A Plan Comes Together

It fascinates me that sometimes when inspiration comes, it's everywhere I look. I like that! My challenge to visualize the connection of all life on Earth has been catapulted forward, again with help from friends, new and old.

My new working title is One & All. I hope it sticks as I progress through the production process…I like it.

 

Kristin Reiber Harris   Star sequence

I have mentioned my work the Donna Iona Drozda, artist and creative counselor. At some point a few words or comments from Donna sparked something that resulted in the first viable draft of my script for this project. What a great feeling. It created a framework while shining a light on a path forward. What more can you ask for.

 

I realized my script would be poetry and reference the continuity/connection of all life while our heroine moves in and out of a physical presence. A fanciful approach was what was needed. Here is the first stanza.

 One & All
Animated poem by Kristin Reiber Harris

When I was a star
Before I was born
I dreamed I was
All things at once
And nothing at all
I saw the oneness of things

 

I am thrilled that I will be able to work with actress/voice talent Vanessa Richardson on this project. She talent has been pivotal in many of my projects. I have also found some great acoustic guitar tracks on Free Music Archive that have great promise.

 I have to mention Lao Tzu. This Chinese philosopher's work (500 BCE) is daily reading and an essential framer of my understanding of how all things are connected and interdependent. The translation I am reading is by Brian Walker, The Unknown Teachings of Lao Tzu: Hua Hu Ching.

I was particularly inspired by Christina Salas, an artist whose work I was introduced to online, reconfirming a direction I had been headed. 

 

       Kristin Reiber Harris, digital     Art for the dream sequencing

 

On a recent visit to the Cooper Hewitt Museum in Manhattan I found a wonderful kids book, We are All Me, written and illustrated by Jordan Crane. This book masterfully tells young children that all humans are connected. The artwork is bright and fanciful. I found it very encouraging that someone had chosen this topic for very young children. My project is designed for families (ie not just for kids). The idea is to make this concept (we're are all in this together) accessible.

Kristin Reiber Harris  Tree of Life

You know trees will be featured, here is one of the Tree of Life series I developed for this project.

My first grant application is due on April 29 and it is keeping me focused on budgets, distribution plans and other aspects of this process someone needs to MAKE me DO!

 Want to be part of the team? Join me as a patron on Patreon and help make this production the best it can be. 

Creative Jump Start

 

Inspired by artist Swoon, zinnia with Monarch butterfly wings for petals.

Talk about help from my friends, I just finished a free 8 day course (15 minute motivational videos each morning) that was a real inspiration and just what I need to re-define my focus on this project.

A little background on Donna Iona Drozda the creator of the 8-Day Jump-Start Challenge. I met her a number of years ago in Lynchburg, Va when she was coming over from her home in Virginia Beach to teach art classes for kids at the Maier Museum of American Art at Randolph College. We became fast friends and I continue to learn fascinating things about her courageous, adventuresome life. I am in awe of anyone who has managed to make it to Tibet. Iona is an accomplished artist and educator but more than that, a kind, compassionate person.

Each of the 8 days of the challenge had a theme. I’m going to run through these quickly because you may find this approach helpful…even though we have all done it a thousand times unconsciously. My responses follow the daily prompt in blue.

Day One: Identify Your Dream

Express and share the beauty I see in the natural world around me; specifically visualize the connection of all life on Earth

Day Two: Envision; See in your mind’s eye what that looks like

I saw the tree of life as an icon that could express the connections of life.

Day Three: Actively Engage with Research

I reconnected with the treasure trove of Tree of Life imagery and essays. I consulted with artist friends about their own artwork that expresses the idea of the connection of all life and their ideas about other artists work that accomplishes this task.

Day Four: Act, start building

I started working on a series of drawings that included imagery that consisted of objects made up of other creatures parts...flowers with butterfly wings, leaves with feathers. I began combining them in a composite of a Tree of Life image that would reference our connections.

Day Five: Evolve; Have confidence in yourself and keep moving forward

Ok, I'll do my best. I got a film festival rejection email today....everyone does. It's part of the game. What's important is to not let that alter my path or my confidence.

Day 6: Points of Resistance

This was especially enlightening because I have done every one of these with this specific project. Any of these sound familiar to you?

