| Studio Grounds Art Update |
| Well, with the southward sun, the SuMMer SolstiCe is here and gone! …and as the days shorten and the hot weather intensifies, I’m transitioning from outdoor to indoor projects. Hence, the Studio Grounds Art Update. SuMMer AcTion With all the nourishment and growth from the sun, late spring and early summer were super action packed…for my studio grounds & garden, the birds who moved into my gourds, and for me too!  SpRinG NewS LeTTer You may recall in my Spring Newsletter I shared some of my garden creations that had become an “art form of necessity”, a COVID lockdown coping mechanism. …Junk I dug out of the woods became things like rock garden decorations, bird bath building blocks, and a flower bed container:  |
| YaRd Art ViDeo UPdAte …so I’d like to share this update, which continues to incorporate my specialty, found castaways (or “O.P.T.”, other peoples trash): |
| 2021 Latest Yard Art Creation: “Juju Lantern Stand & Bird Perch” Materials: mixed media from other people’s metal castaways with solar lantern from Amazon. |
| SunRiSe GarDen GaTE …before building the bird perch, I started to build a garden enclosure so I wouldn’t have to share my salad greens with the bunnies. Here’s a fun little video of that process…complete with animations and sound effects: |
| Sunrise Garden Gate Materials: found palette wood, street trash table legs, cut tree branches, found plank with metal latch, broken stool seat, black metal hinges from Lowe’s Home Improvement. |
| …Those projects served as antidotes for my “year in the basement” getting me off the computer and out of the house and building things in the sunshine as often as possible. I now consider my backyard to be an extension of my studio, and, thanks to COVID, it’s come a really long way at an accelerated rate. From a gnarly half acre bramble patch (2018)…  …to small playing field, with an embedded fire pit, winding trail, tree nursery, garden, and, of course, the scrap metal yard art bird perch.  Akuna Hinton being serious about digging the fire pit hole! Finished construction complete with drainage (it’s on a slope). |
DoEs It CoUnT? To be honest, I felt torn and self critical for not progressing and finishing new art works in my studio. But I realized that the way I’ve worked the land to set up a mini sanctuary is an art form in itself (still in process) and will have to suffice for now…seeing as it has been a survival tactic for the long remote teaching hours, lack of sunshine (and vitamin D), the anxiety over these disturbing global circumstances we are in, and the endless isolation. At least out on the grounds I had the company of zealous birds, squirrels, rabbits and an occasional deer passing by. So thinking about the situation from a broader standpoint, and imagining I was on the outside looking in, I decided to give myself a break. |
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| …and I’m creating it with others in mind. People who will eventually come to an open studio party or a creativity workshop, or a small group fire circle. What I’ve done is build a destination for friends to come and play, rest, create, share, think and do. I developed it as if in a prolonged trance of some kind. Working on it consistently (starting with the woodlot cleaning in February) was, and still is, an act of faith. |
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And so, without further ado, here it goes the final wrap up video (if you can stand it!)… |
| MY LOCKDOWN YARD ART MARCH – JUNE 2021: |
| ☀️🌳An Era of Renewal 🌳☀️ E.C.C.R. Book Feeling stressed? Feeling like the world is sorely out of balance? I hear you. In fact, I invite you to explore the artwork and writings in my 94 page book Earth Consciousness & Cultural Revelations or offer it as a timely gift. The book has tons of large color plates of my work and includes a forward by Chadwick Allen, author of Re-scripting Indigenous America: Earthworks in Native Art. Learn about my journey on the path of rediscovering my roots within a world that is in the process of re-awakening and coming alive again, a “new/old” Indian world that has profound lessons of transformation for our times. CLICK HERE FOR THE BOOK: Signing my ECCR book at breakfast in Dublin, IrelandThe indigenous world view that inspires the art in this book is full of hopeful teachings for how the earth aligns with the sky and how everyday living can mirror that earth/sky balance. Every image in the book has accompanying writing to shed light on this philosophy of reciprocity.  In our times (an era of ReNewaL ), the sacred stories, mounds and other sites are being rediscovered. This was talked about in the ancient prophecies of indigenous peoples. This is not a time to be feared, rather a time to embrace the inevitable transformation taking place! |
| Click Here for ECCR Book Launch & Related Videos |
LOL…You don’t really think I’m drinking this do you? This is the
base for the fragrance-free hand sanitizer I make with essential oils!
(HEE HEE HEE!)
