Got it installed just before dark!

Greetings!
Well we just got back to the studio-
my How do like Bernie Now sign has been installed at Green and Woodyard.

It was back in 1988 that NY artist David Hammons created an artwork that shook up the community. His work "How do you like me now" is explained in this NYT article.

                                 

I loved the artwork, it gave a visual start and when you really look at the painting it is interesting looking, the features and the colors that the artist used are otherworldly.

So here in Prince Georges County it is time to vote on Tuesday and from where I sit, it looks like neither candidate is expending much capital in our area. The Clinton campaign sent the mothers of black men who have been killed by police, to a local church and it looks like Hillary is presumptive. This is how the painting was handled when it came to DC.

There are not any signs around our neighborhood for the candidates. It's hard to believe that it was just 4 years ago that Creative Currency sought to bring words of compassion to the political sign pollution.

The sign was interesting to create.
I had to choose the ideas that Bernie advocates that I thought would speak to this community.
It was also a challenge to draw Bernie and then paint him black, which really changed the energy of the painting.  We'll see what happens

Lake Wales is an excellent site for our project!

The space where the conference was held is sited on a lagoon

 that is connected to Lake Wales.

 

The camp was full of air plants, all over the trees, hanging in tendrils! There were oaks, palms, water plants and grapevine, philodendron, pine, white vine and oh so many more plants.

This old building that is being taken over by the local plants, was an excellent site for gathering materials. 

The camp was full of air plants, all over the trees, hanging in tendrils! There were oaks, palms, water plants and grapevine, philodendron, pine, white vine and oh so many more plants.

We had some great fun feeling the Mother under our feet and exploring the property.

Gratitude and Gathering with Gabby

I had met up with Gabby Milch on my way down
to DelRey Beach.
Yeah! Gabby is coming to the conference with me to collaborate on the plant based visioning project,

It was late in January and she took some folks on a plant walk in her local area. 

I have to say that Gabby brilliantly shared her knowledge of the local plant history and growing habits. Offering a memorable experience

We walked talked and gathered examples of Lakeland’s interesting plants.
I saw flowers, roots, fungi, reeds and seeds, vines, trees and grasses.

At the end of the path was a beautiful burned out great great great grandmother tree. Ancient tree that was burned down by someone smoking meth!

Collaborative imagining is at the center of this year’s Florida Herbal Conference project for this Artist With Purpose.

 I know that collective imagining around our community’s future 

is a fun and fruitful creative action.

So this year for the Florida Herbal Conference I proposed, to Emily, that Our Beloved Herbal Community imagine what we see for the community in ten years time. I asked that each participant envision their role in actualizing their vision. and to create a symbol of that imagining for the community mandala.

In preparation for my Florida creative plant adventures,  I challenged my self to learn a bit about Central Florida’s botanical family. Most specifically migratory plants. And in a community of plant loving people, 

there was a lot of wisdom sharing at the site.

Three Part Harmony Farm Community Mural Project Recap

Hi friends, I want to share one of my most favorite community projects in 2015. It took place at Three Part Harmony Farm in the Brookland neighborhood of Washington DC.

 

When I first met Gail Taylor two years ago at the Annual EcoHermanas/ Centro Ache Herbal Encuentro in DC, she was selling strong healthy seedlings. I’ve since learned that Gail is such a brilliant woman with spirit, a beautiful sister with love for la madre tierra, community and growing healthy food!

So, happily in 2015 EcoHermanas partnered with 3PH to bring a USDAC Imagination Station to the farm’s Fall Festival and Garlic planting.

Our creative project involved creating an Imagination Station that offered participants a chance to envision their community 25 years into the future. And to see their role in making this happen. 

At the station there were two activities

Poet Jesse Alexander facilitated a community poem

I facilitated a community collaborative mural.

A good time was had by all as documented in a video of the day by Jordan Mendys and

An awesome photo slide show by TylerGrigsby

Enjoy!

The Allentown Splash Park Water Tank Community Mural "Coral Reef"

The Allentown Splash Park Water Tank was an outstanding site for a aquatics themed community mural. I was so excited when the MNCPPC invited me to create an artwork in collaboration with the centers community.

At the Splash Park there is a large active community in place, The Elite Rays. They are a community of young swimmers and their families that are committed to excellence.

We shared about 8 sessions, the first two were focused on concept and design and the final 6 workshops focused on working together, to create and actualize this 40ft x 5 ft round mural.

For me as the project artist, high points were during the collaborative painting process where multidisciplinary learning was in serious action. Drawing to scale, mixing colors, communicating ideas yada yada yada!

The Rays stepped up to the project with great interest and skills. Parents were also actively involved throughout the process.

See pics of project process.

Our greatest assets on this project were Stewart Seal who put the project together, Nancy Weiman who provided the tank, artists Larry Jones and Alpha Bruton, and our awesome volunteers Korey and Ashley who I want to thank for sharing their creativity!

Happy 2016!

   Art and community is what's happening for me in 2016!

   I kicked the year off with a visit to the American Indian Village

   at Patauxent River Park.

 Visual impressions, centered on (see more) Photos of textures created by the

 indigenous natural materials used to create the replica.

 
  

Welcome new friends from Artomatic 2015

Greetings! 

I offer you an overview of some of my recent work. The images are accessed by clicking the link to the gallery. I look forward to your feedback.

Charms, which are small re-purposed materials that embody energetic charisma which supports our Power to Make Things Happen!

Listen, a PGParks Art on the Trails project in collaboration with Larry Jones. Sited at the Nature Center in Cosca Regional Park in Clinton.

Community Project Mashup, Several Creative fueled Community At Projects in diverse settings.

Chesapeake Herb Gathering totem

Had a great weekend at the Chesapeake Herb Gathering. Thanks to all who worked for months to bring us such an awesome experience.

This is the third year of the gathering and it has brought so many interesting folks together. The fun is to see all of the amazing ways in which herbs and plants have changed people's lives and inspired beautiful work in our communities.

My time there was spent in collaboration with wonderful plant lovers who were open to the creative process.

We even painted into the night!

Those who connect present JOY from the experience.

Repurposing invasives

  



This crown is created by Larry Jones out of Oriental Bittersweet vine.

Identifying and gathering invasive plant materials was a big part of our activities during the two weeks with that the PG county Summer Youth Employment crew worked on Listen.  

Stephanie Jacobs at the Patuxent River Park gave us a look at the park’s forest area and showed us many excellent examples of invasive plants and the ways in which they are affecting the local environment. Thanks Stephanie!

We learned that invasive plants:                                              
Produce large numbers of new plants each season.
Tolerate many soil types and weather conditions.
Spread easily and efficiently, usually by wind, water, or animals.
Grow rapidly, allowing them to displace slower growing plants.                 
Spread rampantly when they are free of the natural checks
and balances found in their native range.
For more info- MD invasive plants
                          

Patuxent RiverKeeper English Ivy removal

The Listen crew headed out for a visit with Fred Tutman, Patuxent RiverKeeper with a goal of removing his huge stand of English Ivy. What got a bit of it!