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...an imperfect map

"A Map to the Next World"


"In the last days of the fourth world I wished to make a map
for those who would climb through the hole in the sky.
My only tools were the desires of humans as they emerged from the killing fields,
from the bedrooms and the kitchens.
For the soul is a wanderer with many hands and feet.

The map must be of sand and can't be read by ordinary light.
It must carry fire to the next tribal town, for renewal of spirit.

In the legend are instructions on the language of the land,
how it was we forgot to acknowledge the gift, as if we were not in it or of it.
Take note of the proliferation of supermarkets and malls, the altars of money.
They best describe the detour from grace.

Keep track of the errors of our forgetfulness; a fog steals our children while we sleep.
Flowers of rage spring up in the depression, the monsters are born there of nuclear anger.

Trees of ashes wave good-bye to good-bye and the map appears to disappear.

We no longer know the names of the birds here,
how to speak to them by their personal names.
Once we knew everything in this lush promise.

What I am telling you is real and is printed in a warning on the map.
Our forgetfulness stalks us, walks the earth behind us,
leaving a trail of paper diapers, needles and wasted blood.

An imperfect map will have to do little one.
The place of entry is the sea of your mother's blood,
your father's small death as he longs to know himself in another.

There is no exit.

The map can be interpreted through the wall of the intestine-
a spiral on the road of knowledge.

You will travel through the membrane of death,
smell cooking from the encampment where our relatives make a feast
of fresh deer meat and corn soup, in the Milky Way.
They have never left us; we abandoned them for science.

And when you take your next breath as we enter the fifth world there will be no X,
no guide book with words you can carry.
You will have to navigate by your mother's voice, renew the song she is singing.

Fresh courage glimmers from planets.
And lights the map printed with the blood of history,
a map you will have to know by your intention, by the language of suns.

When you emerge note the tracks of the monster slayers
where they entered the cities of artificial light and killed what was killing us.
You will see red cliffs. They are the heart, contain the ladder.

A white deer will come to greet you when the last human climbs from the destruction.
Remember the hole of our shame marking the act of abandoning our tribal grounds.

We were never perfect.
Yet, the journey we make together is perfect on this earth
who was once a star and made the same mistakes as humans.
We might make them again, she said.
Crucial to finding the way is this: there is no beginning or end.
You must make your own map."

- Joy Harjo,
"A Map to the Next World: Poems"

Thanks CP

...the beauty of Alice Walker



The Pulitzer Prize winning book
The Color Purple by the beloved Alice Walker has turned 30.
It is as relevant in the world today as it was 3 decades ago.

I heard her read a poem today...
and want to share it with you.



I also long for the day when women sit in Circles and make important decisions
 for Mother Earth and families.  
When women are honored for having wisdom.
When the women who are elected into office can be women...
can cry over war and the killing of our planet.
I want women in office who don't become men.
We need both energies to balance this world.
We do need men who are strong enough to stand with women...

If you would like to see the full interview with Alice Walker I've included the link here...
she talks about the book,
family,
the Earth
It's wonderful.
http://www.democracynow.org/


“In the problem of women was the germ of a solution, not only for their oppression, but for everybody's. The control of women in society was ingeniously effective. It was not done directly by the state. Instead the family was used by men to control women, women to control children, all to be preoccupied with one another, to turn to one another for help, to blame one another for trouble, to do violence to one another when things weren't going right. Why could this not be turned around? Could women liberating themselves, children freeing themselves, men and women beginning to understand one another, find the source of their common oppression outside rather than in one another? Perhaps then they could create nuggets of strength in their own relationships, millions of pockets of insurrection. They could revolutionize thought and behavior in exactly that seclusion of family privacy which the system had counted on to do its work of control and indoctrination. And together, instead of at odds- male, female, parents, children- they could undertake the changing of society itself.”  ~ Howard Zinn




....some of the Trails Tribe



The Sierra Art Trails Gala Preview Exhibit was Saturday evening...It is the kick off for the open studio tour the first weekend in Oct. 
 Each of the participating artist has one piece in the exhibit show.
People come to get an idea of what studios they want to visit during Trails weekend. Artist come to talk to them and to see each other. It's fun.

When I first started going to these things I was sure the other artists would find out I didn't belong there, that I wasn't a ''real'' artist..
I would hide in a corner. 
And now this night is very much about being with my tribe...one of them... :-) 
this group of artists are truly some of the most generous of spirit people I know....
 they welcomed me.

