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14B Wednesday, March 2, 2011 Bulletin, Progressive, Record, Reporter
Naturalist and sculptor share show at gallery
Artist, writer, teacher and naturalist Joe Willis will open a show, which includes his photography,
such as this crab spider and currant bush, with a reception Friday, March 4, Photos by Rocki Eriksen
Rocki Eriksen
Special to Feather publishing
"Every picture tells a story
don't it?"
-- Rod Stewart
Recent technology has made
it possible for the average per-
son to take extraordinary pho-
tos using fairly inexpensive
pocket size digital cameras. It is
also true that highly skilled
photographers using the best
equipment can crank out a mul-
tRude of mediocre photos. The
lighting and composition per-
fect, the Subject matter a care-
fully arranged combination of
brilliant colors or perhaps an il-
lusive flash of some ephemeral
event frozen in time, digitally
captured forever.
But if the photo does not
speak to you or ask a question,
it is just a picture without a
story. This is not the case with
photographer, artist, writer,
teacher and naturalist Joe
Willis. More than just a pic-
ture with a story, each photo
of his tells a life lesson of the
world we share with others.
Biophilia is a term coined
by Edward O. Wilson, an
American biologist, re-
searcher, naturalist and au-
thor of many books including
"The Biophilia Hypothesis."
Biophilia refers to an instinc-
tive love of nature, Wilson
writes, "Humans have evolved
as creatures deeply enmeshed
with the intricacies of nature
and we still have this affinity
with nature ingrained in our
genotype."
"My Biophilia: An Attitude
Toward Nature" is the head-
ing written above Willis' de-
scription of his life's work.
"I call myself a naturalist
and I believe that being a nat-
uralist is just a matter of one's
attitude toward the natural
world. It's memorizing scien-
tific names. It must include
curiosity, of course, and keen
observational skills. But most
of all it involves a sense of be-
longing, i put my. energy into
an ever mare intimate rela-
tionship with the places and
subjects I photograph and
write about. My attitude is
that ifl don't ruin shoes at a
rapid clip or wear holes in the
knees of my pants, then I am
not getting close enough,"
"Up close and personal" is a
good description of Willis'
work. One photo shows the in-
timate relationship a golden-
rod crab spider might have
with the specific plant he is
perched on, He is not attracted
to the tiny flowers but to the
insects that feed on the flow-
ers which, in turn, may fall
prey to his swift attacks.
Or consider Willis' photo of
a tiny tree frog with lines of
black and emerald green. Was
it the colors, the daintiness or
the sounds it made that at-
tracted Willis so strongly he
named his daughter Hyla in
honor of this tiny being?
Initially, Willis applied his
zoology degree toward a sci-
ence teaching career. Howev-
er, he has taught nearly all
high school subjects including
art, photography, biology,
math, English and social stud-
ies. He gave up professional.
advancement to live in closer
proximity to wilderness. He is
a regular contributor to the
"i"
.$.
I'€"
i:nen0000.
Jack has a tail that curls over his back-- Chewy is a young,
guessing a neutered male L,tb
wQi )
Spitz or Husky cross witl the most
mix in with his beautiful golden
noticabl¢ Lab eyes. Withhis shiny
traits. A goxI black coat, l)ink ' m
young adult tongue, white-white '
dog, playful teeth and gold eyes
and energetic he is a real tunner Q@
who has lost of a dog! \\;;cry
his way and friendly and good with all the other animals, lithe I
wound up in l..oves to go for walks with lhe volunteers and
W"
I
the county would Ix'. happy in an active home. He does slo,.
shelter, down tbr pets and naps-hc's active, not hyper, e##]
• A good boy who needs a good home.
OPEN SATURDAYS FOR ADOPTIONS ONLY 10am-2pm
Shelter hours are Monday, Wednesday & Friday 8am-5pm, closed l-2pm for lunch and
O@ closed weekends. Plumas Anlmal Services charge, a $ I0 fee and llcense fees ore $5 per year. Q
An officer will deliver a pet to the adoptlng party's veterinary of choice to have the animal
altered In completion of 111o adoption requirement. For more Information, call 283-3673 or visit
countyofplumas.com or peffinder.com
Sponsored by:
00.TJo
283-0480
Your local downtown full service pharmacy / e00o.
including veterinary compounding
lr
Joe Willis, with one of his journals filled with detailed sketches of insects, says .being a
naturalist is a matter of one's attitude toward the natural world,
Bloom Blog and Awesome Au-
tumn features for the Plumas
County Visitors Bureau. He
also started his own blog (at
blackoaknaturalist.
blogspot,com). In the summer
Willis works with the Art
Camp, leading nature hikes
around Plumas County.
