John Steines
History:
1. Youthful Initiation: My exploration in art began very early, by age 4-5. My mother quickly figured out that this hyperactive child, fifth of eleven children, required additional attention to assist his adaptation and growth, and diminish the inherent conflict risks with those who surround. She quickly identified that getting me involved in an art project resulted in deep attention and concentration which could rarely be disturbed by surrounding activity. My dedication (study) began then.
2. Study: I have studied classical drawing techniques over the years to develop my descriptive skills, including basic form, perspective, figurative and portrait work. These learning's inform my visions as they evolve within the canvas. As the iterative process evolves, disparate images begin to orient into relationships that carry deeper meaning. An abstracted quality persists within and among these detailed elements moving into and out of the canvas surface, to suggest a moment in time and an incomplete process or an unfinished evolution.
Related Background:
1. BS Nursing. My professional background beyond artwork consists of 42 years as a Registered Nurse in Critical Care, including service on the State of Wisconsin Health Advisory Planning Group, personal advocacy and informal counseling, and public/university speaking on Resiliency. I speak to elevate awareness, minimize negative effects, and encourage/support effective adaptive strategies. Trauma is universal. Healing is encouraged through active non-judgmental listening to story. The ability to speak out and be heard is inherently a healing process.
2. Nature & Environment:
A. From childhood on, deep encounters with nature are a strong spiritual connection for me, and function as healer and teacher. I grew up on a small family farm at the southern tip of the Canadian Shield in north-central Wisconsin, Marathon County (Ginseng Country). This is just north of and overlaps Leopold's Sand Counties.
John Muir's Wisconsin youth with his study origins have been strongly influential to me.
I followed Fran Hamerstrom's work on the Prairie Chicken (continued after her husband's passing: The Buena Vista Grassland and interconnecting Leola Marsh, located in Portage and Adams counties, consist of the best and most extensive prairie chicken habitat left in Wisconsin (Wisconsin's Central Sands).
B. Active Engagement: Rocky creeks with numerous rapids and waterfalls, and their surrounding wooded habitat, link from the family farm all the way into northern Wisconsin's and Lake Superior's acreage. That landscape became a psychic home as I grew into adulthood. 1- 3 weeks of camping/ canoeing deep into isolated realms off season (Spring ice-out and late Autumn into early snow) was common. Winter brought XC Skiing, Summer brought swimming and berry harvest. Each outing concluded with 2-3 days of sketching (often pastel on black paper). Tom Thomson is inspirational.
C. Environmental Stewardship:
- I worked with the Yahara Parkway (Tenney Park and south, Lake Mendota to Lake Monona) upon returning to Madison in 1997-99.
- I co-founded Friends of Startkweather Creek in 2002 after purchasing my home halfway between the two branches of the east Madison creek's watersheds. The Starkweather Solstice Festival initiated in 2002 with an intent to celebrate local watersheds and elevate attention toward agrarian/seasonal calendars and improve Winter Holiday wellness.
D. Major Environmental/Design Project.
In 2014 I was invited in to a new and evolving Dane County's farm-park, dedicated to Ag Education. Silverwood County Park is original Ho-Chunk land. In 2015 I initiated 'Ten Variations on a Theme': 10 artists installations in 10 giant circular corn cribs, celebrating and envisioning the possibility of this new 'farm-park' as a working regenerative farm.
By 2016, I was mapping and drafting a Master Plan for the park (minimally adapted and accepted), based on Leopold's principles of 'The Land Informs'. A number of specialist in etymology, mapping techniques (lidar, drone footage, walking assessments) informed this process, including delineation of recessional glacial moraine, glacial-lake washout gully, numerous deep kettles left by glaciers, and 25 acres of remnant Oak Savanna (0.0006% of that habitat is survived from the pre-settlement 50,000,000 acres originally. At most 30,000 remains currently. Most of these plots are small and isolated. Isolation significantly reduces diversity.) Regenerative practice is an essential tool for degraded soils and damaged habitats. Restored Oak Savanna is a better option than growing new Oak Savanna from scratch (comparable evolution time ~ 300 years in this case).
Most significantly, the proposed and adapted Dane County Park Plan that I drafted and presented links Savanna habitat across the property to include agroforestry fields and continuous connected strips of habitat. This results in the principle that 'field' becomes an island element, rather than that pollinator/savanna habitats become isolated communities. Without a doubt, this is my proudest advocacy achievement.
