Daniel Ruf

Buried Treasures

Recently I was watching a television program concerning various fossil finds around the country and the thought came to me that the narration treated these bones of unfortunate animals as treasures, hidden in the earth, from a time long ago.  As I reflected on the rendered scenes of the environment of that time I couldn't help wondering what civilizations in the distant future might think of the remains our civilization leaves behind as our historic ledger.

I've noticed a lot of discussion lately about the environmental movement as it relates to endangered species and become really disappointed by those that would take issue with the preservation of some near extinct species which they feel is insignificant, especially when the plant or animal is standing in the way of some huge construction project of human design.  Advocates from both sides of the debate hurl platitudes back and forth in an effort to sell their position to a public that, in most cases, is ill equipped to even render a fair opinion on the subject or even cares about BOTH sides of the argument.

The question that I have for those that see no real reason to yield to an endangered species is when is the time right to grant consideration to the last of a species.  Would it be when just one elephant is left standing?  Or perhaps it would be when clean water is no longer available and lines have begun to form in the streets behind some tanker truck that shows up on the odd dates of the month.  I know to many this might sound like a huge stretch, but I'm not sure it's as far off as people believe.  In fact, I'm not sure many people, other than environmentalists, give a moments thought about any of this as long as such things as lumber and eggs are still readily available at any price.

As a retired farmer I've been involved in many discussions, around a table in the local grain elevator, concerning commodity prices, falling markets, cost of production, etc.  One flag that is always raised in these discussions is that the American public will never understand the value of food and it's production until the shelves at the local super market are bare, such as we saw years ago in film clips from Russia.  Just as today's public is more removed from the farm sector than it was 50 years ago, so are those same individuals more distant from the wilderness experiences of families of the past.

Ansel Adams once discussed the value of the American wilderness as a re-creation experience over recreational experience and I think that's a pretty profound statement for our time.  Until we see the value of the environment as a place to recharge, reflect and contemplate many of us will fail to see or value the wildness that still exists on this planet.  More importantly, until we see the value of open space over office space, many will never stand on the side of endangered ecosystems.

Nature Photographers Unite!

For more views of my work visit;

"A Piece Of Work", Spirit Lake, Iowa  http://www.apieceofworkinc.com

"Art On 16th"  http://www.hankhallarton16th.com

Artisans Road Trip www.artisansroadtrip.com  

Lanesboro Art Center, Lanesboro, Minnesota  www.lanesboroarts.org

http://www.betterphoto.com/Premium/Default.aspx?id=251674&mp=V1

Latest News

Last Saturday an email brought the news that I had two images find their way into the finals of The Nature Conservancy 2009 photography contest.  This is the second year that I have entered and I was pleasantly surprised by the news.  The Sandhill Crane shot at the left was one selection and was taken at the Rowe Sanctuary near Kearney, Nebraska this past spring.  It was my first opportunity to be up close and personal with these magnificent birds and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.  Due to some travel plans this spring I was afraid that I was going to have to miss the chance to go the Kearney again this year, but, due to some changes in dates, I am going to spend a weekend peeking out a porthole in a blind along the Platte River.  I can hardly wait to get there and renew some of the relationships I made during last years visit.

The picture on the right was the second finalist and is an old favorite from Ft. Defiance State Park in Northwest Iowa.  This park is kind of a hidden pearl for my friends Mike, Bob and myself, and we all get down to the creek bed on many occasions.  It is my hope that the contest would bring new impetus to some state funding for up keep and maintenance to our parks. 

The road to the grand prize is now up to a "peoples choice" selection which throws a whole new twist to the final selection process.  If you would like to vote for the finalists go to the following link

http://support.nature.org/site/PageServer?pagename=vote_xx&autologin=true .

Organizations like The Nature Conservancy spend a great deal of money and effort to save and preserve the wild areas of the world and I'm happy to be involved with such an outstanding group.  With the economic demands on the private sector I'm sure that non-profits are feeling the pinch in every area.

