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A world made of paper

By Courtney Nelson | For the Juneau Empire

Sherri McDonald says she's an artist with a paper problem.
"I have an addiction to paper - I make books or do art so I can buy more paper."
Luckily, McDonald's paper landscapes and her company, Paper Mountain Studio, have been well-received, allowing her to keep the addiction alive. Her intricate landscapes are made using scraps of colored and textured paper that are bound by non-toxic adhesive. Two of her pieces, "Blueberry Hill" and "Douglas Harbor," were selected for the All Alaska Juried Art Show in 2008. She has a show at Annie Kaill's opening Dec. 3, for Gallery Walk, and is working toward a solo show opening March 4 at the Juneau Arts & Culture Center.
When she isn't preparing for a show, McDonald is known as "Wild Bird" on Juneau's Roller Derby team.
Drawn to paper
McDonald received her undergraduate degree in art at the University of Minnesota, with a focus on printing and papermaking. After graduating, she apprenticed for three months with Japanese-style bookbinder Karen Saro in Washington state, whom she met at a Saturday market in Oregon.
"I fell in love with bookbinding during the apprenticeship and the craft - it just connected," said McDonald. "It's the physical act of tearing the paper and laying it down that connects to me, I guess I'm more of a physical artist."
She began creating landscape collages for her book covers, but soon became hooked on bigger works.
"That's when I started to challenge myself and do more complicated collages."
McDonald said the art form combines aspects of two- and three-dimensional work.
"Paper is like sculpture and drawing at the same time," she said. "It's two-dimensional but at the same time there's a three-dimensional quality to it because you are cutting and shaping it. It's very forgiving - you can layer it."
Creating space
After apprenticing with Saro, McDonald moved to Austin, Texas to work in a hand bindery. She met her husband, Mick, in Austin, and he got a job in Juneau two days after their wedding. While shopping for houses, McDonald and her husband agreed they had to find a home with a studio and a garage.
"We weren't going to stop until we found a place that would offer both," she said.
They found a place with a large basement crawl space on Douglas Island that fit the bill, but it took another two years before renovations began and about eight more months before they were complete.
"It was just a basement when we moved in. It was very dungeon-esque with dirt floors, visqueen, plywood and a single light bulb."
The project accelerated when her father, who came out to help during the birth of their second child, ended up doing electrical work and installing sheetrock. They used gravel to raise the floor, put in floor heat and concrete and had stairs put in.
Now the studio has a large window overlooking Gastineau Channel providing natural light.
"It's great as a landscape artist to be able to look out at a gorgeous landscape that's constantly changing."
McDonald says she uses her art to deal with the dark winters and wet weather.
"Part of the reason I do the art I do is to help me get through the winters, and a view helps me see the beauty during weather that normally makes me depressed. If you capture that weather in art, then it becomes something different, it isn't your enemy as much."
Having a separate studio also allows her to flourish in a home with two young children.
"I like to come down and work on things and then leave things and know that I will find things exactly as I left them. I don't have to clean stuff up every time I walk away."
The creative process
McDonald says her time in her studio is not always productive. She sometimes procrastinates by pacing, checking e-mail, and figuring out music to play while she waits for inspiration to strike.
"In the beginning of a project you are filled with uncertainty, you don't know exactly what you want to do, whether it is going to be a good choice and worth spending any effort on or not. At a certain point you just have to say, 'Okay, go for it.'"
Once she has an idea, she starts to give it form before it eventually takes off.
"When it starts to come together - after making critical early moment decisions which are the hardest - if you make good choices, then it starts to take on its own life. Everything seems more clear, where you are going to go next ... it's just a flow from the brain to the paper or to the art."
The challenges
Although McDonald's art is primarily done in her studio, where she has a 16-drawer flat file filled with all types of paper, she has gone out with Juneau's Plein Rein artist group - with mixed results.
"Any bit of wind blows the paper away, if it's raining it gets wet. But there's a certain aesthetic to an immediate application of when you are looking at something and doing it right away that you can't really get in studios."
For those who are stuck or just starting out on their creative journey, McDonald suggests seeking out an encouraging person. For her, it was Rie and Juan Munoz, who bought McDonald's first prints to resell in their gallery. Their belief in her helped her accept that she was an artist, a major epiphany for her.
McDonald has learned that when she creates art that speaks to her and isn't created with a profit in mind it turns out better.
"For me it's really rewarding to create something that's not expected with paper, constantly trying to make it look like something beyond just a piece of paper - more of a painting. That's the challenge for me."
To read more about Sherri McDonald visit www.papermountainstudios.com.
Courtney Nelson can be reached at nelsonfamily@acsalaska.net

