Walking Into My Past

I went on a rather long meander yesterday, that ended up being nostalgic. It was my day off, but I got up with Bryn and took him to work in the morning since I had to stop downtown and pick up certified copies of our marriage license. Realized I was wearing jeans, an oversized grey hoodie, and a knit cap, which likely made me look homeless! Made a quick zip into the Administration Building, grabbed a bagel with shmear of salmon cream cheese and a coffee, and then headed out of the city down to the wilds of south King County.

It wasn’t actually too far south, but I was on the hunt for some doll hands for a friend (Halloween costume) and I thought that Michael’s or JoAnn Fabrics would FOR SURE have them since I recalled seeing them there before. What I forgot, was that time passes, and the times I saw doll parts at craft stores was twenty years ago. So after no luck at the places by Westfield Shoppingtown Southcenter (I always have to say the full name), I decided to take a wander through IKEA, which wasn’t that far away.

No, I didn’t buy any tea lights. Just napkins. And a new recycle bin. And some cork trivets. And a set of gingerbread house parts that I *may* put together sometime in the next couple of months. Then I decided to go into nearby Renton, which is the city where I lived from 5th grade through high school, and also for a few years in my twenties. Again, time had somehow passed and things were different. One of the places I stopped at was an antique store in the old downtown that always had really cool furniture I had loved. I hadn’t been inside in probably close to twenty years, but it seemed just the same, albeit maybe slightly more crowded. There was even a piece that I specifically remembered seeing in there when I was sixteen!

I mean, doesn’t EVERYBODY need a fancy half-dome to store their statues in at home? Still there. Marked down to half-price, which was about $900. I can’t imagine why it hasn’t sold.

This was also upstairs, and I took a picture because I liked the technique the artist used in collaging on different pieces onto the watercolor painting. Couldn’t figure out who the artist was, but it has a Native theme.

In addition to the main floor and upstairs, there is also a creepy basement. Since it was such a good nostalgia trip, I even ran across a bassinet that is the exact same thing as I remember having at home as a child in our basement (it my baby bassinet). The tag on this says that it is from the 1920s? Not sure if my parents bought an antique for me, but perhaps it was a hand-me-down from a family friend, or my dad found it at a garage sale. Or maybe it was from the late 70s and the antique dealers are lying? This could possibly be the same one even, I remember we ended up giving it to a Russian immigrant family when we lived in Renton.

So then I drove up to the area where our old house was and took a walk in and around that neighborhood. There was a bit of a detour since I had to wander around some streets and trails to actually get into the place. It is a gated neighborhood (which sounds way fancier than it actually is) and on a bluff at the top of a hill where there are still a lot of forested greenbelts surrounding it. The houses are mostly built in a big loop and our house was on the inside of the loop. Of course the house itself looks different twenty-two years later. It has changed colors and has a different deck and a fenced-in backyard and a flagpole (?!?) in the front yard.

I approached the old house from the back, taking a trail from the Clubhouse through the forest in the center of the loop. There were so many memories! This was the forest I used to play in all the time. It smelled the same, and looked pretty much the same. I got to say hello to trees I remembered.

The fence that was up now kept me from seeing my old backyard very well, but there was a large rock I remembered that was still there, just outside the fence. I assume it was unearthed when construction workers were digging the foundation, although it may have just been there. I used to sit there a lot and read books, now it is covered in moss.

Here’s a view looking back at the path as I was on my way out. I didn’t spend too long, but it was nice to be there again in a place that had a lot of memories. It was a spontaneous trip back to my past and I was happy to see all of the trees and remember what a fun environment that was to play in as a child. The last time I had gone back for a visit the greenery had recently been trimmed back pretty severely, so it was good to see it looking more overgrown and foresty.

The good thing about having grown up around here is that I can go back and visit these places if I want to. I don’t do it very often, but sometimes it makes for a nice trip to reflect on who I was at a given time, and to recall people who aren’t alive any longer. As I get older, I gain more understanding about having my own past to look back on, which I’m sure is part of the human experience in general. It helps to balance all of the forward momentum of working to achieve goals (and of also trying to “be in the moment”).

A Slower Art Year For Me, Yet Still Busy

Well, to begin with, the image above is not my own artwork. It is a really cool piece titled Chimi nupíkyaam ithívthaneen (Let’s Fix the Earth) by Lyn Risling (Karuk/Yurok/Hupa) that she made for Fixing the Earth: NOW! back in 2013 at the Goudi’ni Native American Gallery at Humboldt State University. I share it because the show has been remounted again this year at the Maidu Museum in Roseville, California, so I am guessing that Lyn will be showing this piece once again. The four drawings I made for the show originally are also back on display. Two of them had gone to another artist who had work in the first show and the other two were living with me at home in our bedroom, but they are together again for a time. I had hoped to go down to California for the opening, but work and life kept me in Seattle this time.

