C Within Magazine Summer 2018

MAGAZINE

Life Artistry. Deep Connection. summer TWENTY EIGHTEEN

Welcome

H

ello and welcome. We are thrilled to have you join us. To feel, see and sense in every way what you hold in your hands. So before you begin, take a deep breath in and out, and settle into your body. Give yourself permission to be here, fully present in this moment - now.

What do you hold in your hands? C Within Magazine is an offering and an invitation to explore and dream; to see within. To see your inner world through the outer beauty, ideas and reflection found within these pages. To see your Soul, its depth, its strength, its worthiness, its creativity, its beauty and grace.

C Within is an invitation to be who you are. To be your fullest expression.

C Within is a place to connect with people who are being their fullest expression.

Those who are opening up new ways to share with the world and connect with those who are drawn to them and what they have to offer.

C Within is a place for contemplation and conversation for growth and deeper understanding of who we are; what we want; how we create; why we do what we do; and how it affects those close to us and across the globe.

C Within is a place to center within, to express and receive gifts of wisdom and beauty.

C Within is an offering; an attempt to give back to the world a measure of what we take from it daily.

In Gratitude,

Kristine

Kristine Wilkerson Center Within Expressive & Healing Arts cwithin.com

Photo Credit: Martien Bakens belight.photography

CREATORS & CONTRIBUTORS publisher / EDITOR-in-chief : Kristine Wilkerson

Writers :

Deanna Byck Lena Morgan Mark Wilkerson

CONTRIBUTING Editor : Deanna Byck

Guest Editors : Mark Wilkerson Emily Johansen

Design & Art Direction : Kristine Wilkerson

Photography : Kati Greaney Photography (Unless noted otherwise) katigreaneyphotography.com

Cover Image Glass MANDALA ‘FIRE’ by : Stephen Teuscher

Photo Editors : Kati Greaney Kristine Wilkerson

Printer : Hudson Printing hudsonprinting.com

the assistant: Mark Wilkerson

Contact US : C Within Magazine

P O Box 567 Huntsville, UT 84317 CWithin.com kw@CWithin.com

Back cover glass mandala ‘EARTH’ by : Stephen Teuscher

CONTENT

08.

Stephen Teuscher— Juggling, Paint & Glass

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Deja Mitchell— The Magic of Presence

38.

JC Maillard— Roots, Rhythm & Genius

48.

Grand Baton— Sychronicity In Motion

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Lisa Fischer— Just A Kiss Away

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Kati Greaney— Turning the Lens ...

06. within this edition

24. the power of story

62. agents of change

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Within this edition

Who, what, where, how & why - Woven

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e brought together Stephen Teuscher, Deja Mitchell, JC Maillard, Grand Baton, Lisa Fischer, and Kati Greaney. Creative geniuses, all. Regardless of the medium, or the tools used -- glass, paint, dance, rhythm, instruments, music, voice, photography, story, there were common threads. The artists shared secrets; how they open portals; connect to creative flow; where it takes them; how it expresses; and how shared perceptions facilitate communion with their audience, and ultimately themselves.

Kristine Wilkerson, Weaver of Dreams

C Within

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Magazine is a celebration of Life;

of all things Art and Artistry. It is a tool

e gained insight into these common threads and in so doing received many gifts. Not only did we gain a new awareness of artistry and creativity, but we experienced sychronicity, flow, expansion, healing and deep connection. In the creation of this summer edition a portal opened and a weaving of many colors and hues was created. By moving through this portal we were allowed to view a new creation woven of common and uncommon experiences, sharing deeply. We now see in a new way, an expanded and elevated way.

You hold in your hands a visual and a vibrational record of that portal and that weaving.

showing by example, article by article, and artist by artist, “the way”. The way of the brush, the way of the writer, the way of the

singer, dancer, poet, sculptor, healer … the

way of the fearless dreamer. CWithin at its

core is an invitation to explore the elements of our lives, the heartbeat of our genius, and the subtle ways in which we can tap into them. It is a call to each of us to become our

fullest expression, free of judgment and fear.

To dance and sing and paint and vision and

in these acts of creation live a life of authen-

ticity, liberation, artistry and ultimate joy.

Enjoy,

Read on. Play on. Live life to all of its juicy, luscious eges.

ithin this edition we, the team here at CWithin, strive for a look into creation.

What is the process; what drives the desire; and what is the payoff?

CW

Photo Credit: Martien Bakens belight.photography

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Stephen Teuscher— Juggling BY: Deanna byck

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Paint and Glass

tephen Teuscher and I are in his studio space discussing a favorite painting he created called “Amrita”. Amrita, in Hindu mythology (Ambrosia in other mythologies) refers not only to the nectar of the Gods providing immortality, but also the mythological notion of churning the oceans releasing the “amrta” (the nectar) in its free-flowing form. It is considered one of the treasures of the world as it satisfies “hunger” and sets one free from birth, aging, disease, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, despair and death. And like Stephen’s painting of the same name, it occupies mindfulness of the body.

it ’s a way o f co nne ct ing wit h t he un iverse a nd what ’s g o ing o n in t he w orld “When I painted it, I had little or no understanding of what it was,” Stephen explained. “I knew some of the main Gods, but nothing about the ‘creative life energy’ or the ‘life force creation’. All I knew was there was a big war in the sea, and the conflict had to happen in order for the ‘life force creation’ to take place.” Like most of his artwork in both mediums of painting and glass, Stephen has no preconceived notion of what the final piece will become. He considers himself a spectator, believing the work, theme and nature of the piece will eventually appear – almost as if he were a visitor witnessing the process.

“I was showing what later became titled Amrita in my gallery - it was brand new - fresh off the rack, and a friend who happened to be Hindu came in and exclaimed ‘Holy amazing craziness! You painted all the Sea Gods!’” Stephen asked his friend to tell him more.

She went on to explain exactly what she was experiencing in the mythology of the painting. Then he did the research and came up with the name. It was after the fact. “That’s what I mean. Half the time I don’t even know what I’m doing, and then the education comes through the research. Finally, I understand what is appearing to me. It happens quite often - which is really great because if I’m doing my job well, I’m just a visitor,” he explained.

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Photo Credit: Bryan Smith

STEPHEN TEUSCHER GALLERY SHOW

Standing by painting: Nature’s Leatherman

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Stephen speaks in an accent that is half southern drawl and half western -- unhurried and deliberate -- waiting for me to pull thoughts from his mind the same way he expects work to “show up” on the canvas. It is a relaxed process that allows for a leisure dialog and contemplation of ideas and art. Stephen has a spiritual connection to his art that is grounded in what he describes to me as “ritualized process.” It is an outlet for growth techniques that are outside the box. For Stephen, it begins with the way he preps his canvas. He calls it his “religion” beginning with the stretching of the canvas, clearing his mind, and preparing to be a participant in what will be “born and fabulous”. He just tries to “get out of the way” when it’s is happening. It’s his way of connecting with the Universe and what’s going on in the world. “If I connect with what’s going on with me it could make a mess of things,” he half jokes.

We circle back to Amrita with its myriad Gods and Goddesses, fish-scales, dragons and even seahorses. In addition to the complexity and swirls of greens, crashing blue oceans and the red blood of war, are hints of Northwestern Native art. “That shows up a lot too,” Stephen told me, “the graphic nature shows up and will be really bold.” I sense he is channeling his paintings when things “show up” for him. “And the seahorses,” I ask him, “what is it about the seahorses?” “I have an affinity for seahorses. I am a father who raised his children as the primary caregiver, and it’s the male seahorses that give birth to their offspring,” Stephen told me. “Female seahorses lay the eggs in the pouch of the males, and the males give birth and raise the babies.”

PREPARATION AND COMMUNION

AMONGST THE JELLIES

Prepping and connecting with the canvas

Seahorses appear once again

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What transpired in his first series, with no agenda or preconceived notions, were African Animals. I asked him where it came from, and without revealing the origin of the thought, Stephen explained that the first painting of the series took him to the birth of our existence. “Essentially it (the painting) showed me where it was from. It was a big elephant pushing a tree with human beings in the top of it. In the scenario, I saw the birth of mankind on this planet,” Stephen said. “You hear all sorts of different theories, but I went with this one. Twenty-four paintings came out of that series.”

Even though he had never been to Africa, most people who had said he “nailed it.” All the images had energies of the different animals, but they still weren’t based in realism, they were just highly recognizable. How he works today is the same, he lets the artwork guide him.

