"4 SEASONS— 4 DIRECTIONS the ART SHOW"
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4 Seasons — 4 Directions is a traveling show of 100 works of art informed by the energy of the time and place of the yearly cycle. It is inspired by the information about world celebrations and cycles that I present in an art class.
4 SEASONS— 4 DIRECTIONS the ART SHOW
In the beginning of 2004 I had the idea to build a show of works that would be inspired by the essence of time and place using mixed media collage as the expression. When making each piece I began by setting an intention that the energy of the time and place would direct the art work. It has been a great focus. It amazes me how much I learn when I intend to be in step with the current cycle.
The artwork created in a season hangs on the corresponding wall of the gallery: Spring work is on the east walls, summer work is on the south walls, autumn work is on the west walls, and winter work is on the north walls. In the center of the large gallery are the instruments associated with the directions, which are there for you to play with. Feel free to explore the different postures of meditation as you face a direction.
There is a booklet that has some basic ideas gleaned from cross cultural sources, about the seasons and directions. Let your knowing lead you to be in the right place at the right time. ENJOY!
Show History
"4 Seasons — 4 Directions" premiered at Women's Institute and Gallery, New Harmony, Indiana, July 10 — September 4, 2005.
Community Art Center, Danville, Kentucky, February 2006
Weyrich Gallery, Albuquerque, New Mexico, June15 – July 27, 2007
Berea Arts Council, Berea, Kentucky, October 19 – November 14, 2007
BEING IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME
When centered in the heart in the present moment, we are always in the right place at the right time. From the perspective of our heart we can orient ourselves to space and in time. We can navigate the path of the true human being and creatively map our progress through the cycles of life. We can find our true direction.
True to the natural way, my awareness about this began in the East, in Washington, DC, in 1982, when I met Sun Bear, a Chippewa Medicine Man. He developed a system for understanding Medicine ways called Earth Astrology, which layers teachings of the four directions, time of life and the time of day, the moons, plants and animals. I was so excited by this that I created a family shield with beadwork of our symbols. Creating art inspired by a teaching is always how I learn best.
At about this same time I met Rolling Thunder, a Cherokee Medicine Man, who taught the concept of always being in the right place at the right time. From then on, I related where I was and what I was doing to the original people’s world-view. They set me on a direction and I noticed which direction I was going. They grounded me.
When I returned to the West in 1983, I met my spiritual teacher, Wallace Black Elk, a Lakota Medicine Man. I studied with him for several years. By this I mean I listened with all ears to his stories around the campfire, under the stars. My knowledge of directions, cycles and being human deepened. In the Stone People Lodge (Inipi Ceremony, one of the seven pipe ceremonies) he taught me how to pray and my heart opened. Never had I felt so a part of the universe, and the universe a part of me. In response I painted skies in the four directions and made shields imbued with the lessons of each direction.
In meditation I encountered my own Ancestry and learned much about the Celtic world-view of cycles and directions. The more I practiced and made art from the essence of a time, for example the feeling of Spring Equinox, and studied cross-cultural celebrations, the more I realized how rich and similar human expressions of the sacred are. As a result, I created two large series of oil paintings, House of the Ancestors and Cosmic Nest. A curiosity and desire arose to synthesize what I had learned by teaching art-making with this focus and so began the year-long class, 4 Seasons – 4 Directions in 1990.
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