I had been thinking I should update my blog (and artist website too, really) for a while now. However, the thing that got me to post wasn’t my own work, but my reaction to someone else’s. I’m glad I saw the post about Scott Erickson’s work and ended up falling down that rabbit hole, because it got me thinking a lot again about Native art, in addition to my own artwork. But more on those musings later. I also realized that I hadn’t posted since the spring when I had gone to Crow’s Shadow for a workshop! So here’s what I’ve been up to…

Personally, life has been pretty good. Bryn and I celebrated our ninth year together this October, and we also chose our anniversary of the day we met to create another anniversary. We got married! It was a pretty small ceremony with us and two other couples. Nothing big, but it was a lovely celebration and then we spent a couple nights up in the San Juan Islands as a mini honeymoon.

Professionally, I’ve taken on more responsibility at my “day” job, which has kept me from devoting as much time to my artwork. I went from working four days a week to five, and also have a new role I’m transitioning into that, while challenging, is also exciting. I’m definitely gaining new skills, which is always a plus. Of course, I also really miss having more free time to devote to my interests (that I’m realizing I didn’t use as productively as I could have).

But, even if I haven’t been creating new art or doing much to keep my website and blog up-to-date, I’ve still managed to have a few things going on from the momentum of past years. So, here’s what has been going on with my artwork since my last post when I came home from Crow’s Shadow. I realized I never even posted any images of the work I did there since I hadn’t photographed any of it beyond terrible pictures on my phone! I’ll have to get on that.

RAW Seattle: Spectrum – I showed a selection of past prints from 2010 and 2011 at this group event in Seattle at Showbox at the Market in April. They do these events on a regular basis and I did have to pay/sell tickets to be able to participate, which I wasn’t overly thrilled about. But, I figured I would try something new! I did have fun and a good group of friends and coworkers came to support me. I don’t know that I would do another RAW event again, it just didn’t really feel like an outlet I want for my work. However, I had a great time and it was worth the experience!

Chief Seattle Club – At the beginning of May I was the featured artist (again) at Chief Seattle Club’s art walk event. I really enjoy sharing my work at this venue because of what this organization does to advocate for homeless and urban Natives in my city, and because of the people I get to meet while I’m there. Attendance was lighter this time due to some protest or another that was also going on that night and snarled traffic all over the city, but I still had a good turnout of friends show up and got to debut my new prints I had just made at Crow’s Shadow. I also bought a couple small pieces from some of the members who were also showing work that night.

Haute Haus – A friend at work also is a DJ and does a night at a local club called Kremwerk on a regular basis. In the middle of May I showed a small selection of five of my new prints I had made the month prior at Crow’s Shadow. It was a fun night! Oh, and I had also let one of the other DJs playing that night (Futurewife) use an image of one of my previous paintings for a single he had done (Slash Fiction EP). The event that night was also a release party for the single and it was cool to have my past work used for something new in addition to showing prints.

Mount Shasta Retreat – I don’t even know if I’ve mentioned anything previously on my blog, but at the beginning of the year I ended up taking a workshop on Bainbridge Island about shamanic journeying that I really enjoyed. I took a second workshop by another instructor a few months later in Seattle, and then also ended up going down to Mount Shasta for a weekend workshop she was leading there shortly after. I’m not really going to go into much detail about all of that, but it was significant making the trip down to northern California, not only for the purpose of the workshop, but to connect with the landscape there. I had hoped to be able to get a lot closer to Karuk ancestral territory on my way home, but ended up realizing I was trying to do too much, so I just stopped at the Klamath River where it crosses I-5 on the drive back and spent a little time there. Significant stuff.

PNCA: Reflections on the Columbia Plateau – This was a collection of work by about thirty artists who have participated in the PNCA Crow’s Shadow workshops over the years. I mailed four prints down for the show, although I don’t know if all (or any?) of them actually ended up in the show as I wasn’t able to make it for the opening at the beginning of October. I didn’t see my work in any of the photos posted of the show, but there weren’t too many, and they were more photos of people at the opening than of the work itself. Still, I didn’t get my work mailed back to me, so I assume some of it is on display! This show will be at PNCA in Portland, Oregon through the end of October and then will go to Pendleton, Oregon next February.

Fixing the Earth: NOW! – The opening is actually tonight (well yesterday, as of when this post will be published), and as I already mentioned earlier, I have my same four drawings as last time in this show again. I had hoped to make something new for this new reworking of the show, but ended up not having the bandwidth to develop and make any new art in August or September. Anyhow, it feels right to have my four drawings back together again. Kind of cyclical, like the drawings themselves.

Potlatch Fund Gala – I rarely donate artwork to auctions as I feel that the practice of art auctions in general is harmful to artists. However, I will donate work to a few select organizations and Potlatch Fund is one that I am always happy to support. I’ve got two framed prints from 2010 that I’ve donated to their Silent Auction that takes place on November 1st. It looks like tickets to the Gala are already sold out, so I hope they end up raising a lot of money for their grant programs!

