Funding for COLORES was provided in part by: Frederick Hammersley Foundation... ...New Mexico Arts, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs with supplemental funding by the New Mexico CARES Act and by the National Endowment for the Arts.

...and Viewers Like You.

THIS TIME, ON COLORES!

BILL GILBERT FOCUSES ON HOW NATURE IS DEFINED BY HUMAN INTERVENTION AND HOW WE ARE NOW LIVING IN A NEW AGE - THE ANTHROPOCENE.

CERAMICIST GHADA HENAGAN'S CREATIVE PROCESS IS CONNECTED TO HER JOURNEY FROM LEBENON TO LOUISIANA.

CELEBRATING THE TRADITIONS AND CRAFTSMANSHIP DEVELOPED BY COWBOY CULTURE.

PLEIN AIR COTTAGE ARTISTS HELEN TILSTON AND MARY ROSE HOLMES, WORK TO PRESERVE THE HISTORY OF THEIR TOWN.

IT'S ALL AHEAD ON COLORES!

ART THROUGH WALKING.

>>KAMERICK: Bill we're in a new age, the age of the Anthropocene, the age of the human.

What does that mean?

>>GILBERT: This whole notion of the Anthropocene is so huge, some people say that started with agriculture, other people say it's the carbon uh industry and all the fallout from that and other people want wanted to start with the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima but any way you look at it it's this idea that we have intervened in the ecology of the planet for a sufficiently long period of time that we have laid down a geologic layer on the surface of the planet.

At one point in your life, you began walking to work.

What are the deeper reasons for this and how the Anthropocene calls to you to do that work?

If you accept that idea, the idea that we are in the Anthropocene this is a huge responsibility for humans, we have to take responsibility for the things that we have done and this and the moment that we are in as a result and so in my work I'm trying to find a way to act as a human that doesn't add endless layers to this problem, it doesn't contribute to climate change, it doesn't contribute to the sixth extinction and instead builds a relationship with this sort of unknown ecology that we have messed up um and so the walking now is a way to really simplify the art down, it's not about making products, it's about this experience and it's inviting people to come into that experience through my experience.

>>KAMERICK: What do you see as the being defined by human intervention?

>>GILBERT: Well, I think we've got this nature-human culture-nature divide that we've been practicing you know ever since the enlightenment essentially and it's fundamentally, we're outside of nature in our minds, humans are outside of nature and what the Anthropocene is saying is "no in fact because there's only one planet, even if we're in control we are in nature, we are part of nature, humans are not separate from nature" and we're our con- contribution right now is incredibly destructive so I think the whole point of the Anthropocene is we have to find a way to see ourselves part of a web rather than seeing ourselves outside and in control and that's a huge shift.

>>KAMERICK: What do we need to do?

>>GILBERT: Well, I think everybody needs to do something and we are really good in our culture with science-based solutions and with technology.

What we don't seem to be good at is actually embodying the change that's needed.

We don't seem to be able to move people's hearts and minds together and I think that's where the arts come in.

That the arts try and make it real for people as individuals and as communities that they can do something if they change the way they see themselves and so my work is not going to solve climate change, it's not going to save all the species that are going extinct but hopefully it will help people envision a different way of seeing themselves in an ecology.

>>KAMERICK: So, we need to re-reconfigure or rethink who we are in the world as humans, what our place in the world is?

>>GILBERT: Absolutely and I think the coining of this term "Anthropocene" is an attempt to get people to do that, it's an attempt to put this abstract idea in play where oh my goodness we really have changed the entire planet and so now where do we go from there?

Well, we need to fundamentally rethink our relationship to this planet if we're going to undo the mess that we've made.

LEARNING THROUGH MAKING.

I was born and raised in Lebanon.

It's a small and beautiful country in the Middle East, in a small village called Sidon.

I grew up at a time when the things we needed, most often, they were handmade like; from bread to clothes, to bed sheets, even toys sometimes.

My mother was a seamstress.

She was very meticulous.

My father was a builder, but his real passion was like After he retired, he started making small tables from collected stones and scraps of wood.

And, they were great.

I was making miniature furniture from used card boxes.

And, I use to sew clothes for my doll.

My whole world as a child was outdoors play time or indoors And, it was great.

It was the best.

As a child, I have never was introduced to clay or seen clay or in my life.

After high school I went to college and kept switching majors until I finally graduated with sacred art degree.

During my studies in sacred art, I was introduced to clay for the first time.

I took one course of ceramics.

But, I never thought I would work with clay again.

After I graduated I went to a 9 to 5 regular job.

Later my sister; she is a nun and an artist.

She asked me to work with her.

She wanted to expand the embroidery studio and And, of course, I said yes.

I was so excited.

She knew I didn't know much about clay, but she took the I became a potter by chance.

The studio was only one room, built with a big embroidery, noisy machine and we didn't have even a table for me so we put 2 chairs and a piece of wood and I worked there on that thing.

But a little bit at a time, we had a kiln.

We had a bigger studio.

