Sonoran Desert Art & Literary Journal
Cultivating imagination. Deepening passion.
www.panoramalitart.com Spring/Summer 2017, Issue No. 4
Who Are you?
Panorama
Creating a Sense of Self
"Tempest" by Isabella Crump
This issue of Panorama is about identity. It is about who we are and what we’re made of; about how we, as individuals, are our own creators. True, powerful external forces act upon us. We don’t decide, for example, whether we are short, tall, colorful, introverted or extroverted, but we do make choices. Art can result from the tension between nature and nurture. In the spaces between what we can and cannot control lie opportunities to imagine, reflect and act—to do, to be, to assert oneself and create an identity (or identities) as we make our way through life. In this sense, we are all artists. As human beings, we are all creators with the power and capability to make our lives a work of art.
Contents
SKG
In this issue
Vanessa Valencia
4 | ABOUT PANORAMA 4 | ZESTFUL LIVING Create Your Own Experience at Science City 5 | ARTIST SPOTLIGHT Photojournalist Linda Solomon 6 | GALERIA Grains of Space 8 | VOICES The Juice Queen by Robyn Thwaits 10 | BOOK REVIEWS Common Threads by Caesar Velasco 12 | FEATURED ARTIST The Siren Finds Her Voice by Vanessa Valencia
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“Our culture is foolish to keep science and poetry separated. They are two tools to open our eyes to the complexity and beauty of the world.” —Physicist Carlo Rovelli
Zestful Living
Copyright © 2017 all rights reserved. Issue No. 4 Publisher | Desert Arts & Culture Media Editors | Caesar Velasco & Martha L. Barrón Cover Art by Isabella Crump, Student at Richard B. Wilson K-8 School in Oro Valley, AZ www.dacmedia.org
Panorama features the arts and cultures of the unique Sonoran Desert communities. While deeply rooted in home, Panorama encourages exploration and growth. We challenge our readers to deepen their roots and expand their vision beyond their current limits. Each issue showcases local and guest artists, photographers, and writers whose work blends local flavor with universal human appeal. Please visit www.panoramalitart.com or email info@panoramalitart.com to: share your writing, photographs or art learn about featured authors/artists subscribe to Panorama
Short stories, poetry, essays, photography and fine art depicting the rich lives and cultures of Southern Arizona and Northern Sonora.
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Photojournalist and author Linda Solomon sparks hope in children’s hearts through pictures. She divides her time between teaching photography to children and capturing the most famous personalities of our time. As founder of the award-winning Pictures of Hope, she visits with kids at homeless shelters, gives them cameras, teaches them how to use them and matches kids with notable community mentors. There are 2.5 million homeless children in our country. Through the years, Pictures of Hope has helped homeless children in 50 cities, including Tucson where local children have participated for the last eight years. The Tucson agency for the homeless, Our Family Services in Tucson, has participated in Pictures of Hope for six consecutive years. Some of the noted mentors who have guided the children as they photograph their dreams include Mayor Jonathan Rothschild, Lupita Murillo, Kristi Tedesco, Deb Goodman of Jones Photo, Cathy Borinstein, TUSD Superintendent Dr. Sanchez and Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos.