ᑭᒥᐊᐧᐣ kimiwan ‘zine, Issue 8: Indigenous Futurisms – Not sure when the new issue will be published, but I had been contacted to submit some Robohontas images for kimiwan’s next issue. Can’t wait to see how that turns out! I think the new issue will be out in December?

It was nice to realize that I’m at a point where I’ve been invited to participate in opportunities to share my work with others that I haven’t had to seek out myself. I do still need to put more effort into creating some new art and maintaining my network and contacts to keep the momentum going! There are a couple of grants I really want to apply for that are coming up. I had applied for the Artist Leadership Program through NMAI in late spring, and did find out my project wasn’t selected, but it was still a good experience of putting the application together and organizing a project proposal. And I can try again next year.

Work will keep me pretty busy for the next few weeks at least as there is a lot of planning I’m involved in at the moment. But with my wedding complete, that frees up some energy to put back into thinking about, writing about, and creating art. I may not have created as much new work this year, but I’ve still managed to rack up some stuff for my artist resume. Luckily, I don’t rely on my artwork to pay any bills!

Cultural Appropriation: Scott Erickson’s “Alliance Rebellion” Show

Deathmask, 2014: by Scott Erickson.

So this is what inspired me to write a blog post for the first time in a long time. (Life has been busy.) I ran across a post on Facebook regarding a show (Rebellion Alliance) that this artist recently had in Seattle. Although the artist is white, I wasn’t too disturbed at first glance. It just didn’t seem like anything new to me since I’ve seen work in this theme done by native artists already. But in taking a closer look at the site, and really getting into the statement for the show, I started to have some serious misgivings. Technically, the artist isn’t doing anything illegal if he isn’t marketing his work as “Indian.” And while there are some who feel that artists from other cultures shouldn’t work in this type of style, I feel like the cross-cultural influence works both ways, so I don’t personally have a problem with someone creating work like this as long as they aren’t trying to pass it off as work by a native artist. Then I got to his statement about the show (excerpts below) and I started having some serious issues.

“Animals frequently observed in this part of the world are depicted with intrinsic sacredness. The integrity of these ancient forms has not only endured, but also increased in power amidst an over-saturated advertising media age.” “A bridge….between a divisive past of non-dignifying cultural theft to our present role in imagineering a more hopeful future. Where we simultaneously restore honor due to the cultural sources of storytelling and their art techniques, while exploring our individual and shared narratives with imagination, innovation, and creative freedom.”

After reading the statement, and then reading it again, I’m like, “OH, HELL NO!” My initial personal opinion is that his statement is really long and way too filled with “artspeak.” But that aside, he also is not only romanticizing the usual stereotypes of native people, he also is claiming to have some sort of magic power to bring opposing cultures together. I think he is filled with great intentions. I also think he is full of shit and needs to be more thorough with his research and presentation if he really believes what he is saying here. You know, “Me white man. Me able to build bridges between whites and natives with art. You be honored by my appropriation of your culture.” I would like to appreciate what he is trying to do, but he is in tricky territory and he hasn’t done his homework. For instance, there is also a FAQ page that offers such information as:

“As you can imagine, after the initial thrill of discovering through this process, that these images were visually compelling, it soon set in that they also served as guideposts to deeply significant conceptual and subsequent potentially sacrilegious cultural commentary, ushered in by their bridges between pop and sacred, and the appropriative and anthropological questions they spark, made creating them increasingly uncomfortable for the artist, a non-Native American.” “Prior to exhibiting the work, select local members of Indigenous Tribes considered the show’s purpose and images, and share in the hope that the approachability of the works spark a conversation that encourages us all to investigate together the questions the works raise afresh, and anticipate the exhibition will generate greater appreciation and support of Indigenous Tribal art, culture, and people.  Though no objections were made, they cannot, nor do they ascribe to, speak for everyone.  They informally welcomed 10% of the show proceeds to support Indigenous youth arts education, and recommended formal presentation of the works to Tribal elders for consideration, a conversation that will continue after the work’s initial private and public debut.” “Try to contribute personal and fresh perspectives vs.generalizations or thoughts that you’re positive have already been voiced, and help spread the word that this show is intended as a forum where we can all learn from each other.”

Dude. Again, he really needs to edit all of this down. Also, is this a continuation of his statement? Because it was not in what I would expect from a FAQ format. I’m really curious who these “select local members of Indigenous Tribes” were. The artist is from Portland. Were they from Oregon tribes? Washington Tribes, since the show is in Seattle? If he wasn’t even willing to wait until his work had been presented to Tribal Elders for consideration before publicly displaying and selling his work, why bother to even make the effort to seek input from tribal members? Also, who selected this “select” group? I can only assume it was the artist, himself… Additionally, there is no mention that formline design is actually from tribes much farther north than Portland or Seattle. I get that he is bringing two influences from his childhood, Star Wars and the Coast Salish artwork that is easily found in his hometown of Seattle (totem poles especially), together in what he thinks is a new and interesting way. Yet, this ubiquitous public art in Seattle had already been appropriated by whites who brought it down from tribes in B.C. and Alaska. Oh yeah, and there are already native artists doing THE EXACT SAME THING that he apparently knows nothing about. More on those artists in a minute. HOWEVER…

#TrooperVibe leggings. Art and design by Scott Erickson.

