LOVELAND MAGAZINE

News and Events from the Loveland, Ohio Area

Without fear or favor
Since 2004

Tag: trina paulus

  • Claire Mirkowski-Purdy interviews world renown author and artist Trina Paulus

    Claire Mirkowski-Purdy interviews world renown author and artist Trina Paulus

    Claire Mirkowski-Purdy

    by Claire Mirkowski-Purdy

    Published in 1972 and winning the Chistopher Award for the most inspirational book of the year, Trina Paulus’s Hope For The Flowers has been one of the most powerful books published in our time. The story of two caterpillars following the crowd to the top of the caterpillar pillar is a versatile metaphor that can apply to all of our lives, and at any age.

    I had the opportunity to visit the HOPE Celebration at The Grail in Loveland. Upon walking into the oratory, I was stunned by the gorgeous setup. Illustrations of Hope For The Flowers were spun across all four walls, in the order of the story. Right at the front of the oratory was an adorable set of yellow flowers and sketches of butterflies.

    Photo provided by Grailville

    At the celebration, I was able to converse with Trina. Needless to say, Trina is an amazingly successful woman, and it seems to me like she was destined for the greatness she has achieved. As a child, Trina would, “draw pictures of a caterpillar, a cocoon, and a butterfly” when someone would pass away. She has always loved the idea that once a caterpillar is brave enough to complete the stages of metamorphosis, they come out the other side a dazzling new creature.

    A while back, before the publication of Hope For The Flowers, Trina embarked on a journey in Egypt, doing what she does best: helping and inspiring others. Her work in Egypt is still alive today, helping women and young girls in Upper Egypt learn to embroider and weave, among other things.

    On this visit, Trina revisited her “second home” in Loveland, she went straight to work, doing art projects and readings with children and adults. Trina visited Loveland Primary School and Loveland Elementary School, helping the young students with Hope For The Flowers-inspired art projects, only using the colors yellow and black. As an artist, Trina taught me that there are different kinds of black: some that are more red and some that are more blue. Trina taught the young students to make the green that is in Hope For The Flowers only using black and yellow. Greatness can be achieved, even with a scant amount of resources.

    Trina Paulus is one of the kindest people I have ever come across. Her cordial demeanor and positivity make for the most pleasant of interactions. Trina’s inspiring and commendable background of working at The Grail, creating Hope For The Flowers, activism, and sculpting is something many people never even dream of. What can’t she do?

    In this LOVELAND MAGAZINE TV video Paulus talks about the current public exhibition of her Abraham and Isaac statue which was once hidden from the public and stored in a garage at Grailville.

    To learn more about Trina and Hope For The Flowers, visit https://www.hopefortheflowers.com

    To get your own copy of Hope For The Flowers, visit https://www.amazon.com/Hope-Flowers-Trina-Paualus/dp/0809117541

    _______________

    Below you can watch the interview with Trina Paulus by Alana Johnson conducted on December 09, 2011.

    The Trina Paulus Abraham and Isaac statue is a poignant and significant piece of art. It is wretched, distressing, tragic – and beautiful. It was stored temporarily for several years just outside of Loveland. Loveland Magazine Reporter Alana Johnson went with Paulus to an unlit garage at the Grailville Conference and Retreat Center to see it for the first time. Paulus hadn’t seen her statue for several years.

    Paulus said at the time, “Over here you will see a hand with the knife in it… and over here… you’ll see the hand with his son. I’ve done a lot of thinking about this over the years – the great Christian mystery of the crucifixion and the resurrection and… The very unpleasant thing that God can ask everything of us sometimes… The whole mystery of why we die, and why we die so miserably sometimes… In our time it’s a very unpopular story.”

  • HOPE Celebration weekend at Grailville

    HOPE Celebration weekend at Grailville

    by Claire Mirkowski-Purdy

    Loveland, Ohio – Mark your calendars for Saturday, October 26th, and Sunday, October 27th, for the HOPE Celebration weekend at Grailville. The women of The Grail, including Beth Murphy and Elizabeth Robinson would love to see you there. The remarkable Trina Paulus, author and artist of Hope For The Flowers, and a member of The Grail will also be there, ready to meet you. 

    There will be many diverting things to do and see at the HOPE Celebration. Enjoy Live Jazz, folk dancing, Morning and Evening prayers, and even getting your copy of Hope For The Flowers signed by Trina Paulus. There will also be other fabulous activities at the celebration like walking and seeing the scenery of Grailville in the fall and looking at the oratory inspired by Hope For The Flowers.