Stephen has been creating art all his life. He received his first set of oil colors when he was five years old— a gift from his mother. He has been making a living from his art since he was in his twenties. Stephen’s work has evolved from landscapes and wildlife when he was young; to realism in his late teens and college; to layered/lost imagery, abstracts in his late 20’s and 30’s; to the more spiritual surrealism that we see today. It has always been an outlet for him for growth and spiritual technique working outside the box of realism.

Around seven years ago, he began sharing studio space with three other artists whose work is based in glass.

They were creating energy with glass day and night.

These artists are the top in their field and just by being exposed to them, Stephen was hooked. He worked hours on end “absorbing” information and learning techniques as fast as he could. He learned how to manipulate glass and to grasp the science behind it. As with so many other things in his life, he was able to “gel with the materials and understand them.” Stephen told me it was difficult to learn what he did in a short period of time, but he has an affinity for materials and glass.

“Where so many people try and try and struggle to understand glass, right out of the get go I said, ‘I’m going to do this’. So, I just did it, and it worked.”

I asked Stephen what he liked most about working in glass rather than painting, and he told me, “It’s like my work in 3-D! There’s something about glass, it’s magical – the translucency and light go places in glass that is different than other sculpture. The light quality allows us to see deeper inside than its own manifestation.” He went on to explain, “Glass sculpture is organic, but the chemistry has to be spot on or you fail. There is mystery behind glass. You want to dive in like a pool – even opaque dark pieces -- you want to dive in, and the depth is brilliant.”

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ELEMENTS ALIGNED Glass Mandalas - Top view of all the elements starting left page Ether, Air, Fire, Water, Earth Glass counter lighted left page and above with the elements Fire, Water, and Earth Left page Ether and Air mandalas in wall panel. Table with glass inlays in center Above Moon Stages etched in surround glass staircase. Painting above fireplace Out of Africa

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images in glass

Top Left - Ghosting Ice Top Right - Horus (in front of its foam model) Bottom - Conviction in a Cat’s Eye 14

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It’s true, Stephen’s glass work is like juicy exotic nectars creating translucent molten planets and the cosmos. As with his two dimensional work, it highlights his connection to the notion of creation and connection to “Gods”, the celestial worlds, and the spirituality of his work.

When I ask him about the relationship, he says it’s all part of unexpected connection to the basis of the world we live in. He finds it interesting because a lot of his work has a primal aspect to it. Stephen explained, “We are it, we are the creators. We are a big integral factor in the whole system as human beings and our relationship to the Universe. That’s it.”

He continued, “For me the work is highly spiritual. It’s telling the same stories in a different manner. And the myths I create give everyone else a lead in the story; or a place to start. On some primordial level I would hope that they would get the work – the creative aspect of my process and how I am aligned with my work. I feel the work stands out on its own.”

There is a distinct relationship between light and glass.

Stephen is currently starting to produce a series combining glass and painting. Each piece will have both elements – creating layered imagery with the use of light.

It is two-dimensional work that converts into three-dimensional concepts. It is complex and rich with swirling colors and the use of light to highlight galaxies of glass on a background of layered mythological concepts. The result is an ever-changing transformation that can hold one’s attention for hours as they contemplate their place in the Universe. In the mixed media work “The Juggler”, (image next page) Stephen’s central character is actually tossing back-lit glass spheres. Manipulated by remote control, the light changes colors and continues to move.

Like The Juggler, there is something about Stephen Teuscher’s art that is constantly moving and changing – exposing us to glimpses of another more divine place. “Art becomes an insight into people and their lives because they get lost in it and see so many different things,” Stephen told me. That is Stephen’s world. “I try to create ‘clouds’ for adults – like when we were kids and would stare at clouds, and we would share what we saw. We would sit and watch them grow and morph into other things….. I could spend days and days - my whole lifetime doing that. Oh wait, I do! That is what I spend my whole lifetime doing.” CW model for horus

www.teuscherart.com

Stephen Teuscher carrying the form model for Horus.

He creates the models in foam. This allows him to create other molds for casting in bronze, faux marble or glass.

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The Juggler Oil and acrylic paint with half inch thick glass medallions slumped into half round balls; on 96”x72” 3/4” wood paneling substrate “reminiscent of the wood paneling I grew up with where I honed my marble playing skills” Stephen shares. Lighting with RGB LEDs.

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working with the energies

Sun & Moon - Guidance to Balance & Harmony

A ctivating our deep relationship to the Earth and the Cosmos awakens our power to thrive. Many of us struggle

with giving too much and gaining little. Our lives feel empty or overwhelming. How might we gain balance and harmony? Very simply, we find it in our everyday lives. The natural world offers us an example of how to be in harmonious relationship, what Thich Nhat Hahn calls interbeing.

The daily rhythms governed by the Sun and Moon are reminders of our sacred connection to the Universe and the natural flow of our lives. Rhythms, of light, dark, movement and stillness, living, aging, nature, tidal flows and seasons are guided by the solar/lunar cycles. Mother Moon and Father Sun structure our lives through primordial rhythms; signaling the time to plant and the time to harvest, calling our attention to personal cycles of fullness and completion, offering new beginnings and greater expansion. When we are interbeing, in harmony and balance with all things, our lives are enriched and elevated.

One way to manifest vibrant and empowered lives is to connect with the life-giving energy of the Sun. Our actions are strengthened when consciously connecting with the eternal presence of the Sun’s power to bring life. Countless cultures acknowledge the Sun. In the Buddhist tradition, many praise Amitabha, the Buddha of Limitless Light, shown with a golden sun disc behind his head. Christ is known as the Bringer of Light. Islam sees the Divine embodied in sun rays.

The Sun Dance, a solar ceremony giving praise to the life energy of the Sun, is practiced by North America’s First Nations, and endures to this day.

To live from our creative spirit, we can call upon the energy of the Moon. In doing so, we learn to embody the transformative energies of procreation symbolized by the Moon’s ability to constantly change in rhythm and flow, over and over ... to wax and wane, expressing life’s fullness and emptiness. The Moon’s cyclically beauty demonstrates paced, patient living with ease and grace. Full Moons bring high tides, signaling times of illumination, clarity and culmination. New Moons bring opportunities to change, to re-orient, to bring new aspects of ourselves into being. In many indigenous traditions, Mother Moon symbolizes the powerful ability of the feminine to give and nurture life.

Qu’ero shamans speak of “Ayni”, living in right relationship. I believe this means living from our sacred selves by creating union with mind, body and spirit. This requires balancing our masculine and feminine energies. As they dance through the sky, the Sun and Moon are beacons of this aligned energy.

To live in balance and harmony requires awareness, presence and practice. I invite you to align! Experience Sun and Moon Meditation at www.empowerembody.com/sunmoon ~~ May you walk in beauty, harmony and balance. ~Gianna Carotenuto, PhD.

Forrest Yoga Master Teacher ~ Spiritual Guide ~ Curator of Artful Living & Asana

Gianna is founder of Earth & Sky Retreats at Hot Springs Ranch, Nevada. She uses Hatha yoga/Vipassana meditation, sacred ceremony and self-inquiry to bring about personal empowerment & transformation empowerembody.com

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the power of practice

Stilling the Mind yoga sutra 1:36 the practice of cittra jyoci The Yoga Sutras, recorded practices attributed to Patanjali, encourage presence. When done consistently, the practice of Cittra Jyoci stills the mind quickly and easily. Over time it instills a sense of peace even when you are not actively practicing. Below are simple methods to connect to your inner radiance: 1) Kriya Yoga teaches “light resides in the spine.� Use your spine as a starting point. Sit upright in meditation pose, close your eyes and look for the vertebrae of your spine. Once you visualize the bones of your spine, look for the space protected by the vertebrae (the center of the spine). Then see the nerves and the electrical impulses running through the spine.

Now look for the radiance within the spine. Once you glimpse any hint of light, continue to observe it. Focus on it. Enhance that light with your attention.

Stilling the mind is also achieved by fixing the inner gaze on

inner radiance

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2) The third eye center is associated with the element of light. Use your third eye (the space behind the center of your forehead, right in the center of the brain) as the starting point. In a seated pose, focus your inner gaze on the center of your forehead. Make sure to keep your physical eyes relaxed.

