I wrote a guest post for JetsetterGypsy about the Pine and Birch Ranch, the location where we stayed for my Biophilia Residency. You can check it out here: http://jetsettergypsy.com/an-autumn-escape-to-the-pine-and-birch-ranch/
Category Archives: Ayatana
Realize: Biophilia – Activities – Thursday
I’m skipping over Wednesday because most of Wednesday I was sick. I stayed at the ranch for the afternoon, took a bath and a couple of naps. By dinner I was feeling a lot better. Later that evening we had an artist talk from a local artist who scans moths and makes prints from them and I think I went to bed relatively early.
Thursday
I felt better on Thursday to continue the activities. We went on a hike through the property and gathered mushrooms to make spore prints later. You leave the mushrooms on a piece of bark or parchment and the mushrooms drop their spores leaving a print. Then you can fixate the print onto the paper with hairspray. Later we inoculated grain to grow bio luminescent mushrooms.
The spore print once it is done
Mushrooms laying on top of the paper
The supplies to inoculate grain
Then several weeks later, the grain starts to turn into mycelium!
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Biophilia – Activities – Monday
Monday
The following day we had our first hike. Before this hike we drove to a chairlift in the same park and got a look at the foliage. This was the first time of that I got lost! The group van had to be taken into Ottawa to be fixed so we couldn’t drive as a group. We were already running a bit late so we didn’t get to meetup with the arborist, which was a bit of a bummer, but we used the time during the hike to find plant material for the kirlian workshop that night!
Yes that’s right! I was able to do a kirlian workshop with the group. It was really fun to do because everyone was excited to do the workshop and was very enthusiastic about finding plant matter. I also was able to work with plants that I wouldn’t have otherwise had a chance to back home.
This day was very long and tiring at 1am I was very glad to be asleep!
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Biophilia – Activities – Sunday
There was an abundant of activities throughout the week that made every day an adventure. It wasn’t too much but everything did run a bit longer than expected which made it hard for everything to be done that day also made for very long days. I had been suffering from a low period of energy and was really nervous that I wouldn’t have the energy to do the hikes scheduled. But I think a lot of the low energy had to be from my grief from Minuteman and that this trip was exactly what I needed to be able to bring myself to back to an OK state. As I said on the last night, it was really healing to be welcomed into such an open and welcoming group after being kicked out from a place where your heart was still very much there…
Sunday
Our week started off in the National Gallery cafe and having lunch with the group. We introduced ourselves and got a bit of an orientation of the week. Afterwards, we drove to the hostel where the rest of the group stayed – I stayed with a host from airbnb because being a psychic and medium and the hostel claiming to be haunted I wouldn’t have gotten much sleep! After picking up everyone’s gear we drove to the ranch.
Once we got there we had a chance to explore the property and take photos and find things for our artworks. We then had our artist talks and dinner in Wakefield at Cafe Chez Eric. We ended up staying at the restaurant a bit longer because we had a flat tire! We had a really interesting discussion that night about 3D printing and I got some interesting inspiration for my photography that maybe I could do one of these days.
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Biophilia – Getting there and Arrival
It was about a 9.5 hour drive in total, probably the most I have ever driven alone. It seemed a straightforward trip and after driving an hour and a half for work when I worked out in Western MA back and forth, I felt like I was prepared. I had also been driving all over the region for the past two years doing art drop offs and receptions so driving that much shouldn’t be a problem.
WELL, it wasn’t that bad of a drive up north as the GPS took me through upstate New York during peak foliage season. The drive itself was amazing, peaceful and almost healing. It took me back to driving around Big Sur in California. It had that same dramatic effect. But I had a DRs appointment that morning at a very early hour and with pre-travel anxiety I had gotten little sleep the previous night. Lack of sleep makes for a very LONG drive and falling asleep at the wheel… I wouldn’t recommend it at all if can be avoided.
After driving 7.5 hours north I finally got to the Ontario border and went through the Border, it was pretty painless. But after driving a 140+ mile stretch I wasn’t too happy when my GPS told me I had about another 100 miles to go before reaching my destination. I was also very nervous about missing my arrival time with my host in Ottawa. It was very difficult for me to get a room for Friday/Saturday evenings since I was arriving late and I didn’t want to be left stranded somehow.
I did manage to get to my hosts’ house OK. I actually ended up arriving 30 minutes earlier than expected. My host, Clemence (from airbnb.com) was very gracious and did a wonderful job of welcoming me into her space. Her apartment was very nice and spacious and in a convenient location.
Saturday
I slept in on Saturday and then spent mid-late afternoon driving around Ottawa. I stopped by the Crystal Dawn Shop and bought an evil eye charm. Something told me that it would be very 
beneficial to have on this trip!
From wiki,
“The evil eye is a curse believed to be cast by a malevolent glare, usually given to a person when they are unaware. Many cultures believe that receiving the evil eye will cause misfortune or injury.[1] Talismans created to protect against the evil eye are also frequently called “evil eyes”.[2][3]“
I went to Byward Market and stopped by Peace Garden Cafe for a late lunch. The Peace Garden Cafe is a well known vegan restaurant in the area and it is very good! I don’t normally eat 
vegan, but I wanted to stop by a cafe that fit in with the new age/zen theme I was going for that day.
After an afternoon out in the city I came home and did some preparation in my art journal for my week and went to bed on the earlier side to get ready for my week ahead!
Sunday
I left Ottawa after having breakfast with Clemence who graciously bought me a small coffee and croissant! We went to a near by mall so I could by some postcards and we ate breakfast and ended up talking about our lives and plans for the future… I left to meet up with my group at 12pm at the National Gallery for lunch. I finally was able to relax a bit after meeting up with them and eating something more substantial. Then I followed the group to the hostel that most of everyone stayed at. I didn’t stay at the hostel because it claimed to have been haunted and being a medium in a haunted place I wouldn’t have gotten any sleep.
We then left to go
to Pine and Birch Ranch and once we got there we checked out the property and did our artist talks and had dinner.
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Biophilia – Table of Contents
I – Getting there and Arrival
II – Activities
i. Sunday
ii. Monday
iii. Tuesday
iv. Wednesday/Thursday
III – Art, Science, Spirituality
IV – Going home and Departure
Writing: Biophilia – Ayatana Artist Researchers Group
I recently went to Ottawa, CA and Wakefield, QC for an artist research group for the week. The residency was research based so we didn’t have to produce something.The research group is called Ayatana Artist Research Program.
From it’s website,
“The Ayatana Artist Research Program is a Canadian, artist run, residency program dedicated to encouraging hands on research, adventure, experimentation and collaboration between visiting artists. Ayatana workshops focus on experience and encounters with the natural world. The residency facilitates field research and contact with scientists and experts in a diverse range of settings.”
I was really excited to have found a residency that spoke to artists who focus their work on science, art and spirituality. This community in the art world is very small, but exists. It’s hard to know what’s out there if you don’t go searching for it. For example, I recently applied for a conference in Bilbao, Spain to present my work in Kirlian Photography. It is a completely fully funded experience… but the conference is geared towards artists, technologists and bioartists!
To commemorate this residency, I will be doing a series much like my California Seventeen series.
I also took up the task of designing and completing the group’s publication for the week. It’s almost done, I just need to get everyone’s info for the book. So excited to debut it!
I was also assigned to do an Ottawa,CA feature on Jetsetter Gypsy through my internship and wrote about Pine and Birch Ranch where we stayed. This should be posted soon.
The next post in this series will list the table of contents.