>> BJ Robinson: In this edition of "KPBS Spectrum," a weaver documents the history of an indigenous culture.

>> Clarissa Rizal: It is the act of the weaving that puts me in touch with all that there is, and it's the wearer who feels all that power and energy.

>> BJ: A photographer captures the beauty of nature.

>> Rick Buchanan: Ohio is boring, it's flat, there's no pretty landscape, no mountains, no oceans.

Well, there's no mountains or oceans, but we do have beautiful landscapes.

>> BJ: Using the walls of a Wisconsin high school as a canvas.

>> Timothy Haglund: So, the work is changing the environment through my drawings and the colors.

>> BJ: And an artist who crafts seashells into home decor.

>> Heather Kendall: The beach has always been a place where I go to feel at peace.

So, when I see seashells, I'm happy.

>> BJ: That's all ahead on this edition of "KPBS Spectrum."

[music] >> BJ: Hi, I'm BJ Robinson.

Welcome to "KPBS Spectrum."

For the Tlinget, an indigenous tribe from the Pacific Northwest, art is more than just a means of expression, it's a way of preserving history.

In this segment, we meet Tlinget weaver Clarissa Rizal, and learn about her people's history through masterfully woven designs.

[music] >> Clarissa: The reason why I weave, it's like no other medium that I have ever worked in that connects me to the past, and the present, and the future.

I take the fibre from an animal and a plant.

[music] >> Clarissa: And I weave them into these ceremonial robes.

And in so doing, it is the act of the weaving that puts me in touch with all that there is, and it's the wearer who feels all that power and energy.

[music] >> Clarissa: Our art was depicted in everything.

And that was a way to portray, you know, our identity, you know, where we came from since it was a matrilineal society.

But also, it was our written language.

We wore our history in our regalia.

We still wear it.

We didn't have a written language, it was all oral translated, you know, passed on from generation to generation.

But with the oral history, there was always an art object that went with every story, that went with every historical event.

The stories come from everyday life, whatever happens, whatever it is that you want to preserve for future generations.

We want to tell a people where they're from, what happened, how did they come to be where they are.

It's not just livelihood, it's part of retaining history.

[music] >> Clarissa: I call this piece "Resilience," and it's "Resilience Chilkat robe."

And what that is it's like it's a visual document of the ability of a people to adapt to outside forces that came into the culture.

In that image, you'll see the foundation of our clan system, the eagle and the raven in the center.

And then there's the outside influences.

Within the eagle and the raven, you'll see the Alaska Native Brotherhood, ANB, and the ANS.

And these civil rights groups gave flight to the rights of the indigenous people.

And then at the bottom is the tail, and what that represents, it's the Sealaska Heritage Institute logo, and they are now the present day rudder as far as helping to retain and perpetuate the native cultures in present day Western society.

Resilience, the ability to adapt so that we continue to thrive.

I keep stories alive because there's always something to learn.

And even when the story's repeated over and over and over again, and you hear them, you know, 20 times in your life or 100 times in your life, right, at that stage in your life, you always get something else out of the story.

There, there, there's Louis.

>> male: Hi.

>> Clarissa: Look, little socks.

Little socks.

Baby socks.

When we tell our stories, they are a guide from the past, through now, into the future.

That's why we tell stories.

[music] >> BJ: Up next, we meet Columbus, Ohio photographer, Rick Buchanan.

He's made a career out of capturing some of the city's most notable people and events.

But it's his love of nature, from Ohio's scenic Hocking Hills to Colorado's aspen trees, that has him aiming his lens at the landscape.

Check it out.

>> Rick: Well, we're here at Upper Falls in the Old Man's Cave region of Hocking Hills.

Hocking Hills is really a magical place.

People, you hear a lot of people say, "Oh, Ohio is boring, it's flat, there's no pretty landscape, no mountains, no oceans.

Well, there's no mountains or oceans, but we do have beautiful landscapes, and I think Hocking Hills is the nicest in the state.

When you get down there at the right time, it's just--it's gorgeous.

We got a decent amount of water coming over the falls today.

I've set up a shot here that I kind of like because the hemlock branches are framing the falls nicely.

Hopefully, we'll end up with an image that's one that isn't seen every day.

I try to travel as light as I can when I'm out in the field, just tripod, two or three lenses, camera body.

This is the Devil's Bathtub.

Sometimes, there's some cool compositions down in here, depending on how much water's flowing.

It's a little light today.

I started my career in the advertising business, and worked in that for 16 years, and picked up photography as a hobby along the way.

And so, I slowly made the transition over the course of a couple years from the advertising agency business to photography, and really never looked back.

[music] >> Rick: Well, I like to tell people that I photograph people and places.

So, a lot of my work is portraiture.

And then I photograph quite a bit of events.

