Standing on a flattened schist slab in an amphitheater over looking the Pacific, I recalled my birthday pilgrimages to Artemisia in Efes, Turkey, and how the ancient stones communicated with me. For my 80th birthday ritual I decided to let the stones’ energies - known to be the oldest rock in the planet - along with the resonance emanating from the surrounding redwoods, inform my dancing and vocalizing. I was costumed as the primordial bird ceremoniously cracking open the universe, shape-shifting into the distant pre-Zeus past when the feminine was venerated and her voice - TRUTH. This experience humbles me. A culmination of all of my work with paper, dance, voice, invited artists and audience.
Photo credit:  Tim Volz

Erin Rose Thomas created my bird costume and mask from my up-cycled paintings.

After the performance I returned to place sheets of paper on the schist I had danced on. Using pencils and oil sticks, I made random marks with my right hand (I am left handed), then I placed the drawings in the grass and painted while singing Mozart’s “Alleluja”.

GALLERY EXHIBTION AND WINDOW INSTALLATION: September 6, 2024 - present