Cactus Heart © 2010 Bo Mackison
“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength,
while loving someone deeply gives you courage.”
~ Lao Tzu
This photo of a cactus heart makes another Valentine’s Day appearance, as I wish my Valentines a happy day.
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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She sends much love and deep gratitude to her very special Valentine.
Cactus Scars © 2013 Bo Mackison
“The wound is the place where the Light enters you.” ~ Rumi
As I walked back to my car after walking the labyrinth, I followed a path through the desert scape, winding around rocky protuberances, around saguaros. Walking the labyrinth was more of an experience than I’d anticipated. I left somewhat shaken, off-balance. Literally finding my footing on the rough, rock-strewn path required my focus. I stumbled once, but jabbed my hiking stick off path to keep myself from falling.
As I righted myself, I glanced to the side of the path. The sunlight streaked through the landscape, highlighting a fist sized wound in a saguaro. It was enough to make me pause.
The saguaro was three times my height, and had four or five arms; it was possibly two hundred years old. Numerous scars, cracked surfaces and more than a few wounds covered its surface. Yet the sun rays cast a luminescence around the cactus, casting shadows from its thorns, and leading my eye to the largest opening at my eyes’ height.
I thought of the quote by Rumi, the wound allowing the light to enter.
And I thought of the lyrics from Leonard Cohen’s, song, Anthem:
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in.
That’s how the light gets in.
That’s how the light gets in.
~ from Anthem, Leonard Cohen
It made so much sense. The wounds, the cracks, the imperfections – they allow the light to enter, that’s how the light gets in.
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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She is exploring photography, poetry, and emotion in a new series featuring desert lines.
Sherpa’s Tax Shelter
“The Tax Shelter represents the existential struggle between the spirits. The Face is the powerful Sherpa Talisman (protector) . . . “
Sherpa’s Tax Shelter
“. . . and the rocks on the tether represent the vagaries of the tax rules – swinging forth and back.”
~Sherpa
In the last post, I wrote about a workshop — Figures from Natural Materials — offered on January 28 at Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park. Sherpa was visiting for an extended weekend, and we had already planned to take a day trip on his last day in Arizona. He agreed to take the workshop with me, even though he claims he’s never created a piece of original art. (He’s a numbers guy – accounting and tax stuff — and says he uses his creativity decoding the tax code. And I believe him — that would require a great deal of creativity.)
We had plenty of time to discuss the details of the workshop on the two-drive drive from Tucson to Superior. He grimaced a bit at the idea of making a “doll” from natural materials of the desert, but when I suggested he might want to make a structure or a shelter of some sort, he brightened considerably. Actually became excited.
“A shelter? I could make a TAX shelter!” he said, beaming at the idea.
And so he did.
Truly, he was one of the stars of the class. Ruth Ipsan-Brown, the workshop instructor, gave basic instructions and let us each create on our own. Sherpa did a fine job exploring the vagaries of glue guns, seed pods, and tax rules as he constructed his Tax Shelter. And he even sent me an explanation of his art, so that all could appreciate the meaning of his sculpture.
Thanks, Sherpa. It was a great afternoon – creating art, walking the arboretum, and making memories!
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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She takes time away from photography to explore other creative arts and create great memories, too.
Doll of the Desert © 2013 Bo Mackison
It is in the knowledge of the genuine conditions of our lives that we must draw our strength to live and our reasons for living. ~ Simone de Beauvoir
I am exploring a variety of arts in the solitude of the desert — art that offers me a connection with my inner space, with my spirituality, with the roots of authentic living. I am searching. I am listening. I am creating.
During a conversation with a wise woman guide, we talked about the many ways of using the creative arts to explore the journey of living a full life. We discussed journal writing, art journaling, dream journaling, book-making, collage, weaving — all of which I’ve experienced, some more than others. As we were discussing a dream I’d had involving a doll house and a collection of dolls and accessories, she questioned if I might be interested in making a doll. Or several. I wasn’t sure, I replied. Sewing has never been a favorite activity of mine.
Serendipity intervened. A day later I was researching visiting hours for a regional arboretum and their site had a photograph of a small figure created from the natural materials of the desert. My curiosity was piqued. After contacting Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park, I learned about a just-scheduled workshop – Figures from Natural Materials. I registered on the spot. (Sherpa was visiting and I claimed a second space in the workshop for him. More on his experience in the next post — it’s an another amazing story, and too good to keep to myself!)
The workshop was taught by Ruth Ipsan-Brown. What a creative and kind dynamo! Ruth spends half her days scrounging arroyos, open desert, parking lot perimeters, and back lots of arboretums (with permission) for sticks, twigs, seed pods, cactus skeletons, rocks and minerals, dried flowers and other such stuff. When not out in nature, she keeps a look out in thrift stores (grape-vine wreaths for dismantling), gem shows (tiny crystals and beads to augment her collection) and other such places.
Ruth then creates small figures from her collection of natural and found materials. The arboretum saw her marvelous constructions, asked if she would teach a workshop, and so it happened.
We arrived early at Boyce Thompson, allowing us time to stroll the almost deserted gardens. It had rained and everything was freshly bathed, the smell was heavenly. We arrived at the workshop studio at noon and met Ruth. She gave us a few instructions – some advice on using glue guns and drilling holes with Dremls, a quick lesson on painting tiny faces on flat rocks or bone. Then the fun began.
