Entry to the Rest..Room InstallationThis project grew out of my desire to create a viewing space for my contemplative videos that would encourage the viewer to slow down and engage with the meditative quality of the imagery. It was also an offering of restful space for students and faculty in the midst of an intensely busy residency week.
I was provided with a bare office space which I enhanced with fabric and natural objects brought from home and various found objects from the larger premises. After spending a day sitting in the bare space, I took a second day to respond to my sensory findings, arranging the space to clear and disharmonies and enrich the room. These are some of the comments by those who visited the room during the rest of the week.
"Thank you for creating this beautiful, restful place!"
"Soft light and stillness, a moment of poetry"
"Sanctuary. Breathing space. Thank you for bringing us the Rest Room. Peace. Ahh..."
I had a breath and then another... to give space is such a generous gift."
Rocks, glass and original photograph of the
ocean bottom printed on fabric - Rest...Room Installation detail
My second project was a doctor's office, which involved altering lighting, some new furnishings, additional artwork, paint, new carpet and arrangement of all the elements in the room. Here is what he said about the experience:
"What prompted me to begin this process was a realization that I was spending more waking hours in the office than I was at home yet spent no effort on making the space my own. After many years of working with whatever corporate furnishings were available I figured there had to be more. When I saw your website I was struck by the open, quiet atmosphere you had created in the student lounge. [the Rest...Room installation]
The calm sense I feel in the office space now is quite obvious. My concentration has improved and my workflow has increased all with no obvious effort on my part. I began just wanting the space to look nicer and have become a convert to the notion that the space has a clear power to affect what happens within it.
Duval Office Before Revisions
"Perhaps what I appreciated most about the process was also what has made it so comfortable for me. That is, the careful attention to me. There was almost as much time spent interviewing me and getting to know my work needs and my personal passions as there was in doing the physical work of transforming the space. The result is a space that is uniquely mine in a way that I could not have verbalized... in a way that I perhaps didn't even fully understand.
The process was fun, the result was better than expected. I am comfortable strongly recommending your services to other professionals."
Lewiston, ME physician
3 months after completion, the doctor sent the following email:
" I owe you a debt! I can't believe what a difference this endeavor has made and kick myself for not thinking to do something sooner. Even my office manager recently asked "what's gotten into you?" I am doing so much more with such a lighter heart and such a greater sense of joy. People need to know what this can do!!! I'm a convert!!!
I want you to succeed (pardon me for saying this), not for you. . . . but for the people you will help. I think this is important."
Duval Office After Revisions