This has been a nearly all encompassing idea, something that I started a long time ago and it evolved over the course of my life. It is now catalyzing into a goal. It will take planning and execution and this portion is enjoyable as I know the destination will be. The result will have been a life learning experience.
This journey has been integral to my life.
I took photography classes in high school and my senior photography class final (I graduated in 1979) was a movie that I made complete with a soundtrack. The movie, "Balanced Expressions" was about surfing, skateboarding and snowboarding, sports that required an effort in balance. I made the movie with my super 8mm camera. I spliced the sections of film editing the footage into a 3 minute movie. Many years later, a friend took all my reels and had them placed on a VHS tape. Currently I am in the process of digitizing the VHS in order to use elements of the movie for my current project.
As an adult, I have lived a full life of Balanced Expressions. Now I am planning my retirement project. Here at my blog, I will detail some of what is going into the plan.
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I've lived nearly my whole life in Phoenix, Arizona. It is a big desert city in the southwest portion of the United States. Phoenix is located in Arizona and within the Sonoran Desert. This area of the desert southwest contains Indigenous tribal lands which surround all of Phoenix. Arizona is the 48th state to be added to the United States, our state holds one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements of North America. Shongopovi or, Old Oraibi is one of three Hopi villages are located on the Second Mesa of the Hopi Reservation that is located within the Navajo Reservation.
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| Winterstick Swallowtail snow surfboard & Nuvak’china |
My initial interest in Hopi art goes back to my late teens. I was snow surfing in the San Francisco peaks near Flagstaff, Arizona. The mountains there are southwest of the Navajo and Hopi reservations. The Hopi g~ds, Katchinas represent different parts of Hopi life. Nuvak’china, the snow g~d lives among the San Francisco peaks. I chose this Kachina out of respect for the native Hopi g~d that lived in the area that I snow surfed. I climbed the snowy slopes of the inner basin during the years of 79 through 82. I was doing a lot post holing, making stairs to do laps surfing the slope. Sometimes alone, sometimes with friends. I painted Nuvak’china on the nose of my board to show respect, a sort of pray for snow as well. I taught myself about snow, avalanches and studied *Wedeln style.
Back to the Hopi…
The Hopi are an indigenous tribe of people primarily inhabiting Northeastern Arizona. Known for their art and peaceful ways, the Hopi call their land “Tuuwanasave,” which means "the center of the universe.” Their culture is centered around the seasons of the calendar year. Their beliefs are passed down by story telling.
The Hopi people have historic connections through rock etchings found in the Petrified Forest to the South on the Navajo Reservation. Tribes from the area, the Hopi, Zuni and Navajo all have historic connections through the petroglyphs in the Petrified Forest.
The Hopi call the rock art, Tapamveni, which means, “hammered mark or pounded sign.”
The more familiar term, “petroglyph” encompasses all of the etched rock art from ancient people.
My attraction to rock art is found in the interest of the history of the indigenous people of my area, their indelible art form and the ideas from it left to interpretation.
Here is where I will detail the plan, the journey and the results of that journey.
The Plan: To photograph and study Tapamveni, visit, photograph and detail my trips. Then to take painting classes and paint the (unclear at the moment) ideas I have for my paintings.
✔️1. Gather lens, digital and film cameras. Nikon F3, FE2, D780 - COMPLETED.✔️2. Detail (writing, film and video) the various pictograph and petroglyph areas: Deer Valley Petroglyph Preserve, Glen Canyon Petroglyph Panel, Rochester Panel Petroglyphs, Molen Reef Petroglyphs, Buckhorn Wash Pictographs, Sego Canyon Pictographs, Newspaper Rock, Monument Valley, South Mountain, Desert Classic Bike Trail, South Mountain, Holbert Trail3. Conceptualize the idea for my paintings.4. Take painting classes.5. Film the paintings and edit and finalize the film.
The Idea: to learn photography, video editing and painting. To enjoy the process along the way and to paint a picture for each one of my sons that they will be proud of hanging in their home. Oh, and to paint one that my wife will be proud of hanging in the living room.
Once completed, I will have experienced what I have detailed here.
I’m writing about it now so I can return, review and stay focused on the plan.