Tersteeg exercises her creative muscles in new show

By Courtney Nelson | For the Juneau Empire

Alice Tersteeg has been exercising her creative muscles lately. Last month, the local artist and former University of Alaska Southeast professor of art was featured in exhibits at both the Canvas and Annie Kaill's, in two shows that highlighted her extensive influence on the arts community of Juneau. The Canvas show, which included Tersteeg's work, featured pieces by many of her former students in a variety of media, from silk screen prints to etchings. The Annie Kaill's show featured art from Tersteeg's personal collection, and was organized to raise money to help pay for large medical bills her husband incurred before he succumbed to lung cancer in July.
This month she headlines a second show at Annie Kaill's, this time featuring her own original work. The show opens Friday with a First Friday reception also celebrating the downtown gallery's 35th anniversary.
Born in northern California, Tersteeg earned a degree in art from the University of California Chico, then received her masters in fine arts from Syracuse University - in spite of her father's wishes.
"I was always interested in art and I knew it was all I wanted to do, but my father thought it wasn't a very practical career - that didn't deter me at all," said Tersteeg.
University days
Tersteeg paved the way for many more people to tap into their creative energy by creating new art degrees at UAS, including an associate of arts degree and certificate in Northwest Coast Art. It's the accomplishment she's most proud of.
"I was working to support the Northwest Coast Art program, which I started in 1983 with Dr. William Demmert," Tersteeg said. "Members of the community had come to the university to ask if the classes could be offered on a more regular basis because they were hit and miss, so we started the program."
With her help, UAS went on to offer bachelor's degrees in art, as well as degrees with an art emphasis, for a total of five art degrees.
"To me that was my biggest life goal, to provide that many opportunities for students."
The importance of art
"I think they are making a huge mistake when they start cutting art programs and music programs. These are areas of creativity that are absolutely essential for people to grow," Tersteeg said. "If you go through your life without creating artwork or always listening to other people's music instead of creating your own music, then you may be doing a disservice to yourself - there may be a lot more creativity inside you that never comes out."
While doing art is often perceived as relatively expensive, Tersteeg believes making different choices can lead to more creative endeavors.
"If you spend your money on expensive cars or expensive sound systems or talk on the phone a lot, what do you have to show for it when you are finished? If you are spending money on art supplies, you are doing yourself a lot of good for your own mental health as well as developing the creative muscle."
Early years
Tersteeg moved to Sitka in 1973 after doing graphic design in Chico. She worked for eight years at Sitka's community college before taking a job at UAS in Juneau in 1981, where she fell in love with the setting. She's lived here 35 years.
"It was the setting and the personality, and it's the size city and state where you think you can make a difference."
Tersteeg met her husband Roger, who'd moved to Juneau from Minnesota, on a blind date set up by one of her students, Joanie Dahl, who was a model for one of Tersteeg's drawing classes.
Although Tersteeg sticks primarily to landscapes and wildlife, she did a show last year titled "Chrome" which showcased her appreciation for Harley Davidson motorcycles the Pandhandlers biker club, which she says collects toys for kids and coordinates other charitable fundraisers.
Her husband Roger was a mechanic in town and he loved restored cars and liked to attend car shows like "Dip Sticks" in Juneau, which got her interested.
Lessons
Tersteeg recently suffered a huge loss - her husband died of cancer. Roger was a smoker and Tersteeg urges people to do whatever they can to help their loved ones stop smoking and to prepare for financial strain of potential illness.
"Discuss medical coverage early and often," Tersteeg said.
Her husband's Social Security did not cover the costs of emergency transportation because he was covered under Tersteeg's insurance at the time. When she retired, he was no longer fully covered.
She also advises people to look into emergency Medevac insurance with ground transportation, such as the one offered through Apollo MT for $100 a year. Airlift Northwest is another option for $79 a year that covers entire households but they don't offer coverage for ground transport. Without the insurance, the air and ground emergency transportation can cost over $50,000.
Tersteeg has been through some stressful experiences, but is doing better.
"I have a wonderful support system of friends and I would never move anywhere else because I have such wonderful friends here. There's no way to explain how important that is."
• Courtney Nelson can be reached at nelsonfamily@acsaalska.net.

Artists' spaces: Playhouse turned artist's retreat

By Courtney Nelson | For the Juneau Empire

Landscape artist Constance Baltuck's space for creating is tucked away in the Juneau flats, on a grassy plot of land next to Gold Creek with a view of Mt. Roberts from the porch. Before becoming her studio, the small house on 10th Street had been used as a getaway spot from her family's main home just a few blocks away, an arrangement she admits is unusual.

"Most people buy recreational property in Shelter Island or Mexico, but we came here everyday because it had a yard in the flats and swings in the trees," she said.

Baltuck renovated the previously abandoned house in 2006, hiring a guy to fix the holes in the ceilings and floors and to stabilize the building. She now creates her colorful paintings in the kitchen.

"I tried setting up my work space upstairs and in different corners, but it always ends up being central," Baltuck said, adding that the kitchen has the advantage of access to running water.

Baltuck has been painting and showing her work in Juneau since 1983, when she had her first show at the now closed Orpheum Theatre.

"I've shown my work once or twice a year since then, except when my children were babies, so Juneau has been really receptive to my work."

Though her paintings are based on the natural world, she allows herself plenty of room for elaboration and interpretation.

"I want it grounded in reality, because that's what makes the painting convincing, but I want a lot of freedom to play with it, because I'm an artist and if we can't do what we want with our worlds on canvas, then why bother?"

She doesn't sketch things first or recreate scenes from photographs, but rather paints things as she sees them in nature, taking her materials to different spots around Juneau. She takes creative license with her colors; most of her paintings contain bold, vibrant hues.

"I really try to paint what I see, and then the colors just sneak in and are brighter and more intense and completely unrelated to what I'm looking at, but for some reason it works," Baltuck said. "By the time I get home and look at my work, it really has no relation to what I took a picture of - it's a whole different thing. I'm not thinking 'Does it look like what I was looking at?' I'm thinking, 'Does it make a good painting?'"

From Detroit to Juneau

Baltuck was raised in Detroit, Michigan, and learned the basics of drawing at the kitchen table with her father. After her father's death, her mother hatched a plan to take the kids to all the national parks in the United States.

"We didn't do that, but we saw a heck of a lot of them, including Alaska," Baltuck said. She already had some familiarity with the state through her great aunt, who worked at the Mount McKinley Lodge in the 1950s.

"We drove here from Michigan with all the kids in a van, so it was 1967 when I first came to Juneau. It was the trip I remembered."

It took Baltuck 14 years to get back to Alaska. During that time she earned a degree in museum studies from the University of Washington and in 1981 got a job as a naturalist for the state ferry system. The job was over before it began: on the ferry to Juneau she was seasick the whole time, and ended up working for the Legislature instead.

She also worked with the U.S. Forest Service and studied botany.

"It was a combined sort of approach to study where I did a lot of work interpreting natural history," Baltuck said.

While she paints primarily Alaska scenes, she also paints when she travels. Last year, with help from a scholarship from the Juneau Arts & Humanities Council, she took her VW bus filled with blank stretch canvases to Arizona's Petrified Forest National Park, working there as an artist in residence through the National Park Service program. She stayed in an adobe house, venturing out to paint in her bus, sheltered from the harsh elements.

