So, after I started carving this first stone, I continued carving, I could not stop. I was dealing with some pretty tough stuff and the carving was helping me to keep it together. I was traveling from one national forest to another. I came down with a case of double pneumonia, and had to leave the woods. I was treated for the pneumonia, and talked to the doctor about the depression, The next thing you know I am diagnosed as bipolar, and taking all kinds of medication. I tried this for about a year. I couldn’t believe how much medication I had to take. For every pill, there was a side effect and for every side effect another pill. The creativity, I had recently discovered became dull and I was becoming zombified. I had to get back to the woods, where I had found that first rock.
So, two days after Christmas, I jumped on the grey dog, down to the woods where I found this first stone. I had found a circle of redwood trees that I slept under, they were next to a spring, that I drank from. I had made up a story to go with the images that I saw within the stone. I would tell the story, when I was out and about.
The Nomadic Rabbit and Weeping Fox
Once, not so long ago, there were two tribes of people, living on opposite sides of a river, hidden in the giant redwood trees. In one tribe there was a young man studying to be a medicine man, named Nomadic Rabbit. On the other side of the river there was a young princess, named weeping fox.
They were very much in love,
but, there was a problem, the two tribes , were not getting along. Nomadic Rabbit And Weeping Fox were having to meet in secret. So, Nomadic Rabbit went to his teacher, the medicine man and asked for some advice.
The medicine man told him a story, that we have all heard before, He said, “It’s like the bird and the fish, they maybe in love but where are they going to live ? They can’t live in the water, and they can’t live in the air, there are too many holes in this love story, fill it !
So, as I told this story, one day a man said too me, that I probably shouldn’t be telling this story. I asked him why not and he couldn’t give me an answer. I asked a couple of more people and they wouldn’t say anything either. Then a lady, I had met told me I should go a spend some time at a beach about twenty miles away. It was cold and windy, and I hiked down this lost coast of beach and camped for about three day’s. I wrote a poem. I thought and I prayed.
I returned to the place I had been camping and went back into town, I saw the lady who suggested I go spend sometime at the coast. I told her that it was a beautiful place and that while there I was inspired to write a poem that I couldn’t believe I wrote. I told her, too, that I had no more an idea as to why I shouldn’t be telling the story.
She said to me “ You have been living’ out in the woods here for a while now. How is it for you ? How do the woods take care of you? I said that the giant trees provided me with shelter and the spring provided me with water, that I had learned about some of the plants I could eat and about some that would keep away bugs and about a couple that would clear up poison oak. The songbirds woke me up with a beautiful song every morning, and if I slept in the raven’s would come by and heckle me to get up. That these woods had become like a mother to me.
She then said that there really had been two tribes living here, but that they weren’t at war with one another. She remind me why men war with one another, it’s out of greed. They want to possess something for themselves that’s not theirs to possess.
‘The woods have provided for you’ she reminded me, and that back then the river was full of salmon and gold, the trees shed plenty of wood for fuel, building and crafts. There was no need to cut down trees and there was such an abundance of game and vegetation, no one was in want,and that the two tribes were living in peace. That there was such abundance, that it left a lot of time for making crafts and dancing and singing and giving praise to the Great Spirit and Mother Earth for all the gifts they provided the people.
This is what really happened, Nomadic Rabbit had went on a trip to gather some herbs and supplies from a neighboring forest. He suddenly felt something was not right and dropped what he was doing and headed back to his camp. He was devastated at what he saw upon his return. The camps on both sides of the river had been destroyed. There were strange men on horses with sticks that shot fire.
These men of greed, profiteers of death and destruction,
had came upon theses camps and they saw the river of gold and salmon, they saw the giant trees, and the money to be made.
They, too, saw the little people that were in the way. They had rounded up the people from the two camps, while Nomadic Rabbit was on his trip gathering herbs, and forced them to jump of some cliffs at high tide.
Nomadic Rabbit didn’t know what to do but to scream out to the Great Spirit, for justice.
Everyone he had ever known was gone. He went deep into the woods to study medicine on his own. It is said that the land is cursed, and that someday that the medicine man will return to pour out his wrath on the men of greed, and his blessings on those who have chose the right path, and take care of and give thanks to Mother Earth .
This story isn’t unique, it still happens. It happened to an entire continent, it’s happening still, today.
When I cried out like I did for the Great Spirit to give me a way to deal in the pain in my life. I promised to do whatever work was assigned for me to do. Give me a way to be a better person and help make the world a better place. I believe it is art. I have overcome many obstacles, that seemed impossible to me before discovering this gift.
This happened about ten years ago. I have wondered whether or not to leave the stories out and to just, show the work ,and let it speak for itself.
I have other sculptures that have writing that goes along with them, but I mostly now just let people read the sculpture for themselves. I am going to make a lot of writing mistakes and grammatical errors, no doubt. I’ve wanted to do this for a long time now. I don’t want to offend anybody, but am most grateful to some of the people who have offended me, when it was needed to push me in the right direction. I have found that I can’t fix any of my personal quirks if I ignore them, it’s not focusing on the negative, but trying to understand it, so that I might better be able to overcome it. I’ve learned a lot about life and, art since picking up that first stone, mostly that I’ve still got a lot to learn. I don’t imagine any of my future post will be as long as this, just thought I should tell how I got started.
Thank- you for taking the time to look at this. J.A.M.
