Temple Series II

Temple Series - Red Sea
18" x 24" pastel on paper
© Marka L. Smith
Collection of Tom Smith, Jr.

The Temple Series emerged from the glyphs as they evolved
from flat, language-like graphics into dimensional forms within
a landscape or open space. Living in New Mexico with its architectural
style of rambling walls, stepped roof-lines and arched doorways
inspired my exploration into architecture. The Spanish style of walled
homes and enclosed cities with their arches, domes, and enclosed
courtyards developed as a result of the Moorish influence in the
Andalusía region of southern Spain. Some symbols are recurring in
my paintings as I am intrigued by their cross-cultural references.
In particular, the double or multiple X arranged vertically is depicted
in many forms of ethnographic art including Oriental rugs, West
African ceremonial beer jars, and Hawaiian petroglyphs. Their meaning
seems to be centered around the concept of generations of lineage.















Night Time in the Temple
24" x 30"pastel on paper
© Marka L. Smith
Collection of Tom Smith

Sirius Mysteries

Sirius Mysteries
18" x 24" pastel on paper
© Marka L. Smith

I created this piece during the month following a retreat with shaman
Jim Berenholtz in which he led a group of participants through a series
of preparations over a number of days including learning dances and
songs and creating masks, that culminated in a community ritual that
coincided with an astronomical event. The event was held in conjunction
with the Sirius Mysteries being celebrated in Mali, West Africa among the
Dogon People. The celebration honoring the Sirius star system to which
the Dogon trace their origins, takes place every 50 years when Sirius B
is closest to Sirius A in its eliptical orbit around the much larger, much
brighter star. Sirius B is known to the Dogon as Po Toli, the Dark Star,
because it is, in fact, a very dark, very dense star. The Hawaiian's name
for this star is simply Po, also their mythic place of origin. The Dogon
(and the Hawaiians) had knowledge of the existence of the second star,
including it's orbital path, in this star system that is invisible to the naked
eye millennia before Western astrologers detected it by its influential
wobble on Sirius A. To the ancient Egyptians, Sirius A is named Isis,
and Sirius B is known as Osiris. I titled this piece Sirius Mysteries
because of the timing and inspiration behind its creation.

Temple Series 2003 - 2005

Temple Series III
11 x 17 pastel on paper
© 2003
private collection

I began a series of pastels based on the architecture of
the American Southwest. Because it was a Spanish territory
for centuries before it became part of the U.S., much of the
architecture here was influenced by Moorish styles including
the arched doorways and walled courtyards around the homes.

I have had a number of dreams in which I am in a walled city
in the desert in some ancient time, and also in the future; I call
the future cities "Celestial Cities" as they seem to rise out of a
barren place bringing in a new culture.

Fire at Blue Lake

Fire at Blue Lake
15" x 21" pastel on paper
© 2003

I created this image one evening after working a shift at the Historic
Taos Inn. A crazy Russian woman had come in and began ranting
about how the medicine wheel at the Taos Pueblo was out of alignment
and that no one there would listen to her. She was very distraught
and I was concerned about her well-being. I thought I should do a
protective drawing for her and saw an image in my mind's eye of a
triple flame. It was right before Summer Solstice. I drew the center
blue flame and then the rest of the drawing evolved over the weekend.
I worked intuitively to complete the composition and finished it on
the Summer Solstice. Two weeks later, on the 4th of July, three strikes
of lightning struck the side of the mountain at Taos Pueblo and set
the hillside on fire. The fire raged for days.

Within hours the fire was burning within a mile of my home. As I
packed my belongings, I came across this pastel and was suddenly
taken by the symbols I had chosen to complete the piece - the red
flames around the central blue flame were like the three strikes of
lightning that spread across the mountainside. The trees and the
blue background were like the mountain and Blue Lake, a sacred
place for the Tewa people of Taos Pueblo and the source of water
for the pueblo. It is now contaminated with fire-retardent and will
take decades if not centuries to be pure enough to drink again.

As it turns out, the 4th of July was the day that one of the legendary
early Taoseños, Arthur Manby, was found beheaded in a room next
door to the Inn. His head was missing and never found. He was a
wild, gambling man who had invested his wealth in the town and
planted the trees that created the town's first park, but was also
reviled for his unscrupulous ways. I always wondered if it was the
ghost of Manby who had sought revenge for his own murder with
the fire that began on the anniversary of his death. It would make
sense, based on his reputation of character, that he would get even
one day.

The piece also reminds me of the Virgin of Guadalupe, the Patron Saint
of the Americas who first appeared as an apparition to a devoted man
in Mexico. Somewhat naive in its execution, it has the feeling of folk
art and colors of old Mexico. Perhaps there was a gift in the sacrifice by fire...

Gathering of the Tribes

Gathering of the Tribes
30" x 37" pastels and acrylics on rag paper
© 1994 Olinda, Maui, Hawaii
private collection

There are twelve glyphs surrounding the firey spiral
emerging from the volcanic mountains. The pink
light is the Stellar Light that infuses the Light Workers
with their special mission.

Holy Flame

Holy Flame
© 2001
5" x 8" Oil pastel on paper


Holy Flame

Toward My Self
Within
I Am Returned
This Sun
A Burning
Inside
Thy Holy Name

© Christmas 2003
Santa Cruz, CA

Venus Retrograde, March 2009

Ocean Dreaming © 2008
28 x 17, pastel on cotton rag paper


I had a dream that I was on the bow of a big wooden sailboat
with my brother and one of his friends. I look up in the sky
and the stars keep dancing about, arranging themselves into
new patterns and constellations. Although the dream takes
place at night, I painted it as bright sky blue.
The ocean and the sky are as one.

Venus goes retrograde the least of all other planets. Its cycle of
retrogrades form a pentagon in the astrological chart of the sky
as seen from Earth. It happens to go retrograde in the sign of
Aries since 1927, and as I have Venus in Aries, it seems to be
important to the expression of my creativity.

New Moon in Pisces 2009

Desert Dreaming, 17 x 24, pastel on paper
© Marka L. Smith

This piece was created as an interpretation of
many dreams I have of being in an ancient
desert where there are walls that separate
the people from the wildness of the open desert.
The sword-like symbol is about protection
from the unknown invaders who exist beyond
the safety of the doorway to the walled city.

Desert Dreaming, 17 x 24, pastel on paper
© Marka L. Smith

Epiphany 2009

This pastel was created in response to an event at the
Gorge Bridge in Taos, NM. There is a feeling of vastness
and of something that exists in the open space above the
very deep gorge that descends to the Rio Grande below.

Spirit and Matter, 23 x 30, pastel on paper, © 2000


Desert Poem

Out in the desert
Capricious winds of change
Stir up old passions
Signs of new life whispering
On the wintery land
Sage and shifting sands
This day has become ignited
Wind on fire
Passions whirl and tear away
The veils that keep the dawn from coming
Nothing is the same after love
Essence meeting essence
A small and quiet prayer quells the trembling
Of what has been moved and shaken
By the weather and the wildness of love
Out in the desert amidst starlight
And the capricious winds of love

© Marka L. Smith