L. T. SparrowAuthor/Artist/Practitioner of Healing ArtsBA Degree: Health Psychology/Religious Studies, Minor in ArtMA Degree: Public Health Education & WellnessLicensed Massage Therapist Certified Permaculture Design SpecialistCertified Landscape Professional/Pima County Author: All My Relations, A Prayer L. T. Sparrow, an innovative artist and poet, spent much of her childhood with her missionary parents in the Bolivian jungles. After returning to Los Angeles in the 1960s, she pursued a bachelor of arts degree in religious studies and art and a master of arts degree from the University of San Francisco. She has traveled extensively in Asia, Eastern Europe, and The Americas. Sparrow was also the single parent of two children. These experiences have afforded her a unique worldview, which she expresses through her art. In the late 80s, when Sparrow was suddenly faced with an empty nest, she decided to sell or give away everything she owned and explore the world. This led her on a path of discovery into the spiritual teachings of other cultures and religions that culminated in a profound experience in Native American Spirituality, specifically the prayer ceremonies with the Sacred Chanupa, (Peace Pipe). This beautiful teaching of inclusivity and oneness eventually inspired the writing of the poem “All My Relations, A Prayer” and a five-year journey of working on the illustrations. The book was published in 2000. Sparrow’s most recent discovery of earth pigments right here in Ajo, has been yet another life changing experience. By her account, she has always enjoyed the depth of color in the Sonoran Desert landscape and marveled at the variety of color in the walls of the mine and the surrounding tailings, but never put it together as something she could use to paint with. Sparrow has been a painter most of her life but never really wondered where pigments came from. Now, the process of mindfully foraging, grinding, washing, and mulling has permanently altered her relationship with the land, with the community of Ajo, and herself in a wonderful way. As a good friend pointed out, “The entire process has, by necessity, been an intersection of science, math, geology, chemistry, and art.” “I’ve barely scratched the surface of what is possible.” Sparrow“I walk the cracks between the worldsAnd see beyond the veils unfurled,To endless possibilitiesOf our yet unmanifest destiny.Despair or love have equal chance,And so between the veils I dance. “ Excerpt from “All My Relations, A Prayer” by L. T. Sparrow