Debi Lorenc – Website: RedEggGallery.com

ARTIST STATEMENT

I create. I most often use a camera, but also a pencil, a pen, a brush, or any combination of materials. It can be a hectic street scene, a deeply shadowed canyon, the curious glance of a stranger, or a worn and abandoned glove. Each image seems to be a story that hasn’t been told yet. Or if it’s been told once, it’s now already folded itself back into its own still and quiet mystery and is begging to be told again in another new and unexpected way.

CONCEPT STATEMENT

This is Aethon, it is an ancient Greek word that means “burning”, “blazing” or “shining.”

Helios (Ovid, Metamorphoses 2.153)

Meanwhile the sun’s swift horses, Pyroïs, Eoüs, Aethon, and the fourth, Phlegon, fill the air with fiery whinnying, and strike the bars with their hooves.

 

Smoke gets in your eyes and in your lungs and in your house and in your spirit. It clouds your vision, chocks your breath, dirties your home, and engulfs your soul. In western Montana, fire is a natural part of the landscape and plays an integral role in its ecology. Losing a home to a forest fire is a tragedy. Losing a life to fighting a fire is unspeakably grievous. Fire sweeping through the forest is part of nature’s renewal.

For many, many years, we humans thought we could control it, that we could keep the beast at bay, that we could infiltrate the forests without consequence or danger, and that we could make it our own. This is not to be. The vast green forests covering the eastern slopes of the Bitterroot Mountains that form our valley have been our windows’ scenic backdrop for over a century. It is part and parcel of our place, our home, our favorite hiking and riding trails, and secret fishing holes. Our hearts weep for their loss. Our hearts break for those whose homes have been destroyed and for whose lives have been turned upside down.

The smoke, the fire, and our responses to it now dominate every aspect of our valley. Our sense of danger has been on alert for over a month. We’ve endured countless nights without sleep. We’ve felt the ash, rather than much-needed water, rain down upon us and have scurried to get the hoses running lest the ashes turn to flames. We’ve hacked and coughed and covered our mouths with scarves. We’ve texted and tweeted and posted our needs for assistance and our availability to respond. It has been horrific.

So what now? As summer slides into fall, as temperatures begin to drop, and as winter rains and snows promise to relieve us of this fire, how do we accept it all? How do we grieve what is gone, let go of our anxiety, assess what is left, bind our wounds and heal our hearts, wrap our minds around the naturalness of it, and begin to embrace our changed landscape?

Dunrovin Ranch, together with Spirit Dance Equine Coaching, and Harlequin author Danica Winters, invite valley residents to come together in a retreat setting to begin the healing process by telling our stories, sharing our fears and frustrations, passing along the many small gifts of generosity and kindness that have accompanied our communal struggle, opening our hearts and minds to our new landscape, and seeing beyond the burn to the renewal.

The retreat grew out of earlier plans that we had for hosting a women’s Living with Passions Retreat. However, as the time drew near, both Lynn Baskfield and I felt the need to refocus and address the enormous impact of the fire on our lives. Here is Lynn’s beautiful explanation:

“Just a few days ago, I was part of a Sacred Listening gathering in central Minnesota. There I had the privilege of meditating as I held the hide of a small black bear. As I sat quietly and listened to her spirit, she showed me an image of the Montana fires and said, “My brothers and sisters are distressed. The wild animals are dying. We are having to leave our homes. More is being lost in the fires than you human beings can imagine. Instead of the retreat you had planned, you must go and offer medicine… to the animals, the earth and the people.”

In this way, I’ve been guided to change the nature of the Living with Passion retreat I had originally planned for September 8 – 10 to respond to what is actually happening. Instead, I am doing Fire Medicine, and I invite all who live near and far to come and use your passion to heal the animals and the land.

We will start with our stories—of animals saved or lost, of grief and the grace that is present within our losses as well. We’ll end the weekend with a medicine wheel we build together on the land, In ceremony, anchored at the four directions by the Dunrovin horses, we will offer our prayers and intentions for the animals and the earth.”

Retreat Schedule:

FRIDAY

Friday evening we will come together at 6 p.m. (please eat dinner before arriving) and make talking sticks in preparation for the stories people come to share. Each person who attends Friday night will be asked to bring a stick from your land, yard or from a part of the forest that has been burned. We’ll quiet our minds and decorate the talking sticks for the community to use the next day. Decorating materials provided.

The talking stick is an indigenous tool to help us speak honestly and listen from our hearts. In a circle, only the one holding the talking stick speaks. All others listen. With the talking stick, we make room for all voices, outgoing and shy alike. You can speak or not when the stick comes to you, and you will know if there is something there for you to say.

REGISTER HERE

SATURDAY

Saturday morning we will gather to walk among the horses, sit in the pasture, and listen to the heartbeat of animal and earth. We’ll spend some time “just being,” like the animals, attending to what we are experiencing in the present moment. We’ll do some journal writing as we reflect on the thoughts and feelings that come up.