Pull your attention to the inner forehead; the inside of the front of your skull. Next, pull your attention deeper into the center of the brain. Gaze from that vantage point down at the top of the spine, out through the forehead, up through the crown of your head, and back toward the back of the brain. You may notice your vision being flooded with color. Notice any light that seems to fill your skull or moves upward beyond the confines of your skull. Continue to observe the light until the mind wanders; when you notice the mind has wandered, begin again.

3) Prana is life force and is all around us. It manifests as radiance and can be concentrated by paying attention to it. Use the crown of your head as the starting point. In a seated pose, imagine inhaling the light above you through the crown of your head. As you exhale, move that light down into the spine or any other areas of the body that may need extra attention. Inhale while gazing up above the crown. With intention visualize pure prana. Exhale while gazing down at the rest of your body. Deliberately move that prana into all the nooks and crannies within the body. Notice whatever radiance is flowing through your crown and into your cells. Continue to observe the body becoming more and more radiant.

4) Palming is another method to help find inner radiance. This exercise is done lying down. Cover your eyes with your palms (lightly) to shut out all external light. Focus your inner gaze on the inside of the eyelids. Keep your physical eyes relaxed. Notice what you see. It may be color, a starry sky, fire bursts, or static electricity. You may simply see light. Watch the light show behind your eyelids.

When your arms get tired, let them rest alongside the body, still keeping your focus on any light, electricity, color or static you may experience. When the mind wanders, go back to placing the palms over the eyes to begin again.

Dana Baptiste Author, Yoga Therapist In Person & Online Yoga Mentor Get your free palming exercise recording at danabaptiste.com/cwithin danabaptiste.com 21

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super cool happenings TROUBELIEVER FEST is the premiere, song based, music festival hosted at Snowbasin Resort in Northern Utah, that specifically celebrates song centric artists and bands. Presented in conjunction with Live Nation, the weekend of August 4th, 2018. It will be unique among music festivals in that it will offer the “deconstruction of the big show” by having artists perform a certain portion of their set in an intimate, broken-down presentation that is not what fans would see at a typical venue show. Artists will also offer “the stories behind the songs” and give an insider glimpse past the curtain to their process. This festival will be a one of a kind event bringing this type of world famous singer-songwriter style performance and interaction to the large stage format.

And there is more ~ songwriting workshops, song critiques, acoustical cafe and a songwriter competition.

Master classes will take place Saturday morning at the Needles Lodge on the upper mountain. Sessions will be led by veteran songwriters who will share insights on the art of storytelling, melody vs. harmony, and lyric crafting by sharing various tips and tricks of the trade with an emphasis on rhyme schemes, alliteration, assonance, rhythmic phrasing and much more.

Songwriters who would like a critique of their work can purchase song evaluations by industry pros who will provide feedback and an evaluation of your song. Sign up online prior to the festival and submit your song to receive your evaluation on-site at festival registration. Submissions will be accepted between now and July 16, 2018. Sign up online and reserve your song evaluation.

TROUBELIEVER FEST is not genre specific, but leans heavily toward the artists and bands whose original material is key to their appeal, and who celebrate and carry the torch of traditional song-based popular music. TROUBELIEVER FEST looks to take a unique place among music festivals as THE destination event to celebrate music built on the pillars of great songs and the talented artists who create them.

After a day of great concert performances, chill out at the Cinnabar Lounge in Earl’s Lodge for late night impromptu acoustic jam sessions and song sharing.

Friday and Saturday night of the festival. You never know who is gonna show up!

The festival is the vision of Grammy award-winning songwriters Monty Powell and Anna Wilson (founding members of Troubadour 77).

Think you are a singer/songwriter who has what it takes to win?

Enter the TROUBELIEVER FEST Singer/Songwriter Competition.

Submit your application with a lyric and one live video of you performing your original song (can be documented on an iPhone or similar device). The submission deadline is July 1, 2018. Your video submission will be evaluated by vetted industry singer/songwriters. The GRAND PRIZE winner will be announced the afternoon of the festival and perform their song on the Main Stage, Saturday, August 4, 2018.

Additionally, there will be a camping element open to festival-goers who wish to reside on the mountain for all or part of the festival. The music will be held on the main stage with concert-goers spreading out on the sloped lawn that moves up the ski hill. The core concept of TROUBELIEVER FEST is to let the songs and performances speak for themselves while being supported by strong yet subtle production values like other high concept festivals.

For more info and tickets: troubelieverfest.com

If you long for a song to take you back, and you’re ready to embark on a new musical journey that will make you laugh, cry, stop and think, and yes, celebrate enduring power of a song. then join us at TrouBeliever Fest “Where the Songs are the Stars!”

MONTY POWELL & ANNA WILSON Center photo: TROUBELIEVER FEST Founders Photo Credit: Ash Newell Photography

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the power of story

Soaring

BY: lorenzo lago the medicine woman lightly taps her drum I lay on my back on soft blanket as I close my eyes I instantly move to a higher, safer place from eyes of a hawk that soars through the sky a few hundred meters above I gaze down and I see myself at six years old I am riding my bicycle at the school grounds in the same way I am also looking up at the hawk from my bike and I am also a third party conceiving both images as a young boy I am smiling these school grounds are familiar many of my childhood experiences began on these sacred fields this is where my friends and I gathered to learn how life unfolds this is where my first fight began we were only innocent kids, not meaning to harm each other but egged on by the older boys, we tussled this is where I was surprised by my first kiss from a little girl with long blond hair the hawk is looking down on all my adventures from childhood time seems to stand still the past and present are moving within each other 24

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looking toward the sky I see the soft shades of the hawk are white, tan and brown wings spread the hawk proudly and gracefully glides throughout the sky changing altitudes with confidence this sight lifts my heart like a revelation soon I am flying next to this magnificent sky creature soaring to the open horizon and sailing with the wind I am set free I am the eyes of the hawk the eyes of a six year old and the eyes of the third person that watches with reverence all three feel that this is a gift as I ride my bicycle and as I look down on the ground’s activities as I visualize it all I grasp the connection space and infinity are suspended when all three spirits climb together toward heaven I let the hawk into my life by gently touching my chest three times the drumming stops as I sit up the great bird opens its large wings and gracefully landing it slowly settles on my upper back closing its beautiful wings the hawk’s talons sink into the deep muscles of my back I feel warmth and peace trust and wisdom we are now sacred friends both hearts beat in time with the universe and with one spirit

LORENZO LAGO is the Author of THE FIRE, JOURNEY and ROMANCE ON THE HIGH SEAS www.lorenzolago.com Soaring is excerpted from ROMANCE ON THE HIGH SEAS pages 80-81 25

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Deja Mitchell—

The Magic of Presence

BY: lena morgan

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and to one’s own heart. She generously shares this wealth.

On her inspiring website, Deja ruminates on the power of the drum: “The djembé has a great cultural heritage in Africa. It may have the widest range of tones of all hand drums. Its healing power is complimented by its power to make people dance.” And dance Deja does.

uun duun; the deep bass tones of the djembé (pronounced gem.be) drum, the traditional instrument of the Mandinka people of Mali. Go doe; the tones played near the rim of the drum.

Pa ta; the tight slaps of the right and left hands in the center. To teach drumming you sing these sounds, you feel these sounds. It is tradition. It is a deep grounding connection to Earth, to the pulse, to the heartbeat of us all. It is not written, but transmitted from teacher to loyal pupil.

da nce . . .unif ie d mov e me nt s, t o t he beat of t he d r um a nd t o o ne ’s o wn h eart

Deja Mitchell is a student and a teacher of this tradition.

Deja is rich in understanding the cultural depths and significance of the drum and how its influence cannot help but move bodies to dance in rhythmic, reaching, bending, foot stomping; unified movements to the beat of the drum

On a cool spring evening, I enter the beautiful space of the Eccles Community Art Center in Ogden, Utah to teach a yoga class. It’s one of those days. No students attend. But from the next studio, I hear the earthy sound of hands beating the skins of drums; of feet pounding the Earth. Tribal, moving sounds reverberate through the walls, ceiling and floor. I can’t help but move my feet. All at once, they stop. I hear voices laughing and talking. As I exit, I run into a familiar face, Deja Mitchell.

She is slightly out of breath and glowing with the energy of teaching her students to move their bodies to the primal yet modern earthly sounds of African drums.

We say hello and share a brief conversation. As I gather my things, I hear Deja discuss the African dance just taught. The students have excited questions about how their bodies move, about the timing of the drumming, about how they feel the rhythm. Deja’s voice is light and airy. Her frame is petite; her energy large.

