Juneau Gallery Walk – December 2012

Hand-caste paper feathers by Clarissa Rizal will be available for sale during Juneau’s First Friday Gallery Walk, December 7th, 2012

During the First Friday Gallery Walk, December 7th (4:30-7:30pm), Clarissa will be the guest artist at the “Aurora Healing Arts” on North Franklin Street just a half-block up from the Hearthside Books in downtown Juneau.

The hand-caste paper feathers above are made with recycled papers, with a vein of cedar bark trailing down through the middle of the feather to a mother-of-pearl button tipped with a strand of beads and with a crystal teardrop dangling at the end.

You may purchase the feathers with Native American quotes hand-written on them or there are blank ones to add your own inscription or keep it plain and simple!

Aurora Healing Arts is located on North Franklin Street a 1/2 block up from Hearthside Books in the Triangle Building in downtown Juneau

Aurora Healing Arts is owned and operated by Jan Parrish and Greg Garrison, featuring Infrared saunas, Devil’s Club salves and teas, healthy lifestyle products and herbal remedies.  Also, Jan has been a licensed acupuncturist/herbalist with nearly 30 years experience with a treatment room off the retail store outlet.  They recently opened a month ago.

Window into the world of “Aurora Healing Arts” – check out the paper feathers and all other good things for you in the window the next time you walk past…!

Aurora Healing Art’s uniquely exclusive Devil’s Club Chai tea in both decaff and caffeinated – and in my opinion, “Miracle Mend” is the best all-around healing salve

Auromatherapy spray mists “Raven Woman”, “Eagle’s Feather” and “Glacier Mist”…wonderfully fragrant for swinging into good moods!

Clarissa will have a variety of things available for your Christmas shopping options; they include:  beaded wool felt Russian-style 1800-s Navy hats, shrink-wrapped Giclee prints, hand-caste paper feathers, gumboot earrings, greeting cards, original charcoals, cell phone covers and Chilkat robe pattern board paintings on canvas.  (Note:  The limited edition of hand-printed, hand-sewn Tlingit dolls have all been sold.)

Below are photos of some of the items for sale at this December Gallery Walk in Juneau…

9 greeting card images of button blankets based on robes designed by Clarissa – buy them individually or in a pack of 9 – use them as greeting cards or mat and frame them!

Beaded Russian-style wool felt hats by Clarissa – long-time friend, Kamala with Clarissa stand in front of a Chilkat pattern board on canvas

Spraying clear laquer to set the charcoal (to prevent charcoal from smearing!) – “Totemic Theories” is a charcoal on canvas available for sale in two separate formats:   a wall panel measuring 28″w x 72″h and a free-standing column measuring 28″ x 76″

Dress up in your favorite, festive winter garb and join the Gallery Walk this coming Friday, December 7th; come visit  Auorora Healing Arts and have a swig of Devil’s Club Chai and a bite to eat while checking out Clarissa’s work – we look forward to seeing you!

 

Antioxidants of Wild Water at Mendenhall Glacier

A view from the md-way walk across frozen Mendenhall Lake looking towards the Glacier (in the foreground are icebergs landlocked in ice)

My friend Jan and I walked the frozen Mendenhall Lake to reach the Falls; me walking on ice, no matter how thick the ice, is NOT something that is easy – I have never been comfortable with my imagination of falling through into icy water and drowning!  Yet, I wanted to taste one of the rare things unavailable to most of us in “civilized” nations:  wild water.

A couple of hikers on an iceberg

I grew up on wild water.  Of course we had running water, and of course I drank water from the tap using my cupped hands or putting my mouth a few inches below the faucet like the methods I would as if catching from a water fall.  While growing up on South Franklin Street, we would take walks out to Thane Road with waterfalls to quench our thirst.  And when I had children of my own, we would fetch wild water from the same areas until we moved away from Alaska in the Spring of 1993.

Getting closer to our destination: Nugget Falls - Where and what is Nugget Falls? It's the big waterfall to the right of Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, Alaska. You didn't know it had a name, eh?

Since 1993, I have missed drinking wild water.   On occasion, while visiting someone or even passing through Haines, I make a point to hit the Mud Bay Road Wild Water Station” – that little pipe on the left side of the road about 2 miles out of town heading South.  I can taste, smell and feel the difference!

