art ~ spirit ~ transformation
e*lix*ir

e*lix*ir   #14
Ridvan 2022
Art
 

TABLE OF CONTENTS


Editorial

Our Green Island

Artist Profile

Poems by Tami Haaland
An Interview with Tami Haaland

The Writing Life

Giving Voice to the Dispossessed by Anton Floyd

Poetry

Poems from the Global Poetry Reading Honoring ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
Imelda Maguire
Anthony A. Lee
Harriet Fishman
Valerie Senyk
James Andrews

Essays

The Literary Life of Rosey Pool by Richard Hollinger

Personal Reflections on Bahá’í Texts

Our Verdant Isle by Sandra Lynn Hutchison
The Circle of Existence by Susan Mottahedeh

Art

Our Green Island
Pam Jackson
Nikki Manitowabi

Comic

Ruhi & Riaz by Eira

Voices of Iran

The Holiest Part of the Desert by Nava
A New Qiblih by Nahal Lofti

Books

Anton Floyd’s Falling Into Place and Depositions by Jim Burke
The Passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá


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Our Green Island

by PAM JACKSON

My painter-friend Nikki, with the lichens
Oil, 8" x 10"

Friendship
Oil, 6" x 6"

Early in the spring of 2020, Karen and I became good friends. Together we picked wild leeks and blackberries on Manitoulin. But the most fun we had was during our four-day cycling adventure in August. Karen is trustworthy, helpful and a good friend.

Sweet Grass
Oil, 6" x 6"

Leo and Margaret celebrating the grand opening of Neda’s Sweet Grass pharmacy in M’Chigeeng First Nation. Leo had an herb table out on display and some really good cedar tea for all those who stopped by.

Living with Bats
Oil, 6" x 6"

We have lived with bats for 20 years. Siding bats we call them, as they find shelter in the uneven gaps in the wood siding that covers our house. These little brown bats are seasonal visitors who provide a service to us by eating flying insects (over 1000 insects in one hour). They are agile flyers and you can see them swooping by with Dracula-like magic in the night. We use screens on our windows and don’t live quite as porous a life as Gary Snyder describes: “...at night the bats dash around the rooms, in and out of the open skylights, swoop down past your cheek and go out an open sliding door.” Occasionally, someone will warn us that bats carry disease but that has never concerned us as the bats are living in their natural habitat and are not stressed. The little brown bat can live up to 40 years. They lived here before we did. You could call our house their summer house.

Earth Day Fish
sculpture found objects, plastic, aluminum cans, glass bottles, 6' x 3'

In the spirit of Muniz’s Documentary film “Waste Land” I took a walk collecting trash from the ditch for about 1/2 km fronting our place on Manitoulin Island. We are surrounded by water and the ditch along the highway flows into Lake Huron where whitefish are caught and served in local restaurants.

Oak Savannah
Acrylic, 12" x 16"

Inspired by a 4e group hike on the oak savannah north of Lake Wolsey. After the hike, we met up at the Gore Bay airport to reflect on the experience and make a few drawings. Mine developed into this painting.

Shore Lunch
Oil, 6" x 6"

A tradition starts young. Shore lunch is not fast food. You take a boat, go out on a lake, catch a fish, bring it back to the shore, build a fire and cook it up, and there you go: shore lunch!

Local Leaves
Pen and Ink with Leaves, 4" x 6"

A couple of leaves from local trees.

 


Pam Jackson
Bio:   Pam Jackson is a visual artist who has been drawing and painting since 2011, often inspired by her 22 years of living on Manitoulin Island. She has settled on oil painting as her preferred medium, especially for portraits and other life studies. She has studied and worked with many established artists from northern Ontario and further afield, including Cathy Boyd, Sophie Edwards and Chelsea Lang. Pam’s work reflects deep concerns with the environment, community building, and the life of the spirit.