Caroline nicole haag artist

“Fire: Elements of Earth I,” India ink on Bristol board, 11’ by 14” original, 16” by 20” limited edition prints

We often consider fire for it’s destructive power and it’s warming power, but we often overlook one of it’s most beautiful qualities: it’s clearing power. Destruction makes the way for new life and rebirth. It forces me to consider the beauty in all parts of the life cycle. The forest grows and grows, it can become overrun or imbalanced with one life form choking out the others. Then fire comes, then the rain, and the earth makes space for sensitive new little life forms to thrive. Death is just as beautiful as birth, and we cannot have one without the other.

“Water: Elements of Earth II,” India ink on Bristol board, 11’ by 14” original, 16” by 20” limited edition prints

I’ve always thought in images more than words. Even in the context of prayer, I’d think in pictures. For me sad, dark, stressful times I always correlated to desert- a lack of water. When I’d see someone in pain and turmoil, the image that would come to mind as my prayer for them was lying in a shallow, tepid brook being gently enfolded in water. I think this was a deep desire of mine- to be wrapped in water. There’s something so comforting about the beauty and sensory deprivation of water. We are wrapped up and finally have a moment of true silence. I suppose that it connects to the womb, how we were prepared for life. It’s the ultimate rest. When I think of spiritual peace and ultimate soothing, I’ll always think of water. To this day, water in the form of rain, river or ocean can give me peace and clarity like nothing else can. 

“Aether: Elements of Earth III,” India ink on Bristol board, 11’ by 14” original, 16” by 20” limited edition prints

“The shadows are as important as the light.”

-Jane Eyre

In the culture we live in we often only consider the positive: meaning what is, rather than what is not. This does exist, I did that, here this is… We often don’t consider the negative space. What does not exist. These 12 elements of earth are two things: they are the substances and forces that make up the world as we know it. Each element an be considered both as a force and a substance. 

Aether represents the void- that which is not there. This is a particularly fascinating example of balance- of yin and yang. We rarely consider the effect of what is not there upon what is there, but in fact it is equally signifiant. I think we must consider this and treat our lives and the world accordingly. Space is required to give room for the positive to grow. Absences and silences must be as intentional as presences and action. Consider your negative space, and find power in it. 

“Wind: Elements of Earth IV,” India ink on Bristol board, 11’ by 14” original, 16” by 20” limited edition prints

There’s nothing that can transform a moment quite like wind. I was out riding my bike recently when a storm suddenly blew in. The air around me went from hot and stagnant to chilly, fragrant and violent. The wind was shipping around my body in circles as the leaves flew off the trees. It felt like levitating. I was as though a perfect summer day had been descended upon by the withes, gods and chaotic forces of nature. The wind transforms, plays, obeys no one. It is the most free, the most powerful, the most spontaneous, the most artistic force I can imagine. May you be free like she is.

“Time: Elements of Earth V,” India ink on Bristol board, 11’ by 14” original, 16” by 20” limited edition prints

I recently lost someone very dear to me. He had aged, and it was his time. We talked very soon before his death. Besides “I love you,” the last thing he said to me was “Sugar, you seem to worry a lot about how other people feel, but I think you should worry some about how you feel.” Then like that, he was gone. Those words and a thousand tiny memories- from the tears shed together to the funny silly things are left along with immortalized last words. Some people call time a thief. They aren’t wrong. Some people call time a gift. They aren’t wrong either. Rather than recite some platitude about a glass half full or empty- I think the thing to do is embrace time for all it is. Time is the currency we have in which to exist, move, love, dance, and die. It is finite and precious in our experience of it; so what shall we do with it?

“Earth: Elements of Earth VI,” India ink on Bristol board, 11’ by 14” original, 16” by 20” limited edition prints

“And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet, and the winds long to play with your hair.”

