amarahollowbones

I base out of a small cabin in a maple and tan oak forest in the siskiyou mountains of california, while holding a deep connection to the great lakes region where i was born. The sewn landscapes and drawings are inspired by the mountains, streams and forests through the seasons, my love and heartbreak for places I am close to, or too far from, and some places that no longer exist in the ways i knew them once.
I draw and sew from my experiences walking around in the forests, mountains, rivers, cities, roadsides, dumps... carrying a small hand-bound journal and a few pens, harvesting and planting wild foods and medicines and romping around in the woods with all the many creatures, beings and places i come across.
The drawings emerge of reverence and wonder, expressions of grief, sorrow, magic, beauty and awe, an expression of a convsation with the land, plants animals and people around me as i walk...
I work off- grid using a treadle sewing machine (modern janome machine connected to antique singer irons), and use a wood stove and antique cast iron iron with a spray bottle for steam pressing.
My drawings are dreams, spells, songs and prayers. An ode to the wild world, a way to express my profound love, attachment, connection, commitment to the beings I draw. an attempt to communicate something which can't be spoken... the way the earth speaks to us if we will listen. the ways that there is so much wisdom in our bones if we let it be remembered. aching dreams of the untangling from whatever it is that devours and destroys life and the ability of all beings to live in beauty. The need in me to express and share the mysteries, the turmoil, the rot, the beauty, the wildness, the secrets, the feelings that exist in ways that can't be expressed in the languages i know is the force that keeps me creating... keeps me seeking ways to connect to others that carry little seeds and memories and the yearning to continue being of this earth in a real way.
i also tattoo, and design custom art for tattoos if you're outside of my area. free to contact me if you're in california, oregon, or the great lakes region of the u.s. and canada, to find out if i might be near you! I also travel to other places, it never hurts to ask if I might be tattooing somewhere near you!
for some of my tattoo work check out: facebook.com/art.amarahollowbones