"It was great, I had nothing else to do but paint and really explore the park."

Baltuck, who admires artists John Singer Sargent and Claude Monet, believes painting is a luxury.

"In these days and times (being an artist) is really self indulgent," she said, "but I lead a simple life so I can paint."

Juneau's Plein Rein

Although painting is largely a solitary activity, Baltuck says it's nice to have company. She often joins Juneau's Plein Rein on their weekly excursions around Juneau. The group, founded by Barbara Craver and Pua Maunu, go out every Saturday to paint in different locations.

"It's like we hunt and gather and we come home with our prize. The fun part is going out and collecting and painting outdoors - I could do the first stage so easily forever. Then you come home and you've got to make it work. That takes time and sometimes days to finish up."

Sometimes she comes up with a painting she wouldn't show to her own mother.

"When you put that kind of energy and focus into something for days and it doesn't work, that's horrible, it's crushing," she said.

Other times she'll look back at a painting and think it wasn't so bad.

"Nowadays if I do a painting and I'm dissatisfied, I don't destroy it right away, and if there's a chance I think I might like it I'll put it away for a while. But usually if it's bad, it's just plain bad."

Occasionally she'll pull someone in to help her pinpoint a problem.

"One time we did the old trick of turning a painting upside down and there it was, three dark spots that carried your eye right off the canvas. Just by getting rid of the middle dot of color, it stabilized the painting."

Baltuck has shows scheduled at the Canvas in November and the Alaska State Museum in November 2011. In preparation for the latter, she is taking a sabbatical to devote herself as much as she can to her craft.

"One thing about being an artist is no one can tell you you've done it wrong. There's only one important judge of the work and that's the artist."

For more about Baltuck and her work, visit www.constancebaltuck.com/.

Artists' spaces in unusual places

By Courtney Nelson | For the Juneau Empire

It's a little known fact that the Viking Lounge on Front Street downtown, known for its karaoke and martinis, also houses a thriving artists' space. Upstairs, the scent of fresh-cut red and yellow cedar and alderwood leads to a small carving studio, located behind a door that reads, "Do not enter." The space is not open to the public.

Only a few carvers and artists are allowed to create here, said Viking owner Jack Tripp. In addition to the on-site carvers, about 18 artists check out supplies from the studio and work on their carvings at home, he said.

"Someone has to vouch for you - it's kind of an honor system because there's a lot of value in this shop," said Tripp, referring to the raw cedar and ivory kept under lock and key.

One Tlingit carver, Arthur Johnson, has worked pretty exclusively with Tripp over the last six years. Johnson creates scrimshaw, soapstone carvings and masks, as well as totem poles, gun grips, sketches, museum reproductions, canoes and items used in Native regalia.

"I make paddles, rattles, drums, box drums - anything Tlingit," Johnson said.

Johnson, 45, of the Kaagwaantaan in Hoonah, has six children, and has been carving and doing artwork since he was 9. The youngest of 11 children, Johnson is self-taught. He said he became interested in the artform after observing his teenage cousins carving, and now really enjoys what he does.

"I like coming to work every day, there is always something new," he said.

The carving shop is in use seven days a week, opening in the morning and closing as late as midnight. Other artists who use the space in addition to Johnson include Jason Vonda, Nick Vonda III, Dwain Price, Charles High, Browne Willard III and Milo Irish.

The artists' finished products have many different outlets, but the majority of their pieces go down the street to the Mount Juneau Trading Post, also owned by Tripp, where they are marketed to tourists and collectors.

Johnson says his most memorable piece was a legends canoe etched on a tusk commissioned by a collector.

"The look on her face and the hugs and tears said it all," he said. "It was really cool and that's what it's all about for me as an artist. We do this because we love to do it and because people really appreciate work done by Tlingits. Nobody likes to look on the bottom and see Bali or Indonesia."

In addition to Northwest Coast traditional art, Johnson is also called in to repair art knocked over by customers in the shop, a steady problem. The shop contains art made not only by Native Alaskan artists, but also by artists outside the state. Artwork made by Native Alaskans usually bears the Silver Hand symbol, featuring a silver hand and the words, "Authentic Native Handicraft from Alaska." Items made by Alaska residents who are not necessarily Native may bear a "Made in Alaska" sticker or emblem.

Tripp said that the artists who work out of the Viking space also supply the majority of the drums and paddles used in regalia for Southeast dance troupes.

"My wife is Tlingit, so she's immersed in the culture, and my daughters are dancers," Tripp said. "Her uncles are the Chiltons, who are the silver producers in town."

"We produce about 250 drums a year, an average of two drums every three days," he said. "It's a really weird niche market."

Producing art in bulk allows Tripp to focus on the expertise of each artist. For example, he may ask one artist to produce skins for the drums, and a different artist to paint them, according to dancers' specifications.

"We have blank drums, they tell us their crest and we can have it designed and made," Tripp said.

Tripp believes that by sharing the space and supplies, he is helping artists create work that might never have been attempted.

"Maybe they don't have the $50 to buy the piece of wood to make a paddle, then that piece of work never exists," he said.

Johnson agreed. "I don't have to pay for any of the materials, everything is provided for me, except for my knives, so we have no costs," he said. "Other artists have to put stuff on commission and hope that it sells that year and lose a large chunk of the profit. We don't have to worry about whether our stuff is going to sell or not. We are good at what we do and have been doing it for a long time."

A small totem pole will take Johnson about a week to finish, working eight hours a day. His scrimshaw pieces are also labor-intensive but he doesn't mind.

"I've been a tattoo artist for years, and crossing over from tattooing people to tattooing walrus tusks is about the same thing, but you don't have to worry about the walrus tusk moving, or saying 'ow' or bleeding all over you. It was a great transition for me."

Contact Courtney Nelson at nelsonfamily@acsalaska.net.

