THE JOURNEY
Twenty-five years ago, living in lovely Port Townsend, Washington, I was visited by an epiphany—the heart of the elephants—after reading an article about the plight of the Asian elephant. Within six months, I was in Northern Thailand making a film about elephants, especially a tall and lovely creature named Panom, at Thom’s Elephant Camp in Pai. She became the heart of the film PANOM, Cousin to the Clouds. After completing it, I wrote a short Buddhist parable PANOM, and the Stone of Light, a story about the generosity of Mother Earth. Panom symbolizes this gift and our critical relationship with the planet. ELEPHANT HEART is the vehicle—a chariot of hope—to express gratitude and joy through creative expressions. Galen Garwood
Portrait of Galen Garwood, by Richard Lair, ca. 2009
GETTING STARTED
ELEPHANT HEART’S first project will be NOSTOS, a collaborative book of poetry, prose, and visual art, the joining together of creative imaginations from various artists whose work reflects upon our relationship to planet Earth. NOSTOS, an ancient Greek expression meaning ‘a returning home,’ symbolizes a sacred love for this place we call home. I’m setting a calendar date of one year to collate/curate all the creative contributions, followed by the designing and editing. Marrowstone Press will publish this remarkable art book and move it into the world.
I’ll soon be upgrading the project’s progress on a Special Elephant Heart Journal, with comments from creative contributors and anyone who wishes to add their voice. This way, the project becomes fully collaborative.
IN THE MEANTIME
I’ll be donating ten percent of sales of my books, art posters, and GALENOGRAPHS (limited edition signed prints) to the ELEPHANT HEART BOOK PROJECT. Fifty percent of sales of Elephant Heart Shop Items will be dedicated to the ELEPHANT HEART BOOK PROJECT. Thanks for your Support!
OTHER WAYS to SUPPORT THE PROJECT and SHARE the MESSAGE
A SHOUT-OUT:
Asian elephants and Richard Lair have a history going back to 1977. He has produced many important publications on elephant conservation and welfare and has done fieldwork, speaking fluent Thai. His 1997 publication Gone Astray: The Care and Management of the Asian Elephant in Domesticity is still an important and unique resource document. https://www.fao.org/3/AC774E/AC774E00.htm
He conceived of, coordinated, co-authored, and edited Elephant Care Manual for Mahouts and Camp Managers http://www.fao.org/docrep/008/ae943e/ae943e00.htm. This seminal book, published in 2005, has since been translated, printed, and widely distributed to actual mahouts in Lao, Khmer, and Burmese.
Richard is now developing an innovative method (Elephant EyeD) to instantly and diagnostically identify individual elephants by photographing the wrinkle patterns of their eyes, which are just as unique to individual elephants as fingerprints to humans. EyeD will not only help protect both wild and domestic Asian and African elephants. Elephants are Keystone Species and create habitats for many other species; protecting the elephants will have wide-reaching positive benefits.
ELEPHANT HEART will donate fifty percent of Elephant Art Poster sales toward Richard’s effort to complete Elephant EyeD.
Thanks for your support!
Richard Lair with Luuk Khang, 2017
When I would occasionally visit Panom, we’d swim together in the river. I’d straddle her neck and hold fast to her large ears while she dove beneath the surface. She’d surge upward again and shower me with a full trunk of water. I’d lean over and kiss her on her domed head while scratching her ears. And sometimes I placed my forehead against hers, the minds of two mammals, two different species, pressed together. What might I have learned if I could have understood her pips, squeaks, and low rumbles?
For the story of Panom and her blue sapphire, I have stitched together all the elements that have informed me—the meaning of the word, the real elephant Panom, and the white elephant that appeared before Maha Maya.
In the mythological pantheon, Airavat creates the storms that nourish the earth. Like many deities, Airavat is male. Yet the social structure of elephants is matriarchal; Panom, then, is the female counterpart.
Let’s imagine her in the turbulent heavens of tropical storms millennia before the birth of Lord Buddha. Imagine the vastness of her wisdom illuminating the universe with her spinning stone of light. Imagine her white lotus unfolding, each petal a lesson for Peace. Galen Garwood
This painting of an elephant was created in 2016 by eight-year-old Hjalmar Boyesen. It was so remarkable that, with the assistance of his father, Alex Boyesen, I felt compelled to interview him about his work of art. His thoughts were both profuse and profound. His natural understanding of the world ignited the second phase, becoming Elephant Cloud. It made me realize that children often bring us the most important messages. Blooming out of Elephant Cloud is Elephant Heart.
Painting by Hjalmar Boyesen
THANKS FOR SUPPORTING ELEPHANT HEART /LOVE OUR PLANET