Bloodroot - a story for 2020 in image and word

 

I

the way it pierces through

 

melting dusty pink to peapod green

leaf emerges embracing its bud

shielding from early spring chill

 

delicate grace

petals splaying open, quiet and soft

yin opening to yellow, soaking up the sun

 

leaves of snapping turtle skin

undulating matte splendor

feigning toughness, but succumbing to sunburn

 

how long the winter

cradled by Pachamama

awaiting the perfect moment

 

II

our winter has been long,

not since October

 

our winter has been persisting

deepening since

 

since social media — learn to fix a broken pencil, and watch a murder —

    network internet — connect with anyone, and lose connection —

        neoliberal economics — strive for efficiency, and lose your soul —

            nuclear destruction — win the battle, lose the war —

                internal combustion engine

— go faster, risk everything, everyone —

 

           colonialism — explore, and ruin what you find —

           imagined superiority — disillusion, disconnection —

 

domination —a fool’s errand.

 

                       

 

III

skin as thin as peach

flower ephemeral as a first crush

 

passing in the silence of night

giving way to the next

yet staying with you forever

 

forest duff grit

—perseverance—

generations linked together

built upon each    

—other—

 

pushing up through the mulch pile

no regard for what stands in the way

driving

            step by step

out of cool, dark repose

 

not through garbage, but through fertilizer,

            fuel

 

IV

brought to our knees

all our weaknesses laid bare

 

injustice to the earth

each other

—brother and sister all

plant, animal, fungus, bacteria, mineral, wind, water,

            and spirit

 

bleeding from our roots

we cry out in communal agony

 

“don’t let us return to normal!”

 

Let us begin again,

as in spring.

 

Towards the sun,

towards a new day.

A better, more just, more beautiful,

more loving way.       

 

V

we rise

 

Protect the Sacred

Protect the Sacred

Stand up for your beliefs,

Stand for the downtrodden, the forgotten

Stand for those without a voice, those we cannot hear

Stand for the animals and plants, for the soil and water, rocks and air

Stand strong and purposeful

Root your feet and do not give way, with the elegance and courage of the bison

Soar in the skies with your dreams

Fly above the small-minded

Fly above fear and violence, with your hopes and dreams to guide you

Alight where you can see across the wide wonderful Earth

Where you can see the love that flows through it all

Soar so high that justice and your mind are clear, where your heart is pure

Where you are one with the great spirit

Fly through the air with the power and keen eye of the eagle

Flow like water through life

Never to be defeated

Possibly held up, but never destroyed

Flow with your goal in mind and never forget

Nourish life with your very essence

Course over that which is filthy and cleanse it with your clarity

Strengthen the weak like ripples, and break down hate like a tidal wave

Be as water is, both creator and destroyer

Give birth to life, and help those that have passed to begin again

Bloom as a flower does

Let your petals unfurl towards the sun

Grow as tall as you can

Open yourself to the world with brilliance and clarity of purpose

Bring bright beauty, grace, and joy wherever you go

Be as the flowers are, and remember that life is ephemeral

One day, let yourself fall away, sweet and peacefully

Knowing that you are leaving this place richer than how you found it for your being

Protect the sacred in all that you do 

In all that you are

For you are it as well

And it, you

The Sound of Climate Change

This is just a re-post from https://vimeo.com/127083533. Check out the great video, like is on the bottom.

In 2013, the composition “A Song of Our Warming Planet” transformed 133 years of global temperature measurements into a haunting melody for the cello. Following its release, A Song of Our Warming Planet was featured by The New York Times, Slate, the Weather Channel, National Public Radio, io9, The Huffington Post and many others on its way to becoming a viral sensation and reaching audiences around the globe.

Now the co-creators, University of Minnesota undergraduate Daniel Crawford and geography professor Scott St. George, are back with a new composition that uses music to highlight the places where climate is changing most rapidly.

Based on surface temperature analysis from NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, the composition "Planetary Bands, Warming World" uses music to create a visceral encounter with more than a century’s worth of weather data collected across the northern half of the planet. (The specific dataset used as the foundation of the composition was the Combined Land-Surface Air and Sea-Surface Water Temperature Anomalies Zonal annual means.)