Won't you be my neighbor?

By Courtney Nelson | Juneau Empire

Do you know your neighbors? Should you know your neighbors?

Everyone defines a perfect neighbor differently. My ideal neighbor would do the following: say hello, check my mail and watch my house, shoo ravens and bears from my garbage, comment when I look nice, provide cooking ingredients, alert me to good weather coming, notice if my tires are low, loan me power tools and mechanical advice, proofread my stories, remind me to file my Permanent Fund Dividend, call me when solicitors are heading my way, babysit the kids in a pinch, and make me feel okay about the junk pile on the side of my house.

Luckily, I have this all rolled into one neighbor - they've got my back. It might be better if multiple neighbors each took on a few of these traits so my one neighbor isn't burdened with my high maintenance. But after five years on the block, I've never been in anyone else's house, haven't had many conversations and don't know anyone else's story. What if we have big things in common that will make me feel warm and fuzzy? Or what if I got to know them, and found out I didn't like them or they had a shady past?

Some swear friendly neighbors will make life more pleasant. By being the neighbor you want to have, you might get that reflected back. Here are some thoughts on improving neighbor relations.

Make yourself available

Take walks around the neighborhood and say hello to people in passing. Or sit or work in your front yard and act approachable. Have an open seat next to you for a short visit.

Meet new neighbors

We just had new neighbors move in next door so I arranged for my "good" neighbor and I to go in on a little homemade goodie basket. I had the kids draw some pictures of our family and we included some baked goods, smoked salmon, homemade jelly and assorted teas in a bag and hung it on their door on move-in day. They stopped by to thank us and I learned their names, occupations and landscaping plans. Could be the start of a beautiful friendship - and with two boys, it's nice to know there's a nurse next door.

Lend a hand

If there are any struggling elderly people on your block, offer to help them somehow or give them your phone number in case of an emergency. This will foster good feelings and make them feel a little safer. If you are the struggling elderly, don't be afraid to ask for neighbors' numbers or hire neighborhood kids to help out with strenuous chores.

Pets and music

Noise seems to be a big problem for many people. My mom fought with neighbors over their barking dog by blaring Mexican music full blast in their direction when the dog wouldn't stop. The neighbors in turn reported my high school parties and I spent a summer weeding the side of the house. However, this led to their son helping me and we started dating.

Walk the line

There's a fine line between being neighborly and nosey. If you want to talk, leave your neighbors wanting more, not wishing you would go away. Just a little information will go a long way.

Have an open mind

Neighbors are thrown together with no real rhyme or reason except that they can afford to live in the same neighborhood. A tree hugger can live next door to a logger, a Republican next to a Democrat. Use this as an opportunity to get to know the "other" a little. With some common ground, maybe some understanding can be reached.

If that doesn't work, as Robert Frost said, "good fences make good neighbors."

This is the last Straight Talk column. Thank you for reading. Courtney Nelson can be reached at nelsonfamily@acsalaska.net.

Artists' spaces: Down in the basement

By Courtney Nelson | For the Juneau Empire

Basement Studios, a glass business opened six years ago by married artists Tasha Walen and Lincoln Farabee, began in the corner of their cellar with only a torch and an open window. Now it's taken over the whole floor.

Since the purchase of that first torch, the artists have expanded as rapidly as their glass. They now have a larger torch with oxygen propane, a diamond-embedded wheel, a lapidary grinder, a kiln and lots of glass materials to help them create their lampwork, beads and jewelry. To adhere to safety codes they installed a ventilation system capable of sucking all the air out of the room in just seconds. In the winter, this unfortunately chills their living space above.

Although the thought of a huge heated studio downtown is appealing, they wouldn't have their space any other way. They like to travel too much. They show their work with the Juneau Artists Gallery year-round and exhibit their larger scale work once or twice annually.

Walen and Farabee met while working on their undergraduate degrees in Bellingham; both were bass players in the symphony. They eventually moved to Alaska and attended the Univeristy of Alaska Anchorage; Walen earned her master's degree in early childhood special education, and Farabee got his nursing license.

Walen now combines her degree with her passion for glass, teaching art to adults who experience disabilities at The Canvas. She also helps The Canvas design their music program.

"I teach art glass there, and glass engraving and infusing with my students. It's amazing," said Walen.

A love of travel

Basement Studios isn't incredibly profitable, but it allows the couple to travel the world learning more about the art of glass.

"We've been using it (the company) to help build on itself," said Farabee.

"For me the fun part is traveling and studying," said Walen. "The glass community is very inspirational, people are very generous, and we've met people from all over the world just blowing glass, taking classes and working with teachers."

Farabee's mother, who was hooked on glass at the same time as her son and daughter-in-law, works out of Seattle and travels with them.

"It's such a good way to get to know your mother-in-law," said Walen. "We both studied at Pilchuck Glass School, and we spent some time studying in Murano, Italy, which is sort of a mecca for glass artists."

Farabee and his mom are currently preparing to visit Germany to study glass, and to learn how to make prosthetic glass eyes.

In addition to Pilchuck, Walen studied at the Pratt Fine Art Center in Seattle, and the Corning Glass Museum in New York. She has also worked with Martin Rosol, a Czeck glass artist who taught her a laminating process called hextol, where two pieces of crystal or optical glass are joined with laminate glue.

"When you move the piece, it changes colors," she said. "It's all cold working, so the glass is shaped without any heat."

Walen and Farabee both find that glass workshops are very productive times, but there's something about the intensity of workshops and the transformations they create that taps into emotional releases.

"There is always somebody that cries at glass camp," Walen laughed.

"Everytime we take a class it kind of bumps us up and gives us so many ideas it's almost hard to manage it all, she said. "Then there are times I come down here and stare at the wall for three days and don't know where to start - especially right before a show."

Show and politics

Their current show features engraved glass with iconic figures in unconventional locations, like an Alaskan cast-glass totem pole with the Great Wall of China as a backdrop.