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not only her own teaching, but on occasion the teachers themselves. This exposes her students to authentic unfiltered African drum and dance. It also, and this is an intended ripple effect, exposes our community to the people of Africa. This is the true genius of Deja. How better to meet someone from a far off country with a different culture, language and way of living than to connect through a shared love of music and dance.

A few days later, when visiting my son’s school, I thread my way around a line of giddy children. There she is again. Deja, calmly welcoming the children attending her African Dance and Drumming Class. She looks up and beams at me with her infectious smile.

The Wasatch Front is profoundly blessed with the expression of this woman’s drive to create unity and shared experience through her passions of dance, drumming and a deeper understanding of other cultures. This desire and intention have taken Deja to the far corners of the globe to learn firsthand from teachers in indigenous communities how to transmit the magic that is the art of the drum and dance. She brings back from her journeys

When I catch up with Deja again to interview her for this article, her presence is adventurous, having just returned from a retreat in Mexico. As we speak, Deja creates the imagery of her mission as a portal to shared experience through movement and the consciousness of drumming and dancing. These art forms unite people energetically, allowing openness in body and spirit.

Even though rhythm is our first experience in the womb; the heartbeat of our Mother, her footsteps, the sway of her body; it sometimes is missing from our busy lives.

Drumming connects us back to our Mother and to the Earth Mother. It is ancient. The sound of the drums naturally reaches something deep inside us and compels our bodies to motion, to joyous dance. Deja has become the bridge for this energy in Utah.

I asked her to tell me what drew her to dance and why it is important to her: Dance has so many aspects, but I think the most important thing that I enjoy about it is the magic presence that it brings me into. ‘What is dance?’

Dance is agreeing to be present in the moment and hold something as special. You can be moving in the world but once you bring some deeper awareness, or purpose to it, now all of a sudden it is magic. Now it is dance.

Dance is sometimes the same movement, but with a different level of perception. Of course, it feels really good to move and there are many layers to that. The healing, the self-expression and creative layers. It does so many things in the unconscious. For me, it’s meditation. When I perform, it’s like I am meditating; I am present.

But, at the same time, I am also opening up this portal to the people who have agreed to be witnesses. Now they are a part of it. We are both in this magic space. They are there, as am I. Hopefully I have prepared enough that I can be a good conduit, to open that shared window of presence and make it ‘something’. The people, the audience, we are all coming into this space.

That is what I love about dance.

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I’ve had the honor of witnessing the presence of Deja’s performance. Her dancing is a fluid, lucid experience where the rest of the world falls away. There is only the stage upon which feet ground and lift, drums beat and pause, uniting everyone involved. The connection of beat to feet to soul is noticeable. And it cannot be unnoticed.

Deja’s work is not limited to dance and what she does touches all ages. Elementary schools in Utah have sought Deja out to offer this experience of sound and dance; to teach the children to feel the rhythm of their bodies, and of the Earth. Deja welcomes her students with a reverence for the journey they are about to begin. They enter the auditorium, stepping through the threshold of their school day into the dance, the drum, the joy. They cannot help but align with each other as they share the experience of expression, movement and music. What a gift to offer children. An extraordinary gift to students with physical and mental disabilities. For example, consider the deaf child dancing in perfect tempo to the drumbeat she cannot hear, but has been taught to feel.

At the other end of the age spectrum, Deja touches the lives of many elders. Deja teaches them movement in a chair or in their beds, to open their experience. And to remind them of the movement and rhythms of their bodies.

With elders, as the body becomes less mobile, the world becomes smaller. Deja’s work expands these limitations, and in so doing expands the elders’ world and worldview. Deja describes this community as one of her most successful avenues for transmitting the beauty of muscle memory and opening horizons. Her mission is not only to transform bodies to be fit and firm, but to teach people to be open as well as grounded. This is not a technical teaching. It is instead a transmission that pulses through the body, effecting lasting change to both body and soul.

Young or old is irrelevant. The magic is the feeling; the grace that dance, movement and drumming bring to those participating.

Deja offers workshops for drumming and dance for all levels. She choreographs and performs modern dance as well. She explains that the mix is perfectly sensible if one thinks about it: There are all kinds of categories and labels for dance, but at its best it is a blend of primitive sound linked to movement, movement linked to story. African drum and dance, just like modern dance, do both well.

PA TA

Deja on the djembé

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She also explains that the practice of choreography and modern dance on a daily basis, which she did for years, hone the skills of the dancer’s body and train the mind such that the movements and form become second nature. This frees the dancer to flow into the music without outward effort. It also allows unification in the dance when performing with others. And this freedom allows a deeper level of presence for the dancer. It is the foundation for the dancer to become the teacher.

As her work has evolved and spread throughout the community, Deja’s intention also has expanded. Her new goal is to capture the synergy of embodied presence with dance and movement; to capture and teach on film so that it can be available to anyone, anywhere, regardless of age or physical ability: It is my desire for the visuals and vibration to be so inviting, so exhilarating, and so vital, that those who can’t be there in person are able to share in the experience in another dimension and through a different media! What an incredible opportunity for everyone regardless of their situation to be able to experience this. You can’t necessarily force or predict whether you can capture the magic on film. It’s coming if it’s going to be there. You can prepare and invite it, flow with it and be grateful.

Her current film project is focused on bringing simplified movement to elders.

Everyone who meets Deja is intrigued with this beautiful, graceful woman who emanates light. She offers diverse and rhythmic gifts to our community and beyond; integrating the traditions of the djembé, the stories told through dance, and the African people.

Her connection to these arts of sound and movement seems natural, flowing. She teaches as though it were an inherent part of her. Young, old or in between, Deja opens portals of connection from drums to dance; teacher to pupil, performer to audience and back again; the portal between body and soul. So, let’s drum. And let’s dance. CW tribalovedancer.org

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The Roots, Rhythm and Genius of

JC Maillard

BY: DEANNA BYCK

J

C Maillard’s blood courses with the beat of Africa and the Caribbean. He is an artist, musician, and composer from Pointe-à-Pître, Guadeloupe who has a love for the traditions of his island and percussion. Maillard fronts the band Grand Baton; a creation stemmed from his original roots of drumming on his island turned into a vehicle to connect and transport his audience to the unexpected.

Currently the band is touring with Lisa Fischer, originally a backup singer for the Rolling Stones, Luther Vandross and Tina Turner among others, who struck out on her own to critical acclaim. Together, they create and perform music that transforms their audience into a temporal space entrenched with tendrils of African/Caribbean ancestry. The result is magical.

JC Maillard is the musical director and wizard behind the collaboration. Prior to their alliance, Grand Baton has been, and continues to be, an electrifying musical experience; hypnotizing its audience in a way that enriches simply by being in their presence – it is like a portal to a different dimension.

T he mus ic is r ich - inf us e d wit h s pices an d r hy t hms o f a d if f e r e nt wo rld I had a chance to sit down with JC Maillard and ask him about the origins of his artistry, his connection to the audience and his transformative evolution of music.

Like Maillard, the music is rich – infused with spices and rhythms of a different world. He is able to use the beat to obtain these relationships, because he himself is from a different place. What came forth was an unexpected conversation – raw and primordial – about a man whose desire is deep connection not only with his audience but to a larger collective experience of shared energy, freedom and alignment with the Universe.

And yes, he is beautiful.

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Deanna: Tell me about the origins of your music. I am fascinated with the drum beats, electronica, middle eastern chant and rock you create during your concerts to take the audience on such a magical journey.

JC: There are different steps to that whole story, and being from the Caribbean, I’m very much into percussion and trance music. Before I started Grand Baton, I released and worked on my first solo acoustic album – Ka Suite. The story of this album is really about my love for the tradition of my island and percussion. It was not only because of the love of my culture but it was also because I already had more than 10 years as a professional musician. I was already mature, asking myself the question what do I really like to play? What are the feelings of the past 10 years on stage that really captured me? And there were two things. I realized that I was into percussion and rhythm and my best moments on stage always had something to do with trance. My favorite times were when I had a rhythm going on, my head started to spin, and as we were playing, I was having an out of the body experience. I put all of these ideas together into an album.

I also wanted to be innovative in writing some interesting music for classical guitar together with the beats of the drums —infused in the traditional drum. My work is intended to weave together two worlds. On one hand it is the “mind” or the “mad scientist” approach with an intentional organization of sounds. On the other hand, is the “womb” where music is a primal pulse – instinctive and connected to a universal clock. To me it was obvious that the latter, symbolized in the drum with its pulse and overtones -- would break away from a conventional approach of melody and harmony. That “pulse” is not the result of a human invention, it comes from nature.

