I’ve always loved this song, Colors of the Wind and I’ve always loved nature 😉
“Colors of the Wind” is a song by American recording artist Vanessa Williams, from Disney’s 1995
animated feature film, Pocahontas. It was written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz.
Originally recorded by American singer and actress Judy Kuhn in her film role as the singing
voice of Pocahontas, “Colors of the Wind” served as the film’s theme song.
Williams’ version of the song was released on May 23, 1995 as the lead single from the film’s soundtrack.
A pop ballad, the song’s lyrics speak of respecting nature and living in harmony with the Earth‘s creatures. (click for more from Wikipedia)
The Lyrics:
You think I’m an ignorant savage
And you’ve been so many places
I guess it must be so
But still I cannot see
If the savage one is me
How can there be so much that you don’t know?
You don’t know …
You think you own whatever land you land on
The Earth is just a dead thing you can claim
But I know every rock and tree and creature
Has a life, has a spirit, has a name
You think the only people who are people
Are the people who look and think like you
But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger
You’ll learn things you never knew you never knew
Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon
Or asked the grinning bobcat why he grinned?
Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?
Come run the hidden pine trails of the forest
Come taste the sunsweet berries of the Earth
Come roll in all the riches all around you
And for once, never wonder what they’re worth
The rainstorm and the river are my brothers
The heron and the otter are my friends
And we are all connected to each other
In a circle, in a hoop that never ends
How high will the sycamore grow?
If you cut it down, then you’ll never know
And you’ll never hear the wolf cry to the blue corn moon
For whether we are white or copper skinned
We need to sing with all the voices of the mountains
We need to paint with all the colors of the wind
You can own the Earth and still
All you’ll own is Earth until
You can paint with all the colors of the wind
Just feeling my energy levels recover after all of the pre-opening preparation work AND another great TRIAD art opening this past Saturday night at VALMAR Art & Framing Gallery in the Bird Road Art District.
Karen Deilke, Pamela Palma and Debra Cortese (that would be me), have been working together to present the summer 2012 TRIAD shows (with a lot of great support and assistance from everyone at VALMAR – Chris, Claire, Michele, Donna, Leo and Doris).
If you’ve already attended TRIAD I and/or TRIAD II, you know there is one more summer exhibition to come. The Goddesses gathered together and arranged the rotation process way back in April and I was delighted to have the ‘featured’ wall during the final exhibition because…. that way I would have the necessary time to create the paintings for a new collection – Seeds of Intention. Of course, there’s a dream and many resources, interests and cosmic connections along the way that inspire artists to create and believe me, this one has been life-changing for me. I’ll have more information to share at the TRIAD III opening and YOU will be participating with the ‘intentions’ as well!
Don’t worry, it will all make sense on July 21st!
In the meantime, here’s a preview of the one of the “seed” paintings.
Big hugs of appreciation to all of our friends, fellow artists, art collectors and special thanks for the magical music of the Coconut Grove Drum Circle! We are all in this together 😉
Mark your calendar for Saturday, July 21st, 2012 and join us at VALMAR ART, 4150 SW 74th Court, Miami, FL 33155 from 7 to 10 pm. All new art, live music with Blues Guitar Man, Rob Moore and of course, complimentary refreshments.
Water Garden Bridge at Miami Beach Botanical Garden by Debra Cortese
Just a week to go until we hang the “Common Roots“ art exhibition. I’ve worked on many art exhibits before, wearing a variety of hats – as artist, curator, gallerist, host and event coordinator. This has been one of the most enjoyable, cooperative events to date!
