My altar from last year titled “Illumination”
Celebration Circle’s annual invitational event, One People, Many Paths: The Sacred Art of Altars, is a personal favorite. It’s a challenge to take one of 50 plain wooden boxes and transform it into a personal artistic statement with meaning, maybe some humor, and a visual appeal that will encourage people to bid on it to benefit this very cool group of spiritual creatives. Last year’s altars show the amazing variety of artful offerings.
My altar for this year started with some eggs from the next-door neighbor’s chickens. I loved their shape and texture, plus there’s always the notion of what will hatch. When my friend Zippy found a nest that seemed made for the altar box, it started to come together. Want to see? Here’s how I made my altar titled “Brood, Hatch, Fly.”
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- Gather a few eggs, and blow out the contents (scramble and eat contents)
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- Make a face to peek through the found bird’s nest
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- Begin to arrange the eggs in the nest
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- Add some feathers from a feather-duster
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- Drill and attach a sheet of plexiglass to protect the nest
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- Attach a wooden figure on top of the box to help hatch the eggs
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- Play with the arrangement
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- Build and attach some feather wings
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- Check out the effect – perfecto!
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- Add some feathers and a key for extra meaning and mystery
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- Add wall hanger and see if it works
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- It does! Presenting the 2015 altar, “Brood, Hatch, Fly”
Lyn Belisle “Brood, Hatch, Fly – wood, earthenware, plexiglass, found objects
Here is the quote that inspired “Brood, Hatch, Fly”:
“It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.” C.S. Lewis
You can see all of the Celebration Circle altars (and bid on them) at the Santikos Bijou Theater in Wonderland Mall from September 1 – 30, 2015. Now go hatch and fly.
Absolutely amazing! I love the whole concept of the Brood, Hatch, Fly Altar–what a wonderful quote from C.S. Lewis.
Katie, you are good for my soul! Thanks so much – I was happy with it and so glad you like it too.
Oh, Lyn, youve outdone yourself again! What a beautiful & inspiring this piece is!
Thank you, Gloria – I’m starting to really love three-dimensional pieces. Perhaps we should do an altar workshop!! That might be fun.
Oh, Yes! Definitely! Took Zinnia’s shrine making course years ago. Loved it & would certainly be up for another round!