During an internet search the other day for works by Dewitt Jones I happened to come on a link on MySpace that I was unaware of and if you follow the link below I think you'll what you find.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=43381348

Every once in a while a little inspiration is a good thing, and while I found Jones through his photography prowess years ago, he is also well known for motivational lectures in the corporate world.  After listening to this talk I can see why.

Thanks to all of you that take the time to visit this site and your support is really appreciated.

For more views of my work visit:

 "A Piece Of Work", Spirit Lake, Iowa www.apieceofworkinc.com

Art Of The Vine Gallery http://www.artofthevinegallery.com

Artisans Road Trip www.artisansroadtrip.com  

http://www.betterphoto.com/Premium/Default.aspx?id=251674&mp=V1

The Cornucopia Art Center, Lanesboro, Minnesota  www.lanesboroarts.org

A Journey Of Lessons

This past couple of months I managed to complete the reading of two books by Greg Mortenson; "Three Cups Of Tea" and "Stones Into Schools" and while his early life was made up of expeditions of climbing mountains, his adult years were an expedition of finding his fate.   The result of his climbing talents put him in touch with the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan, which later developed his desire to return to the rural outposts to help in developing an educational system in areas of great need.  The years of formulating this plan and developing the financial backing of interested patrons in the U.S. helped in forming an approach that was less about the conquest of people and more about developing relationships and solving needs.

The documentation of his efforts, from fund raising to endless cups of tea, gave me an insight to not only what has to be one of the most beautiful regions in our world, but also intimate insights into the people of the region and their struggle to survive years of chaos that surrounded them.  To me it reveals the results of collateral damage inflicted on a society wishing to be left in peace.

It's been several days since I put the last book down and now my mind is in the process of digesting the details, events and processes of Mortensons journey and I woke up this evening realizing that not only is the story a guidance in successfully living with others it also is applicable to other areas of life, and I think even art.  Rather than trying to dominate a medium or subject I think Mortenson's discovery is much about listening to needs and then letting subject lead one to the final conclusion.  By doing this a need is met in a more holistic way, and the solution is interlaced in the lives of the people it helps.  Likewise, an artist can use the intimate details of a large, expansive landscape to define the importance of a space to the viewer with a result that the space becomes more meaningful as space and not something that has to be conquered, built upon or divided. 

Clear as mud, right?  I grant you that the theory needs more work, but don't let my ramblings deter you from buying the books and learning the story of a remarkable individual and his discovery of how education leads to peace.

Mr. Mortenson will be interviewed by Bill Moyers on PBS on Friday, January 15 at 9pm Central time.

For more views of my work visit:

 "A Piece Of Work", Spirit Lake, Iowa

Art Of The Vine Gallery http://www.artofthevinegallery.com

Artisans Road Trip www.artisansroadtrip.com  

http://www.betterphoto.com/Premium/Default.aspx?id=251674&mp=V1

The Cornucopia Art Center, Lanesboro, Minnesota  www.lanesboroarts.org

Voices

"Ansel Adams: An Autobiography" was given to me a few weeks ago by my daughter as a birthday present and I have just finished reading this tale of a rich life of someone I enjoyed listening to at a workshop back in '77.  While his detailed accounting of his life, details which include a clarity of his early life which would astound most people, doesn't really surprise me since his work in photography was all about clarity and definition of his craft and his environmental work.  While slowly reading this writing, which I might add was done a few pages at a time before I turn in for the  night, I came across an accounting of his visit with President Lyndon Johnson in which he quoted an LBJ speech regarding President Johnson's concern for the environment and I quote it as follows:

"It is not just the classic conservation of protection and development, but a creative conservation of restoration and innovation.  Its concern is not with nature alone, but with the total relation between man and the world around him.  Its object is not just man's welfare but the dignity of  his spirit.  Above all, we must maintain the chance for contact with beauty.  When that chance dies, a light dies in all of us.  It is our children who will bear the burden of our neglect.  We owe it to them to keep that from happening.  For once the battle is lost, once our natural splendor is destroyed, it can never be recaptured.  And once man can no longer walk the beauty or wonder at nature, his spirit will wither and his sustenance be wasted."