Photojournalist Linda Solomon's Pictures of Hope
Pictures of Hope was launched in 2005 to create awareness for children living in shelters. Linda and corporate sponsors teamed up to bring Pictures of Hope to children living in the Salvation Army programs. The media response, both locally and nationally, was remarkable. Oprah, MSNBC, CNBC and NBC Nightly News did stories on the children and their heartfelt photographs. Linda started taking photographs as a child and realized, at five years old, that she never felt alone when she had a camera with her. “My camera became a friend, a friend who helped me to really SEE life, not just look at life.” She’s since published four books, including the New York Times Bestseller, People We Know, Horses They Love. She started teaching photography to children when she stumbled upon 35 mm film cameras on sale for three dollars. “My mother, a teacher, was with me when we found the cameras and she gave me the incredible idea to pass out the cameras to a group of local kids. She said ‘why don't you ask the children to photograph the things that make them happy.' I did just that." She taught a photography class at her studio and provided the three dollar cameras to the children. They went off as "photojournalists" on assignment to capture the "things that make them happy." The results were incredible! The children photographed their brothers and sisters, peanut butter and tennis shoes, and, of course, their pets! Linda asked a camera shop in town if they would host a "Meet The Young Artist " exhibition for the children and their friends and family. They did. The local newspaper did a story on the children's photo exhibition and it was a huge success. The children felt proud as they each signed their work, like every other artist. This very small exhibition progressed into a national, corporate sponsored, educational photography program that Linda founded in the 1990s called "It's A SNAP." It provided cameras to 250,000 children per year. Within a few years, what started as a small local program reached over one-million children. In 2016, a global company, Skinnytees, made it possible for Pictures of Hope to come back to Tucson to Our Family Services. The children living in Our Family Services were featured in 2015 on NBC Nightly News when Pictures of Hope was honored with the prestigious Making a Difference recognition. As part of her work inspiring kids in shelters, Linda selected one of the Tucson youth living in Our Family Services to be the first recipient of the "Hope Scholarship" donated by Blackburn College. The Hope Scholarship is a $100,000 full scholarship donated to youth participating in Pictures of Hope. The President of Blackburn College, Dr. John Comerford, watched the story on NBC Nightly News and personally reached out to Linda. He was so moved by the children who only dream of going to college but cannot afford the opportunity, that he offered to help. Dr. Comerford will grant FIVE scholarships a year to youth participating
in Pictures of Hope. Tucsonan Leilani Martinez, who received the first Hope Scholarship, participated in Pictures of Hope for six years. Leilani Martinez was nine years old when she first met Linda. Leilani's dream of believing in herself came true when she was awarded the Hope Scholarship. Linda and her camera, her steady friend, are devoted to changing one life at a time. This fall, Tucson will again become a field of dreams for children and youth when Linda returns to Tucson. She's always looking for mentors and volunteers, so feel free to contact her directly to get involved. Her work exemplifies how artists both help us find the best in ourselves and make our community a better, kinder place to live. You can view and purchase the children's Pictures of Hope cards at Our Family Services in Tucson. Contact founder Linda Solomon at www.lindasolomonphotography.com
Artist spotLight
Elie Wiesel, Segan 1982
Spring/Summer 2017 I 6
Fred Powell
Galeria
Meghann Tatz, Wood Block Art
Spring/Summer 2017 I 7
M100 by Adam Block, Mt Lemmon Sky Center, University of Arizona
“Here, on the edge of what we know, in contact with the ocean of the unknown, shines the mystery and the beauty of the world. And it's breathtaking." —Carlo Rovelli
GALERIA
“That night, it was clear and no moon was up. The stars were so bright and so numerous that we stood in silent awe. The universe appeared overhead, and we were bit players indeed—small specks of life on a small planet circling the sun. Our concerns seemed less important somehow.” —Sandra Day O'Connor
