FOREST MAGIC | The secret to Humboldt Farms' fantastic flower
Sun-grown in the thick of Northern California, the world's most legendary cannabis flower is less than an hour from you on Eaze.
PURE LIFE FARM
Meet our April Magic Maker, Pure Life Farm. Based in Arcata, CA, this small family farm produces some of the most delicious honey we have ever tasted. Read on to learn more about Husband and wife Maria and Josh and their farming and beekeeping practices.
How long have you lived in Humboldt?
Maria has lived in Humboldt County for 15 years, and Josh was born and raised here.
It's always
encouraging to see other businesses using other hive by-products to make their own, creating a very beautiful sense of sustainable community.
How long have you been farming and beekeeping?
We started our small farm thirteen years ago, when we began selling fruits and vegetables. We have been beekeeping for six years.
How has the culture of Humboldt influenced your work?
For the most part, we have noticed a lot of support for local products and farms. Its always encouraging to see other businesses using other hive by-products to make their own, creating a very beautiful sense of sustainable community.
Humboldt has
a lot of natural beauty that inspires us to work outdoors, and bees are the artists of those landscapes.
How has the natural landscape of Humboldt influenced your work?
Humboldt has a lot of natural beauty that inspires us to work outdoors, and bees are the artists of those landscapes.
How do you use Cannabis?
A glass of CBD infused water every day for tendonitis.
How has the cannabis industry in Humboldt County affected/contributed to your career as an artist/creative?
The cannabis business has contributed with support to our local products and also by giving people like us affordable options to feel better.
JOHNATHON DESOTO
A LIFE-LONG RESIDENT OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY, JOHNATHON DESOTO IS BEST KNOWN FOR CREATING GEOMETRICALLY BASED ART PANELS AND MIXED MEDIA PIECES THAT ARE CONCERNED WITH THE POLITICAL DYNAMICS OF THE CURRENT DAY. HE USES RECLAIMED WOOD, PHOTOGRAPHY, PAINTING, COMMON CONSTRUCTION AND HOUSEHOLD MATERIALS.
What is your medium /practice, how long have you been in Humboldt, and how long have you been making your work?
I use reclaimed wood to create hardline, geometrically based abstractions and I am a local to Humboldt County, so all 32 years. I have been creating wood based works for 6 years.
Cannabis
helps me to be a little more relaxed, a little more grounded.
How has the natural landscape of Humboldt influenced your work?
Although I do not draw direct inspiration from the landscape of Humboldt, it contributes to my well being, and influences me in more fundamental and abstract ways. I enjoy the fact that I can taste the salt in the air, or see the sea from my back porch. It's wonderful to turn in the opposite direction and see the the hills and the trees. It’s reinvigorating to be able to drive a short distance in the summer and swim in one of our six rivers. Humboldt County's landscape has always allowed me to become more grounded when my head starts spinning, and thus serves as a sort of heavy woven blanket when I need it.
What are your favorite Cannabis products and how/when do you use them?
I love using vape pens for their ease of use, and their ability to save my lungs from inhaling smoke. I work around a lot of sawdust in my work and my greatest health challenge is keeping dust at bay. The fact that I’m not introducing one more, potentially hazardous substance into my lungs, is reassuring. I have had issues sleeping well. I have tried a whole host of different natural and synthetic sleep aids in the past. Some of them work for a while, but then my body adjusts or they work but leave me with a terrible hangover the next morning. I have found that vaping Cannabis has allowed me to increase my sleep cycle from 3-4 hours a night to 5-7 hours a night.
I can
take deeper breaths throughout the day
How do they affect your creative process?
My issues usually have to do with a lack of time, rather than a lack of ideas. Sometimes I have far too many complex ideas and directions that I want to pursue. So, it’s really important for me to be able to bring energy to my work and focus. So, being able to sleep well and allow my body to subconsciously process the meaningful thoughts, experiences and feelings affects my process in ways that are both tangible and intangible.
How does Cannabis enhance your overall well-being?