No matter whether a person believes in global warming or not, whether they believe in evolution or not, whether they are a bird lover, tree hugger or office hugger, or  not, it is my belief that LBJ's words speak to the wasteful destruction of the environment caused by greed, neglect and just plain indifference.  Just as the population has moved further and further from a connection to agriculture and no longer really understands the faces and the work involved with feeding the world, people have lost sight of the importance of natural places, caused by an unconscious move from fishing lines and tent pegs to computers and video games.  National Parks are struggling to fund their operations as well as are state and local natural places and many areas are falling in disrepair.  Trails are left cluttered and overgrown, camping facilities are under managed and looking "threadbare" and lake sides are polluted.

Due to a total lack of consideration by passersby our hi ways and byways still show signs of littering as do our park lands and this disregard for our national and local environmental heritage speaks to the sloth of the worlds population.  Just as neighborhoods suffer from individual disrespect for others and their property, so our parks suffer from the same selfishness and negligence.  If the populations dis-ease and corporate greed don't kill the worlds special lands, lack of love and compassion for our wild places and things will.  Scenes of swirls of Monarch Butterflies will wither to a few individuals and our crystal lakes will look back at us as a brown wasteland.

Just as the condition of the homes we live in are a definition of the people that reside in a domicile, the world, as we leave it, both environmentally and socially, will reflect to future generations our seeming disregard and contempt for our environmental home and their welfare.  While LBJ's words spoke more specifically to environmental concerns it hints to the welfare of the human spirit as it is affected by our surroundings.

Thanks for visiting this site and take some time to visit a park, walk a trail or take the kids camping.  Take time to consider the environment you're in and the foot print you leave.

For more views of my work visit:

 

"A Piece Of Work", Spirit Lake, Iowa

Art Of The Vine Gallery http://www.artofthevinegallery.com

"Art On 16th, Spirit Lake, Iowa

Artisans Road Trip www.artisansroadtrip.com

"CR Gallery", Milford, Iowa

http://www.betterphoto.com/Premium/Default.aspx?id=251674&mp=V1

The Cornucopia Art Center, Lanesboro, Minnesota

www.lanesboroarts.org

The Words We Use

As with any tragedy now days, the recent passing of Michael Jackson has gotten full, daily coverage for over a week now and at this point I'm tired of hearing about it.  There has been some real casual verbiage that has been bantered about and one of them that has me reeling is the "hero" tag that has been set placed along side his name.  To quote Bob Schiefer, a news commentator for CBS, after making a short. and probably one of the most balanced reports of this "untimely" death, is that being a rock icon does  not make one a hero.  Amen to that!

We've all had hero's in our lives and in many cases we just haven't realized it because they don't make a public spectacle of themselves.  I would have to say that there are millions of parents out there that would easily qualify as hero's because they played important roles in all of our lives with our rearing and education.  They quietly went off to jobs, made a place for their families in a communities and didn't walk away when times were tough.  They nurtured us, put on the band aids and sat with us when the thunderstorms of life rolled by.  I feel pretty sure, as it is with this parent now, that their sole joy, other than seeing grandchildren, was watching each one of us grow up, become productive, choose a mate, and succeed.  They did this all without asking for anything in return except for the memories.

Then there are those among us that grew up without a set of parents or in situation where parenting was pretty dismal and, yet, they managed to put there life together, rise to the top and prevail.  Most of these would probably relate a story of two of hero's in there life that helped them make it beyond the odds that they were dealt.  In some way there was probably a teacher, coach, neighbor or aunt that played some role in their lives that helped keep them buoyant.  I'm sure that each person in this world has such a guardian angel in their lives that served in some capacity when a voice called on them.

