I first met Milton Brasher-Cunningham through the RevGalBlogPals, a blog ring for people who support the leadership of women in Christian communities.  I was drawn to his blog ‘don’t eat alone‘ because it’s primarily about one of my favorite topics — food and the way food can be meaningful and sacred.  Milton also writes about social justice, about discernment, about poetry, many of the things I feel passionate about as well.  Then recently I got an unexpected gift in the mail from him — a copy of his new book Seven Summers at the Beach, a delightful collection of poetry and recipes from

I first met Trish through blogging almost two years ago and discovered her amazing gift of music.  I love music I can use on retreats and in prayer experiences and hers is beautiful and very accessible.  Every time I play one of her songs at a gathering, everyone wants to know the name of the artist.  She records some music solo and some with her husband Richard, their website is River’s Voice and you can listen to samples of songs there.  Just a few of my favorites for use in retreat settings (if you visit the website click on the album title):

I first discovered the quilting art of Larkin Van Horn through the Grunewald Guild where she will be teaching a summer class on Fabric Dyeing.  I visited her website and was enchanted by her fabric art, especially her series of journal quilts.  Not being inclined toward quilting myself, I was taken with the idea of creating a quilt series as an ongoing visual journal much like the way I will use paint, ink, and photos in my own visual journal work.   I contacted her about using one of her quilts in the most recent issue of Presence, and then followed up

This week’s Sacred Artist Interview is with Naomi Teplow.  I first discovered her work while looking for pieces for the Presence journal (I love how this work gives me an excuse to find artists I love and contact them).  She designs Ketubahs (Jewish marriage contracts) and other illuminated manuscripts, so after last week’s Abbey Bookshelf you can understand why I love her work so much.  I find Hebrew script to be especially beautiful.  I am grateful to Naomi for participating: Are you rooted in a particular faith tradition? I’m a Jewish Israeli from a secular Kibbutz, and though I’m not religious,

I first encountered Laurie Mika‘s work when I saw one of her mosaic classes offered.  While paper arts and photography are my primary art forms, I sometimes like to extend myself into the world of mosaics, where broken pieces are transformed into something of beauty.  Her class was full, as most of them are, but I visited her website and was entranced by her work of creating her own tiles out of polymer clay. This edition of the Sacred Artist Interview also serves as an edition of the Abbey Bookshelf, because Laurie has also published the wonderful Mixed Media Mosaics: Techniques and Projects

I first encountered Marilyn Russell virtually when we were each asked to write an article on spirituality and artistic expression for the UCLA Spirituality in Higher Education Newsletter.  Marilyn’s article was on “The Empowering of Art & Spirituality.” Read her article to gain even more insight into her vision as an artist.  (you can read my article here). She is a member of the Ojibwe tribe, an artist, a scholar and the Library Director at Haskell Indian Nations University. In her article she shares this beautiful Ojibwa prayer: “Oh Great Spirit, whose voice I hear in the winds and whose breath gives life to everyone,

I first met Kate Iredale virtually when she joined the Sacred Arts Ring and I have really enjoyed her work and the way she works with images and digital manipulation.  I find her combination of words and images very evocative.  One of her images will be in an upcoming issue of Presence journal, for which I have the privilege of being the art editor.  She lives on Vancouver Island, one of my favorite places in the Pacific Northwest. Kate graciously agreed to be featured for one of my Sacred Artist Interviews and I am grateful to her for taking time to share