We’ve been writing and singing songs about love, social justice, human rights, environmental conservation and mental health for nearly two decades. It’s come naturally to both of us – individually and as a couple – to be loving people, to want to be in love, but also to revere nature and all that it holds.
We’ve always felt empathy for people whose lives are exceedingly difficult; a lot of times, those are the very people who have been eternal stewards of the earth. They are often the victims of genocide and long-term cultural erasure, resulting in generational trauma that mirrors the scarring, pollution and suffering that our natural world experiences when humankind becomes an aberration and bites off the hand that feeds it.
Caring for nature - tending to its needs because they mirror our own - makes sense to us. We need clean air, fresh food, and fresh water, and safe environments in which to live. It’s always been obvious to the two of us that the behemoth of capitalism is at odds with nature and those who respect it.
When I was a child of about 9 or 10 years old, I would read the one encyclopedia of natural history that my family owned, as well as non-fiction nature books and magazines on environmentalism from the library. When I’d read a particularly shocking or distressing fact, I would write it down on a piece of lined paper, drawing little doodles around it and decorating the page. Then, I’d take the paper to the community bulletin board that hung next to the mailboxes in the housing co-op where I lived. I’d pin it up there for all to see. I called these little posters “Enviro-Facts,” and I don’t know who ever read them, if anyone, but they felt important to me.
So, back to us – we’re longtime musicians and artists. Our band, Cursed Arrows, really has been a gateway to so many methods of creative expression. Building upon the DIY photography, cinematography and video editing work that so often goes hand-in-hand with making music is the graphic design that Ryan has become an expert at. Making our own logos and album art, doing layout work for physical media like CDs, and building websites before it was easy to do so (you had to know how to code when we started out) has always come naturally. So has making posters for shows.
A lesser consideration for some is the aesthetic choices we make as artists with our own appearances. Our outfits and our instruments are direct expressions of our creativity, much like the visual work I mentioned earlier, merged with practicality of simply needing to show people who we are if we want them to hear our songs.
I’ve always been a writer. Ryan’s always been an artist. I started contributing to the school newspaper as a teenager, and then to zines, and I’ve always kept journals and blogs (again, for decades before it was a given), and written short stories, and poems and even drafts of novels. I contribute to a local paper now, and keep an active newsletter.
Ryan started to draw seemingly for leisure as a kid, quietly on his own, but much like playing guitar, drawing has remained a crucial form of self-expression for him. I express and make art in many other ways: I started sewing, and crafting weird jewelry and clothing, and sometimes I paint, but I just have so much love for the natural world that I feel can only be expressed through sharing my ideas. My words. Songs are the most potent way to do this, I always thought, but then one day I suggested to Ryan that we make an oracle deck together. I’d seen oracle decks floating around; I’d seen my friends use them. We’d never owned one ourselves, so, like most of the things we create we figured, why not just make our own? Let’s see if we can create something intuitively that has the power to comfort and heal us, and maybe other people, too. Like our songs, only silent. Tangible.
We’re loving, optimistic people and we want to honour and heal the world. It’s really that naïve; that pure and simple. We know how dark and evil and dangerous it is out there. We know what we’re up against. We also know that the only way to defeat the darkness is to confront it with unabashed honesty. To be truthful about how afraid we are, how sick we are, or how exhausted, or how poor. But also to show the darkness how resilient we are, how motivated, how passionate we are about healing our bodies and minds, and our planet.
Love is the light.
It will always shine.
As I have grown into the woman I am today, I’ve become immovable in my resolve to stay actively hopeful. I have the privilege of doing so, so I’m going to keep telling the truth, and healing myself, and hopefully healing those closest to me as a direct result of my own efforts.
Our oracle deck is a healing tool, just like our songs. Just like Ryan’s paintings. It’s a work of art that you can hold in your hands, that you can lend to a friend, that you can prop up on a shelf. It’s a work of art that makes no sound, encouraging you to compose the soundtrack to your own life.
All we have is now. Each of us exists in a completely different set of circumstances. For some people, it’s very easy find or make the space to heal. In my case, it took me over 30 years to feel like I could heal my own wounds enough to be a positive force in the world. But that little girl in me - who posted those Enviro-Facts in my community centre - believed she could do something for the greater good. Some call it naïve, but I believe it’s intrinsic to the human experience to want to learn, to be at peace and in good health, and help others do the same.
That’s why we make art: to heal ourselves and others. Like songs, books, paintings, and poetry and films and sculpture and nature itself, art springs forth from the unbidden field of consciousness that unites us all. Should we choose to tap into it, at the same time or in the same place, using the same tools or gazing at the same image, this unified realm of creativity affords us an opportunity for profound connection.
We launched a Kickstarter campaign on October 1st to crowd-fund the printing of our new deck and guidebook. Printing hundreds of copies of this thrilling new creation all at once is going to be expensive, and we’re in no position to foot the bill. However, our last campaign was successful, allowing us to produce the decks and spread them far and wide across this beautiful land we call home. We have no doubt that many of our excited fans and followers will be happy to claim a copy of our new deck, called Luminance.
If you’re interested, here’s how to pre-order a deck + gorgeous rewards via the Kickstarter site!
UPCOMING LIVE SHOWS AND ART MARKETS*:
Sunday, October 4 - Fredericton, NB @ Esoterica Fall Market, Capital Exhibit Centre*
Saturday, October 18 + Sunday, October 19 - Halifax, NS @ Witches Market, Halifax Forum
