Fine art print of a shamanic story

The subject for this chalk pastel is a literal scene taken from shamanic work I have done with my students.  The client of this work was a herd of buffalo spirits of place in Buffalo Lake, Alberta.  In dreams and forms of divination we were shown that the buffalo were still part of the nature of the place, even though now the lake edge was massed with summer cottages, boat ramps and recreational vehicles.  Their presence was strong in winter, when all the human toys were stored away and the lake edge whispered with the dry rattle of bare branches.  We understood the buffalo were starving because no one was feeding them by remembering the beauty of their living there.  And of course as spirits, they could not die, but could continue to starve.

In one of those synchronistic moments of inspiration before leaving for Edmonton, I asked my partner to make us some little arrows of wood, plus I cut some pieces of doweling and drilled holes to fit the two together—knowing not what the little boats were for.

Upon arriving and settling in our guest house on the lake , my students and I realized that the winter birds could carry our prayers as food to the buffalo, and so we set about building boats full of seeds for the birds, that they would look kindly on our request for their help.  In order not to build competition or jealous comparison into our project, which would not taste good to birds or buffalo, we passed each boat to the next woman at each next stage of its construction.

When all the boats were built and filled by everyone, we took them to every kind of terrain we could find so our prayers would fly in all the voices of the land.  From high on hills, and in the tangle of sedge and willow, and along the lake edge—we sailed our boats to feed the birds who could carry our prayers of remembering to the buffalo. And later, it did seem like everything moving among the empty, silent summer cabins that night was warm and well, and had full bellies.

FEEDING THE HOMELESS

Custom fine art print on acid free velvet art paper

with archival inks

17” x 11” (43 cm x 27 cm) unmatted….$190.00

shrink wrapped on foam core for shipping

shipping included

To order contact Kristen at journeyoracle@gmail.com

See more shamanic art originals and prints at 

www.journeyoracle.com

Shamanic Art Original and Fine Art Print

This original chalk pastel is titled “Lunch in the Garden” and captures the intense vibrancy of sitting in a still cool July morning, enjoying a cuppa and looking out at the extravagant ornateness of summer blooms. ..while perhaps wearing a fish hat.

As a visual artist who has taught many years of middle school and university level art students, as well as given hours of painting workshops to adults, I love to surprise my student’s creative process by creating images in unusual ways.  This pastel probably wins the prize for the most peculiar source for an art image that I’ve ever suggested.

My students and I sat in a circle with all manner of almost used up art materials on a table in the center.  Amid much laughter and increasing little kid messiness, we passed a breakfast cereal box around and around; each one of us selecting a tube of paint, crayon, pen, ink brush—anything that would make a mark—and covered the inside of the box without peeking inside.  When we had as much color smeared on ourselves as we imagined was smeared inside, we opened the box to dry flat.  What a riot of color and pattern!  Such a wild story of shapes and textures could never be told by planning the effects or checking on progress.

When the art materials were dry, we used strips of white paper taped into a small picture “frame” and moved these around the cardboard until we found forms that spoke back to our wandering gaze.

Once we had located an area and taped our frame over it, this was cut out and became the source image for our painting.  We then had the good fun and visual challenge of trying to replicate exactly the different materials and marks to a scale that ‘jumped up’ into art.

LUNCH IN THE GARDEN

Original Chalk Pastel on Matte Board

20”(w) x 13”(h) (51 cm x 33 cm) unframed…$500.00

Matted to fit 26.5” x 20” frame

shrink wrapped on foam core for shipping

shipping included

Custom fine art print on acid free velvet art paper

with archival inks

17” x 11” (43 cm x 27 cm) unmatted….$150.00

shrink wrapped on foam core for shipping

shipping included

To order contact Kristen at journeyoracle@gmail.com

See more shamanic art originals and prints at 

www.journeyoracle.com