Prentiss Mandala- Wooden cask top, pincushion, spools of thread, embroidery floss, Christmas ornaments made from olive tree wood grown in the Holy Land, health food dog biscuits
Massachusetts, May 2020
Prentiss2
Prentiss 1
Today I resumed a practice that Sheila introduced me to during our last week in Georgia. Creating a mandala out of materials at hand.
The Prentiss Mandala is on a wooden circle that has the words: Prentiss Co. Holyoke , MA stenciled on it. We found the cask top when clearing out the front storage area prior to a recent demolition. It had been under a false floor for all of the 37 years we’ve lived at 11 Water Lane. I decided to dedicate the mandala to my mother, Susan Prentiss O’Toole Boss. All of the elements are things that either reminded me of mother or belonged to mother. The little wooden pieces around the edge were made of olive wood grown in the holy land and mother bought them at Holy Name Church one Sunday after Mass. We were going to give them to the great grandchildren but mother got forgetful and somehow it never got done. Found them in a drawer during my search for materials this morning. There are 10 of them. It made me think of her rap on her 75th birthday when she said, “10, 10, I have 10” referring to her 10 children. I am grateful to my neighbor Kim, who supplied small heart-shaped dog biscuits for the 11th and 12th outside spaces. My sister Mary Boss Withey rechristened it the Prentiss Momdala after I sent her a picture.