The Spirit station gets its 2nd annual "Classic" face lift

[Josh B]

A very young but hopefully longlived tradition was begun last year at the Tennesse Classic.  Under the knowing eye and direction of John Bybee (Iowabow), a small group of folks goes up to the spirit station at Twin Oaks and creates pictographic murals upon the rock face using strictly aboriginal methods and mediums.  I am very pleased to have been asked to participate both times.  Although, admittedly my contributions are pretty insignificant, it is an honor to be a part of it.  Here are a few pics of this years group giving their best.
  The first pic is Old Hippy busy creating red ochre pigment.  The second pic is Jackcrafty making a different color ochre pigment while Pearlie supervises.  The third pic is Derik (Bowtarist) painting while Chris (Blackhawk) mixes up some ochre paint in a gourd bowl.  The fourth pic is John pecking the rock while Chris and Derik paint.  The fifth pic is Patrick (Jackcrafty) painting hand prints.  The sixth pic is my humble contribution(it's supposed to be a mastodon).

[Josh B]

Here are a couple pics of some ABO knapping after the Facelift was done.  The first pic is John working some seriously sweet Burlington chert.  The next pic is Old Hippy, Will, and Derik doing some ABO.  I know there are a lot more pics of the work in progress, so I hope they will get posted up either here or in another thread.  Once again, thank you very much for letting me be a part of this.  Josh

[TRACY]

Very cool! Sorry I missed this year.

Tracy

[RyanY]

Finally made it over there right before I left. You guys did an amazing job with that. Really wish I could have seen the process in person.

[blackhawk]

Yes you contributed josh..I have a pic to prove it ....this was a blast ...glad the spirits guided me here



Jon,Derrick,and me telling a story



The tools and materials made n used to make,refine,sift out ,and paint on the red ochre



The back of your head josh with pappy drawing an archer,and jackcrafty doing a handprint



Patrick refining the colors down more



A cool shot of Jon while we were about knapping after the mural was finished



Some more abo knapping...will came up after we finished and joined in

[lesken2011]

Nice artwork, guys! Pearl told me to check it out as I was finishing up my visit with them, but got to talking and forgot. Glad yall took some pics, but I wish I had seen it in person. Well...that's a good excuse to come back next year!!

[bowtarist]

  Thanks for posting these Josh!  I'll try to add to it when I get home this eve.  I too feel very blessed to have partook in both sessions @ the Spirit Station.  This year was awesome!!  And, I ended up w/ the abo knapped point of sweet burlington that John was working on! Hell yea!!  Peace Brothers, :::. dpg

[Pat B]

For some unknown reason I still haven't even visited the Spirit Station. I am going to make a point of getting over there next time I am at Twin Oaks and maybe I can contribute to its "medicine".
 Very cool, guys. Future archiologist will have to try to figure us out from this beautiful artwork. Well done all! 

[JackCrafty]

Very cool place.    

[bowtarist]

I gotta bring this back up to the top.  It disappeared from page one too quick.  We only got one pic of the bull.  Lower left in the photo of john knapping.  That was one of my favs.  Enjoy again, I've been showing a lot of my students.  OOOOGA BOOGA, dpg

[blackhawk]

I gotta bring this back up to the top.  It disappeared from page one too quick.  We only got one pic of the bull.  Lower left in the photo of john knapping.  That was one of my favs.  Enjoy again, I've been showing a lot of my students.  OOOOGA BOOGA, dpg

Probably because if you weren't there,you wouldn't understand what we all felt...and it seems like some other people would discuss drama than some cool tribal peace n harmony

[bowtarist]

Aman on that Chris.  I've wanted to post on that page, but by pure principal, I've restrained myself.  I am upset w/ myself for even reading it.  I don't have time for drama, I'd rather ignor this situation, and maybe it will go away.  Peace to my Brothers of the Spirit Station, this is what primitive brotherhood is all about, dpg

[blackhawk]

I think we should take the fire making one step closer to the caveman since that's how we were acting.....and make a bowdrill,cordage,hearth,spindle,etc with stone tools n flakes from scratch to start our fire? Possible? Doable? Thoughts?

[bowtarist]

My thoughts are, yes it's doable and I agree we should.  If it doesn't work or it's too wet, we could run down to the big fire and bring some coals up in a damp moss filled gourd or similar container.  I think we should work on making a cache of our supplies too.  Glad you had so much fun up there on the hill.  It's one of my favorite parts of the Classic. dpg

[oldhippy]

     I, myself think, that is one of the highlights of the experience of the Classic. Here are people from pretty much all over the USA different back grounds different intrests different people altogether. But the one thing that we all have in common is, we are all human beings with the same intrest, being human and being primitive.
     The first year I was drafted by John and he worked me like a borrowed mule. If I'm not mistaken there were four of us, John, Derik, Gun Doc, and myself. The painting was for the Ooga Booga ceramony and after we finished we were all good friends but at the time we didn't know that.
     This year we came together again and we also had new participants, Blackhawk, Pearley, Patrick and Pappy. This is more to us than just drawing a painting. This is what brings us crazy sobs together, being the primitive soles that we are.
     Every year we should start our fire with the most primitive technology that is available. This year was flint and steel ,next year drill and spindle is fine, the next maybe a hand drill, who knows. It's all about what our distant ancestors went through to stay alive. Looking forward to it next year my brothers.
     Peace,oldhippy