I had as many tables as I want.

It developed a little bit at a time and it became a big studio.

So, I worked there with her for 5 ½ years and I was making religious items, but, never functional parts.

My only resource was books and experimentation and this is how I learned; just reading books, experimenting and just getting better at it a little bit at a time.

After I came to the United States, I was so surprised and fascinated by the ceramics world and how they teach it in college.

I have been here since 2006 and I established my own studio in my dining room as you can see behind me since 2007 and I've been working with clay ever since.

I had to start all over again, making functional pottery so I started taking ceramics online classes and I attended the visiting artist workshop at LSU in the ceramic studio.

So those 2 things were really helpful in establishing my career as a potter plus tremendous support of my husband.

I didn't have a wheel so I did it by hand building later on my husband and brothers they got me a wheel for Christmas and I put it on the kitchen counter when I need to work on the wheel but since I didn't have space for the wheel all the time, to just keep it there, and work whenever I want to, I started to just hand build more stuff and I got used to it and now I like it more because the pace of hand building is slow, meditative I can control it better.

My focus is mainly on functional parts, so I make mugs, bowls, jars, plates but I also make some decorative things like vases, wall art and ornaments.

Most of my illustrations are inspired by my childhood memories and stories from childhood like some of the animals that I draw, I had like a personal connection with these things from back in Lebanon.

I also draw my inspiration from nature forms and textures and what I see around me and of course from living in Louisiana.

For example, when I first started going to market people would ask, do you have any Louisiana design; I would say no I didn't feel it yet.

I was still adjusting and when I don't feel something, I can't make it so it took me 8 years to live here and to feel like it was really home and suddenly out of nowhere I found myself just drawing the pelicans and the bees and even the pelicans and the bees they have connections to Lebanon too.

I like this applicate technique that you can cut something.

It is also called sprigs in clay terms is that you make something out of the shallow mold and then you apply it to the piece when it is not too dry and I like to use different kinds of techniques for decorating because my process is mostly about decorating, about illustration and about texture After a few years of using different glazes, I finally settled on those translucent bright color glazes because they show the texture and all the drawings I put underneath so I can at the same time draw, put texture, highlight the texture and use those translucent glazes to show everything that I drew or all the texture that I put on my parts and I like that.

The ceramic process for me doesn't get easier.

It's a long process from making, decorating, drawing, firing, then glazing, then firing again.

Plus, working with clay has a lot of possibilities.

I am always learning and making something new.

However, I am more experienced now so I have learned how to manage my time.

I have learned how to manage my creative blocks.

I also learned how to solve problems.

I go back home to Lebanon every other year.

And, I usually stay for six weeks.

I like to give something I made especially because I live here and everybody else lives there.

And, they don't get to see or use my work.

I learned how to pack efficiently.

I only use cardboards and I put them between clothes and I fill my backpack as much as I could handle.

My hope is that the people who have a connection to my work; my piece of work will brighten their day, a little bit more.

AMERICAN COWBOY TRADTIONS.

The Cowboy Arts and Gear Museum is dedicated to preserving the legacy, the arts, the crafts, the craftsmanship of the American cowboy from the early days of settlement here in Northeastern Nevada.

(COWS MOOING) We want to display and share the stories, the archives, the materials that were used, the saddles, the bridles, bits and spurs, and the different aspects of the way a family ranch would've been through the early part of the 1900's.

It really holds true to the legacy of the pioneer spirit of the West of the people who created the gear that they needed, but at the same time, the artistry that it required.

And, living in Nevada and especially here in rural Nevada, we have a lot of great artists.

We have writers and poets, painters, sculptors, wide open landscape really inspires that kind of work, and that you can see on display here that represents decades of tradition in rural Nevada.

>> JAN: When visitors come into our museum which is housed in G. S. Garcia's historic saddle shop from 1907, they will see a brand wall which is a project to show the contemporary and the historical use of brands, how cattle owners designated who's cow belonged to what.

We have saddles that were working saddles.

So some of them show a lot of wear and tear.

They were the pickup truck of their time.

Cowboys spent a lot of time in them so they spent their money wisely selecting a saddle.

>>LORI: It just reminds me of the significance of handing down that kind of quality craft of the gorgeous leather work here in the saddles and just the smell of the leather.

This is such a rich museum, not only in history, but in texture and in the feeling that you get when you walk in.

>> JAN: Cowboys like their bling.

Bling is nothing new in the cowboy world.

And these pieces have a lot of very intricate engraved markings to them and they just show the high quality of work that was produced and sought after by cowboys.

An item that was made maybe in 1898 or 1915 is still the same style and craftsmanship that it is in contemporary times of today.

>> LORI: What I love about this Cowboy Arts and Gear Museum in the heart of downtown Elko is it's really also signaling this renaissance of celebrating the traditions of the community, but at the same time revitalizing these buildings.

We're not in this habit of knocking them down.

That used to be what was happening and now we're bringing these buildings back to life and we're filling them full of the things that are important to us.

