After a hectic summer of teaching, planning and art making, I’m feeling a little rusty as I try to get back into my bi-weekly missives. I’m so grateful for all the new subscribers these past few weeks. I have lots of news so read on, most importantly my bi-weekly missives are returning so it’s a great time to upgrade to being a paid subscriber. Perks will be going out this month.
Before we get into it you may have noticed the name change from “Dreaming in Green” to “Art that Breathes.” It is an attempt to streamline and make my work/offerings a little more cohesive. “Art that Breathes” is the direction my work has/ is taking me, like everything in life, it is fluid, seasonal and unpredictable. A collaborative process which I am a part of. Isn’t that life. Some people have been asking me whether I am still doing herbal/healing work! Yes Yes Yes, this work is an extension of my work as a community herbalist/healer. My connection with the healing plants has grown deeper over the past few years as I explore new ways to be in relationship with the plant world, my work as a healer is expanding as I explore the healing benefits of creativity and connection which is another piece of the puzzle.
I recently found myself walking on Hampstead Heath (London) after 33 years. It was a surreal experience, as I walked it occurred to me that my herbal allies have always been with me, protecting and guiding me. I am grateful to my teachers nettle, yarrow, queen annes lace and elder and realize now how long ago our healing relationship begun.
(there are some more art related stories I will be sharing in the coming months about that brief trip to London- my hometown.)
Introducing the first Art that Breathes Festival of the Botanical Arts (the beginning; it has to begin somewhere….)
About the Art that Breathes:Festival of the Botanical Arts at CitySpace Easthampton MA. The festival is made possible thanks to a pay-it-forward grant from Cityscape.
What is Art that Breathes?
Art+Ecological Community Herbalism
This is the work I have been guided to these past few years, making art in Collaboration with plants. Working within the principals of ethical and ecological community herbalism and integrating them into an art practice with the intention of living, working, playing and praying gently on the earth. Partnering with plants to enter the process of creating art, it’s very process oriented, forming deeper connection and a more collaboration relationship with nature while building a creative practice and entering the flow state, in which you breathing in the medicine of the plants while making Art.
The Art that Breathes Manifesto is still a work in process changing and forming
Plants are alive,
Plants are living beings.
Plants breathe,
Plants are sentient beings
Working with plants is a collaboration, a dynamic relationship,
where there is no controlling the result.
It’s about process,
It’s being in the moment, feeling the connection.
It’s relational
The results are fluid, and gently changing
Life is not stagnant,
life is always changing.
Constantly in motion
Health is not stagnant, health is gently flowing, in the flow
Nothing in Nature is static
There is gentle movement even in the stillness
Nothing lasts forever
As humans we are always trying extend life, to beat the odds, we are so rarely present enough to notice the gentleness of the moment,
the breath of the plants.
Make art that breathes.
Nothing lasts forever.
First the sad news: I have postponed the panel discussion that was supposed to kick of the festivities because so many of my panelists are not available this weekend and it seems like such an important offering to get right. Marjorie (Jorie) Morgan who is todays featured artist is one of those artists who will be part of the panel.(stay tuned for new date!)
The good news: There is still a weekend choke full of activities including a Craft Fair on Friday Night featuring the work of those of live, work, play and pray at the intersection of Art and Herbalism (Friday Sept 15th, 5-9pm) and creative healing playshoes on Saturday and Sunday.
Come and learn new ways of working with plants! You don't have to be an artist, you don't have to be an herbalist. Just a biophiliac!
Last month I wrote about Botanical illustrators/painters whose collaborations with plants help/ed us ID and classify plants, each of them have a unique style but their work is scientifically accurate in color, scale and shape. If you have not yet read last months missive here is the link. Today I am going to introduce you to a botanical artist/creative channel whose use of plants is completely innovative and plants are not only their muse but are interwoven throughout their art practice. There are so many people who work at the intersection of art and herbalism, so many diverse ways to live, work, play, and pray with plants in your creative practices. Engaging ones creativity is a healing modality, a vital part of a holistic health protocol.
Marjorie (Jorie) Morgan (they/them).
Marjorie is the artist behind the “Magical Nature Tarot” They are a creative channel who received a summons to make a tarot deck. Magical Nature Tarot was created by them with the guidance of the natural world, inspiration from the centuries-old tarot traditions, and assistance from her guides (the SiNK Spirit Collective).
(we will explore mediumship and art channeling further in the next missive when I share my interview with Gale Blacksnake)
Rebecca Guanzon co-owner of Wild Soul River (an abolitionist herbal healing shop in Williamstown, MA) was the herbalist who co-created the content and guidance for the Magical Nature Guidebook (which is still in process).
vI am lucky enough to have seen the original artwork all created with natural inks, goldenrod, black walnut, choke cherry, poke, avocado just to name a few. The energy of these cards is palpable and the ever-changing nature of these natural inks seems perfect for the tarot process.
I took Marjories “Organic Impressions” class offered through Zea Mays Printmaking as I was trying to meet others and grow community in this field, while learning more about how others are bringing the plants into their work. I immediately felt in my element, and highly recommend any and all of Marjories classes.
I hope you enjoy this interview between myself and Majorie Morgan. I absolutely loved everything about this conversation; imagining Marjorie as a budding green solitary green witch running through the ferns and woods of their childhood, to their allyship with Black Walnut and Black Hollyhock and their wanting to rename all ferns because no plants should be names after people! (I hope they do write the Book of Ferns). Marjories work truly sits at the intersection of Art and Herbalism.I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did.
You can find them here on instagram and their website here.
I have two “calls for art” this month
🎨The October Wall Show at Rhynia is themed “Climate Change” Details on how to submit art here
🎨“Mind Memory Mycelium” is the name of a show I am curating this February at the APE Gallery with Lilian Jackman of Wilderhill Gardens.
Artists are invited to exhibit their work in the winter 2024 show:
Women in The Book Arts: Mind, Memory, and Mycelium at the APE Gallery in Northampton, MA. The show runs from February 21- March 3, 2024 and will showcase an ecletic and powerful group of artists working in a variety of mediums devoted to the print and book arts. Submit photos of your art work with titles, descriptions, artists bios. etc...in any book/print related medium for this curated show by September 30th
Women in The Book Arts: Mind, Memory, and Mycelium will explore the beauty and complexity of the brain, the importance and unreliability of memory and our intimate and often unseen reliance on nature, perfectly illustrated by mycelium.