1. Too busy
2. Procrastinate
3. Scared
4. Defer to someone else
5. Loose interest
6. Forgetful…I meant to do that
7. Disorganization
8. Space out
9. Paralized
10. I can’t because
11. Impatient, taking too long
12. People say it’s a waste of time

Very helpful to have to own up to playing this game with myself.

Day Seven: Our doubt limits us. Don’t compare yourself to anyone else. 

Hello, thank you for this reminder. I am the captain of my ship.

Day Eight: Grow Up;  Put forth Your Gifts

I have a unique voice and vision.  Even if only one person hears me, it's worth it.

The Tree of Life, version 1,  Kristin Reiber Harris

The is the current iteration of my Tree of Life/we are all connected imagery and the script is in the works. Thank you,  Donna Iona Drozda for sharing your gifts with me.

This is the link to the landing page where one can register for the series: http://www.donnaionadrozda.com/free-challenge-8-steps-to-focus-your-creative-self-expression/

Learn more about my work at KristinHarrisDesign.myportfolio.com or @kristinharrisdesign

 

I Am Getting Help from My Friends: Old and New

As my research continues for my short film "It's the LIttle Things that Unite Us" I am reaching out to friends and they are responding. I want to share their thoughts with you.

Artist Jeannine Bardo is a very special person. She has introduced me to the arts community in Brooklyn. I met her soon after I moved to Bay Ridge 3 years ago.  It is through Jeannine that I met, among others, BWAC president Alicia Degener and Bay Ridge artist Ellen Izzo Coleman. 

Jeannine and I share an intense love affair with trees, which is a real testament to the trees of Bay Ridge, her home town. I grew up in the woods, I have an excuse!

When I asked Jeannine to identify artists who had created work that visualizes the connection of all life on Earth, her answers really surprised me. Or rather caught me off guard. I was aware of the work of these artists, but only tangentially. 

What I was starting to “see” with these examples provided by Jeannine, is my tendency to be very literal. That in and of itself is not good or bad, but an approach and a way of thinking I need to own. 

Agnes Denes - Wheatfield

With great effort, Agnes and assistants removed rocks and garbage from a landfill. It took 200 hundred truck loads of dirt to prepare the site. Denes then planted and harvested a field of wheat at that location. It was within the sight of Wall Street. Denes explained,

"Wheatfield was a symbol, a universal concept; it represented food, energy, commerce, world trade, and economics. It referred to mismanagement, waste, world hunger and ecological concerns. It called attention to our misplaced priorities." 

Elaborating, she said “Making art today is synonymous with assuming responsibility for our fellow humans. We are the first species that has the ability to consciously alter its evolution, even put an end to its existence. We have gotten hold of our destiny, and our impact on earth is astounding. Because of our tremendous ‘success’ we are overrunning the planet, squandering its resources.

Jeanine's other example was Mel Chin's Revival Field.

Mel Chin, Revival Field, photo by the artist.

I was fascinated by what he had to say about this work. He sees Revival Field as traditional sculpture.

https://art21.org/read/mel-chin-revival-field/

"If that [pollution] could be carved away, and life could return to that soil and then a diverse and ecologically balanced life, then that is a wonderful sculpture. I think there is a profound aesthetic in there, and it’s really simple. But we have to create the chisels, and we have to create the tools, and we have to isolate the problem: where the block of pollution is, so we can carve it away. It became very clear to me that it (Revival Field) would be a sculptural project worth engaging in. And I set upon to finding out more, whether datura could do this—jimsonweed is common."

This is Jeannine's work.  

She feels that all of her artwork reflects our connections to the natural world and to each other. Here is her "Monster 1" as it was being painted at the park and the finished piece.

She states "I love knowing that there is no separation, that everything is connected" We share the joy and comfort in that knowledge. Thank you, Jeannine for a shift in my vision. This brings me to the Tree of Life as an icon.

More help from my "friends" continues to come. Stay tuned as I am educated and inspired by Darwin and Swoon.

My Anim8Nature showcase on Vimeo is a great way to learn more about my work. Your thoughts always appreciated. 

