mary pow
  • Soft Pastels
    • Original Pastel Paintings
    • Fine Art Prints
    • Note Cards
    • Explore >
      • 8x8x8 Faces Series
      • People
      • Possible Dreams Series
      • Mom's Bouquet Series
      • Social Justice Series
      • Portrait of a Quarantine Series
  • Textiles
    • Original Textile Art
    • Explore Textiles >
      • Pillows
      • Handbags >
        • Coin Pouches
        • Clutches
        • Cross Body Purses
        • Shoulder Bags
        • Tote Bags
      • Textile Belts
      • MinneBites (retired)
  • About
    • Contact
    • Commissions
    • Gift Certificates
  • Events
  • Blog

I Could Have Done More

8/3/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
I keep them in my bathroom.

​For most of the summer there it is: a mason jar filled milkweed. Caterpillars in various stages of their life-cycle, munching away. I have them in my bathroom so I can shut the door - to keep them in - and the cats out. But the door usually gets left open.

I tend to count them whenever I go in the room. Has a new one hatched? Are they all here?

I discover one is missing, and a heaviness settles in my heart. I count and re-count. It's not there.

Several days later, I find a caterpillar on the stairs. Quite a long journey from the bathroom for such a small creature. I gently scoop it up and bring it back to the milkweed. When I set it on a leaf, it curls up. It doesn't move.

Starved to death.
​ 
My heart aches.

I could have done more to prevent this from happening.

The pandemic has put my emotions in stark relief. I feel like I'm not doing enough, not doing the right thing, not trying hard enough...

I don't know what the truth is, but the majority of my caterpillars have become butterflies. 
Picture
Picture
0 Comments

Your White Fragility, Cracked

8/2/2020

0 Comments

 
Your White Fragility
by Mary Pow
 
Are you fragile –
Will you break?
An ooey gooey egg.
Ooze into a hole,
 
And hide away.
 
Or is it possible –
Perhaps I’m wrong?
Your fist raised high
You find you’re strong.
 
And you uncurl.
 
Your shell is cracked,
You stand up tall.
That precious shell,
The pieces fall.
 
Thank God, they fall.
 
Released from shame,
You say his name
“George Floyd”
Again, “George Floyd”
 
And you move forward.
 
Look at you –
You’re in the street.
That shell is crushed
Beneath your feet.
 
And your eyes open.
 
Silence does harm,
You see. You warn,
“I won’t stay silent.”
You are reborn.
Picture
"Cracked" • 18"x 24" • soft pastel • 2020 • Mary Pow
Cracked is a painting that I completed in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd, which happened only a few miles away from my home. While I worked on this painting, I simultaneously wrote the poem Your White Fragility. These two works are entwined.

The poem Your White Fragility, along with the painting Cracked equals a third work entitled Your White Fragility, Cracked. This artwork is intended to be a piece about the promise of change.
Picture
0 Comments
    Picture

    Mary Pow

    I am an artist and designer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. My specialties are textiles and pastels.

    I also enjoy reflecting on the human condition.

    In my blog, I write about my musings and my art.

    Find my bio 
    here.


      Receive my email newsletter

    Subscribe

    Categories

    All
    American Craft Show
    Art & Craft Shows
    Creativity
    Exhibitions
    In The Shop
    Jerome Project Grant
    Mary Pow Handbags
    MinneBites
    Motherhood
    Musings
    Pastel Painting
    Poetry & Writing
    Portrait Project
    Process
    Quarantine Project
    Textile Art

    Archives

    April 2022
    April 2021
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    August 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    April 2017
    March 2017
    October 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016

    RSS Feed

News
Picture
UP NEXT
Picture
Minnehaha Falls Art Fair, July 15-17
Social Media

​
INSTAGRAM
​
FACEBOOK
​
​Visit the Studio
Northrup King Building
Studio 195 at Dock 7

1500 Jackson Street NE
Minneapolis MN 55413
Shipping Policies
Returns & Exchanges
Website designed by Mary Pow.
©2022 Mary Pow Designs. 
All rights reserved.
  • Soft Pastels
    • Original Pastel Paintings
    • Fine Art Prints
    • Note Cards
    • Explore >
      • 8x8x8 Faces Series
      • People
      • Possible Dreams Series
      • Mom's Bouquet Series
      • Social Justice Series
      • Portrait of a Quarantine Series
  • Textiles
    • Original Textile Art
    • Explore Textiles >
      • Pillows
      • Handbags >
        • Coin Pouches
        • Clutches
        • Cross Body Purses
        • Shoulder Bags
        • Tote Bags
      • Textile Belts
      • MinneBites (retired)
  • About
    • Contact
    • Commissions
    • Gift Certificates
  • Events
  • Blog