Bullet Jizo.
Kara L.C. Jones, Mother Henna.
Photography.
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about the piece.
One of my favorite discoveries here in Sedona has been the Stupa Park. On the red dirt paths on the way up to the main Stupa, people build little impromptu shrines, leaving a ray of items that intrigue me as memorial art. I often walk here to try and get a handle on some aspect of my own grief, but I find myself doing tonglen for the others who are suffering grief and leaving items on this path. This photo in particular was of an impromptu shrine that captured my heart. Right there with the peaceful Buddha is a bullet. I wonder if someone's child died at the hands of a bullet? Was it the bullet someone was going to use to commit suicide but changed their mind? What wrestle of grief did that person have with this bullet? It was a moment of tonglen, breathing in whatever suffering they might have, and breathing out compassion and witnessing of their heart. - Kara
about the artist.
Kara is the Radical Creative behind all things MotherHenna.com. In 1999, after the death of their son Dakota, Kara and her partner Hawk co-founded Kota Press (KOTA: Knowing Ourselves Thru Art), an expressive arts outreach. Through their KOTA work and in partnership with the MISS Foundation, they have been mentoring other bereaved parents and caregivers around the world, offering creative perspectives on learning to life again after loss. As a coach to private clients, Kara facilitates the exploration of grief and creativity using many tools for alternative mind, body, spiritual health. Some of her specialties include henna art, heART-making, co-active coaching, Reiki, Tapping, asking the answerable questions and more. Kara keeps a radical creativity blog at Mother HennaKota Loss & Compassion Blog. Kara has been featured on still life 365 with her scrapbook page for her son Dakota, her poem Take-out Order, and her poem the After Life. The still life 365 community is mourning with Kara and her husband for the recent loss of her second son, Mizuko Star.
The juxtaposition of the Buddha and the Bullet gives me a surreal sense of peace, as if the compassion trumped the 'passion' of an unguarded moment.
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