Crawford composed the piece featuring performance by students Julian Maddox, Jason Shu, Alastair Witherspoon and Nygel Witherspoon from the University of Minnesota’s School of Music.

As Crawford explains in the video, “Each instrument represents a specific part of the Northern Hemisphere. The cello matches the temperature of the equatorial zone. The viola tracks the mid latitudes. The two violins separately follow temperatures in the high latitudes and in the arctic.” The pitch of each note is tuned to the average annual temperature in each region, so low notes represent cold years and high notes represent warm years.

Crawford and St. George decided to focus on northern latitudes to highlight the exceptional rate of change in the Arctic. St. George says the duo plans to write music representing the southern half of the planet, too, but haven’t done so yet.

Through music, the composition bridges the divide between logic and emotion, St. George says. “We often think of the sciences and the arts as completely separate — almost like opposites, but using music to share these data is just as scientifically valid as plotting lines on a graph,” he says. “Listening to the violin climb almost the entire range of the instrument is incredibly effective at illustrating the magnitude of change — particularly in the Arctic which has warmed more than any other part of the planet.”

View The video!

Tricia Zimic

In delicate palettes and dynamic compositions, Tricia Zimic juxtaposes native wildlife with cityscapes to address how human society affects the natural environment. Zimic works in as a re-forester and make some of her art based on things she sees and experiences in the field. She works in porcelain sculpture as well as in oil paint. She researches the conservation status of her subject matter and then explores interesting ways of portraying them and their story. She shows a bobcat in the city, a salamander next to its beer can home, the battle between native and invasive species, and haunting images of toxic landscapes where our very survival is questioned. 

"To me, these pieces are as fragile as the true animals and remain a record of what we have with us today but may lose tomorrow." -Tricia Zimic

The Garden of Earthly Delights: As it is
A triptych: As it was, As it is, and As it will be

Zimic with The Garden of Earthly Delights
In the description of this piece:
"Years ago Chief Seattle said to his tribesmen ‘What is man without beasts? If all beasts were gone, men would die from loneliness of spirit.  For whatever happens to beasts soon happens to man.'"

UprisingAddressing the contentious debate over the presence of wolves in and around human development. Here the wolves are taking back their territory that we have taken from them.

Zimic working on a sculpture.

Flight or Fight
Depicting a fight between native species of New Jersey and alien invasives from Europe.

A Couple Noteworthy Kickstarters

Over the past few months I have spent just a little time (okay, a little more than a little...) on Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/) and I wanted to share two particularly interesting projects that I found there. As of today, they are both fully funded with time to spare!

The first project is called Eli Skipp weaves representations of her brother's RNA. Eli Skipp, the artist, is representing the RNA of her brother and the cane toad (Bufo marinus) with frame-loom weaving. She represents each base in the RNA (adenine, guanine, cytocine, and thymine) with different colors (red, yellow, blue, and green) in the weaving.

The comparison between her brother, a life-long lover of toads, and Bufo marinus she describes as being for private reasons, but that it is really speaking to the two halves of sides of her brother, and that they are both in fact him. This is interesting to me with respects of our connections to nature, whether you think of spirit animals, affinity with a certain type of animal, or the evolutionary memory of being one with nature. I digress.

Philosophy aside, I really appreciate this project for another reason as well. Skipp has found a really interesting way of representing scientific data through art. The RNA data simply dictates the colors in a weave. What does this do to the meaning of the weaving? Does it help people relate better to science, or does it make them more curious about it? Upon seeing the brother's RNA aside the toad's RNA will the similarities or differences be more obvious? Will it make it tangibly obvious what is the difference, or lack there of, between being a human and being a toad? I am curious to see this project completed. As a work in progress I think it has significant potential.

Skipp has other interesting projects and art as well. To find out more check out her blog and website:
http://eliskipp.com/blog/
http://skipp.us/
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/skipp/eli-skipp-weaves-representations-of-her-brothers-r?ref=home_spotlight

The second project that I would like to share with you is called The Bicycle Diaries: My 21,000-mile Ride for the Climate. David Kroodsma has a masters degree in interdisciplinary environmental science and now works as a data journalist and a climate consultant/researcher. More to the point, Kroodsma went on a 21,000 miles journey, on a bike!

