Fear

I have always admired strong women. The ones that do hard things. Like jump into a forklift and move heavy things around or deep dive with the Navy Seals. This summer, when I was longing for my hammock and a cool breeze, I took a leap. It was about overcoming my fears and doing the hard thing. You see, for six long months I knew what was coming. I was commissioned to make four mosaics to be installed on the second floor outside a church.

Mentally I knew this was not a big deal. The steps to install are clear in my mind. But the second floor part was pulling at my fear of falling. I’m not afraid of heights. I’m just afraid of falling and specifically breaking my leg. Two women I know have done just that so it was a definite possibility. One was a house painter. The other is an incredible all-around artist, Mia Tavonatti. In the summers, she has been heading to Marquette, Michigan and working on a brilliant Power of Words mural project. It threw her out of the loop for a good bit while she recovered.

The mosaic piecing was winding down and my fear of breaking my leg put a damper on laying in those last pieces. Here is the scenario: four niches built into the brick wall intentionally made for future artwork. Below, a covered walkway with a pitch next to the wall. While working away in my studio, the pitch of the walkway roof grew steeper and steeper. The gap between the walkway roof and the wall grew wider and wider. I was convinced we would need scaffolding, safety harnesses, and something to bridge that gap.

I hired an assistant for the installation and promptly put her in charge of safety. We scheduled the installation, and when the weather was ready, I bit the bullet, climbed the stairs and found – a safe situation. No need for scaffolding or safety harnesses.

More on the install later…