Peregrine Press Member, Blair Folts will exhibit the Mongolia Postcard Project and Encaustic Landscapes at Art House Gallery in Portland.
The Mongolia Postcard Project
Opening reception with the artist: Friday December 11 from 5-7 p.m.
ART HOUSE GALLERY
61 Pleasant Street; Portland, Maine
Blair Folts traveled across western Mongolia in August and September of 2009 and invited herders along the way to create postcards to send back to friends in the USA. She then invited the recipients of these postcards to create their own cards to send back to the Mongolians. These will all be on view at Art House through December 30th. “Travel was really remote and very challenging but the gifts were enormous and my life is completely transformed from this trip,” said Folts in her Effingham studio. “Ironically, we think that “postcard” is a simple easy concept but in Mongolia the only place you can purchase a simple postcard is in Ulaan Bataar–a five day bus ride from where I was traveling. This was quite wild and I found that I was showing nomads and herders postcards from their own country first before I talked about the project. Once I explained to people about the project I was amazed because everyone said “yes” to painting a card…young kids 3 on up to grandparents in their 70s.”
Folts had traveled in Mongolia in 2006 and fell in love with the open landscape and friendly families. She was drawn back to visit this past summer partly because of the beauty but also because of how connected the nomads are to nature. The Mongolian Government doesn’t allow ownership of land so there were very few towns or villages across this vast landscape. People still live nomadically and tend to move 4-5 times a year following grasslands as the seasons change. Because of this sharing of land, they are respectful of the land and try to not deplete resources. The nomads know that they will be back and they also are aware that others will be using
this very land. “I was so impressed with their connection to the land and each other. I was filled with a deep respect for the people as well as a deep connection to this open, empty and wild landscape.”
Folts reported that western Mongolia was very different from where she had traveled previously in the central and northern steppe. The landscape was harsh and less vegetated than even New Mexico. There were 4000 meter mountains, fields of edelweiss, yaks, camels, goats, horses, sheep, and open and hospitable people. She stayed only with local families and spent at least two nights with them. Some families she stayed with as long as five days. This allowed her to participate in their day to day activities ranging from milking animals, making felt, learning how to slaughter and clean animals for food to making cheese and yogurt. Even though the nomads do not have many possessions, they welcomed her into their homes and she slept on the floor of their gers with them. Traveling with a translator who was fluid in English, paved the way for the communication for the postcard project as well as some very intimate philosophical conversations with some of the grandparents.
Throughout the trip, Folts spent time each day sketching the surrounding
landscape. “For me, sketching is the best way to really capture what you are seeing and forces you to look at your new landscape in very detailed way-more than a camera which is so immediate. Sketching gives you the opportunity to just sit and stare at some amazing scenes and really take simple delight in where you are,” In addition to the postcards, Folts will also be exhibiting some of her small encaustic landscapes inspired from her Mongolian Sketchbooks.
Mongolia Postcard Project
Peregrine Press Member, Blair Folts will exhibit the Mongolia Postcard Project and Encaustic Landscapes at Art House Gallery in Portland.
The Mongolia Postcard Project
Opening reception with the artist: Friday December 11 from 5-7 p.m.
ART HOUSE GALLERY
61 Pleasant Street; Portland, Maine
FMI: visit any of the following websites:
The Mongolia Postcard Project
Art House Gallery
Blair Folts.
or continue …
Blair Folts traveled across western Mongolia in August and September of 2009 and invited herders along the way to create postcards to send back to friends in the USA. She then invited the recipients of these postcards to create their own cards to send back to the Mongolians. These will all be on view at Art House through December 30th. “Travel was really remote and very challenging but the gifts were enormous and my life is completely transformed from this trip,” said Folts in her Effingham studio. “Ironically, we think that “postcard” is a simple easy concept but in Mongolia the only place you can purchase a simple postcard is in Ulaan Bataar–a five day bus ride from where I was traveling. This was quite wild and I found that I was showing nomads and herders postcards from their own country first before I talked about the project. Once I explained to people about the project I was amazed because everyone said “yes” to painting a card…young kids 3 on up to grandparents in their 70s.”
Folts had traveled in Mongolia in 2006 and fell in love with the open landscape and friendly families. She was drawn back to visit this past summer partly because of the beauty but also because of how connected the nomads are to nature. The Mongolian Government doesn’t allow ownership of land so there were very few towns or villages across this vast landscape. People still live nomadically and tend to move 4-5 times a year following grasslands as the seasons change. Because of this sharing of land, they are respectful of the land and try to not deplete resources. The nomads know that they will be back and they also are aware that others will be using
this very land. “I was so impressed with their connection to the land and each other. I was filled with a deep respect for the people as well as a deep connection to this open, empty and wild landscape.”
Folts reported that western Mongolia was very different from where she had traveled previously in the central and northern steppe. The landscape was harsh and less vegetated than even New Mexico. There were 4000 meter mountains, fields of edelweiss, yaks, camels, goats, horses, sheep, and open and hospitable people. She stayed only with local families and spent at least two nights with them. Some families she stayed with as long as five days. This allowed her to participate in their day to day activities ranging from milking animals, making felt, learning how to slaughter and clean animals for food to making cheese and yogurt. Even though the nomads do not have many possessions, they welcomed her into their homes and she slept on the floor of their gers with them. Traveling with a translator who was fluid in English, paved the way for the communication for the postcard project as well as some very intimate philosophical conversations with some of the grandparents.
Throughout the trip, Folts spent time each day sketching the surrounding
landscape. “For me, sketching is the best way to really capture what you are seeing and forces you to look at your new landscape in very detailed way-more than a camera which is so immediate. Sketching gives you the opportunity to just sit and stare at some amazing scenes and really take simple delight in where you are,” In addition to the postcards, Folts will also be exhibiting some of her small encaustic landscapes inspired from her Mongolian Sketchbooks.
For more information please visit the gallery website at www.arthousepictureframes.com or call 207-221-3443. To learn
more about this project please visit http://mongoliapostcards.blog.com or
www.blairfolts.com.