“The Juice Queen" stuck as my nickname after healing myself from severe illness through juicing. This illness has been my biggest life blessing to date. If I had not been diagnosed with a severe autoimmune condition, I wouldn’t be who I am today. I started feeling off in my late 20s. Doctors told me it was in my mind. I ate healthy, exercised daily and was fully engaged in my career. I only slept four or five hours per night, which I later learned was one of my pitfalls, but I was the poster child of a healthy, successful young woman. By off, I mean my joints would ache and swell from time-to-time. When this happened, I hurt all over as if I had the flu. Time-to-time turned into all the time. I was diagnosed with severe rheumatoid arthritis about a year later and, without skipping a beat, jumped into conventional treatment—steroids, low dose chemo and biologics among other things. Steroids worked wonders but were palliative. Everything else did nothing and I only seemed to worsen. My body started to attack my internal organs and I received another diagnosis, Lupus. I wanted to stop treatments, but was told that I would end up in a wheelchair if I did. I jumped from conventional to integrative medicine, which is a combination of conventional and natural medicine—special diets, herbs, IV vitamins, ultra violet light treatments, ozone therapy, IV pleomorphic treatments, stem cell replacement, etc. This kept me stable but there was no improvement. I felt I would never heal, but I needed to dig deep and give my body a chance. Friends gave me books and inspiration. My first moment of truth came from a book written by Arnold Ehret in 1903. Ehret encouraged a natural and simple approach to healing. In his European sanitariums, he had much success in helping people heal with water fasting alternated with a mucus-lean diet and gradually transitioning to a mucus-less diet which eliminates built up mucus (aka acid/toxins/waste) through the bowels. During a fast, the body lies on nature’s operating table. When digestion, which is the body’s biggest stressor, relaxes into a fasting state, all the body’s vital energy is used for healing. I adopted this practice and immersed myself in it through self-education. My next aha moment came by way of Dr. Richard Schulze (www.HerbDoc.com). Schulze advocates bowel cleansing combined with juice cleansing. While in private practice, he helped thousands of patients heal themselves of life-threatening diseases with his Incurables Program. Juice cleansing rests the digestive system while simultaneously flooding the cells with bioavailable nutrients which the average person, and especially the severely ill, are sometimes deficient in. I jumped into this program with Dr. Schulze’s books as my guides and, after 30 days, I felt like a new person. The healing process was not over though and, by continuing to juice cleanse, fast and eat a very simple, primarily raw,
The Juice Queen
A Personal Story by Robyn Thwaits
VOICES
Spring/Summer 2017 I 8
Robyn Thwaits is a native of Southern Arizona. She is a mortgage and investment banker, broker and consultant working with NOVA Home Loans.
Spring/Summer 2017 I 9
plant-based diet, at 44, I am better than ever before. I list my diagnoses as part of my story knowing that the way the body fails does not matter. We should not label ourselves with a disease. The human body is programmed to be healthy. We all have different compositions and, when the body malfunctions, one person’s body may attack itself, as is the case with autoimmune conditions, another may develop cancer, another may develop heart disease, and yet another migraines or depression. If there is a malfunction and we give the body the tools it needs to heal, it will heal. Juicing is now my lifestyle. It is my maintenance protocol and my anti-aging tool. Many friends also use it for weight loss, heightened spirituality, keen awareness, increased energy, elimination of food cravings, mental clarity, focus, mood management and improved sleep—the list could go on and on. For most people, a three-day juice cleanse is a great starting point. It is the ideal way to embark on a healthier diet and lifestyle because food cravings are eliminated. Three days (minimum) on only fresh pressed juice (without pulp) is enough time to feel a remarkably positive change; to feel lighter and more energized, shrink the stomach, improve digestion, lose weight and, most importantly, to break the cycle of food addiction that undermines our health. Foodie friends initially freak out over the idea of three days with no solid food. If that’s the case, we start with one day, or even one meal. It’s not an all or nothing endeavor, although results will be minimal until we are ready for three days or longer. Friends often ask how to start on a healthier path. Following are some of the discoveries I've made and shared along my personal healing journey: What juicer should I use? Any juicer works and is better than none. My favorite juicer currently and the one I use is the Omega VRT350. What about fasting? Water fasting is a step above juice cleansing for healing disease and it's served me well. What’s the difference between juicing and blending? Juicing separates the water from the fiber. All nutrients are found in the water. No digestion is required and nutrients are absorbed directly into the blood stream. Blending blends the entire vegetable/fruit and is food with digestion required. Will I be deficient in protein? Not likely. If you