    On the 26th, and 27th of October, the Celebration Weekend at Grailville will begin at 10 AM, at 931 O’Bannonville RD, Loveland, Ohio 45140.  You can also come in any day during the week before the HOPE Celebration between 10 AM and 3 PM to see the oratory.

    Exhibit also open weekdays until the HOPE Celebration Weekend. Stop in at the Grail office, small house, blue trim by the Oratory. They will be happy to let you view the Exhibit

    _________________

    Hope for the Flowers” is Trina Paulus’ world famous story and book about Stripe and Yellow, two caterpillars who have traveled into well over 4 million hearts around the world. These Little caterpillars cross boundaries of culture, language, religion, age, with their challenge and hope that a loving world is possible. By risking the butterfly, we can fly and carry the love of one flower to another and discover the sweet nectar of every flower we are privileged to meet.”

    HOPE Celebration Weekend Events: All events Free and Open to the Public

    • Grailville Oratory: Interfaith Morning Prayer Saturday and Sunday at 10AM

    Interfaith Evening Prayer 6PM Saturday and 5:30 PM Sunday.• Grailville Oratory: Dynamic Exhibit of 36 large Panels of artwork telling the story of Hope For The Flowers.

    • Exhibit opens each day 10AM with Morning prayer and closes after Evening Pray Saturday and Sunday

    • Trina will be at the Oratory during Exhibit hours, each day to visit, greet, and sign books.

    • Exhibit Presentation by Trina 3PM Saturday and Sunday

    • Grailville Oratory All Weekend: HOPE Butterflies Aloft Installation

    • Saturday, Oratory: Live Jazz by JC Heisler and Sons and Songs of Hope by Ellen Mershon

    • Saturday, Oratory Yard 4-5:45 PM: For the young and young at heart: Community Folk Dancing with caller and Crafts.

    • All Weekend: Enjoy being at Grailville, The HOPE for the Flowers Exhibit, meeting Author and artist Trina Paulus, The Butterflies Aloft Installation in our magnificent, renowned Oratory, beautiful Walking Trails and the splendor of Autumn at Grailville.

  • Station of the cross and the very unpleasant thing God can ask sometimes

    Station of the cross and the very unpleasant thing God can ask sometimes

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    The statue that wasn’t to be seen in Loveland

    It is wretched, distressing, tragic – and beautiful

    “The great Christian mystery of the crucifixion and the resurrection and the whole mystery of why we die, and why we die so miserably sometimes… In our time it’s a very unpopular story.“ – Trina Paulus

    David Miller is the Managing Editor of Loveland Magazine

    by David Miller

    Traveling to the Stations of the Cross, also known as the Way of the Cross or Via Crucis, is a Christian tradition to commemorate Jesus’s passion and death on the cross. The observance began as devote pilgrims traced Christ’s path to crucifixion through Jerusalem on the Via Dolorosa.

    Years before filming this interview and at the time of my first seeing Abraham and Isaac, I begged the Grailville folks to let me help them find a place where the father and son could be publicly displayed, however, I remember being told they determined it too controversial to do so. It was only “appropriate for mature audiences” and no one in Loveland was mature enough to see the old testament story depicted so threateningly and savagely real.

    Listening to artist Trina Paulus talk about her Abraham and Isaac and the essence of what she was conveying through the work of her sculpting hands and spiritual heart is still heartbreaking that the human soul was meant to struggle to understand such a contemptible subject.

    It had been stored temporarily for several years just outside of Loveland. Loveland Magazine Reporter Alana Johnson went with Paulus to an unlit garage at the Grailville Conference and Retreat Center in 2011 to see it. Paulus hadn’t seen her statue for several years.”

    Photo by David Miller © 2011

     

    During the interview, Paulus said, “Over here you will see a hand with the knife in it… and over here… you’ll see the hand with his son. I’ve done a lot of thinking about this over the years – the great Christian mystery of the crucifixion and the resurrection and… The very unpleasant thing is that God can ask everything of us sometimes… The whole mystery of why we die, and why we die so miserably sometimes… In our time it’s a very unpopular story.“[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

    The Very Unpleasant Thing: That God Can Ask Everything of us Sometimes

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  • There are a substantial number of Grail people throughout this country and the world who want Grailville to survive and thrive

    There are a substantial number of Grail people throughout this country and the world who want Grailville to survive and thrive

    An Open Letter To the dear people of Loveland, Loveland Council, and Zoning board 

    by Trina Paulus

    Loveland, What a beautiful name!

