Thursday, June 21, 2012

Oklahoma, New Mexico....Earth Chronicles Progresses

Oklahoma Cypress Swamp, 56" x 46", oil over egg tempera on panel
by Fran Hardy copyright

We are working hard to get ready for our exhibition that accompanies the documentary at the Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art in Shawnee, Oklahoma. I have selected the artists's work to be shown in the exhibit and Bob and I have mapped out the space and layout of the show. Now I am furiously trying to finish my paintings of Oklahoma trees that will also be in the show. I just finished the painting of an Oklahoma cypress swamp shown above and am working hard to finish up Quintus's River Birch and then one of my mixed media pieces inspired by the Nature Conservancy's Four Canyon Preserve near Leedey Oklahoma. The exhibit is scheduled for September 14- October 28 but may start a week earlier. Besides my installation on the trees of Oklahoma it will include the work of conservation photographer Kim Baker, synthetic landscapes of Grace Grothaus, the work of Katherine Liontas-Warren and Jack Bryan inspired by the Wichita Mountains, Caddo potter Jeri Redcorn, Choctaw pottery and implements by Choctaw archaeologist Dr. Ian Thompson and Choctaw beadwork and pots by Sue Folsom. All of these artists were interviewed in the documentary and you can find out more about them in previous blogposts. Bob will be beginning on the catalog for the exhibit soon. The documentary "Earth Chronicles Project, The Artist's Process: Oklahoma" will be airing on OETA, Oklahoma PBS in September. I will post times and dates when they are scheduled.

In the meantime we are beginning on our New Mexico project. I will blog about that in my next post. We have received an Arts in Social Service grant from the New Mexico Arts Council. We will need to raise matching and additional funds. If you wish to donate all donations are tax deductible through our fiscal sponsor Earthcare New Mexico. You will be able to follow us on our journey through New Mexico shooting "Earth Chronicles Project, The Artist's Process: New Mexico" on this blog.

Here are links to the artist's websites etc to learn more about their work. Also see previous blogposts. You can follow us all across Oklahoma shooting our documentary too in previous posts.
http://www.franhardy.com
Kim Baker  http://www.oklahomaphotography.com/    http://www.oklacps.com/
Grace Grothaus  http://www.gracegrothaus.com/
Katherine Liontas-Warren in the Wichita Mountains:  http://www.katherineliontas.com/portfolio/main.php?g2_itemId=339   http://www.katherineliontas.com/portfolio/main.php?g2_itemId=183
Jack Bryan  http://www.artistjackbryan.com/
Jeri Redcorn http://www.redcornpottery.com/index.html
Dr. Ian Thompson http://www.choctawnation.com/
Sue Folsom  http://www.choctawnation.com/

Nature Conservancy's Four Canyon Preserve  http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/oklahoma/placesweprotect/four-canyon-preserve.xml
The Conservancy's Four Canyon Preserve encompasses 4,000 acres of mixed-grass prairie, rugged canyons, and floodplain along the Canadian River in southern Ellis County. Scenic prairie ridges traverse the landscape, dissected by deep chinquapin oak-lined canyons draining to the river. These prairies provide habitat for a number of rare grassland birds, such as Cassin's sparrow and Swainson's hawk, and additional species of concern including reptiles like the Texas horned lizard, as well as numerous state-rare plants. The cool, wooded canyons stand in contrast to the surrounding prairies, and provide habitat for birds like red-bellied woodpecker and painted bunting. The Canadian River on the preserve provides habitat for the federally endangered least tern, the threatened Arkansas River shiner, as well as stopover habitat for migratory shorebirds including the sandhill crane.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxodium_distichum
Taxodium distichum (Bald-cypressBaldcypressBald CypressCypress,Southern-cypress,White-cypressTidewater Red-CypressGulf-CypressRed-Cypress, or Swamp Cypress) is a deciduous conifer that grows on saturated and seasonally inundated soils of the Southeastern and Gulf Coastal Plains of the United states.

Range

Bald-cypress range
Bald-cypress on the Texas side ofCaddo Lake
The native range extends from Delaware Bay south to Florida and west to Texas and southeastern Oklahoma-(Little Dixie region, Oklahoma), and also inland up the Mississippiand Ohio Rivers north to southern Illinois and Indiana. Large planted specimens are seen as far north as Pittsburgh[9]. Ancient Bald-cypress forests, with some trees more than 1,700 years old, once dominated swamps in the southeast US. The largest remaining old-growth stands of Bald-cypress are at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, near Naples,Florida.



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