And then I also do a lot of landscape and nature photography.

Well, right now, we're down here at the cascades, which are right above Middle Falls, and getting some nice light coming through, streaming through the trees, getting a little bit of light beams and nice reflections on the water.

Using a really slow shutter speed here to add motion to the water and get that nice cotton candy kind of feel to it.

I usually go to Colorado every fall.

I's probably my favorite place to photograph, I just love it out there.

One of my favorite subjects to photograph are aspen trees.

There's just so much personality to them.

The trunks, the leaves, the way they change, the way they look in the spring, the way they look in the fall, the way they look in the summer.

Plus, it's just--it's just great to be out there in the mountain air with them.

So, I print all my own work here in the studio, and I use an Epson 7880.

It's a large format printer, it's capable of printing 24 inches wide by, I don't know, 6 or 8 feet long.

I think one of the hallmarks of my photography is detail.

I really like a lot of detail in my images and my prints.

When you get out there in nature, it's great to get away from the hustle and bustle.

I find it's a very invigorating way to kind of recharge the batteries, so to speak, and give me a creative spark in my commercial work.

>> BJ: For more, visit rickbuchanonphotography.com.

Now, let's take a look at some art events happening around San Diego.

[music] >> BJ: In this segment, we meet Timothy Haglund, a Wisconsin artist who believes art should change its environment.

When a local high school offered a wall for a painted mural, he saw an opportunity to inspire future generations.

Take a look at his larger than life creations.

>> Timothy: I wanted this work to be universal, as in you'll always find something new in it.

So, if you're looking for truth, justice, community, partnership, and faith, you will absolutely find it.

>> Leanne Giese: Dominican High School is a Catholic high school located in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, and we are a college preparatory high school, and we are sponsored by the Sinsinawa Dominicans.

We are situated in our outer concourse of the school, and it is adjacent to our auditorium.

When this area was renovated in the summer of 2015, we knew that we wanted something in this space that would really represent our mission and our five core values of truth, compassion, justice, community, and partnership.

So, when we created this new space that had such a large area for gathering, we really wanted to make sure that this wall would represent the belief, the vision, the values of Dominican High School.

The mural is the creation of one of our school parents, his name is Tim Haglund.

And Tim is a well-known, beautiful, renowned artist.

>> Timothy: Now, I'm an oil painter.

I always coined a phrase called art and architecture.

So, the work is changing the environment through my drawings and colors.

That wall in the theatre area, in the concourse beckoned for something.

About 10 feet tall, it's 50 feet long, you know?

And something that large, it can be difficult to do one painting.

So, this one I broke up into six individual motifs that all run together.

And those motifs are going to represent the core values of Dominican High School.

>> Leanne: We wanted to make sure that it really encompassed everything from the beginning, where Father Samuel Mazzuchelli came to America, and he worked with Native Americans, and he made sure that he not only shared education and the value of an education, but faith, and giving us a strong foundation.

>> Timothy: The next mural is a family standing around a table with food on it in the interior of their home, and that's the titled "A Family that Prays Together Stays Together."

And then the next mural is the four characters from "The Wizard of Oz" taking a break, resting from their journey, their travels to the Emerald City.

>> Leanne: The colors just strike me as being vibrant and exciting, and you can walk right into that.

>> Timothy: The fourth mural, it's a young man in his dorm room with a window that shows the university outside.

And there will be a chair and a table in the room, and on the table will be scattered papers, and there will be words on the papers that relate to his studies, and his traveling, and his dreams.

> Leanne: His life is an open canvas, and it can go anywhere.

Any student can go anywhere.

>> Timothy: The fifth one is a theater scene from "The Phantom of the Opera," and this one's going to be a candid shot, as if someone walked through and just took a quick photograph of the characters.

And it represents movement as theater has.

The last one's called "Building Lasting Relationships," and the four characters are crammed in this boat.

And one has a hard hat on, representing architects, engineering, or the trades.

Another one has a chef hat on to represent culinary skills.

The other one has a tall stove-type hat on, so that's a politician or a lawyer.

And the other one has a mask on that's a huge horse head, and that represents the arts.

>> Leanne: It really shows that you can go anywhere, your journey is open.

The different landscapes show that we don't know where our students will go, but we hope that, as this canvass really shows, is that they come back here and know that this is their family forever.

>> Timothy: So, that all fused together and run together, they'll be divided by trees that are painted, and on each tree will be a plaque that's cut out of a CNC machine with a scripture verse to represent truth.

>> Leanne: At the bottom of each is a Star of David representing the Old Testament, and on the top is a symbol of the New Testament.

So, it really brings them both together.

>> Timothy: So, it starts out with a little sketch, a little line sketch.

From there, I'll go into a larger pastel drawing.

And then from that process, if I like that, I'll bring my watercolors out, and I will match those colors.