The frozen waterfall with a narrow opening

Jan and my journey started a couple of weeks ago when we had watched a video on the Kangen (Japanese for “returning to the source”) Water where the host had tested the PH balance of various bottled water in comparison to the Kangen ionized water.  We did a little research about ionized water online.  One of the sources had said the most pure, potent, alkaline water came from our glaciers.  Oh heck, it doesn’t take a scientist to tell us that!  Yet, Jan and I wanted to know for ourselves.

We wanted to test the antioxidant power of our near-extinct wild water.  Why?  Because according to doctors who have proven that all, or at least most, diseases can only live in an acidic as opposed to an alkaline system.  And since we are made up of 80% water, if our water content in our body is alkaline we can avoid diseases including diabetes, gout, Alzheimer’s and last but not least, cancers.  Generally, one of the methods for those of us who want an alkaline system, is to drink and eat foods high in antioxidants.

When we reached Nugget Waterfall, most of the surface was thick, frozen ice with an opening where we could see the falling water.  We were not sure about the thickness of the icy threshold – was it as thick as the lake ice?  Would it hold our weight?  There was only one way to find out.

We shoved the red ladder over to the edge

Nearby we borrowed a Forest Service red-painted ladder.  We dragged the ladder towards the Falls where we hung about a foot of the ladder over the Fall opening. Jan placed herself at one end to keep the ladder from sliding  and to keep my end from tipping, while I carefully walked out to the Falls stepping cautiously on each rung.  I looked down under the ice into the dark hole of an icy-cold rock face; I quickly reached out and snatched a cup of water and backed down the ladder.  So far so good!  (No I do not have a photograph of the hole cuz I could only fetch the water – however, Jan took a photo of me while handing her the cup of wild water!)

Of course I took a swig of that delicious water before handing it to Jan for the test!

We immediately put our little machine called the             to work.  Immediately the numbers worked themselves up above 200.  What did this mean?

The meter read 256

By no means are we experts on any of this information, however, we just wanted to find out for ourselves the level of antioxidants our wild water was on this day at this source.  According to this meter,

The Reliance – over 100-year-old sailing ship being restored

Jan and Greg

I played match-maker for two of my friends, Greg Garrison and Jan Parrish.  I was driving up to Alaska from Colorado in mid-March 2007 and brought Jan with me to meet Greg.  Since, they’ve been two peas in a pod.

Up to the Reliance

I’ve known Greg for a long time; he’s born and bred in Juneau.  We home-schooled our kids together back in the late 80’s.  Owning Harbor Marine in Hoonah since the mid-90s, he’s the only boat mechanic/refurbisher of his caliber in the entire Glacier Bay area.  He bought the famed “Reliance” sail boat years ago; it’s a beauty.  Being on board the Reliance reminds me of my childhood days fishing with my father and living across the street from the Juneau Float.  I wonder about having a boat when I permanently move back to Alaska – in Haines, of course!

Hooray for Greg; he is  finally making time to remodel and rebuild his own boat.  I look forward to her first sail!

Jan, Greg and Clarissa

Greg explains how the engines took 3 entire days to move from one part of the ship to the other

The diningroom will be able to seat 8 comfortably

Jan and Greg stand in one part of the livingroom

A suggestion in the bathroom

The Reliance's hull

Hull colors

Best wishes for Jan and Greg in completing the Reliance's remodel

Blueberry/Huckleberry Harvest

Greg and Clarissa act as if they're gonna eat a berry while Jan keeps the bucket from tipping over

Like I said in my previous blog entry yesterday, instead of celebrating Hoonah’s veterans and doing the ANB Hall fundraising event, I chose berry-picking on a sunny day in Hoonah, Alaska!

Blueberries, Black & Red Huckleberries are there for our taking!

The red huckleberries are Jan's favorites - a good year for plump ones

Our berry-pickin' view couldn't get any better

4 gallons of berries in a silver bucket

Between the three of us, we picked about 6 gallons of berries in 2 hours! - whadda day!

Medicinal Alaskan Native & Domestic Plants

Devil's Club has many healing properties

A forest of Devil's Club can stand 10 to 12 feet high!

Yarrow

Plantain

Many of these plants are used for medicinal purposes.  There are a few folks in Alaska who make healing tinctures, balms and salves.  Visit my accupuncture friend, Jan Parrish’s website:  www.alaskanabotanicals.com for more information on the healing properties of these plants – she has products that could help make your healing adventure a bit smoother – check out the site!

Mint