"I've been exploring the mass production of Alaskan images, especially in our community where they purchase stuff from China and then everybody comes to Alaska to buy them," Walen said. "I'm trying to find humor as well as make people think about things and question what is going on. Maybe people will stop and think about it a little."

Inspiration and planning

When asked about the source of their inspiration Walen said, "My design work comes usually in the form of a weird non-sleeping evening - absolutely overwhelming ideas come one after the other. I write them all down. It all kind of comes out all at once, and then I'm working on that."

Sometimes this design inspiration is shaped by practical concerns like glass compatibility and cost of materials.

"Glass moves at different rates so it can be like trying to blend oil and water."

Some glass colors cost more than others, she said, and using recycled glass can be tricky because the glass type is not usually known.

The rewards

Besides travel adventures and continuing education, Walen says the most rewarding thing for her is teaching glass fusing and cutting to people who experience disabilities.

"It's super rewarding, and some of the best artists I've ever met are in that studio," she said. Anyone can do it, you just make it work and stop putting limitations on people."

"I think teaching is the direction I'm headed," said Walen, who also wants to exhibit in museums and out of state. "There are some people who are great artists but not good at teaching - I think I'm an OK artist who's good at teaching."

Farabee says teaching isn't in his future. For him it's a creative outlet from his day job.

"I don't feel like I'm fighting myself; I have creative ideas at work and this is my outlet for them."

Though they exhibit together, their work is very different.

"We are very individual in our taste and flavors for glass," said Farabee. "(But) we work together and respect each other a whole heck of a lot, which really helps."

Chaos to order

Juneau Empire

May I have your attention please! Please suspend your techno presence for a moment. Refrain from uploading, downloading, emailing, Skypeing or texting for a very important message.

We've become a society of attention-deficient multi-taskers. We consume "exabytes" (a unit of digital content) in many forms and we have endless information and amusement at our fingertips. Video games, Internet, music, apps, texts, movies, books, television, and youtube to name a few.

Some say this hyper-techno-connectivity is just a different kind of adaptive behavior; part of natural human evolution. Others say it's a crisis threatening the very foundation of our society. Here is my take on the controversy.

Price of distraction

Distraction is costing companies and families money. Business owners are paying employees for splintered attention and we are drugging children into submission. The annual price tags for productivity loss and ADD and ADHD drugs are both in the billions, according to studies.

There is also loss of life. Distracted drivers are making drunk drivers look good. Distracted health care workers are giving the wrong medications and, in some cases, lethal doses to patients. Some hospitals have made it mandatory that nurses giving medication wear an orange vest so people won't distract them.

Channels

Information overload can be balanced, we're told, if different information channels are used simultaneously: oral, visual, auditory... If too much information is being delivered into one channel, we overload. But if several channels are humming together, like listening to music while surfing the web, the experience can be intensely pleasurable. Like a shot of morphine.

By allowing down time to synthesize these information streams, we can find connections and insights, but many never pause to reflect.

Getting "stupider"

Our brains, while having the potential for unlimited capacity, can only process so much information in the short blink we are on the planet. It seems with our endless information streams, we are only grasping surface understanding of topics and are failing to understand how the world actually works. We are digging many shallow holes while drinking water from a fire hose.

When we overload ourselves, some studies say we dump information we learned in our early years, like lessons learned earning a girl scout patch.

Fighting for attention

The two forces of attention and distraction are dancing as distraction takes attention away from one thing, only to draw attention to another. We've developed a pattern of giving brief bursts of attention. Often times attention seekers want something from us.

The Internet, like a Las Vegas casino enticing disoriented people who can't find the exit, encourages people to stop and spend cash. This distraction can backfire, however. Just when a virtual cart is full of stuff, the shopper will get distracted, the spell will be broken and they will disappear.

Often it's people competing with technology for attention. Like when my husband and I are out to dinner and there is a tennis match playing on television behind him. I won't hear a word he's saying when Roger Federer is playing.

What about the children?

I've heard reports from a friend down south who says people are going into restaurants and setting up DVD players for the kids at the table. It seems the days of teaching kids how to behave at dinner and talking to them are going out the window.

Family vehicles are being sold as moving media vessels. A family on a road trip will each have different headsets, DVD players, iPods and iPhones to distract them from looking out the window or interacting. When I was little on road trips, we had conversations, I contemplated them, looked out the window, then came back with more questions. I learned silly songs, read books and heard family stories.

Now we seem very fragmented and fast moving. There is a lack of discernment in where we receive all our information. We're unable to figure out the source and determine the value.

Bringing order to chaos

Maybe the skillful management of attention is the key to happiness and fulfillment. If in between exabytes we allow space for self reflection, personal growth, understanding, compassion, charity work, and creativity we'll be better off. If we generously lift someone else up instead of being self absorbed in our technology pleasure. If we sit still and meditate, we might bring order to our fragmented pieces of thought and a whole picture will emerge. We can bring order to the chaos if we give it our attention.

•Courtney Nelson had over 1,000 interruptions while writing this piece, it's a miracle it was finished.

Artist Rob Roys: 20 years of productivity and counting

By Courtney Nelson | For the Juneau Empire

I met with Juneau's abstract artist Rob Roys in his downtown studio to talk about his art and paintings. With a view down Seward street, the studio above the Lisa Davidson boutique downtown feels like an inspiring place to create. Previously it was the creative home of John Fehringer, and then Jane Terzis, who used it for over 20 years.

Roys often plays music and warms up to painting by reading or sketching, then begins work on several different pieces simultaneously. When he is in high production mode, he'll spend up to 30 hours a week in his studio.

Roys says he's always wanted to be an artist and, aside from second grade when he sold a rooster sketch to a teacher, he created his first legitimate piece of art in 1992.

"It wasn't really derivative of anything that I'd been taught to do," he said. "It was personal, but had universal qualities to it. It looked like a painting and had brush strokes. It was the first time I thought I'd done something that was good," said Roys, who'd had an art studio since 1988.