It was a good night....
the Gala is the only place I see some of these people all year long...friends come, and patrons of the arts come out in support. 
And I meet artists I admire. 

Jon Bock, owner of Stellar Gallery and William's Gallery in the Row, is our fearless leader. He talks about Trails with pride about what it does for the community and it feels nice to be part of such a positive event. 
Jon is a true force for art in this community 
 Nothing like Trails would exist without him...
it is a massive undertaking...


Jon and his band of volunteers manage to pull it all together each year and it isn't easy.
Someone told me once getting a group of artists to do anything as a group is like trying to herd cats in a rainstorm??
Could it be true?


Laura Fisher will be showing at my studio site...


so will Kathy Marks


See the red dot...? Her little treasure sold at the Gala.


and me with my exhibit piece..
Inclusion

Brian Ross is one of those volunteers who goes above and beyond the call of duty for Trails. He isn't an artist but he loves the arts, I think he really likes artist too. 
Many years ago, when I had Feather Moon, my little gallery, Brian came in one day and asked me why I never made male figures....he told me if I did, he would probably buy it. 
Sales inspire artists...and so I made my first Shaman and Brian took it home. 
Since then he's taken many of my Spirit Figures home and given many as gifts and we've become friends.
So when the Trails committee commissioned me to make him a figure as a way of thanking him for all his hard work, for choosing to be part of our tribe, 
I was delighted to do so. 


Brian and Speaking for the Tribe


...your Sierra Art Trails invitation

2012 SAT Catalog - Cover art by Jonathan Bock


Sierra Art Trails the Yosemite area open studio tour turns 10 years old.  
Hard for me to believe this will be my 7th year participating.
There will be over 100 artists at various studios and other venues eager to share with you our passion.

I will be showing at my studio again this year. 
 I'm busy creating new Sprit Figures as they come to me and getting my studio ready for visitors....




Showing with me will be Laura Fisher, award winning
contemporary fiber artist


and Kathy Marks who creates mixed media small wonders from found objects



The Bird Goddess is at my studio ready to greet our guests.



Rain Dance can be seen at Timberline Gallery @ 
Gallery Row, Oakhurst, CA



Tangled is on the table waiting for me to complete her in time for Trails..

and Inclusion is finished 




and hanging at Stellar Gallery in Oakhurst ready for the coming Gala Preview Exhibit,
 the kick off event for Sierra Art Trails this Saturday evening Sept. 15...4pm ~ 9pm.
It is a fun night...music, food, and great art...many of the participating artists will be there to share our inspiration and entice you to come visit our studios during Trails which is 
Oct. 5, 6 and 7.   
Come see us!
The two events give us the opportunity  to meet you and we all really look forward it....
so much of what we do is solitary and we love your feedback...
it inspires us...you inspire us to keep doing what we do.
xo

PS...we call it a Gala event because it is fun, but dress is informal...
come as you are and just enjoy.

...the second Bill of Rights


I really don't enjoy posting political stuff...and so many others do it so much better than I do...I don't really enjoy writing about the mess the world is in..
but then if we never talk about it...that's not good either.

We are coming to the end of a year of political finger pointing. 
Almost time to elect the next President....  The Republicans, and the Democrats, both say they feel our pain out here in the real world....but I don't believe them.

Both parties say they will fix things, but they don't.

I read somewhere that 40% of voters don't want to cast their vote for either of the platforms being put forward.  Someone said it is like choosing between Coke and Pepsi. 
Sure they acknowledge it's bad out here in the land of the 99%, 
but do they really have any idea how desperate and alone so many are feeling? 
 How hopeless?




It's hard to understand why there is so much 
real hardship in a country like ours, a country with so much wealth and potential.

But when you consider the cost of war and start following the money trail...
when you consider the possibility that the next president 
 will have offshore, tax free, bank accounts, and it isn't even an issue, well it says a lot about the priorities of those in charge...and it sort of boggles the mind.

It just doesn't feel right, or is it just me?


As some of you know I love Thom Hartmann. 
I find his show The Big Picture  informative and enlightening
...he really knows the constitution...and history,  
and has a way of really getting to the heart of things..
The other day I was listening to him talk about the the economy.....
he asks, "What is the purpose of the Economy?''.....that thing that drives our lives.

I hope you'll watch...it's pretty interesting......
xo





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