I have had dreams of doing things like this, walking to the Amazon or Alaska or Africa, but the closest I have come is various car trips collectively of about 15,000 miles (not the same). But what really sets Kroodsma's trip apart from my various adventures, and most other people's, is his mission. His strong concern about climate change fueled Kroodsma to center his trip on the idea of researching and teaching about climate change in the places he visited. He sought out interesting people and gave talks along the way, he researched how climate change affects the places we traveled through, and along the way, he gained a new perspective on how climate change is a global issue.

So, upon pedaling from San Francisco to Tierra del Fuego, what did he do? He wrote a book of course! I am jealous of his journey and inspired by his technique. What better way to connect with people, share knowledge, do the dirty work, connect with our southern neighbors who are far too often annexed by our politics, have fun, and bring back and then share his gained knowledge.

Kudos for fun and inspiring!

P.S.
His next trip is going to be across Asia!

http://rideforclimate.com/blog/
http://kroodsma.com/
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2080478170/the-bicycle-diaries-my-21000-mile-ride-for-the-cli?ref=live

Sarah Hatton and Bees

Over the past weekend A very dear friend of mine came to visit me. We had a wonderful time together staying up late and having a three hour breakfast at the kitchen table. At one point I was telling her about my We are all in this together project. Her eyes got wide and she sat up straight in her chair patiently waiting for me to finish my sentence. “Can you paint a honey bee?!” she asked me with apparent excitement.

“…ummm well, maybe, is it related?” I answered. Despite anyone’s passion, I want to stick to my theme of climate change.

“Yes!” she replied. She went on to tell me a great and very local reason why the honey bee would be perfect for my project. My friend is a new and avid bee-keeper and loves to talk to anyone about them who will listen. Her passion is not held by her alone.

Bees are integral and essential to plant pollination around the world. Along with other animals such as butterflies, moths, other insects, bats, and birds, bees have co-evolved with flowering plants. In many cases the plants rely on the these creatures for pollination and reproduction. The symbiotic relationship is a beautiful one, but it is also extremely fragile, prone to upsets at even the smallest of changes.  

Over the past decade or so, the accounts of colony collapse disorder have increased in North America and Europe sparking environmental, social and economic concern. The phenomenon itself, which is a when the worker bees of a colony suddenly disappear, is not new, but its increased frequency is a cause for concern. There are a few possible causes of colony collapse disorder including pathogens, fungus, mites, and malnutrition. Many experts, including the European Food Safety Authority, are attributing the recent increase in colony collapse on the use of modern pesticides. 

This issue is complex and still being studied to be fully understood. One person who picked up on this multidimensional and international issue is Sarah Hatton. A visual artist who predominantly works in paint, branched out to create her body of work called "Bees". 

Here is the statement of "Bees" from Hatton herself:

The link between neonicotinoid pesticides and the worldwide decline of bee populations is a crisis that cannot be ignored.

I have arranged thousands of dead honeybees in mathematical patterns symbolically linked to monoculture crops, such as the Fibonacci spiral found in the seed head of the sunflower.

The viewer experiences the vertigo of this lifeless swarm, a dizzying optical illusion that echoes the bees’ loss of ability to navigate due to the toxins locked within the very source of their sustenance.

Sarah Hatton in front of her Bee work

Hatton's Bee piece

Hatton's Bee piece

Hatton's Bee piece

Bees from Hatton's piece

Roger Peet

"I'm an artist and a printmaker. My work tends to focus on the contemporary crisis of biodiversity and what can and can't be done about it. I'm a member of the Justseed Artists' Cooperative (justseed.org), a group of North American artists producing socially and environmentally engaged artwork."

                  -- Roger Peet

Roger Peet has found an active artist who is involved with organizations like the Center for Biological Diversity and the Justseed Artists Cooperative and other projects. More than many other artists that I know, Peet's work is active and purposeful. Making direct commentary on the global biodiversity crisis and other environmental issues. 

This is an image he was commissioned to complete for the Center of Biological Diversity, a very cool commission!

