Throughout my wanderings I have considered the many ways of refuge. When something in a scene stands out, I ask myself what drew my attention. What does the scene or subject remind me of? Whose story comes to mind? What do I feel?

Often I feel peace or excitement and I associate  both with refuge. Then comes: how do I interpret the many aspects of refuge artistically? Please enjoy this slideshow of my exhibit, "On Refuge" and think about where and how you find refuge, peace, or solitude. What qualities of refuge arise?

In late February 2020, a major conference was cancelled due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Flight and hotel prices were deeply discounted as a result. I took a chance and went to Barcelona for practicing street photography. I made a gallery of my photos to share:  Barcelona Marketplace 

In August 2019, I volunteered for the Yosemite Conservancy at the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias at Yosemite National Park. I spent my free time exploring the park. Here is a slideshow of my favorite places:

Instead of a journal entry about my spring 2016 residency at Acadia National Park in Maine, I made a video. Many thanks to the Schoodic Institute at Acadia National Park for sponsoring me and to Maneesh de Moor for permission to use his lovely music.

Finding the Ways of Acadia

Have you ever visited someplace remarkable, a place where you feel compelled to stop and wonder? Join me on a journey to protected areas that have been set aside as parks and preserves. These natural and cultural sites are protected by federal, state, and local entities and include those of conservancies and non-profit organizations. Perhaps my postings and gallery will inspire you to explore the ones I've visited or will serve as approaches for deepening and sharing your own explorations elsewhere.

Artist in Residence Programs

Making art accessible to all, developing ways to use artistic means to enhance the experience of nature’s majesty. At Grand Canyon's North Rim, I taught 2, hands-on programs on the sundeck of the lodge.  The Park Service put up a shelter, some tarps to protect the patio, and a couple of tables. The shelter kept us comfortable, and the curious were drawn-in just by it being there.  The tarps allayed the Park Service’s fear of damaging a historic building with spilled dye.  We got around 20 visitors each time. (no dye was spilled)

The first program sensitized visitors to the colors in the vista before us.  I organized them into the red team, the blue and neutral team, and the green team.  We used paint store swatches to match against the scene.  Each team came up with 3 or 4 colors which I mixed using my dye.  (I had mixed up some base colors from my palette experiments of the previous week – so I only needed to adjust them to match – this saved a lot of waiting-around time.)  Once our 2 p.m. color palette was ready, each visitor painted the colors onto "bookmarks" of watercolor paper to take home as a remembrance.  I also printed the scene lightly onto watercolor paper so that they could paint-over it later.  I suggested markers, acrylic paints or watercolors.  I was pleased that so many were glad they took the time to tune-into color as a way of appreciating the view in a new way.

In the second program, visitors began a collaborative silk painting.  (The finished work was donated to the park.)  I printed a simplified photograph of the vista before us onto a 13 x 19 inch piece of silk.  I used the color palette of silk dyes the visitors from the first program selected.  Each participant got a paintbrush and in turn painted parts of the sky and the cliff shadows onto the silk.  Once the image was broken down into shapes and areas, the painting was easy.  I was surprised at how successful they were.  We had children as young as 8 in the program.  It was easy for them to do the sky in a wet-on-wet manner.  The adults did the shadow shapes.  I got several of the participants to sign their names so that I could give them credit for their work when the piece was donated. The education coordinator hung the finished piece I donated in her office as an example of inspired artist programming. 

On my own in the park…..I visited all of the overlooks and day-hiked most of the trails.  I went to every geology talk I could.  I completed my color and time experiments. I trained my eye in composing the “grand landscape”.  I spent a lot of time in silence and gratitude. 

The images that have or will find their way into completed works of art were gifts.  No matter how many miles of trail I walked, or how strategically I planned for the proper angle of light, the images were still gifts.

Programs Back Home

One of the requirements of my residency was to make a presentation about the park and the artist-in-residence program in my home community.  The Ann Arbor District Library graciously agreed to host and to promote my talk.  I used my painting, "Colors of Time" to illustrate both geologic time and being present throughout the day as the light changed the colors of the landscape. Other programs for various community groups followed, The Sierra Club, a creative writing course at the University of Michigan, and 2 of our local camera clubs.

Colors of Time Silk Painting

“Colors of Time” is huge:  4 feet tall by 71/2 feet wide. I enjoyed discovering patterns in the lines and shadows that must have inspired Native American art and graphic sensibilities.  As I let my imagination flow, so did my brushstrokes.  When I looked at my color/time studies, I decided on the image with 8 a.m. shadows.  However, from my color studies, I found the greatest variety of colors culminated between 2 and 4 p.m.  I found that greens began to differentiate around 10 a.m.  At noon, the magentas arrived.  Between 2 and 4 in the afternoon, the reds expanded into peaches, mauves, cranberries, rusts, and oranges plus the yellows of the sandstone sprang into view.  So, my piece, “Colors of Time” used the photo from 8 a.m. and the color palette from mid afternoon.  I used many of the same colors the visitors chose in my first program.

Intending....

To inspire folks to enjoy their park lands, to metaphorically “dip their brushes” by using artistic means (music, words, images, constructions) to tune into nature,  and to become stewards of the environment and supporters and protectors of these national treasures.

Sometimes we need to remember to pause and understand that travel details usually do work out.

I hurried from Badlands to Custer State Park in the Black Hills of South Dakota (near Mr. Rushmore) - so worried about finding a camp site. (I got one of the four available.) Another camper recommended that I go on the scenic drive to see strange rock formations called the “needles”, and then on to beautiful Sylvan Lake.  I parked at several of the overlooks on the way, camera in hand, wanting to take in as much of the scene as I could, yet worrying and hurrying - would the light fail on the treacherous drive back?  Worry, hurry, gather up, and be afraid.  Sound familiar?   I’m starting to wonder if my trip westward was about ACHIEVING or if it was about RECEIVING.  This image was a gift and a reminder.

Two Medicine campground near East Glacier is considered the "Mayberry" of Glacier National Park. The Two Medicine area is special to the Blackfeet Indians who consider it the backbone of the world.  The name commemorates 3 talented native women. Two ceremonial medicine lodges were started by 2 holy women and the nearby Running Eagle Falls honors a famous woman warrior known for her ability to infiltrate enemy tribes. (The falls appear and disappear among the rocks).

"Mayberry RFD" - as in Andy Griffith's famous sitcom. The campground has a friendly, small-town feel.  Campers are compliant by keeping their campsites food-free so bears are not a problem.  YaY!!!

Huckleberries - look like blueberries, taste like heaven and are now in-season - they only grow wild in special eco systems in and around Glacier.  Bears love them too.

Bear-Free - Glacier is home to a large population of bear roaming at large. When hiking, you are supposed hike with a buddy and be noisy so as not to surprise those bruins. As to the "fight or flight" instinct, bears often choose the fight option.  

Since hiking is the "in-thing" here, I found a hiking buddy. She's a lovely high-school biology teacher and birder, experienced in the wilderness, and walks a perfect pace for me. (I have also armed myself with pepper spray.)  20 bear-free miles and counting…..

Each night I fall asleep to the sound of rushing water in the shadow of Mt. Sinopah ("Fox Woman" in Blackfeet).  The clear water reflections and changing weather patterns have inspired some lovely photos and plenty of silk-painting opportunities for later.