Secrets in the Fields - Art inspired by the Crop Circles

Last summer, my friend Gloria and I went to England to visit crop circles, the mysterious occurrence of archetypal designs in the fields. They often appear close to the ancient stones of Avebury and Stonehenge, the white horses, and over chalk deposits. We were not disappointed - I saw 9 from above in a light plane and experienced 4 or 5 on ground level. Not only are the formations created with incredible geometric precision, they are usually so large - some as large as 2 football fields - the pattern can only be seen from above.

I have been keeping an eye on the designs from afar for years - always inspiring in their intricacy and variations on ancient symbols. In Freddy Silva's book, Secrets in the Fields, he talks about their possible meaning, "....since the ultimate effect of a symbol is to awaken the senses, the language of crop circles ultimately speaks to the heart."

Janet Ossebard, a Dutch crop researcher whom I met in Wiltshire last summer, reports on the latest circles of the season. http://www.circularsite.com/nieuw-eng.htm

Lucy Pringle is a photographer and pilot who has been documenting the circles in England for years. Beautiful aerial photographs and commentary on her site
http://www.lucypringle.co.uk/

After I returned, someone recommended that I read Daniel Pinchbeck's 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl. On his spiritual/metaphysical quest, he pursues everything from shamanism to quantum theory and talks about many heart-opening experiences - one of which is the crop circles in England. His contention is that 2012 in the Mayan calendar portends a global shift in consciousness. Approaching the circles with suspicion, he left convinced that the circles were not made by human hands.

In an effort to debunk the circles, the media has inundated the world with the hoaxes, usually badly formed with damaged crops. But this is a phenomena that continues to amaze - that won't go away. The now famous Doug and Dave who claimed responsibility for most of them in the 80's and 90's retired years ago - and they are still happening - overnight in the fields.

I am not so interested in how or why but am drawn to their incredible beauty and constantly changing display. By far, this is the most incredible earthwork art happening in the moment.

The paintings that I have done since that trip were inspired by the spirit, the energy that I felt being in the circles rather than specific formations.

Pat Henry Shows Her Colors in Puerto Vallarta

Pat Henry is an artist, an architect, and one of the first women to sail solo around the world! She's an amazing woman - full of inspiration and enthusiasm for whatever she sets her mind to.

I met Pat via a mutual friend, Helen MacKinlay, who had met Pat in Singapore when she sailed into port. When I had a show at T. Fuller Gallery last year in P.V., we met for coffee for the first time and then Pat came to my opening reception.

I drove down to Puerto Vallarta to surprise Pat at her studio/gallery opening June 6. Pat had come up to do my monotype workshop in April and was showing the monotypes she produced as well as new abstract paintings. It was great to see the monotypes framed and on the wall. She had 2 series, one of colorful tango shoes (Tango being her new passion) and the other, more abstract, with images of Frida Kahlo peeking out behind bright colors. "Ole" had a bold black overlay with gestural marks allowing the rich Mexican colors to show thru.

With this new work, Pat was breaking out of her tighter, realistic approach to painting - landscapes and figures of her travels including neighborhood scenes in Puerto Vallarta. And did she go wild! The medium size canvases - all untitled - are rich with drips and splashes of color. All are vibrant and purely abstract.

Pat wrote a book about her sail around the world - a great read! By the Grace of the Sea: A Woman's Solo Odyssey Around the World (McGraw Hill/International Marine/02)

Check out her work and bio in http://www.pat-henry.com/

A Visit to Ayers Rock/ Uluru, Australia

On my recent visit to Australia, which was primarily to take the Presence in Nature exhibition, I also wanted to visit Uluru (Ayers Rock). It's in the Northern Territory, middle of the country - a long way from anywhere - a major tourist attraction, a World Heritage site, but most importantly to me - a sacred site of the Aboriginal people. So while Trevor went to visit his cousin, I went on my own to Uluru.

I skipped staying in Alice Springs - mainly because it is a 6 hour bus ride to Uluru. Instead I stayed at one of the hotels just 20 minutes away. I was lucky because during high season - February/March, there are as many as 4000 visitors a day to the site! The weather was good - in the 80's during the day. The aboriginal people request that you not climb the Rock - since it is their sacred land. So, ofcourse, I honored that.