Then I went back to the main page and discovered a link to a page that is selling these leggings. I dug around a little more and it suddenly started to make more sense. The show was put on by Bombsheller Art Labs, which apparently specializes in print-on-demand personalized fashions (leggings).

“Bombsheller Art Labs is a new kind of maker gallery……a “collaborative” gallery… where designer/artists and patrons are empowered to create, innovate, and exchange skills and ideas. Generating both art community and art commerce, Bombsheller Arts Labs exhibits an eclectic selection of works, installations and performances, with an emphasis on tech and fashion influenced works created primarily by local Northwest artists.”

Now I think the whole thing is even worse. Why? Well, that would have to do with the issue of indigenous women’s rights, which is really a whole other post. I could go on and on about stereotypes of Native women and how damaging they are. The image above, well, it just feeds into that whole trope of the hyper-sexualized, exotic Indian Princess. But rather than go down that road, here’s a quick statistic from Amnesty International:

“Sexual violence against Indigenous women in the USA is widespread. According to US government statistics, Native American and Alaska Native women are more than 2.5 times more likely to be raped or sexually assaulted than other women in the USA.”

So now the artist is putting on a show of artwork that he readily admits he has appropriated from another culture, without any information on the original tradition or cultures that he has borrowed from. He is deflecting this appropriation and any issues that people may have with it by: 1) Donating 10% of the show proceeds to Indigenous Youth Arts Programs, which implies that he is trying to preemptively atone for some sort of misdeed; 2) Stating that he has asked for permission from “select” tribal members and then, instead of waiting for that process to play out entirely and get any formal endorsement, he has gone ahead with public display and sale of the work by calling it an “unfinished” exhibition and the beginning of a narrative; and 3) His artwork, which has been appropriated from indigenous traditions, is being applied to leggings which are marketed in a highly sexualized manner which only further encourages negative and sexually-charged stereotypes relating to Native American and First Nations women. Those leggings? I. Can’t. Even. Deal. Here is the text that accompanies them:

“Flaunt or flaunt not. There is no try, cuz these Troopers are made for marchin’. Symmetrically rendered patterns help you strut like dunkards drink and killas kill….Yoda always used to say. #TrooperVibe shell design is inspired by Alliance Is Rebellion art show, an alternative universe created by Scott Erickson, bridging a satirical spin on a “mainstream” space epic and an homage to Indigenous Pacific Northwest Tribal iconic art techniques to create a new force you can flaunt.”

Just, no. This is not an homage. This is not respectful. This is just another version of the hipster headdress. Or the Urban Outfitters Navajo Hipster Panty. There are so many other examples I could list. Sure, the artist isn’t doing anything illegal. But distasteful? Yes. His goal is starting to feel less like “a bridge” and more like making a profit. (Which I get, because hey, we’ve all got to survive, right?) Just don’t pretend that the main point of this exhibit is to build a bridge and then go and align yourself with a company that will monetize your artwork in a really crass way. So. Now a few words of personal advice to Scott Erickson on what he might do to improve on this project: 1) DON’T MAKE GRAND STATEMENTS THAT YOU CAN’T ACTUALLY FULFILL. Yes, your artwork does help link two worlds together. That is great. No, you are not the first artist to attempt this. Maybe just explore how you are combining these two things together, and really focus in on that specific intersection rather than go in a direction where you are trying to “identify and question what’s sacred in both culture and art.” Which leads to… 2) EDIT, EDIT, EDIT! You do not need a statement that is longer than a few paragraphs. You also do not need a FAQ page that reads like an artist statement. Distill things down to their essence. Create one really strong sentence you can lead with that would allow a reader to understand what this show is about. Don’t assume your audience at your exhibition (in-person OR online) will read everything you write. Be concise. (I recognize that I am telling you to edit things down on a blog post that has grown dangerously long, but that is also because, well, this is a personal blog that I only sporadically post on. If I were writing this for any sort of professional publication, you can bet that I would pare things down and spend a lot of time editing rather than just write for an hour and hit “post.”) 3) DO YOUR HOMEWORK. This is probably my biggest piece of advice. Especially if you are going to be creating work in what you acknowledge is controversial territory. If you are going to appropriate traditions that are not your own, be prepared to cite your sources and influences. Don’t substitute conceptual statements for hard facts. Don’t vaguely refer to “the indigenous tribes of the Pacific Northwest Coast,” you need to know some names of specific cultures, tribes, and even artists. Don’t call something sacred without having at least some sort of understanding about why it is sacred, and who it is sacred to. Also don’t assume that your own “initial thrill” of discovering a process of combining formline design with Star Wars means that you are the first person to arrive at this point. A cursory search of the amazing internets would have likely introduced you to work by at least one of the following two artists. I can only assume you didn’t know about their work already when you were putting this exhibit together?

