Art in the Forest is a celebration of our relationship to God and the earth. Native Americans expressed through their art the interconnectedness of earth and all living things. American Indians believe that all life is sacred. Art, spirituality, personal artifacts, and the brilliant world we live in are all one interwoven expression of the Great Spirit. The earth teaches freedom-and responsibility. This land is a compelling reminder that we are called to be stewards of God's bounty.
Rieky and I live in the mountainous forest in Giles County. I am seeking something to honor the American Indians who lived in that forest before me. To this end I have contacted some local Indians to discover which tribes were indigenous to this area. Most books on Native Americans draw a blank on this area. The Indians I talk to here say that mostly Shawnees (whose colors, by the way, are red and blue) and some Cherokees were here. Any nearby Indian settlements would have been close to the New River, which was used as a water highway by many different tribes. Indeed, excavators have found artifacts of early Indian habitation in Bissett Park on the New River in Radford.
However, since our land in Giles County is several miles from the New River, lack of a major passage or path probably would have meant the area was not a permanent site used by any tribe. However, the mountains, favorable climate, and abundance of game surely would have made this area suitable as a general hunting ground shared by lots of tribes.
Various pieces of art have found their way into the forest, tarrying to charm the observant strolling visitor. So far, the piece de resistance is an Ancestor Tree sculpture by Larry Bechtel, a large dead ash tree transformed by chain saw into an intricate intertwining of human figures, paying tribute to the American Indian (and other) spirituality of those who have lived on the land before us.
Once again the scaffolding is erected around a dead ash tree, as Larry Bechtel launched anew tree carving adventure, this time in honor of St. Francis of Assisi. The principles of St. Francis, who honored all creation including our ecology, are remarkably similar to those of American Indians. It is indeed a fitting addition to our Art in the Forest. Thank you, Larry!
Speaking of the ecology, we chose only trees that were dead or nearly dead. We have treated the trees with respect, thanking them in an Indian prayer for what we took from them in this project. Each time Larry or I worked on the tree, we burned sage or sweetgrass to honor the tree and to purify
In addition to the tree carvings, the woodscape is punctuated with pottery (e.g., an unglazed pot that just fits in the hollow of an old oak tree), stone sculpture (e.g., a gargoyle perched among the rocks of a karstic limestone outcropping), wood sculpture (e.g., faces representing the spirit of the woods carved directly on a dead tree or stump) and some painted items (a stump like a creature with a raised hand; stones that look like faces, turtles, large bird feet, etc.). An antique curved-back church pew patiently waits to be rebuilt, treated with heavy spar varnish, painted with sunflowers, etc. before its new life at a resting point along one of the paths. The idea is to have the pieces fit in with their natural surroundings there, representing the spirit of the forest and posing pleasant little aesthetic encounters for those who walk in the woods. One particularly enchanting character, a sensitive arboreal homunculus, also by Larry Bechtel (under the nom de Sculpey of Reid), is called "One from those who lingered long in the trees."