Good Bye 2017....and all your drama.  The Thomas Fire seemed to upstage the holiday, but not our love for one another.  I wish you the best of all things, great and small in 2018!

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From Susan Bush at Sullivan Goss, An American Gallery. We hereby cordially invites you to the OPENING FOR THE 100 GRAND EXHIBITION, TAKE 2.

The original opening was scheduled for 1st Thursday, December 7th. (400 Intrepid and Devoted Friends and Fans showed up.) Of course, this little thing called THE LARGEST WILDFIRE IN MODERN CALIFORNIA HISTORY was ablaze, which depressed turnout both during the opening and in the weeks that have followed.  If you wanta 100 GRAND opening, this is your second chance: 1st THURSDAY, January 4th from 5-8pm…

"Cloud Formations"

These diminutive 2x3 gouaches are framed as one large statement...

RAIN IN 2018!

One Drop

One aesthetic in contemporary art is to to reduce form, dimension and line to its minimal essence.  Many artists set out to convey their thoughts and inspirations in as few strokes as possible, something like a visual haiku.

The River's Journey Project  is our artistic exploration of our water source.  If I were to reduce Rose Compass's quest to it's most minimal form, I would say "water =  life".  Water is our most basic resource for survival.   Without it, life doesn't exist.

 Even in our grandest space explorations, we use it to find new life.  It makes sense that NASA uses a "follow the water" strategy to locate other life in the universe, says astrobiologist, Lynn Rothschild.

Light at the Low Point, 4x6

It seems our search for water is wired into our DNA.  During a 2010 TED talk, Denis Dutton proposed "A Darwinian Theory of Beauty".  When people were asked to describe a beautiful landscape, they universally identified these elements- ". open spaces, covered with low grass, interspersed with trees. And if you add water to the scene—either directly in view, or as a distant bluish cast that the eye takes as an indication of water—the desirability of that landscape skyrockets". He theorized these were the elements necessary for human survival: grasses and trees for food (and to attract edible animal life); the ability to see approaching danger (human or animal) before it arrives; trees to climb if you need to escape predators; and the presence of an accessible source of water nearby. 

Considering our brains are 80% water and our bodies are 60% water, we are deeply connected to this resource.  I love this description by science writer Loren Eisely.  

"Human beings are a way that water has of going about, beyond the reach of the river."

Follow the journey at www.rose-compass.com.

Excerpts From: Wallace J. Nichols & Céline Cousteau. “Blue Mind.” Little, Brown and Company, 2014-07-22