Jacqueline Sullivan's Appreciation of Jenny Groat

Jacqueline Sullivan has written a beautiful tribute, "Remembering Jenny: A Tribute to Jenny Hunter Groat: August 20, 199 to February 2, 2013", for the Summer 2013 issue of Alphabet: The Journal of the Friends of Calligraphy in San Francisco. Jacqueline was my table mate at the Knowing/Not Knowing Retreat that Jenny led at Green Gulch Zen Center in the summer of 1988. She first got to know Jenny when she hosted her for a brush lettering workshop for the Michigan Association of Calligraphers. As Jacqueline wrote, "Little did I know that that single volunteer act would change my life."

Jacqueline's tribute is personal and profound. She shares Jenny's wisdom and her accomplishments: The artist as dancer, The artist as designer, The artist as painter, The artist as inspiration. There is a long section on Knowing, Not Knowing that gets to the core of Jenny's philosophy and deep compassion.

Jenny suggested that we think of ourselves as vessels. She said that we could not just keep pouring things into the vessel. "You must," she said, "give something up." Give up something, she suggested, that is getting in your way. Give up fear and your lack of security and replace it with courage and trust in your bigger self. She gave us the mantra "settle yourself on yourself and let the flower of your life blossom."

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