we know we love nature, do we know that the earth loves us back? Robin Wall Kimmerer

The lilacs were on the verge of bloom in early May here in Minneapolis, when I traveled five hours north to Grand Marais, a small, artful town hugging the North shore of Lake Superior. Spring was still a promise there as I gathered with nine other women to make art, with the guiding wisdom of Elizabeth Erickson. Her class, "Art as Journey" is offered through the amazing Grand Marais Art Colony, housed in a hundred year old church, focusing the creative spirit. Elizabeth, as my mentor through WARM, (Women's Art Resources of MN) 35 years ago, was pivotal in helping me find my creative voice.

I had just finished reading "Braiding Sweetgrass" by Robin Wall Kimmerer. She is a biologist and is of the Potowatomi people, so she combines her indigenous knowledge with science. She wonders if we began to call the natural world with a different pronoun, rather than "it" -- would we come more into relationship, not to objectify--to see rocks, trees, plants as partners in life, to begin to listen and

I learn from them.

It is with this open and humble intention that I began my art journey at Artist's point.
Artist's point in Grand Marais is a peninsula, a spit of volcanic rock that juts 1/2 mile into Lake Superior. Over the centuries, plant life has grown up in the cracks and crevices, so that now a hardy population braves this raw, windblown expanse, among them pines, lichens, mosses. . I gather materials that call my name -- to adorn the small, clay figures that are the beginning point of my creating. Above are three images from the series that I created in this inspiring place.

I love these pieces, and I know that they love me back!