All I wanted was to camp under the trees and to see fall leaves. There’s the cliché saying that it’s the small things that matter. Truly, I will vouch for that because I think moments have more weight than any tangible object. This image of the mountains towering majestically up the a full moon night and supported by the vibrations of the forest is what I ache for. Sometimes it drives me insane when I am surrounded by stale cement walls, the stench of exhaust on the roads, and the clanking of people drumming their fingers impatiently at retail stores. It is the sole reason that I feel uncomfortable in churches and claustrophobic walls of any religious indoor sanctuary. The feeling is just not right… for me. I do see the wilderness as my church. The trees as my prayer scripts. The sky as my savior. And the ground as my alter. There is where I go to church. It may sound a lot different from the traditional churches that many other may go to. But it does not always mean that I have to follow what others may do. I know what feels right and what feels wrong. So under the shaded leaves is where I internally feel a warm welcome. So as often as I can I run to the mountains. Around the corner, I reached a place hidden in the landscape. I had asked only one thing… to sleep under the trees during the Autumn season. A dear friend joined me into an adventure that would later inspire this piece. Usually it is in dark and weak times that inspires my creative juices. But this time I allowed my joy to lead the way.
Celebrating Mother Nature and her glorious work of mountain ranges and luminous forests, this piece was part of a silent auction at the second annual fundraiser event for The Look Out. The cause for raising money was partnering with Plant With Purpose and their global project of rebuilding the life of the forest in Haiti after the devastation of Hurricane Matthew in 2015. I am thrilled, as the Global Ambassador, to be able to share my work and contribute to life outside my physical world. Instead we embrace global impact, local change. It is using creativity to formulate Art With A Purpose which is what I want my art to be about. There is nothing like giving back to the community in a way that moves me by feeling and being inspired by experiencing. My connection in the forest sparked the creation of this art piece to positively impact another forest somewhere else in the world. That is what The Look Out is standing for… going beyond yourself.
“Autumn Moon”
Medium: stain, pen & ink on reclaimed wood.
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