Roger Peet

"I was recently commissioned by the Center for Biological Diversity (http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/) to design a banner for their new Portland office. They gave me a list of endangered animals that they’ve worked to have listed federally as endangered, and I made them into this image. From left to right: Green Sturgeon, Fender’s Blue Butterfly, Marbled Murrelet, Orca, Wolf, Siskiyou Mountain Salamander, Spotted Owl, Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterfly, Streaked Horned Lark, Caribou, and Fisher."

These next two were also commissioned by the Center for Biological Diversity. These were designed for their Endangered Species Condoms. 

Roger Peet
The leatherback is the largest of all sea turtles, growing up to seven feet long. They are the last of an ancient line of turtles. Their numbers are declining rapidly wherever they occur, mostly as a result of human activity: they frequently mistake plastic bags for their favorite food, sea jellies, and die when their digestive systems clog with plastic. As a consequence of their decline (and that of other jelly predators) the oceans are filling with enormous jelly blooms.

Roger Peet
Polar Bear

This piece is dear to my heart, because it is about an issue that I have also worked on. It explores the critical connection between social and environmental issues. The ridiculous and unsuccessful war on drugs has been ruining lives from Colombia to the United States for decades. The ongoing violence and illicit cultivation and trade of the drugs is destroying habitat not only in Mexico, but also throughout Central American and the northern South America. Coca cultivation in Colombia is causing deforestation of the rainforest. The illegality of the cultivation of this traditional crop, forces its growers to go deeper and deeper into the forest, cutting down more and more trees and destroying habitat. The severity of this problem let to the Shared Responsibility initiative supported by the Colombian government.

Central America also suffers from habitat loss from the illegal drug trade. The drug cartels, seeking secrecy and security find refuge in the forests and do what they please to make successfully smuggle their product. Acres of forest are cut to make impromptu airstrips for transporting their drugs. 

Not only do I appreciate this piece for its content, it is a elegant and powerful image. Thank you Roger.   

Roger Peet

And then this one, which made me smile. I have been seeing a lot of buzz recently about the possibility of adding insects to our daily diet. Hmmm....

Roger Peet

Botanicals

The other day, I went to the Art Complex Museum in Duxbury, Massachusetts to see the New England Society of Botanical Artists exhibit. It was mostly what you might expect from a show with that title, but there were a number of very beautiful pieces from artists throughout New England. Here are just a few examples of my favorites:

Kate MscGillvary: Georgetown, Maine
Tremetes versicolor (Turkey Tail Mushroom), 2013
Watercolor on paper

Kay Kopper: Pembroke, Massachusetts
Vitis riparia (River Greap), 2012
Watercolor on paper

Lori Waremith: Dover, Massachusetts
Aquilegia canadensis (Eastern Red Columbine, Wild Columbine), 2013
Watercolor on paper

I love lichen and wish I knew more about it. The detail in this one is fabulous.

Jeanne Kunze: Billerica, Massachusetts
Physcia stellaris, Flavoparmelia baltimorensis, Lecanora strobilina, Usnea strigosa, Ramalina americana, Parmelia sulcata x10 (Six Lichens on Pear Twig - Star Rosetta Lichen, Rock Greenshield Lichen, Mealy Rim Lichen, Bushy Bear Lichen, Sinewed Ramalina Lichen, Hammered Shield Lichen), 2008
Watercolor on Yupo

This one was my favorite in the show.

Bobbi Angell: Marlboro, Vermont
Iris versicolor (Blue Flag), 2012
Copper etching (ink on paper)

Maria Bablyak: Woburn, Massachusetts
Celastrus sp (Bittersweet), 2012
Watercolor on paper

I appreciate the background and context in this piece. A nice variation in a show that was mainly single organisms on a white background. Not to say there is not a strong beauty in that simplicity, but as far as curating a show, the variation added to the experience.  

Susan Bull Riley: Montpelier, Vermont
Vaccinium vitis-idaea (& Junco) (Lingonberry), 2013
Watercolor on paper

This is done by my friend and colleague, Joan Pierce. She works for the Massachusetts Department of Fish & Game based out of the Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts office. This is where she hung my Climate Change is a Wood Frog Issue painting that she bought last month. 