1. Youthful Initiation: My exploration in art began very early, by age 4-5. My mother quickly figured out that this hyperactive child, fifth of eleven children, required additional attention to assist his adaptation and growth, and diminish the inherent conflict risks with those who surround. She quickly identified that getting me involved in an art project resulted in deep attention and concentration which could rarely be disturbed by surrounding activity. My dedication (study) began then.
2. Study: I have studied classical drawing techniques over the years to develop my descriptive skills, including basic form, perspective, figurative and portrait work. These learning's inform my visions as they evolve within the canvas. As the iterative process evolves, disparate images begin to orient into relationships that carry deeper meaning. An abstracted quality persists within and among these detailed elements moving into and out of the canvas surface, to suggest a moment in time and an incomplete process or an unfinished evolution.
Related Background:
1. BS Nursing. My professional background beyond artwork consists of 42 years as a Registered Nurse in Critical Care, including service on the State of Wisconsin Health Advisory Planning Group, personal advocacy and informal counseling, and public/university speaking on Resiliency. I speak to elevate awareness, minimize negative effects, and encourage/support effective adaptive strategies. Trauma is universal. Healing is encouraged through active non-judgmental listening to story. The ability to speak out and be heard is inherently a healing process.
2. Nature & Environment:
A. From childhood on, deep encounters with nature are a strong spiritual connection for me, and function as healer and teacher. I grew up on a small family farm at the southern tip of the Canadian Shield in north-central Wisconsin, Marathon County (Ginseng Country). This is just north of and overlaps Leopold's Sand Counties.
John Muir's Wisconsin youth with his study origins have been strongly influential to me.
I followed Fran Hamerstrom's work on the Prairie Chicken (continued after her husband's passing: The Buena Vista Grassland and interconnecting Leola Marsh, located in Portage and Adams counties, consist of the best and most extensive prairie chicken habitat left in Wisconsin (Wisconsin's Central Sands).
B. Active Engagement: Rocky creeks with numerous rapids and waterfalls, and their surrounding wooded habitat, link from the family farm all the way into northern Wisconsin's and Lake Superior's acreage. That landscape became a psychic home as I grew into adulthood. 1- 3 weeks of camping/ canoeing deep into isolated realms off season (Spring ice-out and late Autumn into early snow) was common. Winter brought XC Skiing, Summer brought swimming and berry harvest. Each outing concluded with 2-3 days of sketching (often pastel on black paper). Tom Thomson is inspirational.
C. Environmental Stewardship:
- I worked with the Yahara Parkway (Tenney Park and south, Lake Mendota to Lake Monona) upon returning to Madison in 1997-99.
- I co-founded Friends of Startkweather Creek in 2002 after purchasing my home halfway between the two branches of the east Madison creek's watersheds. The Starkweather Solstice Festival initiated in 2002 with an intent to celebrate local watersheds and elevate attention toward agrarian/seasonal calendars and improve Winter Holiday wellness.
D. Major Environmental/Design Project.
In 2014 I was invited in to a new and evolving Dane County's farm-park, dedicated to Ag Education. Silverwood County Park is original Ho-Chunk land. In 2015 I initiated 'Ten Variations on a Theme': 10 artists installations in 10 giant circular corn cribs, celebrating and envisioning the possibility of this new 'farm-park' as a working regenerative farm.
By 2016, I was mapping and drafting a Master Plan for the park (minimally adapted and accepted), based on Leopold's principles of 'The Land Informs'. A number of specialist in etymology, mapping techniques (lidar, drone footage, walking assessments) informed this process, including delineation of recessional glacial moraine, glacial-lake washout gully, numerous deep kettles left by glaciers, and 25 acres of remnant Oak Savanna (0.0006% of that habitat is survived from the pre-settlement 50,000,000 acres originally. At most 30,000 remains currently. Most of these plots are small and isolated. Isolation significantly reduces diversity.) Regenerative practice is an essential tool for degraded soils and damaged habitats. Restored Oak Savanna is a better option than growing new Oak Savanna from scratch (comparable evolution time ~ 300 years in this case).
Most significantly, the proposed and adapted Dane County Park Plan that I drafted and presented links Savanna habitat across the property to include agroforestry fields and continuous connected strips of habitat. This results in the principle that 'field' becomes an island element, rather than that pollinator/savanna habitats become isolated communities. Without a doubt, this is my proudest advocacy achievement.
