I’ve named this drawing Cut Brambles One by One and the Lotus Will be Revealed. That title comes from a poem written by Sun Bu-er, one of the seven Taoist Masters of Quanzhen. I became aware of her while taking yoga. One of the things I remember learning about her was that she raised her family and then, later in her life, turned her attentions to the study of the Dao. This is the whole poem she wrote:

Cut brambles long enough,
Sprout after sprout,
And the lotus will bloom
Of its own accord:
Already waiting in the clearing,
The single image of light.
The day you see this,
That day you will become it.
-Sun Bu-er

I’ve always loved the poem, have remembered it through all of these years, sometimes repeat it silently to myself when I weed my garden, like a mantra.

I’m entitling this gallery Home and will add to it from time to time. I’ve returned to this theme, explored in the past, and bring a different spirit to it now, after raising my own children.