Instead I did the base walk, and unbelievably - I passed only 3 people the entire hike. I found plenty of spots where I could sit and take in the spirit of place. The rock formations and colors were amazing - and I was especially drawn to the cave drawings.

On a more pedestrian note, I liked the rusted iron signage that told about the myths of the Anangu people - when you stepped close, it triggered sounds, chanting and singing. I saw some wonderful aboriginal paintings and wood carvings at Uluru, Adelaide, and Sydney.

Well worth the journey, I am filled with inspiration and honor for this sacred site!

Presence in Nature Exhibition in Adelaide, Australia May 2 - June 8

I'm just back from Australia where I hand-carried the work for the exhibition, Presence in Nature. It was neatly rolled up in a large tube and I had no problem getting it through. Sandra Starkey Simon, one of the artists in the show, picked us up at the airport, (jet-lag and all) and we went straight to the Flinders University Gallery where the staff was waiting to put it into frames. The actual show was a week later, at their City Gallery in the heart of Adelaide.

The night of the opening, May 2, the work looked beautiful in the space and the reception was well-attended. We shared the space with another traveling exhibiton, Pattern Recogntion, which was (also) excellent. Fanny Retsek flew over from California to be there. I was happy to meet 3 of the Australian artists, Dianne Longley, Margaret Ambridge and Christine Mc Cormack. We all participated in an artist talk after which Gail Greenwood, the director gave a short talk followed by another talk by a local artist and historian.

This is the last showing for the exhibition! It showed in Mazatlan at the Angela Peralta Theatre Gallery in May 2006, Galeria de Difocur, Culiacan in January 2007, Museo de Regional del Valle de El Fuerte in Los Mochis in March 2007 and in the Museo de Mazatlan in February 2008.

I have been intricately involved in the organization of this exhibition with all the ups and downs that any project of this magnitude can have. Even with all the problems, I am happy that the show survived and was seen around the world. Many people supported my efforts and helped along the way and I would like to thank them here. But a special thanks goes to Carol Shenda Lewin, Bunny Eyer, Fawn Powers and Roger Poyner, Patricia Sanders for her introduction to the catalogue, Roberto Baltazar, Difocur, for the printing of the catalogue, Lucila Santiago and Elizabeth Gomez for translations, Gail Greenwood, director of the Flinders Univ. Gallery, Dianne Longley and Sandra Starkey Simon for organizing the Australia artists and exhibition. And most of all, all of the artists who participated and had the patience to see it through.

Presence in Nature is a traveling exhibition of works on paper featuring 15 artists, including 5 artists from Mazatlán, California, and Adelaide, Australia. All works on paper and measuring no more than 30" x 22", the works range from prints, drawings, paintings, digital and mixed media.

The idea for the show came when two of the California artists, Sandra Starkey Simon and Fanny Retsek were showing in Mazatlan in a local gallery. There they met some of the Mexican artists, Lucila Santiago and Janeth Berrettini. I was living part of the time in Mazatlan and was at their exhibition and met Sandra and Fanny for the first time.

From the forward to the catalogue by Patrica Sanders, Ph.D.

“An exhibition of artists from three different countries raises expectations of a visual discourse on cultural identity. Yet what we find in “Presence in Nature” are disparate voices responding each in her own way to our common reality: the earth."

Today, as urban populations are about to outnumber rural ones, many of us cannot help but feel separated from “the natural world” at the same time we realize this is, of course, an illusion--for what are we but a part of that world? The 15 featured artists express everything from the anxiety of this alienation to a realized or spiritual connection with nature, each in her own distinctive way.”

Artists:

Mexico Janeth Berrettini
Cecilia Sanchez Duarte
Liliana Bandin
Lucila Santiago Oropeza
Elaine Kemp Zazueta

U.S.A. Elizabeth Gomez Freer
Sandra Starkey Simon
Fanny Retsek Lutz
Glen Rogers
Karen von Felten

Australia Margie Sheppard
Sascha Holyoak
Dianne Longley
Margaret Ambridge
Christine McCormack