Dark-Father, 2013 or 2014: by Jeffrey Veregge (Port Gamble S’Klallam/Suquamish/Duwamish).

Jeffrey Veregge is an artist I’ve had the pleasure of meeting in person. I really love his work, and I’ve seen him go from a style he called “Salish Expressionism” to his current line of work that is “a reflection of a lifetime love affair with comic books, toys, TV and film.” He also has worked with Star Wars as inspiration as shown by the image above. On his website with this image is the following text: “My first use of S’Klallam in a piece. This piece is currently with LucasFilm Licensing for approval for an official Salish Geek Star Wars Print.” I’m not certain of the date he made it, but it is either from 2014 or 2013.

Power, 2012: by Andy Everson (K’ómoks and Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw first nations).

Andy Everson is an artist I follow on Facebook. In 2012, he created the image above. Looks familiar, eh? Amusingly enough, he also posted a link on his page today to a blog entry by another Native artist, Shaun Peterson (Puyallup) that addresses this exact subject and also includes comparative images of Erickson’s work alongside Veregge’s and Everson’s. Not only are the side-by-side comparisons worth a look, Peterson writes about the expectations that Native artists have to deal with quite eloquently.

There is hope, if we rise, 2013: by Sonny Assu (Liǥwildaʼx̱w (We Wai Kai) of the Kwakwaka’wakw nations).

I also wanted to include an image of Sonny Assu‘s work here. While he hasn’t (to my knowledge) produced any Star Wars inspired artwork, he is yet another contemporary Native artist who is interpreting formline design in new ways. Okay, I’m almost done here. So yeah, this is what Scott Erickson says about this body of work:

“These pieces, which I made purely for the joy of it, explore new connections between sacred Indigenous Northwest storytelling, and familiar “mainstream” cultural narratives. My hope is to share their power and encourage us to build the bridges they represent.”

But these are not new connections being made. They have been made already, repeatedly, by Indigenous artists. Erickson also asks:

“Personally and plainly: How am I not just another white guy stealing from the native tribes for my own benefit? Is this imitation considered the best form of flattery? How do I give honor where honor is due?”

Scott, I’m so sorry to have to tell you this. Right now, you are “just another white guy stealing from the native tribes for [your] own benefit.” Better luck next time.

Crow’s Shadow Workshop 2014 (part 1)

Since there is still a day-and-a-half of printmaking left, I’m assuming that I’ll end up posting about my visit again. I’m so glad I made sure to come down here again this year. While I was uncertain at first after two years of not creating any prints, it all came together and I’ve been making some new work that I’m really enjoying. But just the act of getting here is significant! Wednesday after work I stopped at home to pack and then left Seattle and drove to Yakima to spend the night with family. Then on Thursday morning, I drove another two+ hours to Pendleton. The landscape is so different here than what I’m used to back at home. There are mountains, but they’re closer and softer than the Cascade and Olympic ranges that I normally see. Things are flatter and vaster, and the sky is huge! Above is a photo I took arriving in Pendleton.

Crow’s Shadow Institute is housed in what used to be the schoolhouse at St. Andrew’s Mission on the Umatilla Indian Reservation. A few miles east of Pendleton (which is already a small town) the location is extremely rural. One thing I love is the amount of mockingbirds I see flying around when I am approaching my destination. The photo above looks down the driveway leading to Crow’s Shadow and you can see the building to the right. The entrance shown is to the upstairs of the building, which is mainly used for storage nowadays.

Inside, there is a gallery space with two movable walls. A selection of works from Crow’s Shadow’s permanent collection are on display and tables are currently set up for us to use during the workshop.

Adjacent to the gallery is the printmaking studio, which includes two Takach presses and lots of space to accommodate multiple users. All of this is in the basement of the old schoolhouse. I’ve become so spoiled by working here that I’ve mainly given up on printmaking at home in Seattle!

Frank Janzen is the man in charge! He is a Tamarind Master Printer and an amazing human being. A film crew stopped by briefly on Friday afternoon to get some shots of him doing a demo for the workshop. Apparently he’s being featured in a film being made that looks more closely at eastern Oregon–his part is obviously about the arts and culture scene. Here, he was showing some of his own personal prints he has been working on. He’ll have a couple of them included in an upcoming group show at Tacoma Art Museum this summer!

Last night I spent a little time outside at dusk. It was great to watch the sky darken as more and more stars began to appear. I was thinking that I don’t do that enough at home, but there’s such a difference between being in the city (and I don’t just mean light pollution) versus being somewhere more rural. I don’t want to romanticize it, but the slower pace and natural surroundings really do change the way I interact with the world around me. That probably has just as much to do with why I love coming out here for the four-day workshop. I’m removed from my regular routine and able to focus on creating for an extended period of time. I love it!

