Spring is here ... Leaves are growing!

Sometimes it's tough to put into words how we feel about things that are important to us. Making art can help ... clearing space for relationships (even without words) and movement beyond the stuck places in our lives. On the first Sunday of spring, 26 people gathered to make their own unique contributions to our community mosaic tree.

Laughs, tears, questions and answers were shared as families, couples, singles, elders, parents, teens, and young children all shared their thoughts, feelings, intentions, and creativity while contemplating what matters most to them.

Here's just one snippet of the wisdom we heard throughout the day ...

One of the young people shared about his creation, "Escaping the Wall -- If people can't come into our country we won't be able to be friends with different kinds of people." When asked how he felt about that, he seemed surprised and immediately replied, as if we should know the answer. "Sad," he said, with a downward gaze and slumped shoulders, his disappointment evident to us all.

Couldn't have done it with such ease and flow without our faithful support team!

We welcome you to join us at our next gathering: Sunday, April 23 or Saturday, May 20 at 1:30 (support team at 1:00). Send us an email to mosaicswithmeaning at gmail dot com if you have questions or imagine you'd like to be a part of the Spring bloom. (Wrote that email address in a weird way to avoid spammers)

Creative Co-Conspirators

We haven't said much about ourselves before now and we had a reason. For us, this project is about all the people who are coming together to create and to share what they care about. We envision this tree rooted in our community as a symbol of our ability to co-create with care and respect for one another and for what we value. And, as this project moves out beyond our circle of family, close friends, neighbors, and colleagues, people want to know ... who's behind this project? So here's a snapshot.

Julie Norton is an artist and lover of life with an incredibly magical gift of combining images with her trusty sidekick, her iPad. And she's committed to supporting endeavors that spark her passions - like this project. She's a teacher of teachers in the area of social and emotional well-being, ever committed to learning as she has helped schools be a bit more fun, supportive, and healing for everyone involved. Benefiting from the gifts of mindfulness practice, a wonderful husband and two beloved cats, along with a circle of faithful, supportive friends and family, she lives life filled with gratitude and awe for each moment. In her interactions with others, she leads with playfulness, sensitivity, curiosity, and kindness. She is such a fun playmate!

Christine Evans is an expressive arts facilitator and mosaic artist in this "season" of life. She shares with others her passions for the mystery and magic of the creative process, mindfulness practices, and healthy living in mind, body and spirit. Few things bring her more joy than seeing others filled with the excitement of creating, especially when it is joined with the gift of expressing one's inner experiences and the surprise of meaning-making as a result. Her generosity, care for the well-being of others, and excitability are evident in her ways of being in the world. Be careful, it can be contagious!

Grateful for Community

Special thanks to Christi, Susan, Silvia, Cynthia and Carli for your help at our last leaf-making day.

* making and distributing thin-set












* cutting tessera pieces to just the right size

* translating materials











* greeting visitors and answering questions about the project







* helping out with young ones






All made for a smooth day of 10 more people creating leaves on our community tree.

With only 161 leaves to go, we're excited to see who will join us at our next community event on March 26, at 9:30 or 1:30 start times. So eager to see what they'll create as a symbol for what they care about. If you'd like to join please email us at mosaicswithmeaning@gmail.com.

Treasure Box

On Friday, Nick opens the door, nearly singing with delight, “Christine, someone left you a present!” Indeed, a mystery friend left an entire box of beautiful treasures, with the simple note, “Do you have any use for these?” Christine cupped each item in her hands. She exclaimed, “Look at this! It’s so beautiful…. (deep breath and gleeful noise) I can’t even imagine breaking it!” Body wiggling. A deep sigh of delight. 

We stood together honoring the treasures with reverence: the artistry of the red bowl, the blue vessel, a mug with variegated colors and textured edges, a box full of delights including a rose quartz heart-shaped stone. We noted the blue vessel could be a holder for colored pencils and pens. It could be so many things. We noticed the fracture, sharing a guess as to why the owner was ready to part with this item that we were all admiring. And the guessing began, "I wonder who this is from. Is this from Robin?"

This box of goodies was gifted to Christine because her friends and neighbors know that she transforms broken treasures into whole pieces of beauty and is inviting the community to join us in this project. 

We hope this project ... and its unfolding ... of people coming together to share their cares … will bring us all unexpected presents and presence, in a time of personal and national turmoil. Yes, it was you ... thank you, Robin, for your generous donation to this project. 

Side note: Hello Mosaics with Meaning (MWM) Community. If you have a very special broken plate or mug we welcome your donations. And Christine assures us that we're in very good shape with a wide selection of ceramics pieces. 

Thank You Taylor Farms

What a surprise to hear Taylor Farms' enthusiasm
and willingness to support our project. They donated
recycled plastic containers perfect for sorting our tessera! 

We couldn't be more delighted and grateful for their generosity -
sending what we needed and more.
We are looking forward to sharing them with others
who might be interested in starting their own community tree!

Check out our new containers... ready for action.