Weaving stability in life of loose ends

After serving six months in prison for driving under the influence and getting into a scrum with the arresting officers, Lillian MacDonald said, she found herself thrust back onto the street in November with $70 in her pocket, nowhere to lay her head, and nobody who wanted to see her.

``Homelessness is a scary thing," she said. ``I was lucky when I was in jail. But when it's 8 o'clock at night and you're standing in the pouring rain with nowhere to go, it's a scary thing."

But when she discovered New England's largest day shelter , the St. Francis House on Boylston Street , she found a place to go and, just as important to her, a project to take her away from the world: Saori , a Japanese weaving style in which strands of yarn are combined rhythmically, with no predetermined pattern.

``This relaxes me," she said as she pulled a shuttle between the strands of her growing tapestry.

MacDonald's reaction to Saori is why the program was introduced to the St. Francis House in February , said Anne Berg , an art therapist at the day shelter.

``There's a Zen philosophy of staying in the present," said Berg, who has turned the weaving room into a warm oasis with soft music and plenty of light. ``And it's great for stress reduction. It's multisensory: It's visual, it's tactile, it's rhythmic. You leave your problems behind."

Besides, Berg said, she couldn't resist its underlying message.

Saori weavers can take their art in any direction they wish, in color or form, she said. ``Any creative endeavor that carries with it a philosophy that doesn't allow you to fail -- to me, that's too good to be true."

Classes are taught by three instructors three days a week as part of the shelter's Expressive Therapy Program , with guests of St. Francis and members of the nonprofit group VSA Arts of Massachusetts (originally Very Special Artists) trying their hand on the loom. Some keep their creations, which include hats, scarves, and bags, while some donate their pieces to hang in the shelter's atrium.

VSA member Tony Knight , like MacDonald, is one of the its veteran students. He has worked on a tapestry for about nine weeks and said he plans to make a bag soon. Knight, who uses a special loom that accommodates his cerebral palsy, said, ``You kind of get lost in it once you get started; you sort of forget your problems and go to another place."

Berg said she hopes eventually that the weavers will sell their work, a step toward gaining some self-reliance.

But for now, MacDonald said, ``It's just a little bit of shelter from the storm."