I had visited in 2010 and 2011, but having missed the workshop for the past two years, I still showed up and found familiar faces from my last visits. It is such a warm and supportive environment in which to make art. I’m so happy that I found it! What is interesting on this visit is to reflect back on the person I was when I was here two and three years ago. I’ve gone through so much personal growth over that time that I feel like my experience of Crow’s Shadow this time is different, even as it feels so familiar. The work I’m producing also feels the same way. I’m still working with a lot of the same parameters as I have before, yet I feel that there is more freedom to my process on this visit. And more layers! I haven’t photographed any of my work yet, mainly because I’m still not sure which prints are really “finished.” More to come…

 

The Side of Yourself That Wants to Love More

Life has been pretty good lately, if rather busy! There are actually several art opportunities going on for me right now. Tomorrow, April 17th I will be participating in a RAW Seattle event that combines art, fashion, music, and fun. It’ll be at the Showbox at the Market and I’ll be one of about 40 participants. There will be a selection of my monotype prints on display and I’ve got a few friends coming so I think it should be fun!

Next week I will also be going to another monotype workshop at Crow’s Shadow Institute which I haven’t gone to for about two years. Looking forward to that! And then the week after that, on May 1st, I’ll be the featured artist at Chief Seattle Club’s First Thursday Art Walk.

Beyond all of this, I’m exploring a new role at work which will mean that I’m going from working four days a week up to five. I’m excited about the new potential for this role as it will be fun and challenging. A little more money from working that additional day every week and my schedule will become more reliable as well. However, I’ll miss having as much free time as I currently do. It is still a positive change though.

The photo above is of a card from a new tarot deck I found when I was in Portland recently. It really captured my eye and I just finally opened it up today and went through the cards. I love what the artist did in creating this deck and was so excited to find a deck that resonated so deeply. The other deck I have is one I bought back in high school. I love the illustrations and style in that one, but it never really felt like “my” deck. I do find tarot to be an interesting tool to explore personal awareness and ‘The Empress’ was the card I drew when I asked what I needed to focus on today. My personal takeaway from reading the interpretation of this card was to focus on, “…the side of yourself that wants to love more,” and “…it’s time for you to reconnect with nature.” It was good to take a moment and open the window to the grey and rainy day. The trees outside are budding and will have leaves very shortly. Spring abounds!

“May Your Journey Be Beautiful”

 

It was such a beautiful clear, sunny day today! Drove down to Portland this afternoon and it was fun to see the temperature creep from a lovely 55 degrees in Seattle to about 65 degrees down here. Checked into the hotel, took a shower, and walked to the PNCA campus to hear Joy Harjo speak. I haven’t heard her talk before, and have only read some of her poetry. She was great. She talked about her journey as an artist, her worldview, advice for artists (and humans in general), played her flute, read poems, etc. Afterwards she was signing autographs and selling books. The line was huge and the books went fast, but I was able to get a couple of CDs (which will be perfect for the drive home tomorrow) and had her sign the cover of one of them. I loved what she wrote: “May your journey be beautiful.” I’m definitely going to pick up a copy of her memoir that was recently published.

Additionally, I chatted with a lovely lady behind me in the book-signing line who actually had heard of my tribe before. Initially, she had asked if I was Spokane. Also, I was able to meet the artist/curator of the recent group exhibit at PNCA (Bury My Art at Wounded Knee) which I had a few pieces in. Also, I was able to pick up my pieces. I hadn’t realized how much I missed my Ipshaamkírapuh Iktíinach (Orphan Dance-Stick) and how good it is to have it back in my possession. I was somewhat aware of it at the time I assembled it a couple of years ago, but even more-so now, that it carries medicine. I didn’t send it down to Portland lightly, but I also knew that it wanted to be seen.

The walk back to the hotel was also lovely with the clear sky and moonlight over the city. Ordered some room service, doing a few computer things, and then I’m going to crash. Sleep is needed!

What a Difference a Week Can Make

 

Since my post a full week ago Monday I have: sold two prints via my Etsy site, been scouted via Etsy to participate in a local art event next month, started making some new work (see image above), and have found a location that is willing to host a community workshop in 2015 for an NMAI Artist Leadership Program application/proposal I am putting together. Nice to see that things are happening and I’m really feeling good about my goals in making new artwork this year. Maybe all it took was setting the intentions from my last post, putting it out there, and then just going ahead and DOING it! 

More details to come soon on the event in April (the 17th). Same with the NMAI proposal. But I’m feeling so motivated and positive at the moment, I wanted to share!

Spring Cleaning via Etsy!

