Home is Where the Art Is … New Exhibit at 1+1=1

Containers by Dave Carlson

1+1=1 Gallery in Helena, Montana, announces a new, exciting woodworking exhibit of smaller, functional art by four Montana woodworkers: Tim Carney, Dave Carlson, Jim Hill and Phil Pontillo.

Jim Hill Spoons and Gourd Bowl
Hand Carved Spoons and Gourd Bowls by Jim Hill

Home is Where the Art Is

Whether you are furnishing your home with one-of-a-kind necessities, looking for something cool and unusual to give to a loved one, or trying to find the perfect Mother’s Day gift, you’ll find a variety of unique, affordable wood art at this exhibit.

Opening Reception Friday April 4th 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm. Please join us to meet the artists!

Gallery location: 335 North Last Chance Gulch, Helena, Montana.  (between the Painted Pot and the Turman-Larison Contemporary.)

Exhibit:  Home is Where the Art Is will be open from April 4th through May 7th, just before Mother’s Day. Come to the opening reception April 4th or come early in the month, to get first pick of the exhibit.

  • Sushi plates and chopstick sets made of domestic hardwoods
  • Hand mirrors
  • Live-edge bread and cheese boards
  • Turned bowls and lidded containers
  • Walnut stemmed wine glasses and maple tray
  • Shaker boxes
  • Jewelry boxes
  • A small four-legged cabinet
  • Gourd bowls
  • Hand-carved hardwood spoons and spatulas
  • Bistro table and stools
  • and much more
Sushi Plate Set by Tim J. Carney
Set of Sushi Plates, Chopsticks and Chopstick Rests by Tim Carney
Containers by Dave Carlson
Containers by Dave Carlson
Heart Cabinet by Phil Pontillo
Heart Cabinet by Phil Pontillo

 

Why Nature is So Important to Me

RockyMountainIris

FrontRangeNearAugusta

I grew up in the 50s and 60s. My siblings and I spent every spare moment playing in nature. Our suburban back yard and the meadows, pastures, woods, creeks, oak trees and bramble patches of my childhood are as vivid in my memory as if it happened yesterday.

The moment our school bus dumped us out near our house, we would grab a snack then rush out to play until Mom called us in for dinner. After dinner, in good weather we would head back out until dark, when she would insist we come in and do our chores.

Prairie Gaillardia Bud Opening

Mom taught me the names of all the wildflowers and how to tell the difference between a monocot and a dicot. I learned to value the habitats of hundreds of creatures that lived on the wooded hillsides and creek bottoms near our house.

Slug, salamander, carrion beetle, praying mantis, flying squirrel, cardinal, purple finch, deer, siskin, spring beauty, skunk cabbage, lady slippers, raccoon, possum, badger… their names roll off my mind’s tongue like poetry. 

I would be bereft if our world contained even one less of the thousands of beings I grew to love as a child.

My husband, Tim Carney and I contribute to the Nature Conservancy every year because we believe in the work the conservancy is doing all over this world, especially in our home state of Montana. The Rocky Mountain Front is sacred to us and to the First Nation people. For me, the Front is probably the most spectacular landscape on earth, and it is certainly one of the most ecologically vital habitats for Earth’s creatures. I am thankful to the Conservancy for their work on behalf of the Front.

RockyMountainIris

For 25 years, Tim and I have practiced Huichol shamanism. Integral to Huichol shamanism are daily meditations and seasonal ceremonies that celebrate the heart of Mother Earth … we believe that Nature is sacred; that every entity on earth has a spirit, is literally alive. Mountains and rivers. Stones. Trees. Black bears, wolves, salmon, pine bark beetles and earthworms. Every being deserves our respect.

Deer in Field along the Front Range

Nature is inside us and we live in Nature. The idea that we humans (and everything) contain the dust of ancient stars …. this fits our beliefs perfectly. We are made up of all that surrounds us, all that has come before us. My mind, heart, legs and eyes contain molecules of that juniper tree, of the Yellowstone River, of the garden where I plant beans and corn. And, when I am finished with my body, ideas, breath … my atoms will go forward in time, transforming into other parts of Nature.

three drops of rain on a leaf

My beliefs inform my everyday life, so it makes sense to me to respect and love Nature — it is vital to the health of our world, to our species, to all of life.

When I take my daily walks, I think about stepping gently on my Mother. I think about walking instead of driving. I think about making my ecological footprint as small as possible. This is my meditation as much as praying each morning for healing for myself, family, community and the Earth.

Prairie Forms along the Front Range

I make my living as an artist. The core message I try to express with my art and photography is “connection.” Connection to Nature, to the heart of the Earth. If I can inspire one person to become more deeply connected to the natural world through my artwork, then I know I will have succeeded.

Buds

Both Tim and I have immense appreciation for the Nature Conservancy’s staff and ideals. The work is vitally important to quality of life — ours, yours, our descendants and all of Earth’s creatures. Please consider becoming a donor to the Conservancy and help protect Earth’s heart for future generations.

I originally wrote this article to share on the Nature Conservancy’s Stories site. 

 

A Gift for You – a Calendar for March

March2014WallpaperCalendar-impDear Readers: I appreciate you. For reading my words and for commenting. For looking carefully and engaging with my artwork. For telling me if and how I have touched your hearts. And I hope that somehow I have.

Here is your free calendar for March. These calendars are a gift from me to you because I want you to have something to remind you of a different way of seeing the world around us. And … well, just ‘cuz…

I’d love to know if you find these useful.

