Let's Revive the Prayer Flag Project!
Over the past few years I have increasingly been adding fabric and stitching to my mixed media collages and books. Lately I have been working exclusively with fabric and threads. I am enjoying the tactile quality. My fingers touch the materials directly, creating a stronger sense of connection and maybe even communication. Painting, drawing and collage need a mediator between me and the surface – a brush, a pencil, an applicator for the glue.
Slow stitching has become a popular concept in recent years and I understand why. There are many reasons:
a low tech process that can be done anywhere with very little, if any, new investment in materials.
it is practical. We can mend frayed edges, holes in our clothes, and replace missing buttons rather than throwing the garments away.
it can connect us to the past. Often memories of our mothers, grandmothers, aunts and others come to mind.
the process of stitching by hand slows us down and gives us time to think. It can be a contemplative, prayerful, mindfulness practice.
I recently bought books by Mandy Patullo. They have inspired me to create hand stitched fabric collages. Wanting a cohesive idea for a series, I thought about creating one piece a month with colors representative of the season. Then the idea of the Prayer Flag Project came to mind. I remember reading about it years ago in Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine. I saved the article, so pulled it out to read again. You can read it online here. I looked online to see if the project is still going but it doesn’t look like it. That’s when I thought that it may be a good time to revive the project and build some community too.
The Prayer Flag Project was the idea of Vivika Hansen DeNegre. She began the project in June of 2011. As far as I can tell, it lasted until 2016.
The idea was inspired by the prayer flags of Tibetan monks. The idea is to embed prayers into the cloth and hang it outside so that the wind can carry and spread the prayers. Such a wonderful concept!
As I’ve been creating January’s flag, I am reconnecting with my younger self, my grandmother and great grandmother. I plan to write about what comes up as I engage in this practice during 2024.
As I stitch and thoughts arise, I offer prayers, hopes and dreams for healing, growth, and blessings. As I stitch I imagine this flag hanging in my garden. I know that over time the fabric will be transformed by the weather. I imagine this act of offering beauty, peace, hope and love, in their mysterious way, transforming some of the pain that exists both within and without.
Would you like to join me? Let’s revive the Prayer Flag Project together. Here’s how you can participate:
Decide how much time you want to devote to the project.
Gather the materials you want to use.
Begin. No special skills are needed and you will develop them as you go.
Share that you are doing the project with your friends and invite them to join you.
I will be posting on Instagram with the hashtag #prayerflagproject2024. If you are on Instagram, post your photos and use that hashtag. Also tag me in your description @vibrantgrowtharts so I can see and share your posts.
I set up a collaborative board on Pinterest. You can share your work there. Here’s the link.
Join any time in 2024.
Any questions can be sent to me at vibrantgrowtharts@gmail.com