And then there would be those that served the causes of freedom for our country and the world.  All those brave men and women that walked away from family and home when duty called to protect their homeland.  In this case the word "hero" hardly seems like enough.  To me such people have the word valor for their actions because these individuals took a road in life that they knew might not have a return route.  They took this up this challenge for themselves, for their family and for us with no regard of rewards, parades or standing.

Like many words in our vocabulary today "hero" has been tarnished through casual references about people that wouldn't recognize its action.  It's been used as a cheap advertising trick to raise someone to a plateau that they would never see just to make some of us feel important that we were in the same time zone as they happen to be.

Micheal Jackson was a person of incredible talent and brilliant imagination, and that's about it.  It's a shame that the media has seen to shadow his brilliant career in the arts with the tragic footnotes of his life, but there aren't many hero's in the media either!

Happy 4th...and God bless America.

For more views of my work visit:

"A Piece Of Work", Spirit Lake, Iowa

Art Of The Vine Gallery http://www.artofthevinegallery.com

"Art On 16th, Spirit Lake, Iowa

Artisans Road Trip www.artisansroadtrip.com

"CR Gallery", Milford, Iowa

http://www.betterphoto.com/Premium/Default.aspx?id=251674&mp=V1

Wake Up Call

It's time to pay attention!  Yesterday afternoon "our" House Of Representatives slipped through an environmental bill that is going to cost us a bunch of money and not only will we be taxed for this, we'll see higher prices on goods and services that we purchase.  Add to this the fact that the bill was somewhere close to 1500 pages (does this sound familiar?) and was introduced hours before the vote, do you really think our representatives had a chance to read the bill in its entirety?

As many of you that have visited this blog site before have probably guessed I'm a bit of a tree hugger...but a well balanced one.  I have come from a city upbringing, worked for the forest service during my college summer vacations and am a retired farmer.  I've either had my hands in the dirt, cleaned it up or studied it.  But when the activist organization Green Peace and others hold up a red flag about environmental bills I tend to take notice.  When other countries around the world try such changes as are inflicted upon us in this new bill and then change directions, my eyes get wide open.  But, like many of you, I'm a bit of a neophyte when it comes to politics, especially since I have a little contempt for politicians as a whole.

Since the last election I've had my face a little closer to the nightly news programs and during the past 5 months the sweat of fear is glistening across my brow.  I have become firmly convinced that we, the people, have got to be better informed about the "smoke and mirrors" in Washington, and our own local and state governments, to have a heads up on where this country is headed and the personal agendas of not only our representatives, but our President.  It has become increasingly clear that what is said on the campaign trail stays on the campaign trail and what is done in Washington is totally different.  

The morality in Washington is not the morality out here in the farm states or homes in suburbia.  The hundreds of thousands of dollars that our representatives receive to run their campaigns all have a significant price tag attached.  If you think lobbyist walk the halls of our capitol just to make nice or drink tea with our reps, you need to spend a little more time becoming acquainted with the slanted news media!  Every single donation has a reason and every single large donation from private or corporate sources has a hidden tag.  After the elections it's payback time. Of course you also have to spend the time in figuring out which way the media slant is in order to make informed decisions.

Just like many of you I have usually felt that I don't have the time to listen to the drivel of the news media and also figured these elected officials have our best interest at heart.  Guess what?  They all don't.  All you have to do is hear a few bars of "someone is sleeping in my bed" or "have I got a deal for you" and we all get a little wiser about what the true meaning of agenda is and trust me it doesn't mean "order of business" at the next church social meeting.

Start reading, listening and writing.  Yep, it all takes time, but in 5 months this government has been bent on putting our financial lives at risk and crippling America.  And just so you don't think I'm a right wing nut...Both parties of this country have had an arm, leg and a finger involved in wrecking the future of this country.

Do you know who your congressmen and senators are?  Get the facts and then write them.  A tall trees health is dependent on its roots.  Good government is dependent on its roots, too.  Guess who we are?

