{"id":5639,"date":"2015-08-02T21:53:39","date_gmt":"2015-08-02T21:53:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.clarissarizal.com\/blogblog\/?p=5639"},"modified":"2015-09-07T18:07:52","modified_gmt":"2015-09-07T18:07:52","slug":"an-afternoon-in-taku-harbor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clarissarizal.com\/blog\/2015\/08\/an-afternoon-in-taku-harbor\/","title":{"rendered":"An Afternoon in Taku Harbor"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"TakuHarbor1\"<\/a>

Most likely the longest swings in the Northwest Coast at least 50 feet up; the girls swing as if it’s “normal…”<\/p><\/div>\n

My father was a local fisherman for many years. \u00a0He started out in the early 50’s up in Kodiak and Kenai until Rudy Govina told him that the “women are better” in Tlingit territory, so my father sailed his seiner to the Glacier Bay area which included Haines, Excursion Inlet, Hoonah Gustavus and on the outskirts, Juneau. \u00a0Though now and then I remember him talking about Taku Harbor. \u00a0He never took us there; he said it was not suited for humans because it was too far away for a man with a family. \u00a0He wanted us little kids to be safe.\u00a0 I never knew where or how far Taku Harbor was, I just knew that it was South of Juneau “all the way down till you almost hit the land straight in front of you but immediately make a left and then it’s up there a little ways and make another left…”\u00a0 uh, huh…those were the instructions from a fisherman, I kid you not, long time ago.\u00a0 So those directions are exactly what we did on the MV Princeton Hall sail…!<\/p>\n

\"TakuHarbor2\"<\/a>

James Crippen catches himself a bull kelp; now what’s he gonna do with it?<\/p><\/div>\n

Not much goes on in Taku Harbor. \u00a0There’s an old cabin once inhabited by the late Tiger Olson, an elder who made a living doing his own thing. \u00a0There’s a cabin run by the Forest Service too that people can rent by the day, week, month.<\/p>\n

\"TakuHarbor3\"<\/a>

Unbeknownst to the rest of us, James plays the digeridoo so it was only natural he make one out of the bull kelp<\/p><\/div>\n

As a full-time artist, I go through intense periods of a face-paced life. \u00a0This Summer was an extreme example of that. \u00a0I generally work at least 12 hours a day, though up to 18 hour days depending on whether or not a deadline (or several deadlines) is approaching. \u00a0I never live the same day, month or year, twice. \u00a0There is no routine other than “what next?”. \u00a0Just when I think I have got a routine down, there’s always something that disrupts it. \u00a0I used to get bent out of shape when something changed; after many, many years, I have learned to go with the flow. \u00a0It’s the nature of the beast.<\/p>\n

So what does jumping a sail for a day have to do with being an artist?<\/p>\n

\"TakuHarbor4\"<\/a>

Alice Taft tries her hand (or ought I say “mouth!?” at playing the digeridoo…!<\/p><\/div>\n

Sailing with folks I know but haven’t spent any time with is an excellent balance for spending a lot of alone time creating works holed up in my studio for days, weeks and sometimes months. \u00a0In Colorado, my life is a high contrast to my time in Alaska and Yukon (and anywhere else outside of my studio doors for that matter). \u00a0I have no social life in Colorado; there’s a reason for that. \u00a0I made it that way because it’s the only way I can get any work done. \u00a0Frankly, I need a break from people, places and things!<\/p>\n

I grew up on the ocean, and as a young girl I went fishing with my father. \u00a0There’s comfort and serenity being on the ocean. \u00a0It’s a time of relaxation, rejuvenation and inspiration. \u00a0It’s one of the ways I tone my energy down a few notches so I can quiet down and get to know myself! \u00a0Lol.<\/p>\n

\"TakuHarbor5\"<\/a>

Heading back to the MV Princeton Hall<\/p><\/div>\n

I’ll be heading back to my studio in Colorado the first of September. \u00a0I’ve had quite the Spring\/Summer in Alaska and Yukon; I am privileged to be able to choose a life as such. \u00a0No, it is not perfect, however, I am happy dong and being what I do and be. \u00a0It’s a good life.\u00a0 Especially when I have the once-in-a-lifetime to board a boat I’ve admired since a little kid playing at the docks:\u00a0 the Princeton Hall.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My father was a local fisherman for many years. \u00a0He started out in the early 50’s up in Kodiak and Kenai until Rudy Govina told him that the “women are better” in Tlingit territory, so my father sailed his seiner to the Glacier Bay area which included Haines, Excursion Inlet, Hoonah Gustavus and on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,23],"tags":[89],"class_list":["post-5639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-travels-adventures","category-photo-essays-of-alaska","tag-juneau-alaska"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarissarizal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarissarizal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarissarizal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarissarizal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarissarizal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5639"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarissarizal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5639\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5801,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarissarizal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5639\/revisions\/5801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarissarizal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarissarizal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarissarizal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}