 

In an attempt to: A) clean up my studio space; B) get my artwork out of storage and into good homes; C) make new art; and D) earn some extra money; I spent much of today listing artwork on my Etsy site. I’ve sold some work on Etsy in the past, but nothing beyond small drawings. Who knows if my larger work will find the right audience there, but I’m hopeful that I can sell enough to at least cover tuition for the PNCA Crow’s Shadow Printmaking Retreat coming up in April (about $500 plus travel expenses). I haven’t attended the last two years and I’m craving a printmaking fix! Especially at my favorite locale for making prints…

I listed a collection of items at 40-60% off my usual retail prices and will keep this up through May 12th. After that, prices will go back up and I will start looking more actively for a venue other than Etsy to retail them at my regular rates, although I’ll probably keep the Etsy site going too. (I’ve got a decent number of prints stockpiled from 2010 and 2011.) I don’t want to pursue anything more serious while I’m currently selling off older work at a discount, but I’ve thought about reaching out to a couple of Seattle galleries that specialize in Native art for the past few years and never done anything about it. Why? Too timid, too nervous, too many assumptions that they would say, “no.”

Well no longer. Now. Is. The. Time. And if they say, “no,” I will just keep looking for the right place, the right partnership. What good is it to keep making my artwork if I only sell it here and there, just half-heartedly making efforts without really pushing myself? I know what it is worth, I’ve had people pay what it is worth, so it isn’t like I need more validation. I just need to put myself and my work out there! So Phase One of My Plan To Sell More Art is now in progress. Here’s hoping it goes well and I can soon move to Phase Two.

Indian or Indian? West Elm’s Dragonfly Dhurrie…

 

No, I didn’t make the rug shown in the picture above. I ran across it on sale at West Elm’s website and (of course) was drawn to the geometric patterns so similar to the traditional Karuk/Indigenous designs that inspire much of my own artwork. I wasn’t surprised to learn that this piece was made in collaboration with the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture (MIAC). An early 20th century textile in their collection provided inspiration and became the “MIAC Dragonfly Wool Dhurrie” which is available in a variety of sizes and is currently marked down as a final sale item. There was something about the description that really jumped out at me when I read it. I’ve posted a screenshot below, can you find it?

 

What seemed so amusing was that it is inspired by the works of one group of (mis-named) Indians and handwoven by another group of (actual) Indians in India. There’s a lot going on in this dynamic. I’m not sure that I even want to write much about it beyond that I noticed it, and found it amusing/disturbing. In our contemporary society, a large retailer is trying to be socially responsible and ends up collaborating with a museum dedicated to the work of a group of indigenous peoples within their own country; but the actual manufacturing of these new items they are creating goes to the people in another country, on another continent, for whom the first group was mistakenly named after centuries ago when European explorers “discovered” the Americas. Yikes.

In any case, I do love the rug and like seeing that someone partnered with MIAC to develop a line of products. They also appear to be making an effort to work with socially responsible manufacturers and I commend them for this. Two groups of peoples with the same name but that are so rarely actually involved in anything together. And for all I know, there were very few American Indians involved with this project. Perhaps just curators at MIAC?

 

An Intuitive Art Experience

 

The last few days I’ve been reading a book called House of Shattering Light: Life as an American Indian Mystic by Joseph Rael. It has been a really great read and I’ve enjoyed Rael’s perspectives on Native spirituality. He is both Pueblo and Ute and grew up learning about both cultures at different times. What I appreciate is his positive stance and belief that Native knowledge should be used to improve the lives of people globally, not just held for a select few. He also really disagrees with form for form’s sake and values intuitive ways of accomplishing tasks. I still have another chapter or two left to finish and then I had also picked up another of his books called Being and Vibration that I’m looking forward to reading.

Given my recent (potentially supernatural) experience with a psychic medium, along with other past experiences when I’ve felt guided by intuition or other forces, I had another interesting happening this week. Nothing overt, and nothing that I would say is definitive proof of anything, but it felt personally significant to me. It does feel connected to my reading this book in some small way. I’ll relate it here since it does involve art.

A close family member who lives in eastern Washington was diagnosed with cancer not too long ago. I had visited her a couple of weeks ago and was planning on another trip this week to offer some support to her and the other household members. Daily life obligations always manage to get in the way, so with a car appointment and my work schedule and everything else, I had considered postponing making the trip this week since I would be there for less than 24 hours and it is about a three hour drive each way. I was on the verge of not going, almost up to the last day, but felt that it was still important for me to go for some reason. And so I got up on Tuesday, packed a few things, and went to get my car serviced before heading over the mountains.

It took longer than I had expected for my car, but eventually I was on the road. I decided that I really needed to stop on the way at a nature trail where I had scattered my mother’s ashes some years ago. I like to visit there occasionally, but haven’t been in a year or two. On my last visit over the mountains, I had wanted to stop but didn’t have the time or else I would have been late for pesky obligations like work. This time, I knew it would make me later to arrive than I had intended, but that I had to make the time.

