Native American Paintings
By Blue Spruce Standing Deer & Marti Fenton White Deer Song
BLUE SPRUCE STANDING DEER (Pba-quen-nee-ee)
Blue Spruce Standing Deer is a Native American artist and musician. He loves to introduce native themes to the non-native world in his highly individual, colorful style. He is the son of a traditional Taos Pueblo Medicine Man who was raised between two worlds in the home of cultural progressive and artistic visionary, Mabel Dodge Lujan and her Taos Pueblo husband, Tony. Standing Deer carries on this legacy to create bridges across cultural chasms and open awareness about his native world to people from many backgrounds, classes, and ethnic identities. He has travelled to diverse parts of the united states, Europe and even South Korea to share his songs and visual art. He loves people and making heart connections. He is now an elder, which in the native world makes him responsible to leave the essence of his life experience to all who are open to receive it and carry it forward.
MARTI FENTON WHITE DEER SONG
Marti began drawing and painting as a child although she came from a non-artistic family and often had to keep her art interest secret both at home and school. Art was a way of telling a story and the relationship between the artist and her environment. As she grew up, she became interested in dream interpretation, spirituality, psychology, history, and other ways of recognizing meaningful patterns in life. She also had a great love of animals and in her early years seldom drew or painted humans.
ART AS A MIRROR
Marti Fenton received the name White Deer Song from her Native American husband, Blue Spruce Standing Deer. After moving to Taos New Mexico 28 years ago, she began painting after a long gap in artistic creation. A common theme of her new work were white deer and Native American women. This was very puzzling because in earlier years, she had never painted either deer or women. However, instead of intentionally painting a theme to represent a particular meaning, Marti has since discovered that often the image comes first and later, she learns the meaning. Also, much like a dream, the meaning may reveal itself over time and under various circumstances. Marti believes art opens the door to intuitive awareness of the core of creation and can lead to evolutionary changes in the soul. Great cultures value art.