And then from there, I'll mix those watercolors into layering oil paint, and I'll draw it onto the canvass, and then I'll start layering color through my color studies to create the image.

And then, once all of them are done, they'll be brought down to Dominican High School, and the back of the mural gets pasted, and then they get--and then they get hung.

So, there will be a crew of people to hang it.

>> Leanne: This artwork represents a talent that you don't always see in the classrooms.

This provides them with a view of the beauty that comes with the fine arts.

>> Timothy: It's going to bring a lot of color and activity to the space, which is great.

>> Leanne: We're hoping that our students develop a great appreciation for the time and talent that went into this.

We're hoping that it draws them in and makes them think about their own experience at Dominican.

This is just an image of beauty and a future, a future that's open to them, and making whatever what they want to happen in their life come true.

>> BJ: To find out more, visit the school's website, dominicanhighschool.com.

And to explore Tim's other work, visit his website, timothyhaglundstudio.com.

Now, here's a look at other art events happening near you.

[music] >> BJ: Finally, we visit Clearwater, Florida, where artist Heather Kendall uses seashells to craft elegant home decor.

Literally, she sells seashells by the seashore.

Join us as we go to the artist's home studio and take a look at her unique designs.

[music] >> Heather: Hi, I'm Heather Kendall.

Welcome to my home studio, where I make seashell designs for my business, Elegant Shells.

When I make a piece for someone, I really try to imagine it in their home, and I finish it meticulously with small shells, which is my favorite part, and I send it off in hopes that it will create a peace and an appreciation of the ocean in their home.

I've always had a love of seashells, but about 16 years ago, I was on a family vacation, and I walked into a store with a bunch of girlfriends, and we saw this amazing seashell work.

One of my girlfriends and I looked at each other and thought, "We could do this."

And we collected a bunch of shells, and we purchased a lot of shells also.

So, I came home and I tried it with a girlfriend, and we made $10,000 in 3 days in our first 3 shows, and we knew it was a viable business then.

Friends started to hear about us, designers started to hear about us, and we started getting business via word of mouth.

And I grew up on Clearwater Beach.

Those people started talking.

Thanks to social media, I have become known as one of the top seashell artists in the world.

I'm drawn to shells because, as a little girl, I spent many days and evenings on the beach.

I grew up on the beach.

My cousin Mary walked with me on the beach almost every day for sunset, we would collect shells.

And my little brother was six, so that time--he was my only sibling, and my mother was gone with him.

That time with my cousin was really special.

I felt safe, and the beach has always been a place where I go to feel at peace.

So, when I see seashells, I'm happy, I feel at home.

And to work with them as a medium has been a real blessing.

I get my shells from the beaches here in Clearwater Beach, and Minnesota.

I kayak out into the bay to get my crushed shell for my white mirrors.

I buy shells from India, the Philippines, South Africa.

Those are the main countries they come from.

This is a mirror that I finished last night, it is all muscle shells that I got from bonefish.

My family and I ate all of these.

I'm just going to take a little glue, and then place it right in here, and I'll be finished, and it'll be ready to deliver to Vero Beach this week.

I had been working for interior designers, I understood interior design.

I was a visual merchandizer and a stylist for photoshoots, so I understood placement, and I also had taken a lot of art, and was raised by artists who were raised by artists and art collectors.

So, I felt confident that I could look at a blank chandelier and figure out where to put the shells, and how I could adorn it to make it beautiful.

And with that confidence, because of working in all those different jobs and positions, I went home and put together a chandelier, and then did a mirror, and then did my fireplace, and I thought it was great and fun.

And people came in the house and said that it felt good, and it was beautiful, and said they wanted them too.

See how it picks up the lines?

I love it.

Like magic.

You can't even tell that all of that is on there, you know?

Like, all that metalwork.

But then as soon as you do that.

I just play around with them.

You can actually put these in here, and you can put in pieces of coral with it, and just load this whole center part up, and then hang these shells in wherever you like, whatever shells you like.

All these different little places are places where you can put shells.

On the top, on the bottom, and you just find coordinating shells, or shiny ones, polished, and mix them with natural, or color.

Sometimes I use red coral, and black and white shells.

Every one is different because every seashell's different.

I receive a lot of emails and phone calls from people that want to know how to shell a piece.

And I certainly do answer all the emails, and you know, give anybody whatever advice I can.

I believe I've inspired my children to be entrepreneurial, and that we can create a job for ourselves, and it's possible to live your passion and do things that you want, and that you should.

>> BJ: To find out more, visit elegantshells.net.

That wraps up this edition of "KPBS Spectrum."

For more arts and culture, visit kpbs.org/arts, where you'll find feature videos, blogs, and upcoming arts events.

I'm BJ Robinson, thanks for watching.

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