One thing to note was that I had been reading Rael’s book while my car was being serviced. And right as my car was done, I got a text message out of the blue from someone I had met in California earlier this year who I hadn’t heard from in a couple of months. In terms of timing, it was both random and meaningful. He’s someone who is just so full of kindness and light. There isn’t another way I can think of to describe him. So it was nice to hear from him and when I finally stopped at the nature trail we exchanged well-wishes via text.

And then I went walking on the nature trail, which loops around through old-growth forest near the summit of Snoqualmie Pass. I had brought Robohontas with me on this trip and something made me grab her from the car before I set out, which was good because there were a lot of great photo opportunities for the blog. There were probably about ten other cars parked there, but I didn’t see another person until I returned to my car when I was leaving. They must have been out on longer hikes on the other trail. I got to the place which was somewhere near where I had left my mother’s ashes. I had placed them behind a large tree somewhere near the trail, but no longer remember exactly which tree it was. The same thing happened the last time I was there, I kept coming up to a tree and would think to myself, “Oh, it was this one!” But then a little ways later there would be another tree that looked familiar, and I suddenly wouldn’t be sure of myself. In the end, I have a vague idea which tree it was, but I also know that it doesn’t really matter. She is both there and not there.

It was a wonderful walk in any case, and I got a lot of great Robohontas photos. There was a squirrel who was eating pine nuts on a branch high above that chattered at me for a while before scampering up the trunk even farther. I saw a lot of small birds flitting about and heard their calls. Several times I observed tiny green worms hanging from invisible threads on the path. They would squirm and twirl and dance in the air like tiny trapeze artists. I tried to photograph them with my phone, but they were too tiny and kept swinging too much for the camera to capture them. I gave up and just enjoyed watching these little aerialists.

After the “higher” part of the trail when it looped back and I knew I was returning to my car, I came to a spot with an empty tree trunk. This was a stump where a tree must have been cut down many years before, and the insides of the tree had rotted out so that a ring of wood and bark the height of the stump was all that was left. It was like a tiny primeval cathedral. There were some pieces of a rotting cedar log that I had been compelled to pocket near the beginning of the trail, and a rock I had found not too far away that I was carrying. It seemed like the right place to leave them, so I arranged them in a pattern inside the stump with pieces of wood pointing in four opposite directions. There wasn’t a lot of foliage in this place, the ground mostly was covered with a carpet of evergreen needles and I saw a large and heavy pinecone unlike any I’ve seen before that must have fallen nearby. I also noticed a plant growing on and near this stump and realized it had four leaves that also pointed in opposite directions, like the pieces of wood I had placed.

There was a picture of some sort bouncing around in my head up to this point, the idea that I needed to draw something as a token to help with my family member’s healing. All I had was the idea of a geometric border, but couldn’t see what the middle should be exactly. When I saw that plant, I knew that it was the thing to draw. I snapped a picture to remember it and headed back to my car, and over the mountains, into the drier hills and valleys  of eastern Washington.

She was surprised and pleased by my arrival and I visited with her and the other family members there. I hadn’t brought any art supplies with me, so I had figured that I might make my drawing when I came back home and bring it with me on my next visit. At a certain point, everyone left to either rest or do things they already had planned and I had a couple of hours to myself. I picked up the book and was reading it again for a while, maybe an hour when I suddenly realized that I was wasting an opportunity to take action. I put the book down, drove to a nearby craft store and bought a small art set that had color pencils, a sharpener, and a pad of paper housed in a carrying case. I also found a small wood tabletop frame that would hold that size of paper. I went back to their house and as soon as I came in, people were back and I was caught up in my visit again. A little while later, I had an opportunity and went out to the dining table to draw.

I knew I needed to start with a row of triangles at the bottom of the page, so I did that. Then I drew the leaves of the plant and started filling in color from there. I don’t really draw realistic images any longer, so I wasn’t sure how this would turn out. But it didn’t feel like my usual “official” artwork, it felt more ceremonial, so I didn’t think that mattered. It was really a very simple drawing and some of the people came and sat at the table and we visited while I worked. They wanted to take a drive that night to some property nearby that another family member had recently purchased. I wasn’t quite done with my drawing, there was more color and shading that needed to happen although it would probably have been good enough. We left for the drive under the bright full moon and then I ran another errand with someone after we were finished so it was fairly late when I finally was ready to finish the piece. I knew I needed to get up early and drive home to go to work, but I also knew that I needed to finish the drawing. So I did. The adjustments were subtle, and the paper tore a little when I was blending the colors, but it was important. I put it in the frame, took a picture to document it (see above) along with the book that was on my mind and then went to get at least a partial night’s sleep on the couch.

When I woke up, I set the drawing on a shelf next to her desk in the office where it would face her when she worked. I don’t know what effect it will have, if any. It wasn’t a matter of making it look perfect or of using archival materials. I just know that I needed to make it and leave it there. Maybe it was some universal force giving me instructions. Maybe it will help her heal. Or maybe it was just for me. Maybe it is some psychological manifestation brought on by fear of losing someone else I love. Whatever the reason, it was something I had to do. And so I did it, willingly.