Each tradition is bringing its own flavor to a universal phenomenon.

Deanna: I would like to know more about how your roots, growing up in the French Caribbean, influenced your music.

JC: My whole family has been there for generations on my mother’s side. It is interesting that several times in my musical life I faced prejudice of race because I’m from the Caribbean, AND white and I played a lot of African music. It didn’t prevent people from making music with me, but I just heard things. It really didn’t make sense to me because the music was rooted in the Caribbean and it was not a matter of black and white. I started to reflect deeply on this. I was sad about it, but I wanted to show people that the music was a matter of energy; the rock sounds would blend, and they would understand each other into one music. It was bringing all the sounds of electric guitars into the traditional drums. It was also about writing new rhythms because the drum traditions that came from Africa spread throughout the Caribbean, giving birth to many different styles and flavors. Each island has its own tradition. Much has been lost from the original diversity of the rhythms from this part of Africa, and so I began to create new rhythms. The whole project was about this - about opening new doors both sonically and compositionally.

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Portal Into New Dimensions

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the re a s on a r t is s o mov ing is be ca us e it ’s a Mome nt w he r e we l o s e t hat s e ns e o f id e nt it Y a n d w e re a lize ho w much co nne ct io n t he r e is b e tw e en be ing s a nd be t we e n t hing s.

RESONANCE Deep Audience Connection

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Ideally, I would like to feel it every minute of my life. I don’t really know what makes or what doesn’t make the connection. I don’t have the recipe. Nobody does. I just can play music being as honest as I can, and hopefully this is where it’s going to work.

Deanna: What is your perception or what is your notion of how, when you connect with an audience, how it becomes this spiritual experience?

JC: I think what we want actually is that connection. I think what we all want in life is connection. If it could be in every possible minute of our lives, this is what we would always go for --to reconnect. When we lose ourselves in a sense of identity and separation it’s never a good thing. To me, the reason why art is so moving is because it’s a moment where we lose that sense of identity and we realize how much connection there is between beings and between things. I was saying earlier, it’s like having an out of the body experience. When music really takes me out of my mind, this is the best feeling in the world. This is where everything seems to be at its right place, everything seems to flow, and seems to make sense in a deep way. This is what you want to feel in life. Playing music on stage is a moment where we know we can get to that connection. When two or more people are experiencing one same thing at the same time, each individual perception is also shared by the others. When you play to an audience you perceive your own work differently, as if you were also listening through their ears and seeing through their eyes. When an audience is experiencing a piece of music or visual art, you seem to be receiving more signals from them than what you would be receiving if you were alone. You are sharing perceptions; and this multiplies, intensifies, your own resonance to the surrounding phenomena.

Deanna: Not only do you have a primal connection between music and the audience, but you also seem to have a deep-rooted connection between visual artwork and your music. Can you please elaborate?

JC: This morning I was reconnecting with this thought, and I was in the moment when you’re actually half in your brain – because your brain is the invention. Your brain is what creates the concepts that are going to take you beyond what you already know. But the soul is the connected part. The ideal music is one that has made the good marriage of staying connected to something that is beyond understandable because it has to do with something that is instinctive and that’s deep inside us, what I will call the animal part. Which is not, in my mind, something dirty or whatever. It’s something real. And on the other hand, the inventiveness and the creation, this is what a brain should be used for. The artists that really move me the most are the ones that are inventive but never lost that animal side of the music and instinctive side of their art. When I did the first Le Grand Baton album, I was looking for images to go with it, because I’m a very visual person. I love visual arts. The paintings 44

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of Jean-Michel Basquiat really struck me. They seemed closest to what I envisioned this music being. It has real, ethnic, deep connection to it and creativity at the same time. That’s my vision of what a musical ideal piece of art is. It has a foot in the obscure origins of our souls and a foot in the craziness, inventiveness of the brain.

Deanna: What is next for you; what is on the horizon?

JC: I am lucky that I am able to wake up every day and choose what I want to do. And I do what inspires me. I want to keep writing, keep creating. I hope these things will find their way; they will manage to find their way out of my mind or my apartment into somebody else’s hands, into somebody else’s home. It’s like giving birth to something. It’s nice to let it out into the world. Let it have a life of its own, and let people make something with it. Be inspired by it; use it as an object in their everyday life. I think this is all that matters. Then there is the process, and the process is you have to continue to live -- you have to survive to create. Survival is dependent upon how many people know you. I just want to keep writing. I’m so thankful that I can perform, because this is very important to me -- I’m an alive person.

I need to feel people around me. I need to feel connections. I can be in my head, and I need to have these out of the body experiences. It’s not a selfish thing, this out of the body -- when you’re out of the body, it’s when you connect with others and when you connect to the world.

It’s forgetting about yourself.

Every day of my life, I want to keep feeling that feeling of bliss that is to feel connected. This is all I want.

What I know for sure is that the deep thing that motivates me to do what I do, is that feeling of suddenly sharing a moment; when we managed to build all these energies together and we know we can only compare it to all these moments in life when we don’t feel that connection -- the contrast. Then we feel that this is very important. It really matters. CW Jean-Cristophe (JC) Maillard is an acclaimed composer, arranger, electro-rock music producer, musician and visual artist. He is the musical director of Grand Baton and Ms. Lisa Fischer and Grand Baton. He is also on Vocals, Classical and Electric Guitars, Keyboards and the SazBass; an instrument he created and had built.

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Grand Baton—Synergy in Motion BY: DEANNA BYCK

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rand Baton, an Afro-Caribbean, progressive rock and jazz fusion band is now famous as the band playing iconic rock and roll songs reinvented to live up to the primal force that is Lisa Fischer’s voice. Like all great bands, it did not simply arrive. Rather, Grand Baton was first created by JC Maillard in France and the French Caribbean where he collaborated with various artists. The name originates from the Creole nickname M’Butu, meaning “stick” that

Maillard was given by Toure Kunda, a Senegalese band he played with years before. Grand Baton is aptly named as Maillard is the stick, the baton, that conducts this band.

Just after releasing his second album, Le Grand Baton (Big Stick), Maillard moved to New York and a new evolution of Grand Baton was created — performing in clubs in New York with Thierry Arpino on drums. Maillard and Arpino go back many years. They were friends in their 20’s, and they have a history of collaborating from when they played together in Paris.

Maillard and Aidan Carroll met in 2010 when they played together for Chiwoniso, a famous Zimbabwe singer. When Maillard heard Carroll play he realized, “Aidan was a bass player that really understood this music, and that was what Grand Baton really was about. The band needed musicians; ones who have minds that understand rock and roll music in addition to jazz and African-Caribbean grooves, and he had that understanding.” Maillard kept Carroll in the back of his mind, and when Grand Baton started collaboration on the Lisa Fischer project, Maillard called him.

Jean-Cristophe (JC) Maillard: Founder & Musical Director, Guitars, SazBass, keyboards and Vocals.

JC Maillard grew up in Pointe-à-Pître, Guadeloupe and created Grand Baton in 2006. He released the album Le Grand Baton in 2007. Moving to the US in 2009, JC and Thierry Arpino began performing in clubs in NY with different line-ups and configurations over several years. He met Aidan Carroll, who understood African-Caribbean music, in 2010, but it wasn’t until 2013 that Grand Baton and Lisa Fischer joined forces to become the band that we know today.

Photo Credit: Kati Greaney Photography

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Photo Credit: Bibian Odhiambo

Photo Credit: Deneka Peniston

AIDan Carroll: BASS guitar, stand-up bass and backing Vocals

Thierry Arpino: Drums and percussion Thierry Arpino has percussion in his blood. A fourth-generation drummer from Paris, France, Thierry has been playing the drums since he was three years old. He and JC Maillard have a history of collaborating and have been playing together since the late 1980’s, starting in Paris. Thierry joined Grand Baton in 2009 when the band was relocated to the US.

At age eight, Aidan Carroll had a vision that he would play music for the rest of his life. He started playing drums in his father’s band when he was just ten years old.

Originally Aidan studied percussion, but he eventually picked up and created a career out of playing bass. For Aidan the bass encapsulates all areas of music including rhythm, harmony and melody.