Saturday afternoon we’ll tell our stories. Depending on the size of the group, we’ll break into small groups of 5 people. Each group will be given a talking stick to pass as a reminder to speak honestly and listen to self and others from the heart. When each group is done, a spokesperson from the group will share gems with the larger group. We’ll reconfigure into new groups of five and share again. Again, a spokesperson will share with the larger group. To close, we’ll ask for shares about what people learned about self and others from hearing each other’s stories.

Bring a bag lunch. Snacks and water provided.

REGISTER HERE

SUNDAY

Sunday morning we’ll create a Medicine Wheel on the Dunrovin land. You will learn medicine wheel teachings and experience a Medicine Wheel Ceremony, bringing your own prayers and intentions for healing in community with others.  The horses will be present to teach and guide us.

REGISTER HERE

Costs and Logistics:

Dunrovin Ranch, Spirit Dance Coaching, and Danica Winter are all waiving the fee for the three days. We are substituting love offerings to help defray costs. Our suggestion is $25 for each day. If you can’t afford that, offer what you can. Anything you choose to donate over that will be given to local organizations that have been protecting and evacuating pets and livestock during the fires.

You may come one, two or all three days. REGISTER HERE

 

Artist’s Website: Cindy Laundrie Marshall

Artist’s Biography

Cindy is a Green Bay, Wisconsin native who grew up in a large, creative family.  She has lived in Missoula, MT. for the past 23 years and is married with two tweeage age daughters.  It was at the University of Montana that Cindy fell in love with color mixing and design concepts while taking an Intro to Art class from a visiting Japanese teacher.  In February of 1998, Cindy held her first solo art show at the University Gallery. Cindy graduated from the University of Montana with a B.F.A in painting and drawing as well as a certificate to teach K-12 Art.  Cindy has participated in group/solo shows on and off since graduation.  She has also played in several bands over the past 20 years.  Presently she plays guitar/sings in her band, The Shiveries.  She has worked with children for the past 15 years in many different capacities including teaching for the Art Museum, coordinating Washington Middle School’s Flagship program and most recently co-creating and teaching Girls Rock Camps at ZACC.  She co-owns and operates a brick oven pizza restaurant with her husband.

Education

University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, December 1999

Teaching K-12 Art Certification and Bachelor of Fine Arts: Emphasis in Painting

Graduated with Honors and received several art scholarships.

Art Teaching/Experience

Biga Pizza, Co-owner/operator/make all paintings in dining room, May 2006-present, Missoula, MT
Zootown Arts Community Center, Art and Music Teacher, Nov. 2013-present, Missoula, MT
Missoula Art Museum, Art Teacher, 1999-2013, Missoula, MT
The Flagship Program at Washington Middle School, Youth Development Coordinator for daytime, afterschool and summer programs, 2001-2006, Missoula, MT
Missoula County Public Schools, Substitute Art Teacher, 2000-2002, Missoula, MT
The Boys and Girls Club, Program Director, Missoula, MT. 1999-2001, Missoula, MT

Solo Exhibitions

2015 New Works, Biga Pizza (dining room/gallery), Missoula, MT
2013 Thought Scapes, Biga Pizza, Missoula, MT
2006 New Works, Biga Pizza, Missoula, MT
2000 Painting the Town, Sutton West Gallery, Missoula, MT
1999 Modern Artifacts, Bernice’s Bakery, Missoula, MT
1999 A Tribute to my Grandparent’s, Bagels on Broadway, Missoula, MT
1998 E.T. The Disguised Messiah, UC Gallery, Missoula, MT

 Recent Group Exhibitions

2017 Mini Art Show, ZACC/Wilma Theatre, Missoula, MT
2017 Drum Coffee Shop, Missoula, MT
2016 The Humane Society Fundraiser, Missoula, MT
2016 Mini Art Show, ZACC, Missoula, MT
2016 Voncommon Show, Voncommon Art Space, Missoula, MT
2015 Monster Art Show, ZACC, Missoula, MT
2015 Zootown Arts Staff Show, ZACC, Missoula, MT
2015 Festival of the Dead Show, ZACC, Missoula, MT
2015 Staff Art Show, Missoula Art Museum, Missoula, MT

Artist’s Statement Regarding Horse of a Different Color

I am excited for the opportunity to be painting on a new kind of canvas – a living, breathing, majestic HORSE! I have an incredible awe and respect for horses, especially because they are so powerful and intelligent. It would be an honor to be able to explore subject matter in this way. I have always found horses to be sort of funny in their many different personalities so I have chosen to explore unusual characters to overlay on a horse’s already set personality in an attempt to bring our a different side of them. Mermaid or seahorse, party horse, and punk horse are all characters you may not typically think of when you see a horse and it is my attempt at adding a little humor while you see this horse in a new way. You may even treat the horse differently after the painting is complete which could influence the horse’s behavior.

Artist’s Concepts Regarding Horse of a Different Color

Artist’s Dunrovin Equine Artistic Partner: Smokey

Purchase tickets for Horse of a Different Color
on August 19, 2017, at Dunrovin Ranch!