Referred to by many as an abstract artist, he describes himself as "an Alaska modernist currently working in the figurative idiom," a description that confuses even his wife, Pagan Hill.

Early years

Before settling on acrylic paint as his medium, Roys tried many different art forms. He broke his hand many times playing sports, so he was steered toward hand-building activities. Being a ceramics major at UAF seemed logical.

"I couldn't control pencils very well, but I could control clay," said Roys, who eventually dropped out after a tumultuous time.

"When I encountered ceramics academia it was all about the wheel, if it wasn't about the wheel or the ceramics dogma at the time it wasn't considered anything worthwhile."

Upon his return to Juneau, an artist group called "Arts R Us" emerged and Roys tried different mediums like painting, drawing, and collage, showing pieces at local cafes.

Portfolio Arts eventually hung an 18" x 12" painting by Roys in their front window and someone bought it.

"It felt pretty good, it was pretty awesome because it was a real painting. I had just done it and hadn't really thought about it as a product," said Roys, adding that he would have been happy if someone just liked it but wouldn't have cared if they didn't.

Since then he thinks he has gotten better at painting, but believes people have also gotten used to seeing his work.

"Once they understand, it's a bit more approachable. If they see something they don't understand, they immediately don't like it."

Critics

At one of his first art shows over 21 years ago, Roys had someone write in his comment book, "Someone is wasting nice white pieces of paper."

Roys said the offhand remark really influenced him,

"I haven't ever wanted to waste white sheets of paper," he said. "I took it very personally, but at that time I needed criticism."

Roys says he feels it was a sign of attitudes of the time.

"At that time people thought you should kick younger artists as hard as you can and as viciously as you can because it will make them tough, and if it makes them quit doing art, well, good, then they shouldn't have been doing art in the first place. What I really learned was that wasn't right - it's better to be supportive and helpful to young artists."

Roys thinks this attitude has been changing.

"Critiques are so nice now - before people were mean to each other and now it's 'what's good about it?' Some people need to get kicked in the teeth once in a while though, as long as it's honest and constructive."

Art and money

"If you are trying to make a living at art, there are much better ways to make money," said Roys, who has a day job working for the state as a procurement specialist. He says his job isn't reflected in his work but did try to use it before.

"One time I tried to do a piece that tried to communicate the dismal situation of an office job and it was horrible - it was really awful, awful stuff. I keep thinking I'll revisit it but nobody wants to see people sitting in cubicles."

In contrast to the Renaissance days when artists could just create and not worry about money, Roys says today's artists are different.

"For modern Americans who are really trying to do real art they have to have some other source of income, that's just the way Americans are - we have jobs."

"A life in the arts is very rich. You won't be rich monetarily but you'll be rich in friends and culture and life experience."

Juneau

Roys was born in Cordova and moved to Juneau when he was two. His father was also a painter and worked for the state.

"All my art is really about Juneau when it comes down to it," Roys said. Motioning to a painting in progress of a woman lying on a rug, Roys explains the meaning.

"That's somebody I've known for years - I've seen them grow old, go through relationships and have children."

In addition to people, Roys likes to draw pictures of spots in Juneau that have special memories or meaning for him.

He said he just knows when he's going to turn a sketch into a painting.

"Sometimes when I'm drawing, I just know that I'm drawing in a zone - I'm warmed up, everything is just perfect, everything is just right, my pencil is at the right sharpness ... so that's part of it, when I feel like I'm in the zone," said Roys, whose current projects include sketches from a life-drawing class he has been running.

He also gets his inspiration from headlines, the news, and, as a self-described "troubled teen," he also gets ideas from his past circle of friends that "had pretty bad life circumstances." "Apologies and Accusations" was the title of one of his art shows at KTOO that he says was "pretty therapeutic."

Intentions

For Roys, painting is not a hobby, it's a passion. Roys has his eyes set on the all-Alaska juried show, which he hasn't been selected for - yet.

For people viewing his art, he wants them to experience whatever they want.

"I don't care what they think, because the most important thing is what I think, but I really want them to enjoy it. It's my way of contributing to the world."

"Art should try and make things that make the world a better place. Art makes peoples lives richer and better."

In search of holistic healing in Juneau

By Courtney Nelson | For the Juneau Empire

For a small town, Juneau has a robust holistic health care scene. As treatments that promise to cure ailments without medication often are discounted or misunderstood, I decided to go in search of the basic philosophy and benefits of naturopathic healing in Juneau. I found disease prevention, and even cures, can be as obvious as finding the right mix of diet, exercise and sleep - naturally.

Diet

David Ottoson, the owner of Rainbow Foods, a downtown natural foods store, said he and his family have been using naturopathic doctors as their primary care providers for more than 25 years.

"I believe in 'first, do no harm,'" he said. "I want the gentlest, most side-effect-free treatment as a first resort, and if that doesn't work, then I bring in the big guns."

He says for optimum health, he tries to be careful about what he eats and tries to stick with organic fruits and vegetables, and grass-fed game.

"I try and eat grass-fed animals with no antibiotics and junk that they feed animals in commercial operations," said Ottoson, who carries grass-fed bison at his store.

Naturopathic doctor Kristin Cox, of Rainforest Naturopathic Medicine, said the top ailments she treats in local patients are food-related digestive problems like constipation. She also hears complaints of fatigue, depression, anxiety and insomnia.

Cox says most of these problems stem from dietary and nutritional deficiencies, and many of them can be fixed with simple adjustments. Cox also notes that vitamin D deficiency is a big problem and many ailments stem from a low-functioning thyroid, especially in women.

"Many people are eating something that doesn't agree with them, or they have a nutritional deficiency," Cox said.

She has had success with many patients by using an elimination diet to determine which food is causing the problem. Cox said she's had many patients who were treated with surgery and pharmaceuticals for a simple food allergy.

For example, She had a patient with acute abdominal pain who'd already had three organs removed and a complete hysterectomy before Cox saw her. Cox determined her pain was from a wheat allergy.