are like most people, you are probably consuming too much protein and, due to faulty digestion, absorbing a minimal amount. Can I work-out while I cleanse? I love the feel of it personally. You will probably have more energy and stamina than usual. What should I juice? Anything you want and in any combination. Basics include carrot, beet, cucumber, celery, kale, spinach, parsley, ginger and lemon. Add apple, pineapple or orange for sweetness. What if I get hungry? I drink water, herbal tea and more juice. The hunger will pass. Should I take herbs? Herbs can greatly help with the detox and elimination process and can help prevent detox symptoms. My favorite herbs to complement a juice cleanse are found at www.HerbDoc.com, specifically the bowel cleanse herbs. Another favorite herbal protocol can be found at www.Ejuva.com. Both sites have extensive educational information. Can I buy my juice? Yes, but make sure it’s fresh pressed. Local juice bars in Tucson include Whole Foods, Goodness, Pure Love Juice, Xoom Juice, Urban Fresh and Robek’s Juice. If you are in the Phoenix area options include Whole Foods, Juby True, Nekter Juice, Original ChopShop, Kaleidoscope Juice, Grabbagreen, Paradise Juice, Juicd Life, Juice Core, 24 Carrots, The Local Yeti (mobile), Radish and MAD Greens. What about water? I drink only distilled or purified water while cleansing. If that’s not possible for some reason, I drink filtered water. Any personal favorite books, films? Arnold Ehret, Mucusless Diet Healing System (water fasting) Dr. Schulze, Curing the Incurables Dr. Schulze, 20 Steps to a Healthier Life Woodson Merrel, M.D., Detox Prescription Joel Fuhrman, M.D., Fasting and Eating for Health (water fasting) Joel Fuhrman, M.D., Eat to Live Documentaries/Films: Food Matters (2008) Forks Over Knives (2011) Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead (2011)
Voices
Common Threads by Caesar Velasco
Summer/Spring 2017 I 10
Book Reviews
We all do it. It’s human to define ourselves and each other. Our awareness and imagination inform the definitions and identities we choose. My grandmother, Ama, for example, drew narrow distinctions between herself and others. “Don’t marry a Chinese girl,” she told me. “What about a black girl, Jewish girl or a blonde?” I asked, pointing out the silliness of drawing boundaries that discouraged me from dating half the world’s women. Ama smiled and shared the story of how her own Northern Mexican mother had opposed her marrying my grandfather simply because he was from Southern Mexico. “Such narrow restrictions may be silly after all,” she said. I ran with this. I attended a Jewish university and married a half-Chinese half-Caucasian Southern girl. Education, travel
and social engagement expanded my cultural horizon beyond my native desert and broadened my identity as a human being. This issue’s book reviews compare characters trapped in narrow identities with those who see and accept each other broadly as human beings: Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury reveals how narrow worldviews suffocate the Compson family. In The Terrorist’s Son, Zak Ebrahim, the son of the mastermind behind the first World Trade Center bombing, describes how he realized that restrictive identities breed hatred and terrorism. The Longest Way Home, a travel memoir by 80s heartthrob Andrew McCarthy, recounts how one man gained the courage to accept the fear, flaws and lack of control that are part of being human. McCarthy opens himself to emotional connection, defeats alcoholism and learns to live fully. In Capirotada: A Nogales Memoir, a flexible mind saves Arizona Poet Laureate Alberto Ríos’ sanity as he comes of age amidst the sensory overload of his highly diverse U.S.-Mexico border town. Governor Raúl H. Castro's (1916-2015) and Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s stories of grace, grit and self-determination take us back to Arizona’s early statehood days, giving us a sense of how much gratitude we owe our elders for opening paths to brighter futures. O’Connor’s and Castro’s connectedness to the region is evident in that both had mothers born in Mexico with connections to copper mining. Scientist Bryan Sykes travels across America by train researching the continent’s genetic identities in DNA USA: A Genetic Portrait of America. He tests whether DNA combined with archeological and archival evidence enables science to trace ancestry to universal founding mothers and fathers. As human beings, we are hybrids—of flesh, bone, spirit, experiences, cultures, habits, skills, choices, stories and DNA codes. The identities we choose are powerful. Overly narrow conceptions of ourselves can isolate us, whereas openness and flexibility inspire growth, evolution and exploration. As renowned physicist Carlo Rovelli concludes in his poetic seventy-nine-page book, Seven Brief Lessons On Physics, “[h]ere, on the edge of what we know, in contact with the ocean of the unknown, shines the mystery and the beauty of the world. And it’s breathtaking.”
