Artiest, time traveler, conscious scientist, permaculture homesteader, phenomenologist, writer...

my mom and dad are still together, they are nature lovers, professors, scientists, wilderness explorers, and raised me as a child of the whole earth on our homestead and abroad. I was exposed to many aspects of life that most people are unconscious of at a young age.

(somewhat like the movie "captain fantastic (2016)"
which I suggest.)

in the 70's we moved
'back to the earth' and homesteaded on the same 340-acre mountainside I still own and live on which is 35 minutes by car (3-hours by bike ) from downtown Chattanooga,
Tennessee which is one of the cities I love and believe will become cooler than san Francisco by 2036,( if humans make it that long), and cooler the NYC by 2050 (my current fav city)...more cool people are moving to Chattanooga as you read this...and that makes me smile...

I was homeschooled until, in my early teens, we moved to southern India for 3 years where I went to a Hogwarts-like boarding school. In the 80's I attended the public school system in Tennessee, which was challenging, although it did have
its moments, ( i never dated- tiny bit ..(prom night)) until I moved to college (which I loved and still love learning) eventually after
5 years of higher education I moved back to my mountain
and helped form a movement of people interested in living a better life by taking care of their own needs; intentional community, DIY, natural building, forest farming, activism, volunteer simplicity, mutual aid, sharing circles...from 1989 till 2010 when things changed to being less communal more family based (much bigger story) so now I'm connecting socially more through regional gatherings and temporary gathering events here on the land rather than the community which may happen again here, there is a lot of infrastructures, materials, tools, and know-how... perhaps again someday with a partner? if we wish to go there? yet for now I am exploring a new life emerging from myself, the land and some notion of purpose... as an artist, as a forest farmer, as a builder, as a
designer, as a philosopher, and an organizer... and as a writer (who needs ( i know) help with editing and grammar).

I was married for 15 years 1995-2010 and 12 of these were fantastic, we have 2 kids who are now (girl 12) who is a theater actress and (boy 15), who is now in a boarding school for the performing arts) ... 7 years ago after our separation we agreed that they would move back to her hometown in the mountains of Colorado... I visit, they visit, and it works... so I have kids but most of the time I am just loving and chatting and with them from afar or not at all because they have an amazing mom and a full life.

most of my subsequent relationships have been single moms so I've had kids a lot... and it has worked in some ways and not in others. it's very situational... I'm not sure how I feel about kids except it depends on the mom...I'm an interesting, safe and fun person for kids but I'm not that great a parent... I'm more of an un-parent...im against authoritarian parenting...and I'm very involved in my life...however, I integrate and share my many skills with all ages of kids.
_
I am post-political... but understand if the economy of nature and human limits as they stand do not favor ecology- ecology will win and human will downsize...for this to not happen we need to transition capitalism and the religious tribal political cartels with fair labor and ecological practices ... the natural capital is all around us...we need to cooperate and not compete globally. much of my writing is on this subject.

I am also a post-theist, however, if your spiritual I can go there especially if you REALLY believe something... that is often fascinating...there is a lot out there..and in there...

Born into a colony of professional artists, I have had many influences, here is an outline of some of my multimedia focuses:

As a multi-media artist, most of my abilities have come from 45 years of life on my four-generation family homestead and on the western edge of the Southern Appalachians. From the time I was six and running wild on the mountainside, I have cared for goats and fowl, worked with mules and llamas, operated a woodshop and sawmill, designed edible landscapes and a permaculture forest farm, and built epic organic structures of logs, rock, straw, and clay. Without the experiences, skills, and access to tools that my life has provided, I would not be able to create the art that enriches my life and the lives of others.

I am very self-motivated and sometimes a little depressed or sad… I figure less than 10% of the time.. and this feels like a healthy amount in a balanced life. it allows me compassion and perhaps empathy for others pain... I take life pretty well, I don't do any drugs for depression, I know some work for this yet, I like to feel it and then let it passes on its own and I've often learned something deep… I also have learned to not blame my feelings on other people.(I'm pretty anti-shame, blame, fault, guilt but its a good discussion, I recognize these concepts as useful ideas but they are way to powerful to dwell on… like looking at the sun if I look too long it burns and long-term damage can be done…

periodically I Travel the world and its edges, looking, feeling, experiencing the art and architecture and ways of traditional cultures… a goer of museums always. I would live in a museum if I could...the Smithsonian, MET or Louvre... to walk the halls there among the best of humanities work and its ghosts... ....where many of my most sacred moments have happened... other sacred moments happen more easily when...in the wilderness..

I believe in the effective wise, responsible use of all medicine.

I have trekked deep into the amazon jungle with herbal wizards and scientists such as Dr. Jim Duke in search of drugs for healing the mind and body...

