STORYKEEPERS Series #6: Mati Waiya of Wishtoyo 

The Chumash Painted Cave State Historic Park, in the California State Park system, preserves a small sandstone cave adorned with rock art attributed to the Chumash people:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chumash_Painted_Cave_State_Historic_Park

Carrying on with renewed traditions of Chumash wisdom, creativity and a strong commitment to the natural environment , Mati Waiya is a forever STORYKEEPER.

STORYKEEPER Series #6: Mati Waiya of Wishtoyo, Oil on Linen Canvass, 24″ x 36″

Oil on Wood Panels, 24″ x 24″

2018 Mati and Dawn at WISHTOYO Foundation event in Malibu.

STORYKEEPERS Series #5: Dick van Dyke and the Black Porpoises

This STORYKEEPER Story has a Porpoise: An encounter with Black Porpoises Tursiops truncatus off the eastern coast has given Dick an extremely “entertaining” adventure. Drifting off shore while napping on his large long board, Dick was awoke to the splashing of fins. At first he feared the worst, thinking that sharks had surrounded him. “I woke up out of sight of land,” he said, “I started paddling with the swells and I started seeing fins swimming around me and I thought ‘I’m dead!’” To his further surprise, the Black Porpoise began guiding and pushing him on the board: “They pushed me all the way to shore. I’m not kidding!” These Porpoise had a PURPOSE! Bottlenose Dolphins, sometimes called Black Porpoise on the east coast of the genus Tursiops, are the most common members of the family Delphinidae, the family of oceanic dolphin.

STORYKEEPERS Series #5: Dick van Dyke and the Black Porpoises, Oil Paint and Acrylic enrichments with relief waves and splashes, painted on Birch Wood, 44″x52″ framed

This painting is BIG! A life size Dick van Dyke and Porpoises!

My first ‘hero’ for the marine environment:

Julie Packard is executive director of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which she co-founded in the 1970s. Julie is an international leader in the field of ocean conservation and a member of the Pew Oceans Commission and serves on the Joint Oceans Commission Initiative, where she works to implement comprehensive reform of U.S. ocean policy. Julie’s work goes beyond the edge of the ocean as she is a loud voice for science-based policy in support of healthy oceans at international conferences, including the World Trade Organization, the International Aquarium Congress and the Seafood Summit.

http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/
Since the MBA’s beginnings, I have participated as an artist with publications that have been distributed via the aquarium’s bookstores. Working with the aquarium’s wonderful staff empowered my creative directions for projects including books, posters and most recently the NATURE UNFOLDING science guide series. And working alongside and with the MBA Education Departments has added energy to my work, as we educated our marine science teachers and students.

I greatly appreciate the opportunity to share my work with Julie and all California, as my ocean spirit is greatly enriches by my long association with the Monterey Bay Aquarium.