Over the years, she has �not claimed� puppets, masks, collages, costumes and weaving. Today, at 85, no longer able to work at her loom, Durgin is �not claiming� labyrinths. �I �steal� ideas from nature,� she explains. �I incorporate photographs and images, and I design around fabric remnants using yarn left over from my weaving.�

The result, however, is like trifle: A humble recipe for leftover cake became a chi-chi dessert.

Durgin started playing with labyrinths three years ago. A friend used images of labyrinths in her journal as springboards for her thoughts. �I asked her, �How do you make that?� and she showed me how she started with a cross,� Durgin says. �Through my practice of Christianity, I have deepened my understanding of the cross. The cross is also vital to weaving because, to prepare yarns for the loom, I have to string them in a figure-eight pattern, known as a �cross,� which maintains order for the threading.�

She began designing labyrinths with a three-circuit watercolor. Eventually, one design grew into a 60-inch-diameter, wooden disc; this largest of her labyrinths hangs as a rood at Church of the Good Shepherd, Durgin�s parish in Barre, Vt. She painted and positioned it as decoration for a festival at her church. �Parishioners thought it fit well in the sanctuary, and so the labyrinth is still there.�

Bits from an atlas

One of her first labyrinths incorporated paper bits from an atlas she cannibalized. �I liked the centerfold with its edges of Antarctica. That became the background over which I lay a clear film. With a gold pen, I defined the labyrinth�s path with the words of the prayer, Come, O Holy Spirit, Come.�

Durgin starts with a paper design, then transfers the maquette onto fabric, where she can push objects around and experiment with layout. �I follow the direction of the materials,� she explains. �Say I had a shell with a half-moon look. I would stick it down. Gradually objects would accumulate around it.�

She mirrored the image of a three-winged bird from Good Shepherd�s newest stained-glass window, dedicated October 2003. Parishioner Nancy Hanson based her design for the odd bird at the center of the window on a fractal she had found in a magazine.

The path comes last -- after Durgin studies the cloth to see �what is relevant to the path.� She curves the lines of some paths and squares others. She experimented with a swirled path that draws the eye to the center like roofs in a hurricane. The path for Day is pre-strung sequins. �I don�t often work with glitz, but I wanted it to contrast strongly with Night,� Durgin explains.

The size of the remnant -- �or my energy or capacity� -- dictates how many circuits a labyrinth will have, she says. �I�ve never gone beyond the 11-circuit Chartres labyrinth.� Background materials range from heavy upholstery fabric to fairylight net. �Each background has a different demand,� she explains. Each labyrinth also has a different name, often biblical: Eye of Wisdom, In the Beginning and Church/Home, for example. Last year, Durgin�s son, Gregory, photographed the labyrinths to create a calendar for family gifts; this year, his photographs of her labyrinths are being produced for sale. �When I taught art,� Durgin says, �I used to tell my students, �If you�re really hooked, you�ll see things that otherwise you�d be too preoccupied to see.�� She creates labyrinths, in part, she adds, to support the health aspects of walking the ancient circuits.

�The path of the labyrinth -- with its switchbacks but also with its certain course to the center -- seems to echo the body�s currents and rhythms as well as a spiritual direction,� she says. �It works for me.�

As is her wont, Durgin does not claim her labyrinths as art. �They are just what happens when stuff comes together.�

An exhibit of Charlotte Durgin�s labyrinths runs from Dec. 3 to Jan. 15 at Art & Soul Café (http://www.artandsoulcafe.org/) at Christ Church Cathedral in St. Louis (http://www.christchurchcathedral.us/). The 2005 Labyrinth Calendar ($15+s/h) is available through http://www.printedpath.com/ or 1-877-867-9958. A percentage of the proceeds will be donated to the health-ministry programs of the Episcopal Church and to Art & Soul Café to support its mission of creating a spiritually inclusive community.