Diet also is a focus at the SEARHC medical clinic, where Stephanie Zidek-Chandler is the health promotions and injury prevention manager.

"I'm into prevention, so I encourage diets that are rich in fruits and vegetables, and getting out in the sunshine to get vitamin D. There are really basic remedies that help support health," she said.

Data shows that heart disease, cancer and diabetes are the primary health problems for SEARHC patients.

"Most of our lifestyle-related diseases involve stress, diet and exercise, and having an imbalance there," Zidek-Chandler said.

Diet has also made a difference for Bret Schmige, who is married to naturopathic doctor Emily Kane. Schmige said he has felt a lot better since meeting Kane and changing his diet.

"I really appreciate eating a lot more vegetables now. Bachelors don't tend to eat very well," said Schmige, who also said his energy level is now much better now.

Exercise

Kane encouraged Schmige to exercise and stretch more to take care of back problems for which most doctors would have prescribed drugs.

"Naturopathic doctors look for alternatives to pharmaceuticals. (My wife) always tells me her healthiest older patients are the ones that are not on medications. It's just so easy to go to a doctor and complain about something and have them put you on medication. That should be the last resort," Schmige said.

Rainbow Foods' Ottoson also values exercise.

"I like to get up and move around and do something every day, and I meditate."

Ottoson also avoids prescription drugs but sees them as a necessary evil.

"There are instances where they are extremely valuable, but I think they are over-used."

Energy work

For treating lifestyle stress that affects your well-being, energy work is a drug-free option. Massage, acupuncture, reiki, healing touch, chiropractics, physical therapy, occupational therapy, meditation or counseling can all enhance your health, and, in many cases, can be prescribed and covered by insurance.

Bartlett Hospital is an indication of changing attitudes. It has offered healing touch for about 10 years now with much success, according to Bartlett nurse Mary Donlon.

"Healing touch is energy work used to try and remove energy blocks that can cause illness," said Donlon, who said it is often used after surgery and can be requested by patients.

A whiplash injury from car accident years ago left me with chronic pain in my neck. Juneau's occupational therapist Linda Newman treated me with a cranio-sacral treatment that released the memory of the accident that I had stored as a knot in my neck for more than 15 years. Bartlett is offering this treatment now as well.

Instead of running to Western medicine for quick fixes like medications and surgeries, which are often recommended to save time and avoid lawsuits, why not start with a naturopathic doctor who can take a look at your complete picture and guide you to optimum health - naturally? I found it takes being proactive with our own health, which includes clearly communicating symptoms and health history.

"If people can get connected to a program or a personal system or something that results in them taking action, they can improve their health and decrease their risks for so many diseases and just enjoy life to the fullest for a lot more years," Zidek-Chandler said.

Rapper Murs performs tonight

By Courtney Nelson | For the Juneau Empire

Tonight the rapper Murs will be performing at Marlintini's Lounge for the first time in Juneau. Doors open at 8:30 p.m. and local rap and hip hop performers Astronomar, Judo and Phonetic will open the show at 9 p.m. Tickets are available for $25 at groovetickets.com.

Anchorage's Heather Prunty, who founded Synapse Productions in 2001 in Girdwood, arranged to have Murs perform three dates in Alaska. Prunty has been dedicated to bringing a hip-hop scene to Alaska for almost ten years.

"I brought the first hip-hop show to Juneau in 2007, with Del the Funky Homosapien, followed by Chali 2na, Zion I and the Grouch, then I brought Swollen Members there last year," said Prunty, who sees it as a win-win because the rappers can see the beauty of Alaska.

Murs, now working independently, is originally from the hip-hop group Living Legends that formed in Oakland in the early '90s. Living Legends was created so the artists could create, promote and perform their music independently. After many years together and over 300,000 units collectively sold, they have gone on to work on their own projects.

Murs, Nick Carter's performing name, is an acronym for "Making the Universe Recognize and Submit." He's now signed to the independent label Record Collection. In 2003 he released his first debut solo record "The End of the Beginning."

A messy business

By Courtney Nelson | For the Juneau Empire

When the Glacier Valley Elementary School wanted to enhance and expand their Art is Elementary program (www.jsd.k12.ak.us/~heagyl/ArtIsElementary/Art_is_Elementary.html), specifically the after-school clay studio program, they turned to the Canvas. They wanted to bring private lessons to children who might not be able to afford it and get a fire kiln. Thus began a collaboration between the Glacier Valley Clay Club and The Canvas.

The idea of partnering with the Canvas was sparked when Susan Sielbach, librarian and art teacher of Glacier Valley Elementary, contacted Canvas program developer MK MacNaughton to ask her a few questions about the school's recently installed kiln. Sielbach asked what type of clay and what tools they would need once the kiln was installed.

"The kiln itself was funded through Glacier Valley's Capital Improvement Project and was installed in the summer of 2009 during the renovation," said Sielbach.

This got the two talking about a partnership, and they were able to get funded through a grant.

Sielbach and Glenda Lindley of Glacier Valley Elementary partnered weekly with The Canvas and local clay artists who provided professional development. MacNaughton made sure Glacier Valley had potters and teaching assistants every week.

"During this time the Canvas artists Saran Arnston, Dana White and Gina Frickey, modeled lessons for the students and provided training in the operation of the kiln for the staff," said Sielbach, who, along with Lindley and the students, learned the proper techniques in hand-building with clay. The adults also learned procedures needed in preparing clay, glazing, loading and firing the kiln, and proper technique for teaching students this art form.

The Clay Club had 47 students ages 6 through 11. Students in other Glacier Valley classes gave-week unit on hand-building with clay.

This collaboration was beneficial for both the Canvas and the Clay Club, MacNaughton said.