Photo Credit: Kati Greaney Photography

Photo Credit: Bibian Odhiambo

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Photo Credit: Brandon Patoc

When Grand Baton began collaborating with Lisa Fischer, “It was about jamming with these songs that she already knew.” According to Maillard, “ I took the SazBass in my hands, and the first song that we jammed on was the Led Zeppelin Immigrant Song. It came out naturally. I was inspired to play what first came to mind — I was not thinking at all. Lisa would sing the song and was not disturbed by these different sounds, and new flavors, or new arrangements on the spot. She would instantly find a very personal way to match these new

flavors with her singing... That’s what is uncommon about her, she is incredibly interactive.”

Maillard and Fischer recorded all of the new sounds and jam sessions. In the course of a week or two, they had rearranged and transformed songs from the repertoire of the Rolling Stones, Tina Turner and Sting.

They continued to record everything and did their homework - elaborating from the recordings and creating new arrangements for the collaboration that would

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become “Ms. Lisa Fischer and Grand Baton� that includes Maillard, Fischer, Arpino and Carroll. Just three weeks later, they played their first show together.

MS. LISA FISCHER & GRAND BATON playing with THE SEATTLE SYMPHONY February 2018 Lisa Fischer is a critically acclaimed singer and songwriter. Fischer was featured in the Oscar-winning documentary Twenty Feet From Stardom. Shortly after the film premiered to wide acclaim, Fischer launched her solo tour with Grand Baton. They have been mesmerizing audiences worldwide ever since. To learn more about Lisa Fisher visit her website: lisafischermusic.com

Since beginning their tour in 2014 The Ms. Lisa Fischer and Grand Baton Tour has performed in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Today, you can find them performing in diverse venues; intimate clubs, large outdoor concerts, jazz festivals and even with the Seattle Symphony. CW jcmaillard.com

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MS. LISA FISCHER & GRAND BATON WITH THE SEATTLE SYMPHONY Rock and Roll + Symphony = GRAND and with two BATONs no less Photos Credit: Brandon Patoc

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Saving the lives of mothers and newborns world-wide $81 provides a mother and her newborn with life-saving obstetric and newborn care www.oneheartworld-wide.org 53

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DO YOU FEEL IT?

CAN YOU SENSE IT? THAT

CALL TO

CREATE are you going to answer?

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~EASE E XPRESSIVE A RTS S OUL E XPERIENCE

CENTER WITHIN EXPRESSIVE & HEALING ARTS

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Lisa Fischer Just a Kiss Away BY: Deanna Byck

T

he rustle of the band tuning their instruments followed by silence and then all eyes on Fischer. A sip of water. A nod. One by one ethereal crystal notes begin to rise up towards the heavens striking harmonic vibrational chords in my heart. I am in a space of pure light. The cobwebs in my mind begin to clear, and I recognize what sounds like Breath of Heaven - but is it? A few more notes, and I open to a healing on a level I never dreamed possible at a performance. Indeed, it is the words from Amy Grant’s song – yet with a different tempo, a different tune. An interpretation so light and gentle I feel as if I am cradled by the Madonna.

More playful songs follow including the Rolling Stone’s Miss You, Jumpin Jack Flash, Robert Palmer’s Addicted to Love and Led Zeppelin’s Rock and Roll. The Band’s creations are both bold and original with wisps of influences from global villages. At times Fischer’s covers are not recognizable until she gets to the chorus. But when we “get it” she nods encouragement stopping to tell us

That is the first five minutes of the set. While I am bonding with angels, Fischer uses the song to “get into her own skin”, to gauge the audience, to set the mood and to get into her “flow”. And flow she does. Performing barefoot and in rich jewel-toned flowing silk, she is anything but the high-heeled leather-clad backup singer I once saw perform with the Rolling Stones. About to “kiss 60”, Lisa Fischer oozes freedom with a vocal range that starts from the soles of her feet and soars to the rafters. Her combination of vocals and interpretive dance is electrifying and seductive as she floats between the band and the audience.

The mood shifts slightly as Fischer begins to weave magic into recreations of the Rolling Stone’s Wild Horses and Peggy Lee’s Fever where she comes off the stage to dance. She is one of Odysseus’ Sirens captivating her audience – Fischer has us wrapped around her finger while we are mesmerized by her prowess.

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lisa fischer - WEAVER of magic

Mesmerizing her audience at the RIO in Santa Cruz, CA

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Photo Credit: Brandon Patoc

lisa fischer & Grand Baton with the seattle symphony in the middle of her song, “yup, you got it.” By now she is pure joy. When she talks to the audience her voice is deep and soft like well-tanned leather to match a smile that raptures. Flirty, teasing – she even stops to throw on lipstick between songs.

An audience-melting delivery of her own Grammywinning, “How Can I Ease the Pain?” highlights myriad raw emotions in her face; eyes closed to reflect enlightenment and suffering simultaneously. Hyperbole aside, it is a spiritual encounter. The first time I experienced Lisa Fischer and Grand Baton, I was moved so deeply I actually bought tickets to her next concert in a different state. From there I was hooked. Each concert experience is slightly different. Fischer’s voice is like wind; at times swirling and dancing lightly and at times gusting and weaving deeply in and out of canyons, but it is always an unpredictable pleasure.

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Lisa Fischer takes us on an enchanted journey. She closes with a satisfyingly long Gimme Shelter - a rendition so haunting that the hair on the back of my neck rises to full attention. Magically, the song, morphs into a soft acapella audience engaging chant on the word LOVE; collectively transporting us into a space where all is possible and gently cradling us back to the present enfolded in her love. CW Lisa Fischer is a critically acclaimed singer and songwriter. Fischer was featured in the Oscar-winning documentary Twenty Feet From Stardom. Shortly after the film premiered to wide acclaim, Fischer launched her solo tour with Grand Baton, mesmerizing audiences world-wide. To learn more visit her website: lisafischermusic.com

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the power of words

They Tried to Kill Her

aka The Infinite Rise of the Artist

BY: Diana bertoldo They tried to kill her Tried to drown her in the white wash of duality

Until the very nature of perfect timing Brings her back to the surface Back to life Revival Another go at it Another round Another go-around In this vast ocean with no land in sight she remains

Tossing her They did With great force Turning her inside out and about Pressing and pounding her into New shape - new size - new state

They tried to kill her - you know?

The pretender The seer of the not yet seen The dancer The writer The musician The omnipresence of infinite creation that she Be

With the dogmatic perplexities of good and bad Right and wrong Beautiful and ugly Lovable and unworthy Tucking tumbling and rolling she went Split Into septillion directions Forcing her to swallow

And when the roar of those waves became so loud That they lapped into silence I beggingly asked her Why must you create?

More waves of misperception than she could spit back up And out and out and She kept To keep swimming Hunted by the sharks & Spirit poachers

I am wired for the ecstasy of limitless creation she said And if I die by the hands of the Spirit poachers or the mouths of these sharks okay - then‌okay

She swims even when she cannot swim anymore And then sometimes?

Sometimes she just floats And sinks

They tried to kill her - you know?

Tried to stomp out her rightness of Being Her radiance Her love

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Her infinite everything that is so far beyond words And containment And value And she just didn’t stop Breathing She’s been cracked and crushed so many times You’d think all that could remain were a few puffs of dust With nowhere to gather Nowhere to land Or take form again But oh no ...

No! No easy path for the Artist For the way seeing wondrous at heart The knower They tried to kill her - you know?

And do you?

Do you know her?

Because if you know her If you’ve known her If you ever dared love her Stopped loving her Grew tired and wired and mad loving her And being loved by her

And if you are guilty Yes guilty Guilty of having shoved her head down With all your might Beneath those incessant battering waves Doing everything you could to steal Her very last breath and kick Her final hope and prayer All the while enduring an unending profound love for her Breathe her in ... now If you have tried to rip out the very essence of her from inside of you And failed Epically failed Because she just wouldn’t go (She won’t let go) If you know her?

If you know her…

Breathe her in And rise with her ... now They tried to kill her You know?

But she’s still Right here Within.