@kristinharrisdesign    @anim8nature    

With a Little Help from my Friends

My Production Blog: It's the Little Things That Unite Us

As I embark on what I consider the most ambitious project of my career, I am sending a query to a few artist colleagues whose work has inspired me over the years. It has been an exciting process to identify a progression of tasks on the way to clarifying a vision, script and storyboards. I am pulling out all the stops and getting guidance where I can find it and hopefully that means with a little help from my friends.

I am good about asking for what I want….and hope my friends will indulge me. I realized that perhaps I could answer my own questions, partially to give my friends an idea of what I was fishing for and see what happens.  I was amazed, it was a great revelation to explore these ideas purely as a visual artist, not as a media maker researching a project. 

This is how I answered my questions.

Question 1:

How do you see/experience the connection of all life on earth?

I “feel” it as I honor my intuitive self. I have heard this idea of connection elaborated for most of my life. I read Lao Tzu every day and he speaks of the Oneness of Things.

Question 2:

Can you think of examples of artwork that successfully communicate the connection of all life?

This was the big surprise for me, I didn't anticipate how quickly the answer to this question would come to me. If I were to identify a body of work, it would be a Chinese landscape scrolls, like the ones I first encountered at my beloved Freer Museum in Washington, DC. The images are expansive but fluid, peaceful and all encompassing. They tell stories with many moving parts but one cohesive vision.

This scroll, found at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is a good example of what I find so compelling about Chinese scrolls. Reproductions fall short but hopefully this will bring images to mind you have seen in person.

Summer Mountains, 1050 AD, Attributed to Qu Ding Chinese

Detail, Summer Mountains, 1050 AD, Attributd to Qu Ding, Chinese

Question 3:

Have you created artwork that specifically addresses the issue of the connection of all life?

I have. My Stone Circle drawings, a series of mandala-like drawings that had their genesis in the 70’s speaks to this idea. I was inspired by sacred geometry, introduced to me through Islamic art and Buddhist mandalas. The circle is inclusive and represent the Oneness of things. The stones are a connection to remote and distance places in time and space. The flora and fauna were objects that captured my attention when the drawing was being made. This is intuitive and not to be explained.

Stone Circle 2, 48" x 52", mixed media on paper.

Since that series was completed, I make work that encourages careful observation of the natural world through the objects I find most beautiful and compelling. This has been done with individual images, not in relationship as they are in the Stone Circle drawings.

Right now, I am particuarly fascinated by the genius of leaves. Mother Nature's solar energy power houses whose second act is as a nutrients for new life. Mother Nature wastes nothing..and that's genius.

 
Sycamore Leaves, 22"x30", mixed media on paper

                                    

                                    

I look forward to sharing with you what I learn from my friends and colleagues.

It's the Little Things that Unite Us

Best wishes for a Happy, Healthy, Productive 2022. If you were like me, this holiday season had its ups and downs. I was happy to have family visiting and saddened by the consequences of the pandemic. 

The good news is that taking a break often brings insight and inspiration. I am reaping those rewards now.  I have challenged myself to create an animated short that demonstrates James Lovelock’s Gaia Theory that all life on Earth is connected. I want to tell this animated story by weaving together natural objects from my neighborhood in Brooklyn with the principles of the Gaia Theory. Where do I start?

I wanted to bring in my childhood on an old farm in Virginia, my life here with my grandson as we explore the local flora and fauna and the seasonal changes as reflected in an urban environment.   Wow, overload. My vision was so expansive, I was just stymied as to how to proceed. 

English Oak, mixed media on paper, 18"x24", 2021

My latest inspiration has come from the fine art work I have been doing over the holidays. I was very happy to share evenings with my son and sister. I was frequently drawing while we were visiting. Fortunately my sister was interested in the process and didn’t complain!

Collected treasures taped on my studio wall

Just a little background. I take a walk everyday. Since the beginning of fall, I have been compelled each day to pick up some natural treasure along the way. These have most frequently been leaves. They were taped on my studio wall to admire. When I decided to change my fine art focus from collage back to mixed media botanical drawings on paper, the leaves on the wall were center stage. Here are a few of the drawings from the holidays.

