My Alaska Blog

  a shrine of WORSHIP look, listen, pray, then ponder? A Nicho to the act of giving praise in humility. The G enerative Force behind this one started with the hand painted domino inside the "window frame", or veil . The domino depicts a modern rendition of the Sacred Feminine . She was painted by my Paternal Grandmother's Brother. Yes, that makes him my Great Uncle, I know. Good old Uncle Zane got me crafting, making, and creating products when I could not get a call back from the false Golden Arches. Attribution should be relevant and seems to be in sync with The Way . There is a false all seeing eye in front of the " Veil of Maya " watching and tempting the humble man. He kneels on a solid Rock of Faith in the gnow ledge of the E Pluribus Unum and The GREAT ARCHITECT?   The moss covered letter "L" represents the Watchers or eL among us?  Above and beyond the scene (just under the roof or firmament) lays a precious stone. The stone has a t...

Milagros Nichos aka, Shrines Assemblage Collection by Brett 2012 For a while I was really into the work of Michael DeMeng . A couple of things that he shared and are still with me to this day are his color "The Uz" (sounds like luge, short for the Usual). Then, his wonderful gift of altering the word assemblage into the word "Awesome-Blage". The color UZ is a 50/50 mix of Mars Black and Gold (metallic flake). Of course, the ratio of black to gold can be played with to achieve differing effects. He is a Master Creative Type. His work really help crack me out of conventional thinking. For example, he lays down caulking and then uses a blow torch to cook it. Or, expanding spray foam insulation is used as a hole filler in an assemblage piece. If you are not familiar with his work, then please check him out, a link is provided above. Just click on his name.  I completed a set of 6 Nichos loaded with Milagros and collage. I will go into each one in detail in individual p...

Trail Lake near Seward, AK This photograph was taken almost at random. I was driving a friend from Ft Lauderdale around the State. We needed to stretch our legs and I happened to spot a pull off in time to stop in it. When I got out to water a tree, I gasped in awe. It was so beautiful that day that I began to wonder about the nature of coincidences and/or synchronicity. Feel free to use it for personal purposes. I can not find my original file. So, I apologize in advance for the poor resolution.  Some of you may be wondering why a man from Florida would come to Alaska in the Winter. Obviously, not all of you are thinking about that. For those of you that are pondering that riddle, he wanted to see the Aurora Borealis and Snow ! I lived in the MIA area for a couple of years and I had to come home. I got sick and tired of no mountains and 70 degrees. 

Bird's EYE View 00   Denali, or The Great One This is the view of Denali from a few thousand feet up in the air. After leaving the Talkeetna airport in a 4 seat, single prop airplane, this is what I witnessed. This Throne sits at 20, 320 feet tall at it's peak. Now that is a lot of ROCK!  I went with two rugged pioneers from Wyoming on the plane. I remember that there was this City Slicker up front with the pilot. The guys and I were joking about eating her if we had to, after a plane crash, of course. City folks have jokes about hillbilly's. Well, we got jokes too! The thing is very few city people can survive where we thrive. Maybe you are jealous of our mad skills? Perhaps, you understand instinctively that you are in a rat trap?  The strangest thing about the whole trip was that the plane never dipped it's nose down to adjust for "curvature". Now that I think about it a little more, there was no visible curve for hundreds of miles in any direction. Weir...

Amanita Muscaria in ALASKA An Amanita Muscaria at a young age It has been so rainy for so long, the mythical toadstool are just rotting where they stand. Which is really bad for me because I have a couple of big orders to fill for clients in the lower 48. The season is coming to a close soon. The geese are heading out, the leaves are yellowing, and night time temperatures are getting low. Winter will be here in no time at all. Hunting for these mushrooms isn't that difficult. I watched a video on You Tube and the guy in it was calling out their name while he hunted them. At first I thought this was just crazy but, after trying it, I have to say it actually seems to help. With all of the rain we received over the last month, I had to break out my Gore Tex pants to keep my legs dry. Waist high grass that is soaking wet can really kill your desire to find mushrooms. People all over the Whirled are willing to pay a couple hundred USD per dried pound of caps. For that sort of money...

There is a place in Anchorage, Alaska called Gravity Hill. If you make your car come to a complete stop and put it in neutral, your car will roll uphill. That's right, your car seems to defy gravity and begins moving up a fairly steep hill. To Anchorage locals it is known as Gravity Hill. I'm sure there is a rational explanation for this phenomenon, I just do not know one. To get there you need to head for the parking lot of the Flat Top Mountain hiking trail. I really do not know how to give directions to Gravity Hill on the way up. So, here are directions for it on the way back down the mountain from the Flat Top Mountain hiking trails. You will come to a corner that is so sharp, you could call it a U-turn. A massive home with a stone wall resides on this corner. Go to the stop sign down the street and take a left hand turn. At the bottom of the first hill, stop your car and put it in neutral. You are on Gravity Hill. I hope you enjoy it.