    I have been following the saga concerning Grailville from the inside of the movement and with great gratitude for David Miller and Loveland Magazine’s efforts to make sure that we know what we’re doing if we let this rare place go to so-called “development” and away from a better more sustainable vision people are calling for. (The Grailville Archive)

    Maybe it has taken getting to the edge of permanent loss to realize this treasure we are about to lose if we don’t turn things around.

    After restraining myself from bursts of gratitude with each installment in Loveland Magazine I feel compelled to let the Loveland community know that there are a substantial number of Grail people throughout this country and the world who want Grailville to survive and thrive and we join our voices with the people of Loveland who are organizing and speaking up. We believe the outpouring of Loveland support reveals new possibilities for a Grailville with new purpose within both the local and Global community. Maybe it has taken getting to the edge of permanent loss to realize this treasure we are about to lose if we don’t turn things around. Although some of us are now older we would be willing to help this happen believing in the generosity of the young who bear the future to bring their hopes and strength to support Grail and the Loveland community efforts.

    I think that there are those representing us who have not read the signs of these speedily changing times correctly. Their hearts and intentions may be good, but I deeply believe that there is a vast number of people, especially the young, who yearn for the kind of holistic life I was privileged to experience at age 18 and for the next 20 years as I built up the arts at Grailville until called to help grow a woman’s weaving and embroidery cooperative in Akhmim upper Egypt.

    What the new Grailville could be I’m not sure, but the values that built it were strong and still attractive to the young people I am in touch with. These are the ones who fill the Permaculture courses at Central Rocky Mountains Permaculture Institute, (CRMPI.org) where I am vice president, or here at home in Montclair, NJ, feeding people, planting community gardens, and pollinator corridors stretching from state to state. 

    It is hard at 90 years to volunteer knowing that whatever spiffy wisdom and energy I might bring I also bring the liability of age. However, the recent support of the Loveland people and the series published in Loveland Magazine:  https://lovelandmagazine.com/history-of-grailville/ makes me feel excited and young enough to offer to help in any way I can to revitalize this magnificent place as a new kind of community neighbor that needs many of us to make it a new reality.

    I and others have a vision of those able to be renewed to continue the habit of hospitality Grailville was famous for.

    We would be facing some of the pioneering challenges the Grail faced in the 1940s. Some of the buildings will not make it, but I and others have a vision of those able to be renewed to continue the habit of hospitality Grailville was famous for. Imagine the greenest architects we know who love old buildings leading workshops each summer for all who want to learn how to renew and re-inhabit places rather than tear down and build new. We also still have many acres of organic certifiable land ready for a new burst of production to raise and share food.

    There are Grail elders and younger ones around the world who would love to help.

    There are Grail elders and younger ones around the world who would love to help along with the Loveland and wider local community who may be eager for this chance and new challenge to use our one glorious human life for building something precious.

    We can create a place that will be valuable beyond money for the good of all.

    I await the next development with prayer. May what is best for all happen.

    Forward in hope always,

    Trina Paulus, Grail Member – celebrating the 50th anniversary of “Hope For the Flowers” (www.hopefortheflowers.com)

    Read more about Trina Paulus from the pages of Loveland Magazine

    [Grailville Archive] The Very Unpleasant Thing: That God Can Ask Everything…

    [Video Archive] The holy nature of Grailville for a teenage girl

  • [Grailville Archive] The Very Unpleasant Thing: That God Can Ask Everything of us Sometimes

    [Grailville Archive] The Very Unpleasant Thing: That God Can Ask Everything of us Sometimes

    David Miller is the Publisher and Editor of Loveland Magazine

    by David Miller

    The statue that wasn’t to be seen in Loveland

    Loveland, Ohio – In December of 2011, I hadn’t seen the statute of Abraham and Isaac by Trina Paulus since it was first brought back to Grailville, carefully on the bed of a pickup truck. I was invited to be there when the statute was returned to Grailville for safekeeping. So jumped at the chance to be there when she saw it again for the first time in many years. Seeing it for the first time, placed temporarily under a gazebo behind the House of Joy, it was in my opinion the most significant piece of art I had ever seen in Loveland, and I believe, still so.

    We met Trina with our video camera for an interview by Alana Johnson, an artist in her own right, at Grailville and went in Alana’s car from the House of Joy to another house on the Grailville property, one across the road – to see if we could find it. This video was shot on December 9, 2011.

