Take Me for a Spin Sometime

In her comment on my blip yesterday, TerriG asked "Do you know Chris Moench's work? Bellingham sculptor/potter. Amazing work."

I do, and she's absolutely right -- and today's blip is an example of Chris Moench's work. It's a prayer wheel I commissioned a few years ago, while I was still working and had more disposable income than I do now. Phil and I had visited Chris' studio, which is less than a mile from our house, on one of the annual Whatcom Artists Studio Tours, and I fell in love with his prayer wheels.

Described on his website as "interactive moving sculptures exploring themes of hope and renewal," these prayer wheels can be used in many ways for large and small events -- weddings, anniversary celebrations, funerals, memorial urns, house blessings, family prayers, memorial urns, and more. A number of health organizations, from hospices to yoga studios, have his prayer wheels, as do churches.

Chris made his first prayer wheel in 1999, when a gas pipeline explosion here killed three people and engulfed part of Whatcom Falls Park (read more about that, in his words, at the bottom of this page).

He has presented two of his prayer wheels to the Dalai Lama, and President Obama was given one by the Bellingham community.

As for mine, it lives on the high kitchen counter, next to my great-great-grandmother's basket, where I can see it while I work in the kitchen. I commissioned my prayer wheel for my ashes, but for now, it holds wine corks from bottles we've enjoyed.