I am an advocate and researcher for making the savages of society see the utopian potential of the collective human species, I believe in aliens and we encounter them after we build starships in the future...does my optimism suggest I am on drugs...?

the question is who to give what drugs to and when... like a good citizen of a sick society...and in time we can truly use the Pharmacology of this reality!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

i travel to art shows across the country and in the last 30 years of teaching and activism have spent a lot of time living with all sorts of wonderful people around the world both who have lives in my home and intentioanl community (now doment) and while crashing at others homes and farms and "back 40's"...

Music, Movies, and Books

music that is felt feel deeply or subtle and sometimes makes me think, ambient, folk, the world, electronic, alt, epic, soundtracks..very eclectic almost always good with other choices as long as it's not classic rock (but I recognize this as a weakness I could work on)- ok my last girlfriend who lived with me for a year likes 80 rock and I got into it...one musician she turned me on to is David Gray...I currently am really like the album " endless things most beautiful" by Nightwish a Finnish goth metal band...the lyrics and composition are perfect.. and vocals and violin..drums, guitar.. its perfect... if I'm in the mood for metal...however... lately as of the last few weeks I've been getting into silence, so I'm really into all music and silence... I also enjoy music shows and festivals, I like to dance and witness live music that I wonder upon, the random busker, Bonnaroo (I go every year as an educator and vendor) and its less commercial counterparts, plays, and modern dance, and even local burning man like events..but mostly I listen to music or have silence in my art studio where I spend much of my time..

movies with good stories that make me think, acting is secondary, action and adventure are unnecessary if the story is good... ask me for a list. I love certain movies, I think it is perhaps the most powerful form of media.. at least to me and I know many.. and so I will in time submit my own screenplay which I know can change the world ...would you like to help or watch it happen ? are you with me? am I being too serious... is most of this comprehensible?

books- I have read a lot of classics and non-fiction and am currently not reading much and writing more (although there is research for my book) and social media.. (20 min a day) not including business and correspondence... a few of my favorite better-known authors are, Kurt Vonnegut, tom Robbins, Barbara Kingsolver, Philip Pullman, paul Shepard, Christopher Alexander, Neil Gaiman...and so many more....oh I love the book Night Circus

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

well most recently...my work as an artist has been most interesting to others... i do public art and craft show...

i invent and create ancient objects, from our possible future, they hint at a mysterious time which aged backward until now.

Evoking ceremonial fetish regalia, the ornamentation of an unknown people, our future relations perhaps, these amulets and talismans are anachronistic relicts of a time long after the remembered.
Some appear to have been mechanical, yet now, the purpose is unknown, thus creating mystery which can increase the future value of a thing. We all carry parts of the mystery. (The objects i make are mine to share, constructed with lampworked glass, electroformed copper, polymer adhesives, graphite, wood, feather, bone … gifts from me, to the future.

These are my parts of a future mystery to share in the present.)
I imagine for millions of years, during the formation of our solar system, the planets looked like hot glass. My transformation of elements into color, through high temperature chemistry, enshrines them in glass capable of lasting thousands of years more.
I am a geological force. I contribute my art to the Earth’s legacy. I make our world and reality, deeper and wider by offering the integrity, novelty, and majesty of my creations.

Teach, Learn, Share

The art of edible landscaping
The art of pruning
The art of grafting
Intro to permaculture
shiitaki mushrooms
Basic organic gardening
Garden ponds
agricultural ethics
Deep ecology
Seed saving
small greenhouse management
food preservation and storage
herbal medicine making...
Herb spiral construction
small scale irrigation techniques
Natural building
post and beam construction
straw-clay slip and form building
concrete foundation and stone work
natural plasters and pigments
earth berming
sacred architecture
solar architecture, passive solar design. mini hinge, moon sun solstice equinox, relationships
attached solar wings
water catchment
plumbing
cob and earthen walls
solar electricity
wiring AC-110v220v, DC 6-24v
farrow cement
wood fired oven construction
sod and living roofing techniques
wilderness skills
earth skills
transition town
soma therapy new games for kids
soma therapy of adults
low impact spring tapping
shamanic medicine
plant spirit medicine-sense of place
unparenting
village life
wild fermentation
leather work- emphasis on grommets, eyelets, brads, rivets , fastening/ joinery

What I Can Share with Hosts

kind friendliness good conversations, permaculture consultations... i am used to being self-reliant so can also take care of myself...

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, England, France, Germany, Greece, Guam, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Laos, Malaysia, Mexico, Micronesia, Federated States of, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Paraguay, Peru, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Venezuela, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Guam, Haiti, India, Micronesia, Federated States of, Turkey