At least when you're watching an artist, you can see something tangible, something discernible, taking shape every day. I wonder about that when it comes to the craft of music composition, pushing notes and lyrics around on a page. Only those literate in this language can comprehend a piece of music in their heads.
But the visual arts are different: the work is there to behold, to take in, to affect the senses. So it was that even on day two of Mona's work on the Taize cross, already there were things to behold, directions I could tell she was headed, ideas that would eventually come to the fore.
You can see a "rough" of what will take shape under her hand. On either side of Jesus are the images of Patrick (on the left, treading on a snake) and Brigid (on the opposite side, holding her traditional symbol, a bishop's staff). Above, looking down on the Cross, is a heart shaped image, around which will appear the words "Cor ad cor loquitor" – "heart touches the heart," the motto of Blessed John Cardinal Newman.
There are weeks left on this project, but the changes between days one and two are dramatic.
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