Up in the Air

Editors’ Note:  Mary Edna Fraser transforms her aerial photographs into batiks featured in spaces from the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum to NASA and Duke University’s Art Museum.  Inspired by environmental concerns, she uses her art for equilibrium.  Her forthcoming book will be published by Duke University’s press.  Visit her exhibit in Charleston from Dec. 10 – Jan 24th.

By Mary Edna Fraser

Art keeps me balanced.  When I am flying and photographing from an airplane, batiking on silk, monotyping on paper, or painting with oils, I am completely in the zone.  My brain is consumed with the work before my eyes and hands and heart.  The work I do has always been emotional, a prayer for the planet or for individuals that I love.  By being in the moment, the rest of the world keeps moving along but my sacred space is centered.  Even the acre of land, which houses the studio and home, is a nest of peace during turbulent times.  I think that the resulting art is really conduit, a form of worship.

For 40 years, I have found this attitude of reaching a deeper place in my soul has offered both solace and joy.  Rituals help me move from personal duties to my quest for exceptional art.  The path from home to studio is short but in that walk, I hear the birds, connect with the weather, and actually feel my brain flip to the right side.  I say a prayer when I feed my fish that the day is spent well and guided by a higher power.

Some days are just computer driven and others are spent organizing.  If you work with something you love and continue to grow, you are lucky.  Sometimes my work takes me to foreign lands or print studios at major universities.  I try to bring this sense of calm and focus to any place of work.  So, my blessings flow with my brush of wax, dye or paint.  I am grateful to live this life.

My art is inspired by an aerial perspective, often from the open cockpit of my grandfather’s 1946 vintage Ercoupe plane with my father or brother as pilots.  Sometimes I employ an instructor and fly myself turning over the controls when I need my hands to photograph the scene below.  Monotypes on paper allow me to formulate ideas.  Oils on location establish color and line.  Batiking is labor intensive and gives me the greatest surge of happiness.  I am a master and what is in my mind can come to the surface in a very intuitive manner.

Environmental activism has always been part of the process.  Revealed by altitude, this earth shows man’s interference.  My art strives to bring attention to the vulnerability and beauty of our short time on this planet.

Aim of the Secret Garden Newsletter: “The Secret Garden is a place of growth and creativity.  It’s a place of change and transformation.  This newsletter is a forum for women interested in sharing their work and reflections on sacred space, writing, spiritual practices and transformation.  I would love to receive your creative writing, information about your books, what you’re reading, your life experiences and more.  I look forward to hearing from you.” – Editor, Debra Moffitt Leslie, contact: **@de**********.com

This writing appeared in December 2009 Secret Garden newsletter.