The poetry of what remains

And a recipe to make paint from it

Dried cosmos, coreopsis, chamomile, black eyed susans, resting for months in little clay pots. The moisture has evaporated, leaving behind delicate forms and colors.

A fallen strand of my hair. It catches sunlight on the floor. 

A cluster of lava stones (a.k.a. preserves from deep liquid earth). Now they are solid, porous, and light. I keep finding them in my pockets. 

A footstep left on a dirt path. 

Pods shedding paper thin seeds at the slightest touch like a performance of a wild promise.

Memories in mind.

Memories in body.

Something that once was, reduced to ruins. 

Temporary light reflections, frozen in a printed photograph.

Bones. Thoughts. Shells. Ripples. Vibrations. Exhaust. Extract. Imprints. Shadows. Vapor. Ashes. Dust. Questions. Evidence. Exoskeletons. History. Traditions. Ghosts. Legacies. Lineages. Twilight. Dew. Hindsight. Longings. 

Something always remains. Visible or invisible. 

Even after a complete experience, even after complete transformation, even if all seems lost, something always remains or results. 

What do we do with what remains is up to us. Sometimes we keep it, sometimes we forget about it, sometimes we recycle it, sometimes we offer it, sometimes we make peace with it, sometimes we discard and leave it behind, sometimes we turn it into something new.

In a glass bowl near my window, ash from burned incense collects in a pile. This sweet smelling evidence of transformation sits in a fragile little mound beneath the empty space an object once filled.

If I think about the pile of ash for more than a passing second, it feels sacred.

Not because the incense was special or for any reason of personal meaning. 

But because of its existence alone. 

It’s more than a byproduct, it’s a memoir of itself. It’s the balance, the grounds, the precipitate, the reduction.

The same exists within. If we have a beautiful or painful experience, processing it creates its own kind of ashes.

And what remains can be catalyst for new growth, new life, and new purpose. 

◯ See for yourself ◯

I’ve been aligning with using waste stream pigments - repurposing materials for color that would have otherwise been discarded or ignored. Utilizing leftovers and making them into new life feels like giving more than taking.

One example is the beloved aforementioned incense ash. I documented my process making paint (and paintings) from ash and included how I made it here in this studio blog post of mine. I thought it would be fun to share some natural art materials on my studio blog this year as I expand and diversify my ways of offering myself through creativity, connection, sustainability and self-discovery. I was right, it is fun! I hope you enjoy it.

Links:

View the ash paint making tutorial 

Add some magic to your space with one of my new incense ash paintings 

Here’s a sneak peek at one of the available incense ash studies available:

Remaining with you here, in radiant luminosity and rooted on earth,

♡ Kristen