hillside slough : June ‘22
Contributor Teri Power writes: “I found HILLSIDE SLOUGH along the hillside by the St. Croix River Bluffs near Hudson, Wisconsin. It was sloughing off the hillside and washing away, due to a cut created when a parking lot was carved out for a business. The site where the clay was found is the ancestral home of the Wahpekute Dakota people, traditional stewards of the region. The clay is a beautiful dark olive green that looks green or soft, rich brown depending on the light it’s in. Its green may be due to the presence of glauconite. The collected sample was very sandy and required some settling and cleansing before it became useful as a pigment. In my studio practice, after cleaning the clay to prepare it, I often mix it with different additives for different purposes, allowing me to work with it as a watercolor, a gouache, a fabric dye or an additive to fiber to make cast sculptural forms. Working with materials that are sustainable is important to me. Elements of earth, wind, and water form these clays and are grounding, connecting me not only with history but with earth’s processes as well. Since clay is so connected to water, I’ve chosen to direct this month’s 22% to the Indigenous Peoples Task Force, an organization in Minneapolis that sponsors Nibi (Water) Walks and many other community & youth programs (see description below.)”
contributor: Teri Power
Teri writes: “Did this all begin with the mud pies made by a five year old? Or with a love of the natural world and all things close to the earth? As a retired art teacher I look back with pride at my basic premise that it is important for children to realize where things come from, how they are made and that discovery and creating are important. As I now have time, I explore those things for myself, finding endless fascination with foraging and creating with materials around me. The power of the earth to sustain life and bring meaning to my life inspires me.”
Teri is a multidisciplinary artist whose work has appeared in numerous group shows throughout the midwest. She is a member of the What We Need Is Here (WWNH) Artist Seminars, and can be found at www.teripower.com.
Photo of Teri’s artwork, Poetry of Place, from her website.
Image from the Indigenous Peoples Task Force Facebook page.
22% donation recipient : Indigenous Peoples Task Force
“The Indigenous Peoples Task Force strengthens the wellness of our community in a way that is based in indigenous values and ways of knowing. All our programs are rooted in indigenous ways of knowing and the values of inclusiveness and respect for diversity. We welcome youth and adults of all backgrounds and are dedicated to being a good neighbor to our community. We are creating a vision of healing that will benefit all people and our mother earth. […] Through our Teaching Garden, we teach about gathering our sacred medicines, growing traditional foods and restoring our language. The Indigi-Baby social enterprise program seeks to grow, gather and source indigenous plants to feed infants and toddlers native-based foods.”
The IPTF is currently raising funds for a new building, called ‘Mikwanedun Audisookon’ which means “remember our teachings’ in Ojibwe. The new building will include offices, spaces for training and education, workshop/studio, theater, gallery and community spaces. www.indigenouspeoplestf.org