"The Glacier Valley after-school Clay Club offered a unique opportunity to offer training to the Glacier Valley staff from an experienced pottery teacher from The Canvas, as well as an opportunity for an adult artist who experiences a developmental disability to gain experience as a teaching assistant. The model worked well to support everyone involved, and most importantly, the students had the opportunity to enjoy learning about clay. It was a wonderful collaboration!" she said.

The Clay Club was supported by a grant from the Arts and Education Initiative, sponsored by the Rasmuson Foundation and administered by the Alaska State Council on the Arts.

"The students got messy, playing in the clay," Seilbach said. "Many wonderful clay pieces were created and everyone involved learned something new." "Seilbach said she hopes to continue the partnership during the 2010-2011 school year.

Feng Shui, personal directions: Feeling lucky?

By Courtney Nelson | Straight Talk

My last column, "Feng Shui for life," encouraged readers to pick a space that needed energy work and to clear the clutter and grime, inviting prosperity with Feng Shui. This second part will touch on personal directions, bad "sha" energy and adjustments.

Lucky numbers in the east and the west ideally, placement of a building, rooms and furniture should be based on best directions. A personal kua number, stemming from the Feng Shui Eight Mansions and determined by year of birth, determines individuals' luckiest directions, the way sleeping heads should lie, office locations, and oven and front-door placement. When it's not possible to accommodate all household members, place the major bread winner in their ideal locations first.

Determining kua numbers is simple but different for men and women (www.trustyguides.com/feng-shui4.html). For women, add the last two digits of the year you were born (subtract one year from your birth if your birthday is between Jan. 1 and Feb. 20) and keep adding the digits of the sums until there is only one digit. (For example, a person born in 1983 would add 8 plus 3, which equals 11, then add 1 plus 1, to get 2.)

Now add 5 and continue adding until there's one digit. On the last step, men should subtract 10 instead of adding 5. Whala - your kua!

One, 3, 4 and 9 are east people and 2, 5, 6, 7, 8 are west. To complicate the matter, the numbers also have water, earth, wood and fire element associations and trigrams.

Start with bedroom basics

The head of a bed should be placed against a wall to reinforce security. Avoid placing it under a window. Ideally you can use your kua number to determine the top four directions your head should face. If those directions aren't practical, then do sleep experiments to determine where you sleep best.

There should be only one door to a bedroom so chi energy can be absorbed instead of continuing through another door. Mirrors should not be visible from the bed. A-frames should not pass over the bed because stagnant chi accumulates in them. And don't hang lights or pictures over the bed head, because they are subconsciously threatening and reduce sleep quality.

Most importantly, upon waking, do you see an inspiring painting or breathtaking view or do you see a pile of clothes that need to be darned and a cluttered dresser? Adjust to inspire.

House compatibility

What direction does your front door face? If it faces southeast, northeast, southwest or east, then it's an east house. If it faces north, south, west or northwest, it's a west house. If you and your house belong to the same group, then your basic house Feng Shui is in your favor. Some people instinctively use another entrance that's more compatible with their direction.

Inside the house there are lucky directions associated with people's lives. Recognition and fame in the south, marriage prospects and marital happiness in the southwest, children in the west, mentors in the northwest, career prospects in the north, education in the northeast, family relationships and health in the east, and finally wealth and prosperity in the southeast. Determine your room direction placements and try to arrange accordingly.

Secret or poison arrows

"Secret arrows," are unseen energy lines that create disharmony. They are strong attacking energy in the form of pointed or sharp edges, pointing at your personal energy field. A neighbor's satellite dish can be a secret arrow if it's directed at your house or your most vulnerable spot: your front door. A church steeple, electrical pylons, roof lines or any set of parallel straight lines can cause problems. Furniture and framed photos can create disruptive secret arrows.

At the intersection of Egan Drive and old Glacier Highway is a huge radio tower creating secret arrows. The arrows are directed directly at the spot I, and many others, have lost control of our cars. I ping-ponged from the guardrail to the ditch when I entered the secret arrow energy line and was shaken to the bone. I'm just sayin' ...

Many secret arrows can be softened or deflected quite easily with mirrors, plants and crystals. Take a look outside your front door. Can you see any secret arrows directed at you?

"Killing Breath" - too much of a good thing

If chi is off balance in either direction, the life force energy can turn into a destructive element called "sha," or "killing breath." This can happen in your home or in the larger city.

I looked at accident locations in Juneau over the last 10 years and found Back Loop Road, Mendenhall Road, Egan and Glacier Highway are accident hot spots likely due to long stretches of road where chi moves so swiftly it turns destructive.

Gentle meandering Old Glacier Highway along Twin Lakes for example might be a better travel choice.

Stagnation

Stagnation is created by sharp corners and angles and the United States designs things on square grid patterns which is problematic. Juneau recently put in the roundabout on Douglas Island to improve the flow and ease of traffic, which is more in line with Feng Shui's circular patterns.

Round objects are also good inside the home as opposed to sharp angled furniture. Angles can be softened by plants or other elements.

Avoid the "T"

If your house is positioned at the top of a "T" with cars driving toward your front door, consider an adjustment. This is practical because if they don't brake or turn adequately, they will end up on your property. Consider moving or protecting your house with a fence or row of trees.

Buckingham Palace, for example, is placed at a "T" intersection but has a statue and roundabout that deflected the channeled energy flow coming down the mall. That is until they "pedestrianised" it, and energy flowed directly into the palace. Some people believe the popularity of the British Monarchy went down after this, and Prince Charles and Princess Diana broke up as well as all the Queen's children's marriages.

•••

Feng Shui can be used as a tool to access the mysteries of the universe by studying the environment, seasonal changes, tides and vibrations of nature.

And it's a fun way to look at your environment.

• Contact Juneau resident Courtney Nelson at nelsonfamily@acsalaska.net">nelsonfamily@acsalaska.net if you would like a part three to the series covering Trigrams, elements, sexagenary year, the 12 earthly branches and more.

Disclaimer: Courtney Nelson is not a Feng Shui master, so take this column with a grain of salt and a shot of tequila.