Overstory Connections

Cynthia Reynolds / Bobbette Rose / Betsy Delzer

Overstory: the top foliage from multiple trees that combine to create an overhang or canopy under which people can walk or sit.

We each come to this moment with our own histories, some of it leading us forward, some of it pressing us down. We all have lived together through this pandemic from within our own silos, often divided, frustrated and fighting down fear.

How do we move forward to the future? How do we live towards something different? How do we seed and sow hope into our personal and communal ground?

Cynthia, Bobbette and Betsy are artists, long-time friends and co-collaborators in a number of art projects.

The Words:
We put out an open call to our friends, family and community to think of words that bring hope rather than despair. Words that speak beyond our fears…beyond our division…beyond our frustration. We wrote them out and hung them through the branches as small prayer flags, hopes, blessings and wishes speaking over us, speaking over the land.

The Pockets:
Pockets are a useful part of clothing. Conveniently close to our skin, our body, they travel with us and carry things. They go wherever we go keeping the things we entrust to them safe. They are personal, private, sometimes hidden. We don’t let just anyone put their hand in our pocket. It’s our small portable sanctuary for the precious, the personal, the poetic.

Here in the woods in the open air and under the trees, these pockets invite you in. They are meant to be filled with whatever you find close to your feet where you stand. They invite you to connect with them by leaving some small token. And they welcome you to reach in to their sacred space and take what you find there.

You might find a rock, a stick that was held and imbued with a wish or a sigh or a prayer. Yours to take and if you give something in return, all the better. Reach in and connect with this space, these pockets and the treasures you find them holding.

Connection
by Cynthia Reynolds

We stand in the open air
here where we connect with leaves and grass
and old, old wood

we reach and receive
we reach and give

we tuck our treasures in pockets
we tuck our hearts there too

here, beneath the trees
distance has no power
over what we want to say
to each other

our eyes connect with words
our hands touch the rough bark,
the soft wind
the dirt beneath the soles of our feet
the soul of our being
connects with everything
with you with me with everything

this is the overstory
the trees reaching and growing
touching the sky,
waving at each each other
caressing each other as they lean in
to renewal year after year

this is our overstory too
we reach
to the sky
to the earth
to each other
we grow
and lean in
to renewal
year after year
patting our pockets
full of gratitude

Connect with me.
Connect with you.
Connect us.

The Materials:
The words are written on 100% cotton fabric using sumi ink. Then water color dyes were sprayed on the fabric. Finally, each piece was dipped in beeswax to help the fabric become more translucent and resilient to the weather. It was strung through the trees using natural twine.

The pockets are made with linen and organic cotton material. They are printed with leaves from the surrounding trees and hand-carved stamps using sumi ink (biodegradable, permanent ink). Hung with natural twine.

Cynthia Reynolds is primarily a textile artist. The Farley Center inspires her into combining her passion for textiles with her love for nature. This is her fourth installation at the Farley Center.

Bobbette Rose is a mixed-media artist who is greatly inspired by the rhythms and mysteries revealed through nature and the environment. She is the Arts Coordinator for the Farley Center. This is the fifth land art installation exhibit she has organized for the Farley Center. https://bobbetterose.com/

Betsy Delzer is a mixed-media artist and has been an art educator in Middleton Public Schools. She has led workshops for all ages in a variety of media including art journaling, collage, and painting. This is her fifth installation at the Farley Center.