Art Show

The Rostel Gallery in Dunsmuire CA was a perfect venue for the show! The combination of photographic work and film created life in stills and transformed the sacred into a dialogue. The place was overflowing with the right people. It was an assembly of locals.
I could not have been more blessed by their presence.
The show was a closure, the junction of a giant figure eight. And the years of shooting and interviews made sense in this moment of recognition.

It was a success because, I believe, the language within Pumalogy struck a cord with the audience.

The show happened, it became manifest.


Have a look at this newa article.

http://www.mtshastanews.com/entertainment/x415862908/-ytaahkoo-white-mountain-features-film-and-photography

And some photos

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nodarickard/3083141966/

Thank You !!!!

Screening And Installation

There will be a screening at the end of this month at the Rostel Gallery. This is a conclusion to the production chapter in Mt Shasta. I hope you will be mesmerized by beauty and depth of character and open to a new genre of film presentation. The show will actually be a photography expo and a multi media presentation. Watch picture and new way of looking at landscape then witness the portrait coming to life in interviews and motion!
I will see you there.

Interview with Dennis Smith

After knowing Dennis for ten years it has been a privileged to walk around the sculpture garden with him. The war memorial sculpture garden is located in one of the most stunning sacred areas around Mt Shasta. The large metal figures stand in the desert on the north, surrounded by wilderness and wildlife. When the wind blows through them they come to life.

Before anything else Dennis and I are friends and his encouragement has always been wind in my sails. Now we have the chance to hear what his perspective as a US Marine and Fine Artist is. We discussed war, Giacometti, art and life.

Where is the camera? Photos of the September Locations

Full Moons, Cows, Rattle Snakes and moving lenticulars

Full Moons, Cows, Rattle Snakes and moving lenticular clouds; You will soon see slide of images behind the scenes. Also in the works is a motion picture that will feature the footage transferred from HD to small format so that you can see for yourself some stunning samples of Pumalogy work.

Winding Down

We are winding down the filming of the Shasta Documentary. And are waiting for a few more interviews including Zanger and Denis two remarkable characters. Zanger wrote the book on this place, literally and Denis is a good friend artist and war survivor whose wisdom has helped me continue a life of art.

The film process is arduous and rewarding. In the throws of the last bit of production, the post-production well on it's way. I have learned to let go and go with the river that is our film. This summer I had the chance to meet and talk to Khashyar Darvich who directed the "Dalai Lama Renaissance" narrated by Harrison Ford. He shot hundreds of hours in a two week and spent almost ten years making it. This is what I mean. It has taken me three years to shoot, juggling jobs and time and formats. And at first I imagined completing my film over the course of a summer.

I have adjusted my expectations and embraced the landscape that is now forged into my consciousness. The Pumalogy crew is winding down in this location with a grin ear to ear. There is some historic footage that I cannot wait to share with you!

In the next blog I will discuss the local music that has been and is been composed for us. Stay Tuned!

Shooting In the Castle Crags Wilderness

Pumalogy has been on assignment collecting stories about the Mt. Shasta Outdoor Culture. In the last several weeks we focused on a rock-climbing story for the Shasta Base Camp.
Deep in the Castle Crags Wilderness behind Beck's Tower we witnessed and filmed pioneering level climbing. It is a breath taking location situated between walls of granite. It offered spectacular shots and excellent rope rigging experience.
For the Shasta Project we will be using landscape photography of the Castle Crags Wilderness and some exiting wildlife shots! We also hope to gain insight from and interview Styles Larsen a veteran Crags climber and business owner. His ideal is to connect the outdoor community and provide solid resources for visitors.

Interview with Juan Carlos

We shot Juan Carlos floating above Mount Shasta, for a millisecond and returning smoothly into the pipe. We filmed the BMX sequence at the Weed skate park in the strange forest fire evening light.

Juan Carlos is an insightful character as we dialogued on and off the camera about the nature of imaginative thinking. We are still figuring out what should be shared and left out.

We love the dialogue, but one thing is sur; the stunts will make the cut.

Interview with Charlie Tom

Yesterday I had the opportunity to interview Charlie Tom, Red Hawk.
It is with the highest honor that I record his message.

