In the Company of Saints
Julian of Norwich, Patron of Cats and Contemplatives: Handmade Statue
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I design, carve, and cast the pieces myself: they’re wholly original. I cast them in modified gypsum (a very strong building material), and we then glaze the pieces by hand. The pieces come boxed, can stand or hang (there's a hook on the back, which is flat and unpainted), and can go outside. Each piece comes with a history card stating:
Julian, born in 1342, was an anchoress in Norwich, England. A medieval anchoress like Julian spent her life in a cell attached to the wall of a church. Julian's function was to pray and to give counsel. Many medieval anchoresses kept cats as mousers, and a longstanding legend holds that Julian had a cat in her cell. Julian was also a mystic and the first woman to write a book in English. Her book, Showings of Divine Love, is a description and analysis of her visions. In one passage she writes: “He [God] also showed me a little thing, the size of a hazelnut, lying in the palm of my hand. I looked at it with the eyes of my understanding and thought, `What can this be?’ My question was answered in this fashion: `It is everything that is made.’ I marveled at how this could be, for it seemed to me that it might suddenly fall into nothingness, it was so small. An answer for this was given to my understanding: ‘It lasts, and ever shall last, because God loves it.’” Julian had seen in the hazelnut what mystics in all faiths (and many scientists) have stated: if one can view any one thing–no matter how lowly or despicable–with absolute clarity, then all things and the basis of reality are revealed and one can be at peace. Another well-known passage from Julian summarizes the peace that resulted from her revelations: “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.” In this statue, which was hand carved by Hank Schlau and hand painted by Karen Schlau, Julian holds the revelatory hazelnut in her right hand and a contemplative cat in her left arm.
Dimensions: 9.5 (h) x 4.5 (s) x 2 (d) inches
Julian, born in 1342, was an anchoress in Norwich, England. A medieval anchoress like Julian spent her life in a cell attached to the wall of a church. Julian's function was to pray and to give counsel. Many medieval anchoresses kept cats as mousers, and a longstanding legend holds that Julian had a cat in her cell. Julian was also a mystic and the first woman to write a book in English. Her book, Showings of Divine Love, is a description and analysis of her visions. In one passage she writes: “He [God] also showed me a little thing, the size of a hazelnut, lying in the palm of my hand. I looked at it with the eyes of my understanding and thought, `What can this be?’ My question was answered in this fashion: `It is everything that is made.’ I marveled at how this could be, for it seemed to me that it might suddenly fall into nothingness, it was so small. An answer for this was given to my understanding: ‘It lasts, and ever shall last, because God loves it.’” Julian had seen in the hazelnut what mystics in all faiths (and many scientists) have stated: if one can view any one thing–no matter how lowly or despicable–with absolute clarity, then all things and the basis of reality are revealed and one can be at peace. Another well-known passage from Julian summarizes the peace that resulted from her revelations: “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.” In this statue, which was hand carved by Hank Schlau and hand painted by Karen Schlau, Julian holds the revelatory hazelnut in her right hand and a contemplative cat in her left arm.
Dimensions: 9.5 (h) x 4.5 (s) x 2 (d) inches