~Khalil Gibran, The Prophet

Earth is mother. Earth is soil. Earth is home. Like dogs- she doesn’t speak the language we are most accustomed to hearing, but regardless of how mystically you see the world it’s clear she’s alive and communicating. Why is it that “earthing” or placing our feet on bare grass or soil charges us with electrons and lifts and balances our mood in a measurable way? Why is it that the Native Americans believe one can have various “dirt sicknesses” if out of harmony with the earth and place dirt in the body for healing rituals? Why is it that directly or indirectly all of our food comes from the soil? Earth doesn’t speak in words or money- two of the most heard languages around the world. But she does speak to us- sometimes she screams and sometimes she whispers in our thoughts. The native Americans also believe that storms are her way of crying out in pain when her energy centers are out of balance or her resources are being exploited. They believe that energy must be returned to the earth as she’s so generously given it to us. Like most wonderful women- I find that though she can display a fiery temper that she is a nurturing, maternal soul that warms and inspires if only you treat her well. 

“Shadow: Elements of Earth VII,” India ink on Bristol board, 11’ by 14” original, 16” by 20” limited edition prints

“I embrace my shadow self. Shadows give depth and dimension to my life. I believe in embracing my duality, in learning to let darkness and light, peacefully co-exist, as illumination.”― Jaeda DeWalt

So many forces of nature exist only in juxtaposition to their inverse: warmth to cold, motion to stillness, light to shadow. Nature illustrates in so many powerful ways to us the concept of balance: of Yin and Yang. Waves ebb only because they also flow; they crest because the trough. The moon waxes because it wanes, and wanes because it waxes. Crops flower and die so they can be harvested and replanted. I often feel that we as human beings have a difficult time with the concept of duality. We believe certain behaviors and traits are all bad while others are all good. This is rarely a truth and often a terribly destructive belief.

Many of us- especially those that have little life behind them and some difficult experiences- realize that we are creatures of more than one side. This isn’t “bad” or acting “out of character.” I’ve recently found myself blessed to be surrounded by people that challenge my self-critical, binary, falsely dichotomous thinking. They remind me that often we are better off observing our instincts and questioning them rather than judging or controlling them. 

We all have a shadow. What this means for you will of course vary- but this is a darker side of you: this can means side that lives more in secret; a side that is more fierce, sad, manipulative, ruthless or angry or simply an alternative side of you that has been created to adapt to your circumstances. No matter the case- this is nothing to run from of fear. Even though it may well be dark- ironically the beginning of finding peace is sitting down with and understanding this shadow. Know thyself and find freedom, peace, truth and goodness that comes from sincerity. 

“Air: Elements of Earth VIII,” India ink on Bristol board, 11’ by 14” original, 16” by 20” limited edition prints

Do you ever stop to taste the air? Why does autumn something you can smell? The air is like a wine- the flavor of the air is changed by the crispness in temperature brought on by an autumn night chill. Warm summer nights are like floating in a tepid ocean. Spring is like the first time you smelled perfume. Winter is like the frost that forms on the outside of your glass. Air is the vehicle we move in- that which carries us alongside the eagles and the sparrows, the swallows and the doves. Air is that which sustains us- we can go days and weeks without food and water, but only minutes without air. Air facilitates being, life, flight… All living things grow only with the presence of air. Something so relied on, so invisible, so assumed and so taken for granted allows all plant and animal life. While air can be ignored- it serves us better when we notice it. When we do stop to taste the air, breathe deeply instead of thoughtlessly. 

“Light: Elements of Earth IX,” India ink on Bristol board, 11’ by 14” original, 16” by 20” limited edition prints

Light strikes a personal chord for me- I came to see by it. I was a photographer before I was a painter- and learned what light does, how it works, how things can be sculpted by it. So much of the visible world is framed by the light it is cast in. Think of films- light can be the difference between a horrific image and a glorious one; presenting someone as resplendent or foreboding. Light alone paints people to the eye. The shadows can shape only by the existence of the highlights; and vice versa. There’s something profound in this- that the same person can be seen in two different lights and be perceived completely differently. I think this speaks to the power of art, storytelling and the power of our own perspectives. We can only see the world through our own eyes; I think this has to call us to question that. We should never accept the appearances blindly, but test the narrative and cast our own light. By seeking truth intentionally- we cast our own light, rather than allowing others to do it for us. This is when we can make art. When we are the photographer placing the lights ourselves- we find truth, command the narrative, and make art.