Over all, it helps me to be a little more relaxed, a little more grounded. I can take deeper breaths throughout the day.
PEN & PINE
MEET FEBRUARY'S MAGIC MAKER, PEN & PINE. THE ONE-WOMAN OPERATION OF JENNA CATSOS, IS THE MARRIAGE OF HER INTEREST IN FINE ART, EDUCATION, AND THE NATURAL WORLD.
What is your medium/practice?
I really like to draw. There’s something so simple and tactile about it, yet through such a basic process I can create anything I dream up. As my work can easily tip towards commercial, I try to regularly build in time to just draw for myself- with no purpose or product in mind. Each morning I get up, make a big cup of tea or coffee, and head to my small studio in my garden. I am my most creative in the morning, so I like to get to work as quickly as I can. In the afternoons, I go for walks around the neighborhood to generate inspiration, drink more tea, meet with clients, or work on the business side of my art.
I love
the simple practice of drawing with fine point pens on nice, thick paper.
I love the simple practice of drawing with fine-point pens on nice, thick paper; feeling the drag of the felt tip across the grain. I enjoy bringing color into my work in different ways- I often scan my illustrations and add color digitally, or incorporate paint or monoprinting to integrate color. The process of monoprinting involves laying ink on glass and taking single impressions, creating unique prints with blended colors and organic shapes. Once the prints are dry, I use them to inspire the illustrations that take form on top of them.
Throughout my life I have worked with a variety of media, but I keep coming back to illustration because of its simplicity, my ability to throw all of my tools in my bag, and its ability to clearly communicate and educate. I love that illustration requires me to stop, focus, and really look- before you can draw something, you need to really see it. My aim is to use my illustration as a way to remind people to slow down, follow our curiosity, and appreciate the whimsical nature of everyday objects.
How long have you lived in Humboldt?
I moved from Seattle to Humboldt in 2014. I’m originally from Massachusetts, and I never dreamed I would live in California. My husband and I moved here on a whim, but it turns out this area is the perfect fit for me and my work. We live in Eureka, and we have grown to love this little city so much.
My aim
is to use my illustration as a way to remind people to slow down, follow our curiosity, and appreciate the whimsical nature of everyday objects.
How long have you been making art?
I have been making things and drawing for my whole life. I come from a very crafty and resourceful family, and my creative exploration was always encouraged. Both of my parents are creative small business owners, so this path always seemed like the most natural one to take. I studied art at Green Mountain College, a small liberal arts school in Vermont but then I was swept up by adult decided to take my career in a different direction. I missed having creativity and creation as the center of my life, so in 2015 I took the plunge and officially started my illustration business, Pen&Pine, and last year I quit my job to pursue my art.
How have the culture and landscape of Humboldt influenced your work?
I value the collaborations and partnerships I have built in this area, with other artists and with the strong community of nonprofits along the north coast. I can honestly say that living in Humboldt has made it possible for me to pursue my art. There is an acceptance of artists here that I haven’t really found anywhere else, and I find that people are truly excited to support my work.
I have a strong connection to Humboldt and the larger pacific northwest, and my work is intertwined with the culture and landscape of this area. There’s something magical about this place that makes me want to create. I love capturing the sense of this place through maps and illustrations of the landmarks, flora, architecture, and cultural quirks of this area. And sometimes I literally cannot stop drawing ferns.
Having my studio in my garden shapes the types of things I often draw. When I am searching for inspiration, all I have to do is look out my window and there are dozens of plants begging to be drawn and explored.
How has the cannabis industry in Humboldt County affected/contributed to your career as an artist/creative?
Cannabis is such a part of the culture and lifestyle in Humboldt. I believe that the cannabis industry in Humboldt provides an extra boost to our economy, which helps make it possible for artists to survive, and thrive, here.
To learn more about Pen & Pine, check out her website, Etsy shop, or follow her on Instagram!
ANNA
SOFIA
AMEZCUA
Meet our first Magic Maker, Anna Sofia Amezcua. A 17-year resident of Humboldt County, Anna has been painting for two decades. Read on to discover more about one of our favorite local artists...
