Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Joan Baron. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Joan, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
It came about from an early age with my family in northern Ohio. I didn’t know it at the time, however, this particular incident informed and shaped my world from that day forward. I was a child of the 50’s. Lake Erie was our playground in the summers with my brothers and cousins. Jumping off my uncles small boat to land safely on the sand bar was incredibly joyful. On my last jump I did not land on the sandbar. Instead, I went deep down and was quite aware of my drowning. It was cold and frightening. Then, two hands picked me up out of the water and brought me to the shore. No one remembers this happening. When my family returned home, the next day, our dear friend Mildred asked, “did anything happen to one of you Baron kids at the lake”? “Why”, we asked. Mildred explained that during the sermon she was delivering to her congregation, she felt an overwhelming calling to ask her congregation to pause for a moment and offer prayers of safety, of love, of caring for one of the “Baron Kids”. That “kid” was me! And this is where my purpose in life was born, informed and nurtured. I was made aware that we are all gifted with connections to much greater powers and abilities than we have ever been taught or imagined. That goodness, compassion and quality of being are available to us when we explore and nurture this connection to nature and her enormous giving energy field that is love.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
The minute I put my hands in the earth (beginning in the garden with my mother) and eventually working with clay, I knew I found a significant connection. I always had lots of creative ideas for all types of projects and explored many forms of art from drawing to print making, graphic design and more over the years… yet working and forming with my hands in the earth materials was most powerful. I’ve been at it now for over 60 years.! I’ve learned to write about it and more importantly to make the connection between those early years in the garden, to my drowning experience, to the power of prayer, to my passion for having my own gardens and teaching others…especially how to grow food and flowers in small spaces and to understand our responsibilities to others that inhabit it with us such as bees and butterflies, turtles and how each has a role to play in the balancing of our eco-system – the health and well being of our planet. From sharing & selling hand made bowls and platters to serve food from to creating larger site specific art installations, my work is about engagement, building community experiences and ecological awareness. Boldness is sometimes required to facilitate conversations about the challenges we all face. Motivating & inspiring others to find their creativity, and their purpose is clearly an ethical theme for me in all that I do.
Several recent projects showcase socio-political issues. “Tiny Prayer Space” is a durational performative work that explores the value of a life. Provoked by the enormous number of lost lives currently being taken by the Hamas, Palestinian and Israeli struggles this work provides a safe space for healing and connection as we make porcelain beads together. Each bead representing one life lost. Throughout history every culture has made beads. They are power symbols used in body adornment, for trade, as currency, and in rituals.
The other most current site specific art installation is ” The 2024 Sea Turtle Clan Summit” which brings attention to the reality that deep sea drilling and oil spills that continue to go unregulated is causing serious disruption to habitat and migration patterns of these important creatures and the valuable role they play in helping to provide a balanced eco-system throughout the worlds oceans. In 1973 The Endangered Species Act was established. Those values have been lost along the way and need to be re-examined.
my website: www.joanbaron.com showcases many other projects and videos
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
curiosity
culture/history/heritage
awareness of the sacred
my advise is to find your roots, explore and revel in the beauty and bounty that nature provides.
take an active part in the preservation, conservation and growing knowledge of your surroundings.
Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
Alan Watts – “The Book – on the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Really Are”
“Through our eyes, the universe is perceiving itself. Through our ears, the universe is listening to its harmonies. We are the witnesses through which the universe becomes conscious of its glory, of its magnificence”
it is an illusion that we are isolated beings. That we are unconnected to the rest of the universe. As a result, we treat that “outside” world poorly and disrespectfully. it is critical to understand “The Self” for we then see that we are rooted in nature and will find our grounding there.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.joanbaron.com
- Instagram: joanbaronstudio
- Facebook: Joan Baron
- Linkedin: Joan Baron
- Twitter: @joanebaron
- Youtube: @joanbaron6931
- Other: videos and links via website To listen to the original composition, “Meditations for the Salt River” please follow the link on joanebaron.com under the heading “exhibitions”.
Image Credits
All images were taken by Joan Baron – Baron Studio