By the way, ask them to support the arts, too.  Like I said, everyone has an agenda! Oh, and take in a local "Tea Party".  Contrary to left wing assertions, it is grass roots.

For more views of my work visit:

"A Piece Of Work", Spirit Lake, Iowa

Art Of The Vine Gallery http://www.artofthevinegallery.com

"Art On 16th, Spirit Lake, Iowa

Artisans Road Trip www.artisansroadtrip.com

"CR Gallery", Milford, Iowa

http://www.betterphoto.com/Premium/Default.aspx?id=251674&mp=V1

Support The Locals

 

Last night was First Friday here in Spirit Lake and a chance for the local community to spend some quality time in the Hill Street stores, listen to "street music", visit with friends and frequent the local galleries.  Hill Street and the shops were full with people celebrating the return of summer which many have felt was long overdue.  First Friday is a time when local business have the opportunity to encourage the public to support their establishments, which also supports the entire local community.

During the past several months my wife and myself have made a bigger effort to shop at our local business establishments rather than at the large chain stores in the community.  I've become a firm believer that the dollar spent with a local merchant touches more local lives than the same dollar that is spent with a chain operation.  I've  been made more aware of this since being involved with a couple of local galleries and becoming personally involved with the owners of each.  The life of each of these galleries, like those through out our country, is dependent on the dollars that are left there with the purchase of fine art by customers.  The owners, in most cases, have put in large amounts of time and personal cash to support an idea that fine art is important to all communities, large or small.  I have made an effort to purchase gifts at these galleries for friends, weddings, birthdays, etc. rather than buying something typical from a larger chain store, because I believe that a gift of fine art will have more meaning and become a part of the recipients life surroundings for years to come and I want to support our local artists.

Local art galleries have changed over the years in response to the public buying styles and offer a wide range of pricing onart items.  In our local galleries you can purchase greeting cards to large art pieces from $3.50 on up and the purchase of such items not only support the local gallery owners, but also the local artists.  The greeting cards rival those by the big production operations and usually have a more local appeal than generic cards.  At the local potter around the corner we have found some fantastic bowls that we use everyday for meals and decor.  And again, the dollars for all these purchases go back into the community through the local gallery owner and artist.   What a better more thoughtful way to say you care for someone than a piece of fine art?  The added feature to all of this is that these gallery owners have given local artists a place to display their work and enrich the community environs.

The simple message here is to get out to enjoy your town and support the local community businesses and artists.  If you like to read there's the local bookstore, if you need groceries there are several choices including the newest...locally grown produce markets.  Our small and large towns offer a wide variety of places for entertainment and shopping and they are probably all owned by someone that lives near you, pays local taxes and serves on a local community board.  Chances are most likely that the money you give them through shopping their store trickles back into your life through another door.

Towns across the country have begun to realize the importance of their roots and have beensprucing up their main streets and town squares.  Through our travels of surrounding states the face lift of downtown areas has been very evident and is refreshing.  Visitingold town squares and main streets is much more enjoyable than shopping in the "shiny steel and plastic" chain stores that seem to be popping up all over our cityscape's.  While these chain operations may have their place in our society, the town stores and galleries are the hearts of our neighborhoods and need of our support.

As with many states, Iowa is punctuated by "dead" zones...those areas where small towns haven't survived and while there's no guarantee that a town business will make it in any town, it'smore devastating when an entire town dies from lack of support from it's local citizens.

Enjoy your main street, and even the local repair shop for that matter.  Your neighbor may be depending on you!

Other sites of my work:

A Piece Of Work Gallery, Spirit Lake, Iowa http://www.apieceofworkinc.com/alcove_3.php

Art On 16th, Spirit Lake, Iowa  712.330.6007

Art Of The Vine Gallery http://www.artofthevinegallery.com/

Artisans Road Trip http://www.artisansroadtrip.com/index.htm

BetterPhoto.com http://www.betterphoto.com/Premium/Default.aspx?id=251674&mp=V1

CR Gallery, Milford, Iowa  712.338.4155