Caesar's Ancestry Profile
Spring/Summer 2017 | 11
Monochromatic Worldviews: The Terrorist's Son: A Story of Choice. One hundred painful honest pages delineate Zak Ebrahim’s evolution from hating all non-Muslims to accepting humanity. The son of an Egyptian engineer and an American teacher from Pittsburgh, Ebrahim reveals how his life is almost destroyed when his beloved bapa chooses terrorism over fatherhood. Reconciling the promise of his parents’ early love with his father’s radicalization proves challenging for him. Ultimately, Ebrahim rejects his father’s narrow worldview and renounces reductionist “them vs. us” identities. Monophony in a Polyphonic World: The Sound and the Fury. Less violent, but similarly intense are the Compson siblings’ struggles as they find new identities in Faulkner’s Post-Civil War South. Quentin, the eldest, makes it to Harvard only to commit suicide. Caddy, the only sister, rebels against her parent’s ‘aristocratic world’ and has a child out of wedlock. Jason, the youngest, picks up the pieces. Jason bears the weight of the Compson family’s legacy. He maintains the crumbling homestead and supports his sick mother, special needs brother, niece and household servants. Jason’s fury grows with the uncertainty about whether he can support the family. To succeed in the New South, he must create his own individual identity. The only certainties in his life are the intense forces driving the South’s transition from privileged caste system to capitalism. Almost audible is the rumble of the modern world’s social and economic forces bearing down hard on the Compsons. Peace & Self-Reflection: The Longest Way Home. Financially successful, but failing emotionally McCarthy turns to anger and alcohol. As he travels the world writing for National Geographic, he recognizes that celebrity expectations lead him to wall himself off from human connection. His movie roles playing self-possessed males further hurt his ability to connect deeply with family, friends and women. Reflection, the love of a second wife and acceptance help McCarthy embrace his flawed but genuine self. He defeats alcoholism and embraces a flexible life path in which he accepts himself and others as emotional beings. He accepts anger and fear, learning to control both and realizing that anger is a common masculine response to the fear of not measuring up. Grace and good humor fill the pages of Lazy B: Growing up on a Cattle Ranch in the American Southwest, by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, and Adversity Is My Angel: The Life and Career of Raúl H. Castro, by the late Governor Castro. O’Connor and Castro grew up rugged within hours of each other—O’Connor on the family ranch East of Tucson and Castro in Douglas. In Lazy B the reader gets a taste of the joys and difficulties of ranch life. O’Connor reminisces about dinners of tamale pie and frijoles, steady ranch hands and endless chores, like the never-ending maintenance of windmill powered water pumps on which life in the desert depended. The desert’s whims—its floods and droughts humbled young Sandra and taught her humility and respect for the land. Hope and hard work are celebrated throughout Adversity Is My Angel. Gritty stories take us from Douglas High School to Argentina, where Governor Castro served as U.S. Ambassador. Castro excelled in school and sports. His time as a student athlete gave him a sense of his potential beyond what seemed possible for a Mexican miner’s son. Castro reigned as the star quarterback at school, yet when he jumped into a public pool to join his teammates he was told it was forbidden for Mexicans to swim in public pools. Determined to overcome such obstacles, he became a judge after short stints as a farm worker and boxer. The Kitchen Sink: In Capirotada: A Nogales Memoir, Alberto Ríos makes bread pudding, or capirotada, out of the smorgasbord of a world into which he is born. What is he? Start in post-WWII Britain. Add an English nurse, his mother, and an 82nd Airborne medic Mexican-Guatemalan American GI, his father. Mix them together in a 1950s-1960s U.S.-Mexico border town, Nogales, and voila. Mexican bread pudding! With deep sensitivity and a painter’s touch, Ríos weaves regional history with his and his parents’ recollections. One gets the feeling that Ríos needed to become a poet for the sole purpose of making sense of his almost overwhelmingly flavorful world. Equal to his task, he lyrically celebrates the mélange that is Arizona-Sonora border culture—so many colors, flavors, sounds, textures and feelings in one place captured beautifully by a poet. Putting It All Together: DNA USA: A Genetic Portrait of America. Sykes takes us from the particularities of culture and remembrance to universal human building blocks, DNA. His journey begins with a 13,000-year-old Clovis Point Spearhead discovered in Arizona. Combining archeological and archival evidence with DNA, Sykes’s concludes that humans are hybrids, and that, from the beginning, America is a continent populated by peoples from all other continents.
"The Siren Finds Her Voice" by Vanessa Valencia