I officially met Carol Hoffman-Guzman, Founding Director of Arts At St Johns early this year during the annual Taste of the Garden event at Miami Beach Botanical Garden where we briefly chatted about art and an appreciation of plants. Carol mentioned a particular ongoing project she was working on called “Plants without Borders” and I said I’d be interested to learn more about this and the programs at Arts At St. Johns. Several conversations later, we discovered many areas of common interest concerning art and plants and then Carol invited me to co-curate what would become this “Common Roots” art exhibition. I was delighted because when it comes to plants – the beauty of flowers, leaves, trees; the use of plants for medicine, clothing, foods, building materials; the mythological stories, characteristics and creatures, cultural connections, recipes, gardening, the ‘energy’ of all of nature and how intrinsically our human lives are affected by our green allies, I am eternally fascinated! Plus, I knew this theme would attract many of Miami’s most talented artists and that we would be curating not only art but an exceptionally vibrant, multi-cultural story of the essence of our South Florida “Common Roots”.
Porterweed photo by Debra Cortese
As the process developed, Arts At St Johns invited artist, Winsome Bolt (Winsome Design) as co-curator and Steve Woodmansee as project scholar. We received over 90 art entries from 36 South Florida artists. Because we were jurying digital images and working on multiple platforms, we had a few software communication program challenges, but with a little help from our friends, we managed to review every artwork that was submitted and then processed them through several rounds of voting.
Lantana photo by Debra Cortese
This is always a critical and sensitive part of the process. First there are the basic qualifications that were presented in the original call: The artwork must depict, refer to, or be constructed from native plants of the South Florida and circum-Carribean regions. Media: painting, photography, graphics, fiber art, sculpture and multi-media art. The artists were required to submit images in specific sizes and file types, along with id information and an entry fee.
Beauty Berries photo by Debra Cortese
In one case, the artist submitted images via email, but no id, contact information nor entry fee. This art was eliminated even though the art itself would have qualified. A few of the artworks did not meet the criteria of native plants, not even representational of plants nor with any accompanying information to substantiate the relevance as abstract representation of native plants. And, there were also space and size limitations that affected the final jury selections. That said, we are excited to present the curators selections of artworks from the following artists for the “Common Roots” exhibition: Deborah M. Mitchell * Deborah Weed * Dee Clark * Elizabet Chacon * Evelyn Mitchell * Flex Maslan * Irene Sperber * John DeFaro * Linda Apriletti * Marian Wertalka * Marilyn Valiente * Mark Diamond * Mary Catello * Miguel Paredes * Natasha Duwin * Nelson Viera * Patricia Roldan * Patti Black * Paula Turk * Perri Cox * Rosa Gallardo * Rosie Brown * Ruben Martinez Chamizo * Terry Arroyo Mulrooney plus artworks by the curators: Winsome Bolt, Carol Hoffman-Guzman and Debra Cortese
In addition to the art exhibition and evening reception, there will be two morning events with Steve Woodmansee. On Wednesday, October 7th from 10 am to noon, Steve will host a discussion about regional native plants, and on Saturday, October 10th, also from 10 am to noon, he will talk about coastal native plants.
Sweet Almond photo by Debra Cortese
The Exhibit Reception for ‘Common Roots’ is on Tuesday, October 6th from 7 to 9pm.Schnebly Redlands Winery is providing Avocado and Native Fruit Wines to accompany a variety of locally grown vegetable nibblers which will be donated by Claire Tomlin of The Market Company (hosts of the outstanding Green Markets all around South Florida).
The “Common Roots” Exhibit is located at Miami Beach Botanical Garden at 2000 Convention Center Drive on Miami Beach, Fl 33139 and it runs from Monday, October 5 through Saturday, October 10th Miami Beach Botanical Garden hours are from 9 am to 5 pm.
Admission is FREE to art exhibition and to Miami Beach Botanical Garden.
For more information on Arts At St. Johns and its programs, visit their website: Arts At St Johns
A personal note to the artists:
I would like to thank every artist that submitted work for this project including those whose work was not selected. It is important not to be discouraged and to continue to create new work, refine your style, expand your skills, pay close attention to details of the submission process and if you are not sure about something, don’t be afraid too ask for clarification.
Fairy habitat at Miami Beach Botanical Garden
UPDATE on Common Roots Exhibition:
Congratulations to all participants and thank you for everyone’s help with this event.
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