His photos of the flora and
fauna allow viewers to share in
his intimate relationship with
nature. "For the past three
years I have tred to photo-
graph every PlumasCounty,
wildflower I could find. During
the summer of 2009, it seemed
more often than not, insects
were intruding upon my at-
tempts to photograph flowers
-- mostly bees, hover flies and
butterflies. I discovered some
unbelievably beautiful insects
and spiders. I realized my ba-
sic biophilia was erupting and
Need help
REP ING
If It'slng we
can'll find
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CONSTRUCTION
General BuiMing Contractor
Calif. Lic. #453927
(530) 283-2035
what really excited me was the
relationships between plants
and pollinators, often quite
species specific."
Willis' passion for his work
is infectious. The more he
learns, the more he is com-
pelled to share this enthusi-
asm and knowledge gained by
complete immersion, Like the
method of learning a'new lan-
guage, the result of being
dunked into a new world is
like a light being turned on,
opening up a wider range of
vision. Willis believes we Iook
with our eyes butwe see with
our brain. What he hopes is
the ability to "see" the connec-
tivity of nature's creations in-
teracting as a whole. "Beyond
personal fulfillment as a
writer and photographer,;'
Willis says, "my greatest wish
is that I can influence young
people to discover their innate
biophilia, and develop sustain-
able interests and habits and
the joy inherent in doing so. I
hope you enjoy my findings."
Take the opportunity to at-
tend the opening reception,
meet Joe Willis and enjoy his
wonderful photographs and
sketches at the Main Street
Gallery in Quincy March 4 at
5 p.m. His work will be on dis-
play the entire month.
In addition to Joe Willis, an,
other local artist, George
Fluke, will show some of his
work, Fluke has returned to
the Greenville area after liv-
ing in Boston for three.years.
Fluke does quirky and humor-
ous "pop art,' pieces that are
three-dimensional, He de-
scribes his art as eclectic,
sculptural and heavy on con-
cepts and themes. Rather than
emphasizing the sensual as-
pects of art, Fluke relies on
the intellectual. His definition
of art is based on What goes on
in the mind when you observe
art. He believes that "art can
ask and answer things that
words can't.?
For Fluke it's more impor-
tant to judge what is or isn't
art, rather than whether a
particular work is good or bad
or what emotional reaction it
invokes, He claims to have
learned about art mostly from
reading science journals.
Each of his pieces is unique,
which underscores his belief
that there are a variety of
ways to express art. Some of
his @ark is political satire,
such as a piece about the Sec-
ond Amendment, Some pieces
are humorous, such as the
winged tricycles or the mam-
ma shopping Cart with her ba-
bies in tow. Several of his tex-
tured wall sculptures consist
of abstract paintings with
chrome metal parts included.
His "Christmas on Saturn"
• refers to the ancient Roman
festival celebrating the short-
est day of the year (Saturna,
lia), which later morphed into
the Christmas holiday,
Fluke's vision is unusual
and at times controversial but
it reflects his desire to freely
explore all aspects of artistic
expression. He also has a hang-
ing piece fashioned from old
Buick parts and then there is a
4-foot cutout of a Fred Flint-
stone-like character holding a
sign that says "draw me."
• George Fluke will also be at
the March 4 reception and his
work will he on display the en-
tire month of March. For more
information, contact Lara
Eichenherger at
eichen88@hotmail.com or call
283-1909.
JOHN OEERE
FLOYD A. BOYD
00XUV Ul'OII I
3005 TracterlLeaderlRetary Cutter
Dl2§,Riding Mewer
BEST PRICES--BEST: SELECTIOIV
Sculptor George Fluke shows one of his whimsical, thought-
provoking pieces, a parent shopping cart with family, Fluke
joins Joe Willis in a month-long show at Main Street Artists in
downtown quincy.
, AS adults, we are all-responsible for keeping OU/
D Chri, ldren safe and this includes protecting them from sexual e
predators. Educators go into the Plumas County Schools to
give kids simpl e tools to protect themselves; you can go on the
Internet and google child sexual abuse prevention information so
that you have tools too. Children are usually abused by someone
that they and you know and trust. This creates all sorts of difficul-
ties for the child. You can call Plumas CountyRape Crisis Center at
283-5515 or Sierra SAFE at 993.1237 for information or to set up
a free informational presentation to a group of concerned parents,
Please call the Plumas/Sierra Crisis Line
at 1-877-332.2754 for support and referrals.
Crisis Line Resource
283-4333 -,-m, Center
1 877 332 2754 or
- - - , 283-5515
I
A pogram of Plumas Crisis Intervention
!
& Resource Center V