#9 collecting random interactions: UZ DA SUN!!

"UZ DA SUN!!"
Walking up the hill in Berkeley and fellow walker smiled at me. Then turned around and laughed saying that is so cute. As she pointed to the VW Bugs licences plate and she read it..

Earth Day 2010: Kelp Forest Shrine

I had an amazing Earth Day we camped on the coast, south of Big Sur at this magical treasure of a campsite called Kirk Creek




I was drawn to the portal, the doorway that had been formed in the rock... The energy of this place felt was akin to the Inca gate of the Sun in Machu Pucchu, Peru. The betwixt!!



I started creating a spiral with rocks close to the portal and as I looked around I saw a beautiful piece of kelp.I necklaced the kelp around the spiral. It is amazing how my shrines always go back to the tree or the forest. As kelp in the ocean is considered a forest.



I came to the conclusion that this place was hub of Jyoti(meaning light in Hindi)




On this trip I was also reading one of Deepak Chopra's books and here is what I embraced in an automatic and stream of consciousness way
New vision--new sense of self--generous of spirit-Devata--never ending creativity



awareness is the source of all of us--deeper vision--seeing differently!



To check out the Earth Day in D.C."Click Here". Shouldn't everyday be Earth Day?? We all need to embrace a new and deeper vision of what it means to be a human and to reconnect with our amazing mother called Earth!!

#8 collecting random interactions

"All you need to do is get a steady job, buy house, and a have family that is life." "That is all it is about."

guy talking to his friends outside a brew pub, Berkeley,CA

"Here Kitty, kitty." Homeless man at the Albany Bulb park in Albany, CA--seriously there were no cats in sight.....

"I love you like Jesus. I love you unconditionally. You just have a problem because you do not except my love." "What problem?"
Two elderly man arguing outside Peets Coffee in Berkeley.

Art from the abyss

What creative hub!! This a landfill site on the Bay that has been transformed!!.




"Click Here" to read about the history of the Albany Bulb.

#7 Collecting Random Interactions Series

"How come it is always is up hill to get to something." Grandpa climbing, who was far ahead a of his family up the path to the caves at the Pinnacle.
I said "it is worth it, right"
"I hope so, we will see." laughing with old man.



Random Connection on the Internet.
Christopher Calderhead to me
show details 11:49 AM (22 hours ago)
I have been enjoying reading your website....
...which I found through a google search on tree shrines.

And I feel very self-conscious contacting you to send you what amounts to a fan letter. But I was really fascinated with your work—not only the tree shrines but your diaries of encounters on the street and your work with people with special needs.

I think your exploration of resacralizing the landscape is very moving. I love the vibrancy of the colors you add to the bases of trees.

In any case, some of the work you do is traveling down a path similar to some of my own work, and I thought you might be interested in looking at that. I've been working on a series of pieces based on observations of nature in NY, where I live—here's the link:
http://www.christophercalderhead.com/environmentalseries.html

...and on a series of human observations in a book format:
http://www.christophercalderhead.com/msbooks.html

I offer you those links less in a spirit of shameless self promotion (!) than as an expression of the gift economy that is essential to art making.

Thank you for sharing your wonderful work online.

Christopher Calderhead

Self Acceptance..Inner Value

While camping on the Big Sur River I created this Tree Shrine. In honor of the magnificent redwood trees that graced this space.


These photos are a peek...into my experience.

This work is really about the conversation between the internal and the external. I am trying to practice the refinement of the internal which will create a radiance in the external. A very Buddhist philosophy. The story will follow.










After creating this random poem came into my mind....
River of Souls
dancing in the eternal existence
reaching, being, believing
external reward is only there with Internal acceptance..

#6 Collecting Random Interactions

"Wow it is really quiet up here"
Man driving a smart car who climbed the Rock to take photos.

at the Lucky Store in El Cerrito...
crazy small but brilliant conversation about the cat food I was buying.

Old man
"Your treating your cats right, they are the most important."

Old man in the check out stand behind me...
"Are you feeding kittens..?"


It was cool the whole experience at Lucky's was really chatting and connected! Healing!