On Logos

Our vision for a human sanctuary has been the creation of a space that acts as a safe haven and stomping grounds for returning back to our true natures in a society that leaves little room for this exploration. We wanted a symbol to represent this. We call it simply -The Logo. What does a logo for this space look like? Is it physical? Emotional? Spiritual? We have had trouble allowing it to naturally express itself. I talked with Julie about the aspects we thought it should have, but the style and language of it was off in its implementation. This became our first design.

Originally Julie came up with the name “Heart in Hand Sanctuary,” based off a personal childhood experience that lived up to its name. She was in a car accident and as a result of her extensive injuries, held her heart in her hand until help arrived. She came up with the idea of a heart of love held in joining hands as the container for all of the hurt that a human sanctuary accepts, receives, and helps transform. She said she wanted trees so the hands were turned into trees. I wanted something true to development so I threw in the stages of a fetus. There is a flower developing alongside the stages of the fetus as it travels from rhizome to antithesis ending in the last stage of the fetus' hands. Similarly the tree hands hold the container of the heart as a representation of the vessel of life, or the womb. This image was not reaching the right representation of the sanctuary so I moved into the shape of a circle. Everything is contained by the circle and it stands as a symbol of the contents inside it. Working within this container felt more neutral than the one previous with its pointed and shaped edges.

Following this, Julie had a dream of the flickering of a distant star with a seed in its central fore. She mentioned this in connection with the logo. Knowledge is always at a distance before it becomes obtainable. I saw a seed of life embedded in the heart of the star in her description.

During the development of this image came a third image, and for a change of pace I moved in to a digital rendition. It being digital loses the timeless appeal I find in freehand work. The digital space is at the mercy of the technological advancements of the times, so this image will age as quickly as the advancements in technology can replace it.

This image feels dull to the touch as it does not express the imperfections and nuances of physical creation true in hand drawn work. The software's textures felt organic and fluid which made the process of creation on such a medium easier than expected..

From the first two drawings, we felt better relationship and collaboration was needed, deciding to express this in the manner of masculine and feminine coming together. Holding hands meet in the middle with a sun and rock face for masculine energy, and a moon and flower for the feminine. A rigidness in the rock on the right represents a masculine rigidness to counteract the movement and changing force of the moon. The feminine side is always changing in the cycle of the moon, and offers the gift of life that the masculine does not. The rock was born from the volcanic eruption as a woman in childbirth who brings life into the world. A human being is both masculine and feminine within as in the circle of life and this symbol. One requires the other, is opposed to the other, and also supports the other.

And there it was, the Logo ❤️

As the logo continues to develop we will stick with what feels most comfortable until something new comes along to replace it. The logo or overarching symbol of ourselves and our offerings may always be changing and developing with us as we continue to develop ourselves.