3 little art pieces of multi- plate lino printing

Some smaller 5x7 pieces I did as a triplet insipired by motifs from Anza-Borrego.

ARARA Conference

Some of my new rock art friends!On the left is Patty and the right is Tonya.

I spend the weekend of May 22-26th in Bakersfield, CA for the American Rock Art Research Associtaion conference. It was so nice to meet fellow rock art lovers and go on hikes. The presentations were so interesting and I really liked the different theories discussed. I saw some beautiful rock art on private land. Thanks to the landowners and hike guides Bill, Jim and Mary! It was so awesome. I even got to see a real mortar and pestal in the field, just as it was left possibly thousands of years ago!

I learned new rock art theories:

They were made as fertility sites

rocks were chosen based on the shape they formed eg: a vulva or a fish

rock art does not fade- it's mineral on mineral so it chips and flakes off over time from nature

rock art motifs were the dreams of the people who drew them

rock art lines up with the north star! usually a sun or star motif is parallel to it

you can echo in some areas to find rock art by following the echo itself!

Shamans drug-tripped and entered the spirt world and drew the spirit helpers they called upon.

My booth on the Anza -Borrego site shown above where I photoshopped the lost layer of yellow paint

My vendor table aboce where I sold a lot of cards and 1 bigger framed piece.
below is a picture from a nature preserve where I went on a hike. How cute is this precious little deer? This is a zoomed shot from the car I was in.

single plate linoleums-large repeats

These were done on recycled paper and it the repeat block from the last cut I did in the "Southwest Pictograph" piece. The paper aboveis made from bananas. The one below, leaves.

Photo Ethics

I learned on my Plam Springs canyon hike this weekend the Agua Caliente tribe does not want photos of rock art taken. The cultural tour guide feared more vandalism on the sacredness of the site.I respected his wishes and did not take photos. The few Native Anerican friends I have think my photos are ok and just think I'm a massive nerd for taking pictures with pantone chip references and being artistically inspired by this precious ancient art. I always respect the sites and am careful not to step on animal homes/plants/flowers or touch the rock in any way. If any Native Americans stumbled upon my nerdy website and find anything offensive please let me know. I would never want to offend a culture my people were ignorent enough to practically wipe out! Heck, I respect anyone who cares so deeply for mother earth and its eco-balance. I hope by studing the rock art/basket weaving and other attributes of the native peoples I can somehow give something back, or at least educate others. In the meantime I will research and try to see who I can get permission from to post my pictures and take more in the future.

Modern rock art examples

I believe people want to be remembered, so what better way then a permanent drawing in a rock. Trees also serve this purpose but eventually the new growth would cover what was carved. Rocks might split and moss might grow but the longevity is still there. I notice on hikes how people carve their own petroglyphs. Here are a few examples. Perhaps people in a few thousand years might wonder why someone carved this.

This rock had a name carved into it. This tree has an eye symbol and the date 12-12-07This peace sifn was carved along with a lunch of names into a rock nook. My friend is sitting in the nook.

Oakbrook Park Chumash Interpretive Site, Thousand Oaks, CA

This is a trip I took to the Oakbrook Nature center in Thousand Oaks, CA. There is a Chumash Interpretive center that was very lovely. The curator Greywolf was really nice and informative about rock art sites. This trail showed how the natives lived 12,000 years ago. The site is located at 3290 Lang Ranch Pkwy, Thousand Oaks CA 91362

These are lights with native motifs. I though these were really cool.These are Chumash homes. This is a cave my friend Adam and I climbed up to. It's a steep hill but worth the cool formations inside. I used a light bouncer to shine light into the cave and using a tripod achieved this picture.
This is a cave we found on the trail. On the rock in front are mortars. I though this might have been rock out that has faded away. The close up shows similar symbols found at the Anzo Borrego girls site. They look like horizontal lines forming a circle.These photos below are from the museum. The Chumash used acorns to make a type of flour.

Coso Range Art Reduction Linoleum cut

This is my rock art reduction piece I though I'd share. The scene is from a photo of the Coso range full of bighorn sheep. They served as spirit guides for shamens. I chose to work in this medium because I'm carving into linoleum. In a way I'm carving just as ancient humans once carved into rock. I love the lines and texture the tools form. Below is the process showing the steps and carving I did for each layer. For the blue sky I did a jigsaw piecing with a blue gradiant. For registration I had to use a clean sky piece for each one.

Joshua Tree National Park

This is part of Barker Dam in Joshua Tree National Park and the hike towards the rock. This is the Serrano Desert region Indian area.

A film crew painted over the art many years ago destroying it sadly. They are not supposed to be these bright colors. The undamaged art I had to climb up in there. I discouraged peopel from touching and stepping on any of the art. I needed my light reflector to get better shots with the extreme shadows. I wonder what this art really looked like once upon a time.

Tunnel with motifs overpainted.

Below is a sheep motif. Too bad it was painted over :(

The photo above shows where the Petroglyphs are untouched. It's a flat area you can't really see form the ground and is in shadow.

Double diamonds below, possibly a rattelsnake motif, very popular at these sites.

Little man, about 8 inches long, hence my ruler.

Archer motif. This possibly told a story.

Little Alien (?) dude. Hmmmm area 51 stuff going on here???

A snake motif

This little sun was inside the wall and was painted over.

Anzo- Borrego Desert, Blair Valley Boys site

Hiking to the site. It wasn't the easiest to find with all the huge boulders, but with the help of my guide book I saw the particular boulders we were looking for. The Kumeyaay people lived in this region of Blair Valley. The black ink used was though to represent a male in a puberty initiation site. The boys were given a set of challenges and then raced to a special rock to draw with the help of a shaman their spirit guide. This site was vandalized unfortunetly. Some idiot lit a fire in the enclave where the art was supposed to be. All that was left was a little loop. On this rock are lots of capsules, little round circles ground in. They are the oldest rock known and are found all over the world, but their purpose is unknown. Some think they are calendars, maps, a language or my theory- punishment for bad teenage boys- come on, think of the punishment dished out, grinding into a rock all day! Pantone color check up!

Above and below are mortars for grinding seeds and roots to make medicine, paints, and food. I found a nice shady seat where ancient americans once sat grinding for hours on end.

More capsules below. What purpose do you suppose they serve?