    It is wretched, distressing, tragic – and beautiful.

    At the time of my first seeing Abraham and Isaac, I begged the Grailville folks to let me help them find a place where the father and son could be publicly displayed, however, they determined it too controversial to do so. I think if I remember correctly, it was only “appropriate for mature audiences” and no one in Loveland was mature enough to see the old testament story depicted so threateningly and savagely real.

    Relistening to Paulus talk about her Abraham and Isaac and the essence of what she was conveying through the work of her sculpting hands and spiritual heart, is still is heartbreaking that the human soul was meant to struggle to understand such a contemptible subject.

    They were right of course because seeing the statute naked, absent Trina Paulus telling the story, is utterly perilous.

    At the time, I wrote, “The Abraham and Isaac statue is a poignant and significant piece of art. It is wretched, distressing, tragic – and beautiful. It has been stored temporarily for several years just outside of Loveland. Loveland Magazine Reporter Alana Johnson went with Paulus to an unlit garage at the Grailville Conference and Retreat Center Wednesday morning to see it. Paulus hadn’t seen her statue for several years.”

    “Johnson, kicking aside weeds at the door, struggling to operate the key, brushing away cobwebs, and in the darkness, her eyes needed a few seconds to dilate… ‘Aah. Oh. Ooh,” each second, as more is revealed. “That’s incredible. It’s incredible.”

    During Johnson’s interview, Paulus said, “Over here you will see a hand with the knife in it… and over here… you’ll see the hand with his son. I’ve done a lot of thinking about this over the years – the great Christian mystery of the crucifixion and the resurrection and… The very unpleasant thing is that God can ask everything of us sometimes… The whole mystery of why we die, and why we die so miserably sometimes… In our time it’s a very unpopular story.“

    View Loveland Magazine’s other stories in our Graville Archive:

    Because posterity may wish to know.
  • [Video Archive] The holy nature of Grailville for a teenage girl

    [Video Archive] The holy nature of Grailville for a teenage girl

    David Miller is the Editor and Publisher of Loveland Magazine

    Our continuing series about Grailville and its rich cultural past

    by David Miller

    Loveland, Ohio– This interview with artist Trina Paulus by Alana Johnson was 11 years ago and conducted during the Advent season. We are into Holy Week, however, this interview will give you a nice glimpse into Grailville at the time and a “Way-Back Machine” view. Not much is being said about the dining hall at Grailville, however, with its large open space and expansive glass wall it was the perfect place to showcase art and you will see some extraordinary art in this interview.

    Paulus came to Grailville in 1949 as a teenager. She said it was a magnificent change for her even though the living circumstances then were extremely simple and sometimes primitive. “The cultural experience was a high art form.” She now lives in Montclair, New Jersey, however, returned to Grailville for the Advent Season in 2011 to talk about her work, as well as Grailville’s collection of over forty Nativity scenes from around the world.

    In talking about that particular Christian Advent season, Paulus described the global time we were living in as a period of, “preparation for the great change that we know is coming, but cannot yet predict.” She called it, “The pregnant time – the fuller coming of God into our hearts and the fuller coming of God into our world”

    Paulus started sculpting at the age of eight in Cleveland Heights, Ohio with mud from the creek in her back yard. She won national awards as a high schooler. She is now 90 years old and doing well.

    In this LOVELAND MAGAZINE TV VIDEO, Reporter Alana Johnson interviews Paulus in the dining hall at Grailville where Paulus had many of her Advent sculptures on display as part of their International Creche Exhibit.

    Of particular interest in the interview is Paulus’ description of life at Grailville in 1949 and the spiritual life there. Paulus describes life on the Grailville farm as a magnificent change for her. She said it seemed she was living in the Chartres Cathedral. “Our cultural life was a high art form.”

    In 1972, Paulus wrote the book, Hope for the Flowers. It is now translated into many languages and there are over two million copies in print.

    Grailville, just outside of Loveland was an environmental, education, and retreat center of The Grail, an international women’s movement. At the time of this interview, it was located on 300 acres, with organic gardens, hiking trails, woods, pastures, ponds, creeks, modest guest housing, and solitude.

    The Grailville Store featured fair-trade items, gifts, and specialty items from Grailville and Grail artists.

    To read more about the rich history of Grailville and its cultural significance check out Loveland Magazine’s:

    The Grailville Archine – Because posterity may wish to know.