Stephanie's Studio

When I look over my artist CV, I'm noticing a trend. There are primarily exhibitions with titles that include the word "nature." I'm glad to have found just the right niche to place my paintings and drawings, someplace that also resonates with my writing. In a couple of days (Sunday, July 12th) I'll be demonstrating my drawing skills, while also enriching my portfolio at an outdoor event through the Skokie Park District, held at the Emily Oaks Nature Center called "A Brush with Nature." I'll most likely be perched near the wildflower garden. There will be around 50 other artists there, spread through the center's grounds. I can't wait to see all of their different styles and techniques. Fingers crossed it won't rain. A week from today (July 17th) is the opening for "Drawn to Nature." It is an multimedia exhibit of artists working with diverse materials, while sharing an intimate experience they have had with nature. Here is ...

                                     (Winter Poinsettia by Stephanie Rose Bird, oil on wood) One of my Facebook friends does daily posts and shares called "I love Flowers." I love flowers too, in real life, in my garden, in paintings and as they are related to the gods and goddesses, in healing, as well as their use in folklore like Hoodoo. Not long ago I posted about Xochipelli (Sho-CHEE-pee-lee) prince of flowers and Xochiquetzal (Sho-CHEE-ket-zul) goddess of flowers in anticipation of April's blooming season.  The Goddess and Prince of Flowers post  is here. Today, I want to focus in on the root word of their names and it's symbolism. This word is Xochitl (Show-CHEE-tul) in the Nahuatl language of the Aztecs. This word means flower.                                         ...

Gran Bwa is a lwa that helps you connect to ancestral roots or the spiritual home of Vodou. A friend of mine, who is an expert on Haitian Vodou, who has spent a lot of time in Haiti with the artists there, told me I had painted Gran Bwa when I made this spontaneous work out of walnut ink and sumi-ink on handmade paper. I had considered this painting a self-portrait. She now holds this piece in her private collection: Quite a few people are afraid of Vodou but it is an awe-inspiring tradition of bringing together plant energy with divinity, spiritual and personal energy. My friend who is very involved with Vodou, especially the art that surrounds it, is from European ancestry. She is light in spirit and bubbly, with a close relationship to nature and her garden.  Vodou affirms the relationships between cycles of life, trees of knowledge and spirit.  The Vodou vision of lwa , understands them as the intelligence of energy present in humans, nature and thoughts.  ...

One of the more gripping books I read last year was " Mud Woman " by Joyce Carol Oates (Read the  Author interview about the boo k ). You'll have to read about this book or read it and see what you think. I would love to hear back from you. I am not going to write a book review here. I wrote one on www.goodreads.com.  As a brief summary, the book begins with a brutally abused girl, left for dead in the muddy silt flats, who rises from that mud and becomes one of the most powerful women in academia, only to eventually return (metaphorically and psychologically) back to the mud. It is a riveting read, especially for women and all lovers of mythology. "Mud Woman" is rich with myth and folklore. As you know, I have also been doing a lot of research for my new books (the novel and nonfiction work). I have been investigating mythology and folklore as well as the history of the goddesses. Mud Woman, or Dirt Woman, as she is more frequently called, has reached ou...

Last night Full Snow Moon was outstanding.  I couldn’t quite believe my eyes.  She was luminous, and there is no other way to say it—huge! The yellowish cast was glowing.  I didn’t want my drive to end because I wanted to stay outside with her and just stare, and yes, I was slightly afraid I’d run into something.  That name prominent in some Native American groups and in the Farmer’s Almanac seems slightly out of place though this month—Full Snow Moon.  We have been in a phase I call Perpetual Almost Spring. In the Chicago we have set many records for warmest winter months and lack of snow in comparison to what we usually get.  We have had so little snow and it has been very warm by Chicago standards.  I listened several times to climatologists speak on NPR and PBS about why this phenomena has come to be but it still scares me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not crying over warm weather but there is a since of dread for the future that does arise when som...