Some thoughts and gratitude statements regarding hunting and harvest:
My first big game harvest was an antelope. I crawled over cactus to get a closer, clean angle. He never noticed my presence and dropped instantly with a single shot. My heart was racing. I was 12 years old.
My first solo camping adventure in a long time. (And the first of many to come!)
Initially I was afraid of the two days of rain. I wasn't sure I had the gear I needed to stay warm - especially because I'm perpetually cold!
But it was full of magick, to say the least. The rain broke for about two hours.
Giving me enough time to make coffee over my little camp stove, and to catch this epic rainbow.
THE INSPIRATION: This collection is restorative. It's inspired by the wind and the mountains. By sunrise and sunset shadows. Buy the stillness of silence and the energy of weather cycles.
It is an ode to Mother Nature's innate nurturing.
THE DEDICATION: This collection is dedicated to the wise, wild one inside ourselves. The one raised by our Earth, already knowing the answers. The one who holds an intuitive understanding of what we are capable of, why we are here, and how to move forward into a world of love, healing, and growth. She is the brave one, who lifts others as she rises.
My family hunts in Montana, in the valley where I grew up. This hunting system is monitored and regulated by @montanafwp and guided by scientific research to restore & maintain healthy populations of deer, elk, and others.
The hunting economy (of hunting tag fees, and taxes on amo and guns) funds these open lands and prevents them from transferring into private ranchettes or developed land. It's an entire system that maintains balance and growth of healthy, quality habitat.
Each of these four ladies maintain a beautiful strength that is - so far as I see it - braced by a foundation of deep experience, healing, motivation, passion, empathy, and love.
These women embody what I hope to stand for in my creations.
All are made with elk and deer leather that is harvested by me and my family once a year in Montana. The harvest feeds us (with clean, organic, sustainable meat), and allows us a reconnection with this earth. We use as much of the animal as we possibly can, and leave any remaining parts for others along the food chain.
The majority of hunters leave hides behind, as they're heavy to pack out and a nuisance to process.
I keep 100% of our hides, and I clean and prepare them myself.
Reminding myself that it's okay to slow down. To return home and find my way back to my todo list. To be gentle on myself. To let my hands make their way through my leather studio. To release and move through, by means of creation.
To take time to smell orchids and find beauty through the shaded places. --
Thanks to all of you for sticking with me through my waves of productive creation and not-so-productive isolation. My heart is grateful.
May we all be kind to our own garden 🌱
Taken after a night in the desert under a new moon. I got barely any sleep and spent a lot of time with the stars. In growing up with the dark skies of Montana, a full spread of stars always has a way of bringing me back home to myself.
All the leather I use is harvested and cleaned by myself, or my family, in Montana. Final products are handcrafted at my home studio in San Diego.
Read MoreLast week I travelled to Montana for opening weekend of hunting season. The wild sage on our hunting grounds extends to the far reaches of our land, and it's smell welcomes me home every time. This latest return to my homeland inspired me to change the name of the art I've so lovingly created.
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