While sitting out on my porch in Santa Barbara, California on a star filled December night in 1993, I gazed up at my old friend Orion and could not help but notice a tiny little cluster of stars off to the right. Twinkling back and forth, they were barely visible. I became curious.

A few days later those little stars spoke to me again, but in a way that I would have never imagined. I was visiting the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History and found myself in the room devoted to the Chumash Indians. I eventually came upon a life sized diorama of a group of Chumash Indians participating in  a ceremony. Before me was the back of a figure who appeared to be a shaman or high priest. I walked around to see his face and there they were! That same little group of stars were painted across the entire left side of his face! I soon learned that they are the constellation Pleiades and that a multitude of cultures ancient and new have included them in their history.

The early Chumash watched the movement of the stars closely. Their findings were incorporated into their ceremonies and stories. They also produced some of the most glorious paintings ever made. Their canvas was rock. And not just any rock. The places chosen always had a special connection to earth’s elements of earth, water, air and fire. Their true meaning can only be speculated upon but it is clear that they emerged from the spirit of a culture who desired a greater understanding of themselves, the world they lived in and worlds beyond.

What started as a whisper has since manifested into a collection of art that celebrates the magic of historical discovery.  I welcome you to share the experience.   

Patti Ortiz