Art, Craft, and Prayer - Creating a Labyrinth

About 10 years ago I saw an advertisement in an Episcopal news letter for a portable Labyrinth painted on a 30 foot square canvas. I wondered first, what was a labyrinth, and secondly, why would a church want one? The next day I went to the library(I was still old school then) and found two books about labyrinths. I discovered that a labyrinth is a maze-like path that one can get lost in. But unlike a maze, a labyrinth has no dead ends or wrong turns. If you continue on the path it will lead you to the center. Labyrinths, in different forms have been around for thousands of years. 
The labyrinth in the advertisement was a circular design based on a labyrinth built into a stone floor in a
14th century cathedral in France. I read that a
labyrinth is a prayer tool much like prayer beads.By
walking the labyrinth one is better able to focus their
prayers. I was fascinated with the idea and wondered how I could bring one to my church, Holy Family, in Midland Michigan.

We are a small church, and I knew there wasn't enough money to buy a labyrinth just because I found it interesting. But I studied the design and decided I could make one. I talked to Father Tom and he gave the the go ahead.With a 3 inch roller, some left over white paint, and a length of string for a compass, I painted a labyrinth on the church lawn.

                                                                                 The painted labyrinth was a success. Many people found walking the labyrinth very spiritual. People from outside the congregation sought out our labyrinth. I describe the feeling as letting the path lead me closer to God. I also found walking the path very calming and helped me focus on personal problems as well as spiritual.
  I painted the labyrinth the next two  years. After the third year it was suggested we make it permanent. I came up with an idea to replace the paint with bricks.

After some trial and error I designed a plow to dig a channel the depth of the bricks. The bricks were then set in the channel, carved in the shape of the labyrinth,  level with the ground. To a large extent Holy Family is now identified as the church of the labyrinth.  It was no surprise then, when it was decided to replace the entry floor with ceramic tile, that someone suggested there be a labyrinth in the middle.I had some experience with ceramic tile, but never something this large or complex. But as an artist I welcomed the challenge.

After measuring the space I knew the tile labyrinth couldn't be as complex as the one outside. That one, like the one at the French cathedral, is made up of 12 concentric circles. The path would be too narrow to fit it in a room 20 feet wide.  So I went on line and found a design of 6 concentric circles. Then I drew a scale drawing of my idea and presented it to the church. They loved the design, bought the tiles, and it was up to me to make it work.                                                    
In April I began laying out the design. I first drilled a hole in the center of the floor to mark the center with a screw. Then with a string and a felt marker, I drew a series of concentric circles marking the alternating 3 inch and 13 inch tiles.  The most difficult part of the job was cutting the pathway tiles. Each tile was cut 4 times, and all the tiles within each circle was cut at a different angle. The top and the bottom of each tile was cut on a curve to match the circle.
The fish symbol in front of a cross was not in the original design, but from the beginning I felt it needed something more. The fish came first, then in the process of laying the tile I saw the possibility of the cross and changed the tiles from white to brown
When I started the floor I had a deadline of June 12, the Sunday of our Bishop's visit . The night before I was still finishing the last touches, but it was done on time.
I feel very honored to have had this opportunity. It was a huge task, but also a labor of love.