How has the culture of Humboldt influenced your work?
Living in Humboldt has given me a lot of freedom and support to become the artist/person I needed and wanted to become. The slower pace, fresh air, clean water and amazing, locally produced food allow for a high quality of life. I couldn't find that in cities as a young artist without a lot of financial means, at least not without sacrificing either well-being for art or art for well-being, which was not an option for me. The choice to live here instead of in a city wasn't an easy one - I agonized over it a lot in my twenties and I still often crave the more stimulating, creative culture of urban life. But being physically, mentally and emotionally healthy is crucial to my practice as an artist and the slower pace and open space here enable that. I delve really deep to make work that, to me at least, feels intensely emotional and authentic. Living where I can disconnect from external noise, stimulation and distractions, where I feel closely connected to nature, and where I have a strong and supportive community, allows me to go to those edges. From the moment I moved and started to produce work here, there was so much support for me and my work. I am incredibly grateful for that. I love and depend on the open-minded embrace of individuality that is intrinsic to the culture here, and I’m sure that has been a factor in finding my own voice in art and life. I do my best to keep myself current on what’s happening out there in the real world, because yes, this is a bubble, and when I do travel to cities, I just make sure to cram in as much art and culture as possible.
My work
is also about emotion and I see the forces of nature as earth’s emotional system.
How has the natural landscape of Humboldt influenced your work?
My work is about physical, embodied experience in a woman body. One that is strongly aware of a deep connection to and relationship with the (woman) body that is earth. My work is also about emotion and I see the forces of nature as earth’s emotional system. So while I have always felt that my aesthetic sensibility was more of an urban one, the physical experience of living close to the earth, especially in the rugged lifestyle of the more off-the-grid places I have gravitated to here, is a core element in my work. My creative inspiration might be more urban, but my being is deeply nourished and inspired by the natural beauty and open space here. It absolutely affects my ability to make the work I make.
What are your favorite products and how/when do you use them?
I love a good joint (I loved that Cookie Monster joint we smoked during the photo shoot!), but my lungs not so much, so I reserve joints for the occasional social smoke with a friend. I love a little flower in my Pax, much easier on the lungs, and with flower I can be sure it’s organically grown, usually by a friend. I’ve been really enjoying your OG Kush oil cartridge lately, too. I mostly enjoy cannabis solo, like for taking a walk with my dog, doing yoga, taking a bath, or for any activity where I want to tune in a little more deeply to myself or enhance my sense of presence in the moment.
I FIND THAT
as long as I use it in moderation, it can really help me focus, tune into my inner life, and follow deep threads that I find there.
How does cannabis affect your creative process?
I find that as long as I use it in moderation, it can really help me focus, tune into my inner life, and follow deep threads that I find there.
How do they enhance your overall well-being?
I have gone through lots of different phases with cannabis, sometimes I don’t use it at all, and at times I have probably over-used it. I think there is a tendency to be extreme in our opinions about cannabis. People seem to either laud it unconditionally or think it’s completely terrible. I have seen and experienced both its beneficial and it’s destructive effects. I have really gained respect for it as powerful medicine and I think it’s important to use it thoughtfully and in moderation. I find that it can help me to shift my perspective in helpful ways and towards the positive, but - and I’ve found this to be true of all its positive effects if over-used or abused it can have the opposite effect. It can help me find pleasure in mundane tasks and reconnect with myself when I feel disconnected or out of touch. It can help me relax, laugh, dance more freely, and just have fun when I feel uptight. And CBD’s are truly miraculous for pain.
How has the cannabis industry in Humboldt County affected/contributed to your career as an artist/creative?
Money from the cannabis industry allows a lively and creative community to thrive in a rural area that might otherwise be bleak and depressed. And, although there are aspects of it that are problematic, I have a lot of love for the rugged, outlaw nature of the industry and the culture here.
To learn more about Anna, check out her website or follow her on Instagram!