The calendars are free for you to download. I will try to post the calendars the first day or two of each month. The only thing I ask is that you use them only for your personal use. Please don’t sell them yourself. And please do tell your friends these are available. Thank you!

If I don’t have the size or proportion of your computer monitor, or if you would like one for a cell phone, please tell me in the comments and I will make one for you and post it here. This month I am posting two versions: the calendar below may be downloaded and printed for your wall or fridge. The one at the top of this post is desktop wallpaper for your computer.

How do I do this?  Just right-click to save the image. Let me know in comments if you have any trouble. You can download and print either calendar. Late Winter Cheers from me to you!

Calendar for your (analog/actual) wall: 

March2014PrintableCalendar-imp

 

calendar for your iPhone

MarchIPhoneCalendar-imp

Wild Horses and our Naturally Wild Souls

paper horse

paper horses

Last night at our first monthly Girls Art Night at 1+1=1 Gallery (Brown Bird Studio) we were inspired by Ann Wood’s creative exercise to make these absolutely delightful horses. We were a small group — just the perfect size, though as we continue to do these art-nights I hope other women will join us.

paper horse

Shayna, Jaime, Cari and I gave some of our horses to Whitney, who is ready to give birth any day now. Her little boy will be born in the Year of the Horse. He will have a herd of wild horses to remind him of his naturally wild joy. With a mama like Whitney we know he’ll grow up snorting with laughter, jumping with glee and letting his wildness out into the world. (*See bottom of this post for some interesting predictions about this baby — and other babies born in this year of the horse.)

Whitney's Horse

paper horses wild horses

“Last night was like a symbolic circling of all the mares … lending the strength of those who have gone before, to the one ready to walk through that door that you never, ever can cross back through … the becoming of motherhood and the strength and grace of sisterhood … so special to me” — Jaime Terry

paper horse

We made horses. We laughed. She contracted. We played. Relaxed. Listened to her talk about the baby, the baby’s name, the nest she is preparing. Talked about lack of sleep and future lack of sleep and hope for sleep. And about other things. And nothing at all.

paper horse

Our hands busy with scissors and paint and buttons. Good food. Good wine. Good company. It’s what women do. We nurture each other with food and listening and love and open arms. A circling of the mares.

GirlsArtNightWildHorses18

We decided to do this every month. Something artsy. Something to connect us. To each other. To our souls. To the Earth.

paper horse

Please join us at our next Girls Art Night with Brown Bird Studio on the last Thursday of each month. Like our gallery’s facebook page or sign up for updates from 1+1=1 Gallery, and we’ll remind you a few days in advance. Put Girls Art Night on your calendar for March 27th at 6:30 pm. 335 North Last Chance Gulch, Helena.

paper horses art night

Our evening gatherings are all about being relaxed and nurturing our inner artistic souls.

Whether you consider yourself artsy or “crafty” or not, I promise you will have a good time. And don’t forget we’ll share food, music and laughter too. The cost is free or minimal, depending on the materials we use.

GirlsArtNightWildHorses15

LINKS:

 

Selected Sled Dog Portraits Available

sled dog in a close embrace with musher

I promised to post a gallery of the sled dog photos included in the exhibit, Ancient Bond. So here it is. Each of these is available for purchase as a signed, archival print. (See details below the gallery) Click on the photos to enlarge them. Watermarks are not on the prints.

The Color of Zero Degrees Cold

Ice Crystals Growing on a Frozen Lake Surface

or: Snow is Not White

or: How Many Shades of Blue is Winter?

Ice Fishermen

Helena, Montana is closing in on a record February snowfall. The winter of 1936 set that record. I’m not sure how much snow we’ve had so far this month (usually our driest month of the winter) but, since last Friday, at least 18 inches of snow has fallen outside our house.

Snow is good. The mountains need snow. The soil, the prairies and farms and trees and fish, the rivers and air and people. We all need this moisture and I will be glad of it in summer when the grasses are crisping and crackling. When wildfires do their roaring, racing, burning thing…

Cold Mountains behind Snow Field

The older I get, the less patient I am with the inconveniences of Montana winters. But the colors! Those colors keep me interested!

I go on at least one walk a day, but I get so cold in my bones that it’s just not as much fun as it was when I was younger and (ahem… ummmm) hotter.

hay bales along ridgeline

it takes a day like today:
wide open skies
not a single cloud
an almost
(imperceptible)
mist hanging close
to the frozen earth

it takes this kind of day
to remember
how many different blues are inside the cold

… how many
different
colors belong to white

Layers of Icy Air

Snow.
Is not.
White.

You knew that.

Steam

So … I hope these images inspire you to take some time and get out into the cold. Bundle up. Stay out until just before the sun goes down so you can grab a little of that incredible light into your soul.

And look. Really look at the colors that surround you!

Those colors will still be inside you on a summer day that tops 100F. When all you want to do is stick your head in a freezer. When you are wishing for some of that of zero-degrees-cold.

A Prairie Sunset that Fills Me with Peace

Prairie Twilight II

I love the soft gradients of some sunsets. This kind of sunset is a quiet counterpoint to the wild, heavily textured sunsets we sometimes have. I like both kinds.

This kind fills me with peace.

Prairie Twilight I

These two skies were on either side of me. The top photo is looking east in the evening twilight … then I turned around and shot the photo below, facing directly west.

Prairie Twilight II