Joan Pierce: Quincy Massachusetts
Pinus strobes (Eastern White Pine), 2012
Graphite, oil-based pencil on board

Mineo Mizuno

Yes, another flora/art combo!

This time I want to share the work of Mineo Mizuno. A native to Japan, Mizuno now lives and works in the United States spending most of his time, and showing his work, in New York and California. Mizuno works mostly in ceramics and metal sometimes for the gallery and sometimes for exterior installations. The simplicity and beauty of his work echoes the meditative quietude of a Zen garden. His most recent work, Coexistance, which evolved out of previous work such as his Waterdrop sculptures, are created out of clay and living moss. Their shape is simple, but their peaceful beauty and ever changing nature that comes from living organisms makes for a dynamic piece. This harmonious version of "coexistence" offers hope for other symbiotic relationships.

Waterdrop
©Mineo Mizuno

©Mineo Mizuno

©Mineo Mizuno

Installation of Coexistence sculptures
©Mineo Mizuno

Mineo Mizuno

Art Nouveau

In my opinion, second only to today, the Art Nouveau movement is the most fascinating and dynamic confluence of science and nature, and art. At the end of the nineteenth century, attitudes about the natural world lacked consensus. Nature stood for the decent of man with the new proof of human evolution from animals; it was seen as something to be conquered and displayed as a trophy; with the proliferation of images of far away and previously unseen ecosystems, it was glorified, and inspired awe and fascination in a new way; it was something to flatten and put into order, arranged in an orderly pattern by the artist.

The idea of evolution was not new in 1859 when Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species. The work’s proposal of natural selection based on a multitude of evidence from Darwin’s Beagle expedition was what finally convinced the masses to take the idea more seriously. This new understanding of the human connection with nature inspired many artists to work with the theme. The metaphor of metamorphosis was used again and again in many media addressing how humans are intricately linked to the animal and plant kingdoms. Possibly with less philosophy, many artists worked from expedition notes from far flung lands previously unseen to most Europeans.

Art Nouveau is a complex and fascinating period in art history, especially with respects to nature and our place in it. In this short blog I am only scratching the surface of this rich story, but I recommend to anyone interested in environmental art to explore more.

Alphonse Muncha
Czech, 1860-1939
Master the poster, a new medium due to the ease of reproduction with new technology. Beautiful woman coupled with nature, especially floral motifs were one of Muncha's favorite subjects. 

Ernst Haeckel
German 1834-1919
Haeckel made many illustrations like this one of various types of flora and fauna. Haeckel was not only an artist, but also a biologist and naturalist. He described and named thousands of new species. Many of the species and their diversity were new to the people of Europe. Imagine the impact of seeing the diversity of a coral reef for the first time. 

Ernst Haeckel

Eugene Grasset
Swiss, 1845-1917
Grasset is another of the poster art masters. Here she looks to tenderly and carefully at the flower.  It is clear to see the new interest in the study of nature.

Rene Lalique
French, 1860-1945
One of the most famous Art Nouveau jewelry pieces. Nature and metamorphosis were common themes in jewelry of the time, a medium that was also exploring new technologies and techniques.

Tiffany Studios (1878-1933)
A staple in Art Nouveau decorative art or craft style glass lamps and windows. The Studio was imagined and founded by Louis Comfort Tiffany an American (1848-1933). Tiffany started his artistic life as a painter, but it was his interest in glassmaking that inspired him to found the studio art take his art to Europe.

William Morris
English, 1834-1896
This is a section of Morris wallpaper. Most of his designs relied on curvaceous floral patterns.

Antoni Gaudi
Spanish, 1852-1926
This is the interior of the Chapel in Park Guell. Gaudi's architecture often referred to natural shapes, at times curvaceous  lines and others, as seen here, the interior of a cave. His magnum opus, the Sagrada Familia is, although a bit later, also a good example of this.

Antoni Gaudi
Sagrada Familia

Emile Galle
French, 1846-1904
Galle was a glass master, using new techniques and creating beautiful functional art, often with  a  natural motif.

Emile Galle
Galle, proving that he has talent in multiple mediums.