Clouds and Movement

Some artists can make you feel the wind on your face and the sound of the leaves as they dance. Lesley Haflich is one such artist. She paints mostly natural settings that seem to come to life. They breathe and flow. Lesley worked as a commercial artist for most of her career. One day, with encouragement from her husband, she began to paint the beauty she saw in her part of the world. We invite you to appreciate the moving beauty in Lesley’s paintings.

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Newsletter Spring 2023

The Cobb Institute, a community for process & practice. That’s who we are. And if you are reading this, you’re probably part of our community. But what do we mean and hope for when we talk about building community? In this newsletter we consider a variety of ways in which togetherness has shaped our identity.

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Tremors and Trees

Artist Georgette Unis seems to conjure trees and horizons onto her canvas. Only someone who is in relationship with the natural processes of land can partner with them and assist in their becomings. Nothing is painted in isolation from the world, because the artist understands the effects of sky, air and weather and she captures that and brings us into the relationship as well.

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The Geometry Of Creativity

Kurt Wenner is an American artist living in Italy, most known for inventing 3D Interactive Pavement Art. This art form uses a hyperbolic anamorphic illusion that transforms a pastel drawing on the pavement into a 3-dimensional illusion. Wenner’s images often appear in textbooks to illustrate mathematical principles, perception, perspective, or other arts and science-related topics.

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The Light In Our Hearts: A Pagan and a Christian in Conversation

In this piece we observe a conversation between a Pagan and a Christian about the meaning of their respective December holidays and the theological significance for them. They are both influenced by process and relational thinking, and that approach has allowed their friendship to flourish in wonder and exploration. They are two very different people, but their friendship is warm and full of discovery. There are many lessons to be learned here but, most importantly, that a process-relational approach to friendship has many layers.

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Sacred Art: Icons in Nature

It is clear that the Western mind is divorced from Nature, the primary condition that has led to the current ecological catastrophe. Artist Angela Manno feels that the only way back, indeed our own survival, depends on nothing less than a re-enchantment with the Earth as a living reality. It is for this reason she chose to depict non-human species in a traditionally religious form – the icon. Her aim in creating these works is to elevate non-human species to their rightful and equal place in the community of being.

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Newsletter Winter 2022

Help, Thanks, Wow! According to Anne Lamott all prayers usually fall into one of those three categories. As a process thinker and a hospice chaplain, I weave them together when I pray with my patients. That’s what I tried to do in this newsletter, because life is full of “Help, Thanks, Wows”. This woven prayer is the everyday prayer at the Cobb Institute. The work of the Institute requires the help of friends like you, and we are grateful for the help we receive. Thank you! When we look at this community of friends and all we have accomplished, we say Wow! We hope you enjoy this prayer-filled newsletter.

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The Need to Create

We have a great need to visually express ourselves—be it on a cave wall, the side of a building, inside a subway car, on a piece of paper or canvas. Veronica Michalowski explores multiple mediums, allowing the creative idea to lead the way. She elevates the ordinary, such as eggs, guitars, even sewer covers and explores their possibilities.

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Crowned in Lukumi

“I am crowned in Lukumi” is where artist Lolei Pavão begins. In this month’s Novel Becomings post, we explore art from the religions that grew from Africa. As African religions encountered other places they began a process of becoming something novel. In some of these practices, religion is a way of life, and can never be separated from life. Here we see art that is part of religious practices, and we get a rare peek into some of the religions of the African diaspora and the sacred art that guides us through this story.

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Newsletter Fall 2022

Gardening is a process in praxis. It is an act of rebellion. It is a creative act done in partnership with the earth, so it provides an excellent concrete example of one of the technical terms used by process thinkers: concrescence. Concresence means “growing together.” At the Cobb Institute we are imagining the possibilities of urban agriculture, restorative farming, and sustainable local sources of food. Check out our fall newsletter to see what’s been growing together at the Institute.

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