Charlie Tom who turned 80 a few weeks ago is one of very few full blooded Karuk alive today. His path has been that of a leader in both traditional ways and the integration of those ways into modern life. He is humble and remains elusive to his title which most of us lacking cultural knowledge would misinterpret and then romanticise. He is a minister of the old ways, on paper.
Charlie Tom has been instrumental in getting federal recognition of his tribe. (The Karuk where officially recognized in the 80's). Among a long list of achivements, he has been involved in natural resource management, in protecting Mont Shasta's spiritual heritage and was instrumental in legalizing Native American ceremonies. Today he is a tribal elder, acts as a counselor/minister visiting jails around the country and is the holder of a lineage of traditional healers.
Sharp as a blade he patiently waited as I scribble my questions on to paper. (He cannot hear so well). Then answered insight-fully about subjects ranging from his 2nd WW experience to being a native in Siskiyou County.

Again I feel honored by this opportunity and now bear the responsibility of editing his message in a way that breaks down romantic barriers so to invoke a serious message and present a glimpse into a millennial strong lineage. "Uncle Charlie" is a teacher to many of us in Mt Shasta, the US and abroad. We owe everything to the ones who came before us. May we all become vehicles of the Great Spirit.

What it looks like in motion

Above you see an Iron Statue made by Dennis Smith. His interview will be featured in the Portraits. His work is Giacometti-like with a peace loving Marine Corp twist.

The Mountain is changing colors from pure white to defined features of volcanic rock. Two of these features are worth remembering for their spiritual value. The Madona's Tit is a jagged savior while the heart bears an eerie resemblance to an anatomical heart. To see them take a look at Shasta's South West aspect. Time is rushing forward and the amount of work to accomplish these portraits seems to stack up. We have accumulated a bank of landscape scenery with which we are beginning our editing. 

Interwoven in the process is the search for suitable music that reflects the message of the piece.

Indulge in a bit of audiovisual composition. These shots are from the Memorial Sculpture Garden combined with alpine conditions.

Metal Work In April

Funkynation

Time does strange things. It's proprieties defy common sense even going as far as needing its own field in physics. The illusion of motion comes from capturing a sequence of image and playing them back as to represent real time. I love that notion. Real time. In fact it is time scaled to our perception. While time lapse is nothing new, it blows my mind every time. Allowing me to scale out to a difference dimension by changing time.

Creating these time lapse take a lot more time then their result, and it requires a certain amount of patience. The key lies in learning to let go and set the camera like a trap; collecting the prize later. 

We leave you with the chore of imagining, churning glucose into funky aspirations inside your mind. 

Peace,

Pumalogy Kitchens 

Winter Shout Out

Inside the Pumalogy laboratories we are gearing up for post-production. We have been rearranging memory storage, formatting disk while juggling footage and archives. Data management is a major concern of ours at the moment as we are working with large file sizes. In a guerrilla fashion we are trying to paint a canvas with a quality production value while remaining small, mobile and inside the stories. So we are persisting out of our art kitchen and building the post production blocks for a smooth edit.

We have been living with the weather chasing storms and driving around the mountain for a good perspective of the oncoming front. After the sequence of endless wintery snow our skies gradually warmed up. But this march 2008 saw  a few stellar flakes and we were out with the Shasta Base Camp Crew collecting footage and stories from the front.

This message is a shout out to the winter who is giving way on the 21 to the next cycle. Farewell dark season and visit a few times before you go.  We will see you next year! As for the mountain, is the beginning of spring mountaineering.

Snow Cycle

We have been subject to endless snow. This is a very good condition for our endeavour; the backcountry is offering spectacular shades of blues and grays. Mix wind into an equation of dune like shapes and you get a quiet dimension of  stellar crystal magic. This is a type of snow flake that falls in a mystical hexagonal shape, unfrazzel and settling down on the ground in its purest form.

We also will resume sunrise missions when the sky clears up a bit.

Interview with Barbara Norman

Barbara is an attorney for the Karuk Tribe. She also carries the tribal title of "Peacemaker".

Barbara is working in several cultural fields reconciling differences between tribal members between tribal enterprises and between the tribe county state and federal governments. 

From a western perspective her work is that of a attorney at law and mediator. On a professional level this is in fact her position. But on a wider cultural perspective she is integrating traditional Karuk wisdom with the present legal frame work in California.

To say the least Barbara is an active member of the wider Mount Shasta area and we discover her perspective on the sacred nature of the mountain and the water. We also discover what it means to be honored as a Peacemaker for the Karuk tribe. Finally we explore personally what drew Barbara to Mount Shasta and how she came into the position she is in today. 

Pumalogy Logotype

Welcome to the Pumalogy Symbol. The logotype of the mountain lion is our shield, coat of arms and totem leader. The cat is the emblem of our art concept. We follow our figure in a snow storm through the forest. 

The vessel has risen her standard, flying the banner of Sekmet.

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2008 full force. Waking before the sun rise, and looking at storms from the desert.

I have baptized my backcountry film setup, stay tuned