
                                                                hot
                                                                and
                                                                tempting
          the music, the art, the gathering of kids, the popcorn, the buzz, the artists,
                  the collages, the mural, the singing, the laughing, the dream of three, the pitchfork birds,
                  the balsa wood carvings, the electric guitars, the loud speakers, the flatbed
                  on the courthouse lawn, the streamers, the marching, the banners, blessing the city streets,
                  join cities around the world with songs and words of blessing one day each year,
                  the cappucino, the human videos, the smiles, and
                                                      the emotion was all about
                                                                the Sender.
                                                       the One who is coming,
                                                             who is the Wow,
                                                             who is the More,
                                                             who is the Lover,
                                                    who breaks old hearts apart
                                                    and makes them yearn for him,
                                                                burn for him,
                                                   with wet kisses again and again.

                                                
                                          "Beautiful Fire"  17" h x 11" w   mixed media 1998

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A Message To The Artists--- a dream interpretation of the film Pleasantville