>> JAN: Elko is right in the heart of the golden west.

We still embrace those cultures and traditions, yet we meld into the new ways and the Cowboy Arts and Gear Museum is a great way of keeping those old traditions, but presenting them to new audiences and new generations.

PRESERVING HISTORY.

You can take a look around Indian Rocks Beach and see that it is very different from other communities around.

Indian Rocks Beach prides itself on preserving the best of the past.

The Island, there was really nothing here in the 20's.

I mean, there were just a mile without any cottages.

So it really wasn't until after World War 2, then people started building cottages, and mostly people from Tampa.

And this was a second home.

Here is a place that you can time travel back to the 1950's and feel what it was like.

Indian Rocks Beach uniquely has managed to maintain a small town character.

>>WWAYNE: And there's a strong local desire to protect and retain that character.

Our plein air cottage artist took the plight, and instead of tearing down those old homes to create a sense of what yesteryear was like and refurbish those homes back to the way they are today.

Not only is the artwork incredible, but the story and the advocacy, it is a story in and of itself.

If you've probably seen them, but they were these glorious dresses, and they're very free spirits.

And they're basically our Hollywood.

My name is Helen Tilston, and I was born in Ireland, and have been painting since I was young.

Mary Rose Holmes.

I'm one of the plein air cottage artist, and enjoyed art all through my childhood and up through college.

We moved here approximately 22 years ago.

We came only for one night, and we never left.

And then met Mary Rose about 18, 19 years ago.

So we met at a course an art course and just got along famously, it was a life drawing, and we both agreed we love painting outdoors, so we took our easels outdoors and great comradery, and painting daily.

We'll paint in the morning, we'll come in and have lunch, go back out because of the shadows.

We love the shadows in the late morning, great shadows in the late afternoon.

Plein air painting is a painting in situ or on location.

Plein air is painting outside.

You see the light, you see the shadows so much better.

If you paint from inside, you're usually painting from a photograph, and a photograph makes the painting flat.

You don't see around the tree.

You don't see around the cottage.

Once you paint outdoors, it's very difficult to go back to the studio, because there's reflected lights when you're outdoors.

You're aware of the sights, the sounds, the smell, the mood.

And I think as an artist, you put that into the painting.

When you take a look at some of these works, you can't help but look at the beauty of it.

There's color in here that is amazing.

There's the scenery.

There's the, the architecture.

There's the, the plants.

It's absolutely stunning.

And then when you actually see it in person, you're like, Oh, this is just amazing.

We love them.

They really are our royalty.

Many paintings capture my sight, but not all capture my heart.

And we only paint originals.

We do not duplicate our work.

So then when the goes on to you, some of you is also included in that oil painting.

We are often approached while painting, and we love it.

We can paint and talk at the same time.

And it's really neat, because as we're painting, they are noticing these wonderful cottages, also they're noticing our paintings.

And a lot of times they buy them right off the easel.

They approached us because they're curious, it is not often that people see plein air painters.

So, people are quite surprised when they see us.

And some say, we're like the dolphins, it's gonna be a good day if they see us out painting, because it's a rare day that you see dolphins too.

We adore them.

They are our treasurers.

They're really connected with the cottages.

I think the plein air artists have had a tremendous impact in raising general public awareness, not just in Indian Rocks Beach, but in the surrounding area about the nature of the cottages and the fact that they're threatened.

What started all this was the fact that developers are starting to tear down cottages and old places along here.

Places that have been ruined and have been destroyed forever by the large concrete condominium buildings.

Great wall of Florida.

Just wall to wall condominiums.

>>Jim: And so they wanted to recognize the need to keep those places.

And so they've painted a lot of them.

I think by preserving some of these beautiful cottages and allowing future generations to see what Old Florida really was and how beautiful and quaint and just absolutely drop dead, gorgeous old Florida was.

We wanted to capture the essence of the cottages, the beauty of these little cottages, just get their memory on a canvas.

Each cottage that was demolished and each condo that went up got a variant.

So city hall had planning and zoning, had to give out a variant.

So we were telling people as we painted, they said, "Why are they pulling down this cottage?"

Well, you could do something about it if you went up to city hall and objected to the variances.

And people started to do that.

But to be able to encourage others, to fix them up and rehab them and preserve them and keep them so that there isn't some big concrete wall that goes up between beautiful Shell Road and the Gulf of Mexico.

Once you smash a tree, you can plant another tree.

Once you smash a cottage, you'll never get it back.

It's gone.

I think they've been a great asset as far as letting folks know that, okay, this is something unique to our community and we need to do everything possible to preserve these structures.

And can't think of a better way to get that message out than through what the plein air artists have done.

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"UNTIL NEXT WEEK, THANK YOU FOR WATCHING."

Funding for COLORES was provided in part by: Frederick Hammersley Foundation... ...New Mexico Arts, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs with supplemental funding by the New Mexico CARES Act and by the National Endowment for the Arts.

...and Viewers Like You (CLOSED CAPTIONING BY KNME-TV)