Leaves: Tree of Heaven, mixed media on paper, 18"x24", 2021

Leaves: European Beech, mixed media on paper, 18"x24"

How have these drawings inspired me and provided a foundation for my script and storyboards for this animation? Focusing on the tiniest of aspects of the natural world, as I am currently doing in my drawings, intrigues me. I feel like they are crumbs that leave a trail to be followed that “demonstrates” the connection of all life. The more diverse these small object crumbs, the more interesting the story/animation will be. My research continues with James Lovelock’s book, Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth. His writing is so engaging and accessible.

Pin Oak Acorns, mixed media on paper, 18"x24", 2022

Have you seen art/media that you feel successfully demonstrates this very narrow and simultaneously very wide view of the connection of all life? 

Thank you for your interest in my work and joining me on this journey. Your thoughts and feedback are always important to me. 

Follow me on Instagram @kristinharrisdesign and @anim8nature or Facebook at  kristin.r.harris.5

Oak Leaf: A Life Story -- Inspiration

 I had an epiphany the other morning. It feels like a very ambitious challenge but I want to weave this little story about an oak leaf and its life changes with James Lovelock's Gaia Theory. I was introduced to James Lovelock in the documentary (I recommend it highly) Going Circular produced and streaming on Curiosity Stream. I have been profoundly inspired and influenced by this film. 

Still from Acorn: A Life Cycle film. Please note the leaf litter around the acorn.

This hypothesis suggests that the whole earth is one cohesive living system in which everything is interrelated and self balancing. Mother Nature does not consume with no regard to the well being of the whole system and nothing is wasted. Humans have disrupted this balance and we are seeing the consequences now.

It was music to my ears to hear these ideas I have accepted for many years, so eloquently expressed by scientists and designers. This drawing is part of a series of mandalas (representing the universe) that I created for over 30 years. I was visualizing my belief in the interrelatedness of all things.

Grasses Stone Circle, 52"x46"  graphite on paper

These are not new ideas. As long ago as 500BC, Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu recommended "Be aware of the oneness of things". Throughout history, including many hunter gatherers, cultures were built on the idea that all life is connected. 

Dogwood Stone Circle, 42"x52"   mixed media on paper

As I move forward with my research I want to include interviews with both scientists and artists about these ideas. Many scientists work in very niche fields, so it will be interesting to learn if they are familiar with James Lovelock and how they interpret his Gaia Theory in relationship to their own studies. I will interview artists for whom these ideas resonate and find out if/how they are expressing "the oness of things" in their work.

What do you think? How connected to you feel to the microbes I will explore that are digesting/decomposing the oak leaf litter in your yard? Have you seen visual art or stories that you think successfully express these concepts? Your thoughts are always welcome and appreciated.

Thank you for your interest in my work.

You can learn more about my work at KristinHarrisDesign.com. You can see my series of animated life cycles and other Anim8Nature projects on Vimeo.

Oak Leaf: A Life Story - The Production Journal

Watching falling leaves is one of my great pleasures in life. Who would have ever guessed something so simple could be so mesmerizing. If I choose to analyse it, I'd say it is the complete abandon with which they "accept" their fate that I find so intriguing. That might suggest that I can tell a happy leaf from one in distress....interesting idea but I can't. I am guessing.

I am pleased to be returning to my LIfe Cycle series of animated short with this current project Oak Leaf: A Life Story. Yes, I did a short about the life cycle of an acorn but this new project is leaf specific. Why?

Pin Oak, gesture 1

I am totally awed by these solar factories that perform such important work in concert with each other. A mature oak tree can have 700,00 leaves and they all work together. Add to that the beauty of their varied shapes and sizes and I want to learn more.

A book and a documentary have energized my interest in the story of the wisdom on Mother Nature, what we can learn and in fact what we must impliment.  Going Circular is an inspiring documentary about the natural world as one living system that has supported itself for millennia until we upset the balance. Nature does not produce waste. Everything is used and reused in a balance we have upset. Nature has no landfills. The book is Douglas W. Tallamy's The Nature of Oaks. I will reference both of these resources often.

PIn Oak, gesture 2

In addition to my research, I am warming up for this project with gesture drawings I will use for my final artwork. 

PIn Oak, gesture 3

Stay with me on this journey and marvel with me as we explore the ingenuity of our living Earth and Mother Nature.