Old paintings surface in Tecopa

I had been visiting Tecopa Hot Springs with family and friends for over ten years when the kids all grew up and friends got kinda bored with just "mellowing out." I had already connected with the Spirits of the Springs and wanted to continue the practice of making offerings there. Most of my actuations were temporal, burned or given to the earth. But, once I began to revitalize my own interests in art (after twenty years of teaching), by joining the California Arts Project, I responded to the direction that art teachers not neglect their own practices. I was inspired to do art actuations and more artifactual productions and creations, many of which were meant to be absorbed into the landscape or location.
This picture is of some of the original sumi paintings I did one trip when it was raining. I wanted to do this work with the intent of saving it and seeing how the pulp quality paper would absorb the salts of the desert as well as react to rainwater and added metallic elements, clays and salts washed off of the rocks that were used to hold the paper down over a 16-18 hour period while I did the work. Originally, I let the paper dry out after the rain. I wasn't in the practice of photographing these kind of events so I put them out on the same place they were painted 15 years ago (not the same order). Although it is a series, each of the images has its own nature and spirit message for each of us and I'll let them speak to you if you ever get a chance to see them. Pictures of them don't even come close to showing the texture and subtle color and potentially corrosive events. I'll frame one up for the show.