More Eco Trail Pics

Eco Trail 11/24 at Lincoln Child Center in Oakland,CA

Exploration, Connection, and Co-Creation





















This was an amazing day for my students at Lincoln. Those who attended were moved and had way to much fun. YES!
The Eco Art festival is composed of at least eighteen site-specific Eco-Art installations created by students and seven professional Eco-Artists. It was fantastic to work with this group of Eco artists. I had this vision almost a year ago and I am amazed at its manifestaion. I thank my co-collaborator Elizabeth Benson for all her heart and hard work in this event.
The festival began at 9:30 were students and staff discovered and explored the beautiful nature on Lincolns campus in the Oakland hills. A little more about the children and LCC where I teach below. Everyday that I work these extraordinary children my belief that art is transformative is affirmed. As the children walked and interacted with the trail I witnessed such joy and excitement as they engaged with nature through art. It was success and an opening for many to strengthen, awaken their relationship with Mother Earth.

Lincoln Centers Mission Statement and Description:
Lincoln Child Center prepares children with severe emotional problems to lead productive and fullfilling lives in the community, by providing children and their families with therapy and education in a healing environment
Lincoln Child Center provides educational, residential and community based treatment programs to children ages 5 through 14 years old, many suffering from abuse and neglect.


Each of the seven classrooms created tree Eco art
List participating artists :
Tree Shrines, Wishing Tree and Sister Circle activation by Lisa Rasmussen,
Poet Trees by elizaBeth Benson-Udom,
Nature Sanctuary by Zach Pine, MD,
Garbage Mural by Veronica Rivera,
Raincoat Tree by Lauren Usher,
Healing Arts Circle by Kelly Barrett,
Clay Earth Creatures by Nan La Torre,
Pine Cone Spiral by Joany Brody,
The event included poetry, and a drum and storytelling circle

Dreams come true

This is an image from my M.F.A. exhibition, which really was a dream come true. I call these triptychs "totems". More later.. hopefully two of these will be selling soon. There is interest. Cross your fingers, they are ready to be out in  the world. 

Anyway..a little bit about me  I am a artist and a world traveler.., I am  obsessed with sacred sites, nature, and the ocean. As well as shamanism and ancient esoteric and mystical philosophy. I will be graduating in June 2008 from John F Kennedy University in the school of Holism, Arts and Consciousness. A cutting edge graduate school (new paradigm thinking) and now under graduate school that produces change makers. What ever that means to you. I found it to be an amazing and transformative experience--eternal as well as external. That was a Freudian slip, I might internal...I like it.

  Currently, my paintings are being represented by the gallery Studio 333 in Sausalito, CA. The other work that I do is site specific, Earth Art which I will show and speak about in a later post. Also, I am a photographer as well as an collaborative artist. 

I am engaged in two very exciting projects with other artists. The first is the "Art is Moving", check out on this blog site! (under that title) Artist Lauren Usher and I are creating a space and face to challenge and hopefully transform perceptions of art and artist, here in our contemporary culture. 

The second project that I am involved in is the name is evolving. I call it "The Hands of Creation," which is an art project with artist/activists Janice Brewster and Nicole Chan breaking the silence of child abuse within our society. We will be doing workshops and Janice's goal is to have those participating to in vision a better world  and to create 1 million hand prints. With intention of what the world should be  for children. 

Lastly, I am a transformative arts teacher for children who are diagnosed as severely emotionally disturbed at a mental health facility in Oakland, CA. I have been there almost three years and seen what art really does it empowers, it heals, it transforms.... more discussion later..

This is my somewhat long intro...As I typing this I am beginning to understand the power of the BLOG it is telling my story ...my mythology. O...I do apologize my writing is very conversational and I frequently miss a connector words. My mind moves faster than my hand.

Please comment ...I look forward to the conversation. 

To the land of the Maya....

Tonight I am leaving for an adventure to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. For some reason I have been called to go to Tulum this year. I will find out why-very soon. Of course I want to do a tree shrine there and I am still grappling with the potential of being arrested for doing art in public. I had a great conversation with Eco artist Gloria Lamson about this subject. It is something to consider when doing art in public space. At times the audience just doesn't get what you are doing. I write more when I get back.
I am really excited to experience a few of the Mayan sacred sites.

More on the Cease and Desist encounter

As I was destroying the shrine I become really depressed and at the time I was scared that the Ranger would charge me with a felony. The crows above in the branches seem to be chattering loudly with laughter. After fifteen minutes the Ranger came back in a better mood and said the good thing is you are not wanted for homicide. It looks like you all cleaned this up, I'll let you off. Phew... that was a sketchy encounter.
I left the giant feeling distraught on how was I to create my tree shrines around the world if I would be getting in trouble all the time. Don and I walked back to the campsite, that had a beautiful view of the tree and the ocean. I took a seed from the tree and I decided to create my shrine in our campsite. As it got dark I created the shrine around our lantern.

Point Reyes is such an amazing place. We stayed there for three days. The first day was hilarous as we brought out supplies out the Coast Camp, which was a hike two miles in. Don was freaking out as he had to carry all the wine and food. But the trek and pain were worth it. The ocean is just 200 feet away on this beautiful coastal beach. I love hearing the ocean as I sleep.l
Over all it was a fun adventure. Except I need to rethink my tree shrines, having to work with in the system or doing guerrilla work and being careful not to get caught....
Need to reflect on it all

Cease and Desist

Point Reyes, California August 08
" Cease and Desist " the Ranger yelled from his bullhorn from the fire road. He was at least a mile away. I was like a deer that had been caught in headlights, stunned and freaked out. In a couple of minutes the Ranger walked out to us and yelled "what in the world are you doing?"Not the reaction that I hope for my audience. I with some composure said I was an Eco artist and I was doing art around the tree. He started talking that this could be a felony and that I needed a permit to do this. Eeks! He took my ID and then a photo. He asked us to clean up and he would be right back, he had to check on a campsite.


This will continue...

The relationship with the interior and the exterior

I feel that when I brought the tree mandala into the gallery I was creating a relationship to the interior and the exterior. This body of work is all about relationship, a rekindling of our holistic being. When I think of the trees that I honor in nature, I also reflect on their inner rings that document their life. In this work I am honoring life, history and story. As I digest this work I think it it about relationship, reclamation of the interior i.e. spirit or consciousness. I hope it communicates my world view of animism and in this we are all woven into the same tapestry. I think the Hindi' s call it Indra's web. I feel the more tree shrines that I create in the exterior and the interior, the web will grow again strong. We will hopefully remember our interconnectedness.

I am such a pragmatic mystic.