2D Mixed media Gallery

Created for the Old Idaho Penitentiary 32 Cells Exhibition. 

Her name was Theresa Mae Higheagle Johnson of the Nez Perce people. She was murdered October 1948 by Joseph Chalwain of the Coeur D’Alene people. Time was served for his crime at The Old Idaho Penitentiary, Boise. This artwork was made by Leslie Jay Bosch on land formerly inhabited by Shoshone-Bannock people. Dedicated to the memory of Theresa Mae and her infant son Martin who followed his Mother in passing in December 1948.

The red handprint represents the Missing Murdered Indigenous Women movement and honors Indigenous people who have been silenced.

Stop Trying So HARD To Figure It All Out!

Anthropas was a serendipitous gift bestowed upon my healing journey. 2020 had me on a deep dive into my inner world through my body to discover and heal layers of self, long disconnected. I am pleased to have this painting as a talisman of the journey thus far. I imagine that I will continue adding layers to this Anthropas painting. But at this time, the painting is complete to the same level as I am; ever expanding, changing and growing. To share this artwork with the Musea community represents my opening to vulnerability and return to innocence.

Through 13 moon cycles, Anthropas was "a rite of passage in paint" lead by artist Shiloh Sophia through her Musea Intentional Creativity workshop. Facilitated by monthly journal prompts and video instruction, it began with an inquiry into the source of my origin. 

Repurposing an older painting I sanded away old layers of enamel until I had not quite a blank canvas to start. This residue of old cracked paint felt appropriate as I acknowledged my entrance into a world full of preconceived cultural constructs embedded within the body I inhabit. 

The journal prompt for Moon 1 was the question "What is keeping you from being present in the moment?". As I journaled my answer this question, a torrent of repressed emotion overtook me. I knew in a deeply visceral way the root answer to this question. It turns out that exposing and untangling those roots would become the leading edge of my spiritual growth.

Next came the complete void of a black gesso covering the entire canvas. From there a primordial eruption of paint and color was free to express via abstraction. Two hearts emerged next; polar opposites engaged in the dance of separation. Then the moment of marking ones self with the "I am here" handprint. I choose hot blood red crimson. The color that flows cyclic from the feminine vessel. Rich with DNA like fingerprints. I was ready for whatever would come next, and I knew it would be bold. 

Yet the emergence of the figure took even myself by surprise with her shameless pose. At that point I felt fear as the figure was adrift and a little too vulnerable. What was missing? Taking a cue from my astrological birth chart, I circled back to discover a core lesson, a skipped step! Most importantly, I had forgotten to give her form boundaries. Once bound within an electric green cell wall, a sense of clam and structure was established. 

Through the painting process, augmented by a personal healing journey, I uncovered deep wounds within my feminine psyche. Through the process of reweaving my own creation story, I developed a set of symbology placed throughout the painting. Vesica Pisces, celtic knots and sacred geometry commingle with concentric rings, waves, dots and diamonds. The placements representing points of purifying release. 

The power of encouragement from fellow Sisters traveling on their own Anthropas journey can not be overstated. The sharing of works in progress within the safe space of the Musea community helped me continue. There was no right or wrong way to do Anthropas, only each their own way.

Building over time, layers of paint, layers of pain, layers of pleasure, covering and uncovering. Empowerment discovered through surrender. Exposure to subtleties of sensation created connections between the inner-child, the rebel, the mother and the angelic archetypes. All coexisting within one unified field. At the full wolf moon 13, she faced out boldly embodied, and descended from the heavens in a vision to whisper her own name; "Seraphine".

Within the shadow of Cathedral Rock Sedona, she held the tiny colorful Hummingbird in her outstretched palm. Seconds clocked by rapid shutter clicks awaiting flight. His energy polarized within the radial spin of the divine feminine vortex. The encounter shocking his system. With merciful grace she sweetened his breath with the nectar of Beardtongue. His heartbeat fluttered back into action. Suddenly he arose fast and light upon invisible wings only to retreat from her back into the wild.

This series is about the natural polarity between masculine and feminine which is found not only in nature but within each of us. Achieving balance between these aspects of self is the key to creating balance and harmony between humanity and the natural world.

To live in harmony with nature, we can make small changes to assist rather than harm. Hummingbirds are benefitted when people use native plants in gardens, such as Penstemon and Agastache. We can also be mindful by choosing calcium fortified hummingbird food instead of the type made with red dye. Hummingbirds need calcium to lay eggs with strong shells. 

A child's echo in The Canyon. Her parent's bedsheets a swirl of paisley. In an altered state of consciousness she sees that Frida Kahlo is her mother & Gustav Klimt the father. Love child is written upon her lips. Sunshine in her hair. Fantasies feed her spirit as they fly light and fast upon hummingbird wings. She is in unity with all creation in an inter-related universe.

The wind blew north and cast my fate. I followed the dream of a hot air balloon to Idaho. Its price? Untold. My heart rises in this new home land. Yet my hair and my dreams remain wildly untamable.

This series is inspired by the Great Solar eclipse of 8/21/2017 as I experienced it in Emmett, Idaho. It affected me personally, emotionally and artistically. The experience of viewing the eclipse was at once divine & disorienting. Afterwards, personal clarity came through the creation of this series. For me, the eclipse elicited a transcendent awareness of moments in time coalescing. The past, present and future all existing at once within the void of totality. 

My first summer in Idaho I found my art community when I joined the Nampa Art Collective. The first exhibition I participated in was Door to my Heart, a live painting event and art auction benefiting Canyon County Habitat for Humanity. The image I painted on my door was sunflowers and bees. Making sure we create a hospitable environment for bees in our home gardens is a cause near and dear to my heart.