Stations of the Cross Journal Journey #12

May 30, 2025.

I have completed Station #5. It lays on the growing pile of completed art and I delight in looking at it. I believe beautiful art has an ease about it that makes it look effortless, and I think that is present, but that is so far from the case! 

Like #4, this banner has about 160 pieces in its make up. My assistant and I noticed that there seemed to be either large pieces or small pieces, not a whole lot in-between. The small pieces again felt a bit ridiculous! Even more so than Station 4, as I even ended up sewing fingernails! Yes, it felt tedious, but important too. It was so great to have my assistant nearby for a second opinion as I contemplated and fine-tuned textural pieces, the tones of skin, and the use of ‘stressed’ fabric for Jesus’ tunic. I love the way the vibrant colours are mixed with pale ones. I love the way this moment of gentleness and willingness and yet also weightiness is captured.

However, this piece of art has also taken a toll on my body and as I create this series over the year in preparation for its premiere, I have become aware that I am going to have to give full attention to my own physical sustenance. The appliqué sewing process took 17 hours. When I had completed that, my neck, shoulder and arms were in a great deal of pain. It does not escape me that I have been in a process creating Simon of Cyrene carrying the cross for Jesus. I now identify with Simon (and Jesus too) more than I ever have before. My pain has been more or less transitory, and I have the benefit of modern-day medicines to soothe it, yet both Simon and Jesus bore the cross to Calvary with intense weight and discomfort. 

Simon was recruited and charged with carrying the cross for Jesus for a time. He may not have had a choice with the soldiers nearby, but it is likely he also felt an inner summons that he could not turn away from. That is true for me also. My body was in deep discomfort as I completed this piece of art. Yet I am compelled to create this piece and the whole series. I am following an inner summons that has been alive in me for my whole life, to co-create, to be faithful, and to complete a long-held project illuminating this particular journey. I must keep going, even though there will be a cost.

This is what I trust today.