I looked over Ruth’s collection of desert finds, picking a few things that seemed to call to me. I’d bring a handful of nature bits to my workspace, add a piece to my figure, return the unused items. Repeat. Eventually, this tiny doll sculpture emerged. I created her without a lot of planning or thought.
It was not until later that evening, when I was studying my creation, that I realized the desert doll was quite metaphorical. I identified some of the plants that made up the doll figure and looked up some of their symbolic meanings..
She has a piece of the Ironwood’s trunk for the base. According to a forest lore site, Grotto Radio, this tree “will teach that you can resurrect from tragedy”. The site also says the Ironwood tree spirit is “slow and grounded. One that sees its own feet walking the path rather than looking up to see the sun. It is not about speed or result but the effort put in the moment.”
My doll-figure’s spine is a spine from a cholla cactus, a relic from the desert that could be nearly 2oo years old. It is a symbol of endurance, survival in hardship, and to the Tohono O’odham people, “the plant is a sacred being, capable of sustaining life.” What better choice for the spine of my desert doll?
Behind the saguaro spine is a bit of feathery skeleton from the prickly pear. Merely touching this dried skeleton can cause damage. Is that a cautionary sign to “handle gently” – that everything has its fragile part?
The cactus flower is often called a symbol of maternal love, a symbol of the unconditional love of Mother Earth, even under the most difficult of conditions. Every one would do well to have a symbol of unconditional love nearby.
And one final symbol – the turquoise “hat”. The turquoise gemstone is a symbol of protection and strength.
So, it seems as if my little figure is imbued with much mythological and symbolic meaning. It was a fun exercise – both its creation and the consideration of its symbolism. I think I’ll continue to explore this type of creation.
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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. Sometimes she takes time away from photography to explore other creative outlets, and in doing so she discovers a depth to her world she once only imagined.
Nature’s Pattern © 2012 Bo Mackison
Even though I photograph almost any subject, I spend as much time as I can in the natural world and take a greater percentage of nature subjects than any other. I also like to play with nature photos, especially macro-photographs such as the above barrel cactus. I loved the symmetry emphasized with a black and white conversion.
Not only do I love to photograph desert plants, I love learning about them. I find their various ways of adapting to their environment fascinating. In order to survive, they have an extensive system of spiny protrusions and other such things to dissuade potential munchers.
I’ve been working on the idea of non-attachment – the idea that too much attachment for a specific outcome can cause difficulties. And I was thinking that the cactus is the perfect symbol for non-attachment. Oh, yeah!
Observation Deck above Buttermilk Falls © 2010 Bo Mackison
These “O” words speak deeply to me about photography – my photography and photography in general.
Observation is so key to photography that it is almost too obvious to include in an alphabet like this. Observational skills are honed in the search for a photograph. That is not to say that a camera to required to polish observational skills, but a camera becomes a constant reminder to look around, to see beyond the initial glance. I consider my camera a great prop, an observation kick-starter.
Opportunity is another one of those obvious words that partner well with photography. Some people take photographs at special occasions (or opportunities) – a vacation, a holiday, an annual gathering, a perfect sunset. But opportunity is more about “being” there for the experience of the photograph rather than “finding” a photographic subject.
Any subject is a subject worthy of photographic exercise. I’ve photographed more walls than I would once have thought possible, or sane. Yes, walls. Wall with shadows, walls with texture, walls with vines, walls of adobe, brick, stone, historical walls in ruins. (Maybe I should copy and paste this under “W”!)
I’ve also taken thousands of photographs of trees. Recently I realized that there is some form of tree – perhaps a branch, a shadow, a leaf – in a large percentage of my photos. I didn’t start with the intent to photograph trees in such depth, but it seems the trees found me. Or perhaps I’ve never met a tree I didn’t like, one I didn’t think worthy of a tree portrait.
I’m not saying that I don’t take advantage of a photographic opportunity that comes my way. I carry a camera almost all the time – whether I’m going across country, across the city, or across the parking lot. You don’t have to wait for a special opportunity for a photograph; opportunity will find you if you’re paying attention.
Disappearing Road © 2012 Bo Mackison
And then there is the perspective of a lonely, open road at dusk. This is a photograph of a Texas panhandle highway. Telephone poles, grain elevators, semi-trucks, and a Texas Highway sign. It’s all about place. And perspective.
Mountain Trail © 2011 Bo Mackison
I sometimes take photographs to find the answers to questions I am pondering. Sometimes I take photographs to put the questions I don’t know how to ask into a concrete form. And sometimes I take photographs because I have questions that don’t have answers.
When I begin to write a blog post, and I have a photograph I want to share, I sometimes don’t have the words to accompany the photo. There is a meaning in the photo, but it’s not easily seen. So I go searching through my many dozens of unorganized journals for a relevant quotation. It seldom takes me more than a few minutes to find a quote that says exactly what I was struggling to say.
Here is one such photograph, and the quote I found to pair it with:
There are hundreds of paths up the mountain,
all leading in the same direction,
so it doesn’t matter which path you take.
The only one wasting time is the one
who runs around and around the mountain,
telling everyone that his or her path is wrong.~ Hindu teaching
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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. Part V of the Annual Photo Alphabet continues with Rituals thru Universe.