If she has brought you more fear and ecstasy than you could stand If you’ve ever felt betrayed and played by her If you would risk just about anything To peacefully and safely swim in your love for her again

Diana Bertoldo Artist, Energist, Intuitive Business Strategist, and Mindset Coach for High Performers Taster Page - get your free activation for thriving artists + more at dianabertoldo.com/cwithin

Breathe her in … now

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Agents of change

M2Heal --Music 2 Heal the Earth Music2HealtheEarth is a collective of musicians, artists, writers and enlightened leaders from all over the world, who have lent their talents to help bring awareness to the social and environmental responsibilities we all have as members of society. M2Heal is inspired by the award-winning documentary, We Know Not What We Do (Directed by Elizabeth Gaylynn Baker & Executive Produced by Aaron Taylor). The film shares what has happened to our air, earth and water; not only in the United States, but the world over, and how we must wake to the need the Earth is expressing to us through the events that have unfolded over decades, if not centuries of our existence.

Howard “Merlin” Wulkan, M2Heal Partner/Producer farmadelicasound.com

M2Heal aspires to shift the old paradigm of not knowing what we are doing to knowing what needs to be done. To take both social and environmentally “sound” steps to create a better, healthier world for ourselves, and most importantly, our future generations.

We have embraced the concept of coming together as a global collective to affect change. The goal is to express kindness and compassion, communicated through the vibratory content of music, poetry and spoken word to help heal the Earth “a song at a time” and will honor organizations making strides in their communities with a portion of album and awareness concert proceeds. Music2HealtheEarth will be available worldwide the Summer of 2018 as both a digital release and as a limited-edition double CD. Watch for Live “awareness events” in 2019.

Lainie “ Sevante” Wulkan, M2Heal Partner/Producer zetaglobalradio.com

Interested in being part of this collaboration or desire more info? Connect at M2Heal.com

Music2HealTheEarth - PLANETARY MINDFULNESS through MUSIC - Featuring Scanner with Mika Vainio, The Hafler Trio, Serinda Swan, Dave Abruzzesse (ex-Pearl Jam), KLLU, Shawn Smith (Pigeonhead, Brad, Satchel), Jóhann Eiriksson (Reptilicus), HAETHOR, Chris Ewen (The Magnetic Fields), Ali MacGraw, Matteo Myderwyk, Colin Edwin (Porcupine Tree), Robert Millis (Climax Golden Twins), Master Ming Tong Gu, Neil Mackay (Loop, Hair & Skin Trading Company), Tony Wakeford (Crisis, Sol Invictus), Eraldo Bernocchi (SIMM, Sigillum S), Matthew Liam Nicholson, Cockroach, JK Flesh (Godflesh, Final), Robert Poss (Band of Susans), Rickie Byars Beckwith, Klaus Fluoride (Dead Kennedys), Georgia Muldrow, Peter Jarvis, Michael J. Bazini, Rapoon, Autorotation, John Roome (The Orb, Witchman), Dr. Michael Beckwith, Julian Orzabal, Edward Ka-Spel (Legendary Pink Dots, Tear Garden), author Adam Nevill, The Mellowtrons, Jo Quail, Declaime ft. Aloe Blacc, Controlled Bleeding and more to be announced.

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Logo design: Lily Nava lilynavagallery.com

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The Dalai Lama with Leon Stuparich

“If we forget our connection to the planet and all living beings - including each other, we become sick. By looking after the needs of others, only then will we create an environment in which we can build a world that thrives for many, many generations to come.”~~Leon Stuparich - Writer, Director & Film Editor - Road to Peace, Dalai Lama Documentary, London UK

Serinda Swan

“I remember hearing the saying “we do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children“ and while there is debate on the origin of the saying, the impact was still the same. The thought that we are just passing through, that we are all visitors on this ‘tiny blue dot’ made everything seem more sacred to me... that my life’s choices were something I could pass on either as a gift or a burden. You see, I believe that with awareness comes action. The capacity of the heart is enabled; however, by ignoring world issues, we can only be in reaction; thus leaving us to the consequences of our uninformed choices.

Anything that brings awareness and education to the masses through a new medium; whether music (like Music2HealtheEarth), art or technology, I am in full support of. I feel that only through education and harnessing the capacity of the heart (not just the mind), will we be able to make true change in this world.” ~ Serinda Swan, Actor, Activist

“My work has always been focused on people and a response to sound and music. At a time when global concerns tend to worry even the most relaxed souls I try my utmost to produce work that engages the listener and moves them both intellectually and emotionally. My contribution to the compilation, London Bridge, is partly a tribute to a dear friend that unexpectedly died last year, Mika Vainio, using recordings we made many years ago, as well as offering up an intimate spacious moment in which to think and contemplate. It’s not a piece that loudly shouts for attention, more draws you in by its very quiet approach.” ~ Robin Rimbaud, Scanner, London, UK “I’m pleased to be a part of M2Heal. After I watched the excellent documentary: ‘We Know Not What We Do,’ there was no question about taking part in this project. Hopefully, it will bring some awareness to the environmental responsibilities we have to our planet.”~Jóhann Eiriksson, Musician, Reykjavik, Iceland

Robin Rimbaud

m2heal.com facebook.com/m2heal #m2heal Jóhann Eiriksson

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“When I became aware of Howard and Lainie’s ‘Music 2 Heal The Earth’ project and began to understand the depth of their concern for our planet, I thought to ask him if he would allow me to participate in his project by submitting a recording of ‘To The Earth’ by Frederic Rzewski. When he graciously accepted my offer, I recorded the piece, which is a setting of Homeric Hymn number 30 ‘To Earth.’ I share their concern for the delicate nature of planet earth and thought the fragility of the flower pots (the instrument used in the piece) would provide an appropriate metaphor and address at least one of the points they’re making.” ~ Peter Jarvis, Composer/Conductor/Professor, New York, NY

Peter Jarvis

“As I get older, I am spending more of my time advising others, answering questions & sharing secrets. Lately, the advice has become somehow more important and the questions more desperate for answers. It is a challenging time to be alive. ... When (Howard) invited me to participate in this project, I was honored. The timing was perfect for I was going through a very challenging search for reasons. The helplessness of bearing witness to the violence, death and desperation that is taking place all over the world has had me in a state of concern that I have never known. I appreciate the opportunity to share these pieces of music with you.

Thank you for allowing us to contribute to this project. We are grateful.” ~ David Abbruzzese (ex Pearl Jam) David Abbruzzese

“There’s not much time left to change things... (a) global consciousness and a common vision could actually go a long way. It’s all about changing people’s minds one by one. The ‘revolution times’ are gone forever, obscured by super-fast communications, web and social media. Still, one by one, individuals can make a difference. M2Heal... (well), it’s a utopia that, unexpected but conjured nonetheless, has quickly become a reality and it’s an honour to be part of such a project.” ~ Eraldo

Bernocchi

Eraldo Bernocchi Photo Credit: Francesco Filippo

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“The Fabric of Mother Earth has been ripped and put in turmoil… We’re not thinking that the earth is a living and breathing planet. Why did I not do something for the now, for the future? What about all that lives? All that is organic? All that is living and dependent on the four sacred elements of life?

This creation is of our beloved Mother and Father, the one that has created all of the things the beauty that is around us.”~ Grandmother Flordemayo, Estancia, NM

Grandmother Flordemayo

“When we receive the call as children of the mother earth, we can discover deeper connection with life, with ancient wisdom, timeless wisdom and energy of all creation. From this deep connection, we can truly take care of ourselves, the earth, each other and fully then realize our potential. By connecting the mind and the body which is a sacred expression, like the mother earth has a sacred expression of the creative universe, we can truly experience and embody the full potential as wisdom, energy and conscious being on this planet earth.” ~ Mingtong Gu, Founder of the Chi Center, Galisteo, NM

Mingtong Gu

“I am extremely happy to be able to contribute something to this Music 2 Heal The Earth collective, it has simple but powerful message that everyone should take on. The fragility of our one and only shared home is under threat like never before. Planetary Mindfulness can only be a good thing to raise awareness for all of us regarding the small changes and seemingly insignificant changes we can all make which, with hope can bring about a change of direction for the better, for ourselves now and for our descendants into the future. “ ~ Colin Edwin, Musician, Porcupine Tree, London, UK

Colin Edwin

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Kati Greaney —

Turning The Lens ... A New Perspective BY: lena morgan

S

tory is our first human connection. It is the ancestral thread of tradition and information carried through time by storytellers. Kati Greaney is a storyteller who finds deep meaning from listening and weaving her story with others through photography, video and mixed-media art.

comfort and calm energy for her subjects. She reads the undercurrents that run through a shoot; the unspoken conversations that may create tension. Kati soothes that current. Her goal is to allow the photographed to be their most present, authentic and comfortable in a shoot.

