Earth Day and Art

Today is Earth Day. The first time I celebrated this day as an adult I was living in New York City. They closed down 6th Avenue/Avenue of the Americas for several blocks in Midtown and booths abounded everywhere about everything. Much was about recycling, planting trees, alternative energies, philosophy, politics and spirituality. It was an amazing day for these young eyes that felt like they were at the best feast of knowledge one could find. I bought several books, signed up for countless newsletters, and headed to Central Park to watch the free concert put on by the B-52's. Not one arrest that day, and everyone was in such a joyous, festive mood. It was fantastic!

As a kid I was always hiking in the canyon behind my elementary school looking for the mountain lion that everyone talked about, exploring the plants, smelling the wild flowers, and simply sitting and watching everything. My parents often took us caming in Oak Creek Canyon, and for me that was like heading into the mystical forests created by J.R. R. Tolkein. Of course lets not forget my beloved ocean that I spent countless days of my childhood exploring. To this day I can never get enough of simply closing my eyes and letting my other senses take over; the sounds of the waves, the smell of the salty water, the sounds of the seagulls, the natural pull and push of the ocean...I may have grown up in a city, but I was always an outdoors type of person. When I went to that Earth Day Festival in New York City, I got the itch to one day live in the woods, to let all of those concrete towers go in favor of lush trees, bears, soaring eagles, and the mountain lion that I was always trying to find.

I just got back from my daily hike into the Colorado woods, and I can't even begin to tell you my love for trees. Yes, I am a tree hugger through and through simply because I love them. They are amazing, and every time I gaze upon them, I think of our interconnection, how everything in this world needs one another; that mystical, spiritual web of life. Those beloved trees of mine create oxygen (as do all of the trees within the ocean), so we can continue to breath, and what we exhale keeps them alive. We need one another. We are part of Nature whether you want to accept that or not. We might seem so different from it all, but if you really spend some time in a park, at the zoo, in the woods, or by the ocean you will see how similar we all really are.

My art has always been about this connection, whether I knew it or not. The seeds were planted in my early childhood, and they didn't begin to grow until after my divorce from my first husband. That is when I finally gave permission to that little kid in me to start talking and expressing herself. I think ever since then I tried to show the similarities that we all share rather than the differences in hopes that it will create more compassion and loving kindness as we walk upon this Earth. Maybe someone will start recycling, maybe someone will donate money to protect the lions that are losing their habitats and are endangered....maybe someone will install a flourescent light bulb instead of the old fashioned kind. These are some of the hopes and prayers that I put into my paintings.

The differences? Oh, how these need to be appreciated and loved. What makes us different is where we can learn the most...where that compassion we just developed gets put to the test and grow stronger and stronger. The differences are where we develop true appreciation. They are nothing to be frightened of or anything that needs to generate hate or violence. They simply are there to help us broaden our horizons, explore and accept. That is when we truly walk back into our natural skins.

By the way, I came face to face with that mountain lion many years ago, and she was more beautiful than I ever imagined as a child.

So on this Earth Day what will you do to put the Earth first?

Creating Something New From the Ashes

I have grown to despise the word "should". It is a word that has haunted me all of my life, and I think it has most people. It is a word that when you break free of, so many amazing things can come in.

I hear a lot of people talking about how they want to totally get rid of an aspect of themselves, because they simply can't stand living that way anymore. I totally understand this except for the part of wanting to get rid of that aspect. Yes, that is a should whenever we think in absolutes.

Every part of you is amazing. Every part of you is a piece of a puzzle, and each piece is needed to create the whole picture or painting or sculpture. Yes, along the way we may have picked up some tools, or ways in which we react, that aren't always the most functional or healing. In fact, they create a lot of dysfunction and pain in our lives, so you are probably wondering why I would say to not get rid of it right?

Well, I am a firm believer in transformation. Living here in the Rocky Mountains, I watch transformation everyday. Nature again has been my teacher. I watch the seasons give way to one another. I see how the vibrant bud becomes an emerald green leaf, which eventually turns to yellow and red. When Winter arrives, it is finally brown and it falls from the tree to the ground where it continues to transform into soil. The butterfly first starts out as a caterpillar, creates a cocoon where it turns within two weeks into a miraculous butterfly. Everywhere you look, you will see signs of transformation.

I say don't get rid of, but embrace those aspects of you that you want to get rid of since they will be your greatest teacher. Sit down with them, treat them as you would a friend who is suffering, listen to the story, and when compassion walks into your heart, you will begin to see how to transform this aspect of yourself from something dysfunctional to functional, from something that causes pain to something that heals, and finally you won't be walking around with a big gaping hole in your life. You are now that butterfly flying around from flower to flower.

I recently faced such a moment in my life. I have been creating a lot of muck in the studio. It happens when something new wants to come out of me into the world. However, in order to let this happen, there is something I usually need to face. For me it was all of those "should's" that so many people lovingly poured upon me when I first started working as a professional artist. I admit that I was very insecure, and I listened. I listened way too well. I heard such things as I should only paint flowers, I should only paint animals, I should give up using oil pastels and only work with oil paints, and the list goes on an on.

My husband brought home a piece of copper to me during this time that he rescued from the trash. He thought I could turn it into a piece of art. I listened to one of those should's and I painted sunflowers on one side of it. However, on the other side of it, I painted my prayers without being fully aware of it. Well, I hated that piece of copper when I was done, and I stared at it for three years wondering what in the world I would ever do with it.

Suddenly, last week I knew that I needed to destroy it and then recreate from whatever survived. It was my way of transforming all of those "should's" into "could's" or possibilities. I got out a hammer, a dremel tool, and a torch. There are a lot of ways to work with copper properly, and I'll be honest, I didn't do any of them. I lightly sanded the surface leaving the paint on, but creating a texture for something to hold onto if need be. I then started working without any preconcieved ideas, and I haven't felt this free and trusting of myself in a long time. What it became is really unique, and it is something I am very happy with. I am hoping to continue working with copper and to keep turning caterpillars into butterflies.

I am calling these suncatchers.