I had the opportunity to speak with Kati about her experiences. Her passion for connection and understanding comes through in her voice:

She began in photography by capturing split seconds of people’s lives during celebrations and struggles. As a photographer, she observes these moments from behind the camera, capturing images of connection and relationship. Kati is attracted to the human condition; to understanding people at their most authentic, unedited moments.

I feel something shared with the people that I photograph. It feels like I am seeing and expressing parts of myself through them. There are many layers beneath the surface of a person and that is what I want to unearth and relate to. These hidden layers are often what connect us all.

The ability to connect with people, to hold space for emotions, and to be present in these moments creates

The thread of Kati’s storytelling continues into her documentary film work, providing a platform for stories to speak for themselves in moving, real time. Chasing the light and shadow of filming, Kati has followed her work to distant lands to stand witness to lives lived outside of her experience.

Early in her career, Kati found a strong focus on the resilience of women around the world. She photographed the reconstruction after the South Asian tsunami in South India. She documented free health care clinics throughout the United States; cultural resistance in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil; and organic agriculture throughout Cuba.

Most recently, she has spent two years documenting the life of a transgender immigrant from Oaxaca, Mexico.

Alejandra’s story attracted Kati because of her amazing resilience in the face of so many obstacles.

Photo Credit: Maria Muir

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Photo Credit: Pete Rasmussen

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Kati explains: I’ve always felt connected to people’s struggles even when their experience was very far from my own. The most interesting, generous and alive people that I know are the ones who have lived through what most would view as tremendous hardship.

Authenticity is not always comfortable. The raw, exposing moments in people’s lives, experiencing the depths of loss or the heights of joy, are palpable manifestations of our humanity. There is a secret language to loss that you feel when you encounter it. A language revealed through the eyes of the photographed; a knowing between experienced souls. While Kati’s work in film and photography often focus on the struggles of others, her most recent mixed-media art turns the lens on herself as she overcomes a deep personal tragedy.

In September of 2017, Kati, her husband, Pete, and their young son, Jorro, excitedly prepared for another child.

They created space for his birth, his life, in their home and their hearts. Three weeks before his due date, Kati stopped feeling movement from her once active baby.

The doctor confirmed what she feared, there was no longer a heartbeat.

Her body simultaneously carried her life and his death.

Although pressed to let them take the baby immediately, she and her family needed time to process and prepare for this kind of birth. She gave birth the next day. A birth rich in love, in honoring, in grace. She could feel his spirit fill the room even though it existed outside the vessel of his body.

Throughout the birthing process, Kati intuitively felt held by her ancestors, the spirit of women, the essence of mothers. She felt the connective thread of women who lost children, she embodied the primal ache that follows. The baby looked perfect, still. His name called to her husband... Cedar. Cedar, the ancient tree that carries prayers to the spirit realm. She was the vessel through which Cedar experienced a body, bound to hers. Safe.

Warm. Connected.

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Photo Credit: Laurie Z Divine Photography lauriezdivine.com

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growing Kati with husband Pete Rasmussen and son Jorro at Sandhill Farms Eden Utah - Sandhillfarms.org

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Even in her deep grief, Kati immediately knew she had a choice to make; to connect or to disconnect from the world. She chose connection. Immersion. Awakening.

She dove into healing, immersing herself in creation.

For her, the birthing process offered time to share experience with the soul that she felt so present around her, Cedar, and a place to begin the journey of healing.

T he r e is pat ie nce in t he pace o f creativity I f o und a way t o be ca l m a nd presen t

Art is powerful and, for Kati, a grace and a gift born from this devastating birthing experience. Historically, Kati told stories of big life moments. Now her own raw, exposed story evolves into expression. Through multimodal art, she translates her truth and unearths visions of the innate, ancestral connection between birth and death. The imagery in her art mirrors her personal journey.

Time spent collecting the pieces allows healing connection to and with nature; drawing upon the gifts of our Mother, our Earth; allowing the images to present themselves. Kati lives her life to the edges and understands the depth present in her previous works.

When we speak of her catalyst to understanding, there is peace in her voice. The kind of calm you experience after a storm. Gratitude weaves through her voice as she describes the gift of carrying, and giving birth to Cedar.

Love surrounds each word as she describes the honor of sharing the experience of his life, and his death, through her own body.

Photo Credit: Laurie Z Photography - lauriezphotography.com

The story of Cedar’s life and death is sacred, personal, raw. It has given her access to understanding the depth of loss and the unabashed emotion she captures through photography and videography. Where she once was able to hold space without fully understanding the depth, she now recognizes it from experience. She speaks the language of uncensored emotion she found through her immersion in her process of loving and losing Cedar.

Kati’s innate abilities to read the undercurrents of humanity expanded from observation to knowing. Cedar’s life broadened her vocabulary of connection, deepened

i8 Photo Credit: Pete Rasmussen - instagram.com/sandhillfarmsutah

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her ability to hold space, and made the threads of art, observation, and connectivity available to her in an expanse of understanding.

so that the breaks can be seen. The wounds, the scars, the healing are visible in what was once broken. Like Kati’s art, all individual stray pieces, remnants of wood adrift in the ocean, single stones and shells, all fuse together to create a whole image of mother and child.

Where Kati was broken, her art reveals her scars and precious healing. Kintsugi CW

When I look back, I can see the intensity in the faces of the people I photographed. It is easy to see suffering. Now, I can see depth.

There is patience in the pace of creativity, I have found a way to be calm and present in my artwork. I have shed fear in my life and my art to get directly to the heart of the work that I do.

katigreaneyphotography.com

Kati now brings this path of healing to other women through workshops, blending the sacred, healing power of nature with the gift of expression and transmutation of emotions through art. Workshops are available in Eden Utah, cocooned in the Wasatch Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, and in Santa Cruz California, nestled near the ocean.

Death and birth are our only absolutes in this life. The beauty of this story, for me, is the comfort that can be found within those mirror images, death and birth.

Instead of running from her pain, Kati received every gift available through this experience.

It is Kintsugi of the spirit. Kintsugi is the Japanese tradition of repairing broken pottery with gold dust lacquer

Photo Credit: Pete Rasmussen - instagram.com/sandhillfarmsutah

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Death before Birth Life is a cycle birth death birth death birth death birth death death is birth birth is death Continuous transformation.

Becoming Until we are.

I have held life in my body I have held death in my body I have communed with spirit in a language that is known to all.

The language that a mother speaks to her unborn baby is the language of spirit.

It is the same language that I now speak in to my deceased son We all speak this language.

Learning to listen can be the challenge.

The story that I have to share is the story of a mother who lost a child.

It is a story that is stored in the blood and bones of all women.

Our ancestors have known this pain a thousand times.

And I now know it too.

As I transform this pain, my ancestors move with me.

Making my art has given me a vessel to pour my grief through.

As I paint and glue and create, My pain magically becomes pure love.

This art is dedicated to those who melded me back from liquid to solid form.

You know who you are...infinite love. — kati greaney

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four, he famously said, “It is one of the mysteries of our nature, that a man, all unprepared, can receive a thunderstroke like that and live.” In Loving Allie, Transforming the Journey of Loss, Dayle E. Spencer chronicles

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Loving Spirit is a Colorado 501(c)3 . www.lovingspirit.info

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the power of presence

The Peaceful Warrior

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Are you ready to develop your skills to Trialninjas.com

be a trial ninja?

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Real Fact Patterns Real Witnesses Real Courtroom Experience Collaborative Individualized CLE Approved

The Trial Ninjas’ Mission is to reinvigorate the Civil Trial Practice with Trial Lawyers who actually know how to try a case; with skill, with honor, and without fear. Ironically, in a justice system founded on Trial by Jury, fear of Jury Trial is the single greatest stressor for young (and frankly most older) lawyers.

This gut churning fear infects the entire practice, skewing settlement values, jury verdicts, and generally lop-siding the scales of justice. The Trial Ninjas are here to remedy that. We will demystify the process, and through hands on training, bring in skill and self-assurance to replace the fear. And, we will have some collaborative fun in the process. Choose to be a Trial Ninja ...

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Free 20 min video on cross-examination at trialninjas.com/cwithin

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Photo Credit: Kristine Wilkerson

Fe el th e r ai n b o w b r i d g e s m e l l th e o zo n e o f th e r ai n t ou c h th e r eb o r n su n mark wilkerson

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colors of promise

Alki Beach, West Seattle, WA

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