Page 7 - the Noise February 2017

A SPACE IN THE CLOUDS
SALLY MURPHY & LAUREN CROSBY’S NEW JEROME STUDIO
BY ELISSA ABBOTT
“Love calls - everywhere and always. We’re sky bound. Are you coming?” — Rumi
An artist’s studio is their intimate place, a space where their inner workings and pro- cesses are up for public viewing in the form of magic we call art. To be allowed into an artist’s studio, a room of creation, is like walking into someone’s internal house, their home
away from home. What makes The Old Jerome High School Artists’ Galleries & Studios special is what makes Jerome special – the unique, free spirited vibe of people that live and play here.
One chamber of goodness is the Cloudwalker Studio, upstairs in Building B, a place where you will find Sally Murphy and Lauren Crosby sharing their joy with the world. Ev- erything is of bright colors there – the paint, their smiles, their play. When you walk in, it is like you can do no wrong; it is like you are walking on the softest and whitest of clouds. Interestingly, clouds are white because they have water crystals big enough to scatter the unique light of the seven different wavelengths of color. So clouds hold all of the colors that make our eyes dance, as the Cloudwalker’s Studio holds all sensations that make our hearts feel free.
Sally Murphy defines a Cloudwalker as “beings who have come to this planet on a mis- sion to elevate humanity in some way. When I first met Lauren, it was clear we were both cut from the same cloth. We both love to create and are both very positive people with a desire to help others.”
Lauren Crosby said they chose the name for their space “because cloud walkers work off big dreams... This has been a huge dream of mine, but a little something in me didn’t think I would ever be this blessed.” Sometimes it is good to be wrong, keeping your head in the clouds before your feet elevate to the next level: “It just happened so fast. One moment we were day drinking and the next moment we signed our lease. We cloud walked our way into this crazy new existence.”
Miss Crosby started painting five years ago: “Painting is the only thing that has held on to me so I moved through its course and set up mock art shows in our garage of both me and Sally’s art, and with a little help from my friend, we were proud new parents of a new art studio dream, a place where we have no limit on what we can create ... I want to help the community put ART on a pedestal.” A reminder to turn your gaze up and fill yourself with beautiful things. We are what we eat; we also become what we consume with our eyes.
Miss Murphy has been a successful artist for over 10 years, yet she always held a vision of having a studio ever since she had shown her work at the Jerome High School studio of Derryl Day, her kindred creator: “When he passed away, I had a clear sign from him to be at
the High School again, but it didn’t make sense then, and I didn’t have the ability to make that happen so I was puzzled by that. I was driving from uptown Jerome and I asked Derryl’s spirit, ‘What do I do!?’ I was feeling a little lost and cried out to my friend. And then, a raven came over the top of my car, flying above the hood, leading me down the road perfectly. It turned into Jerome High School’s drive, flying right over the building where his studio was.” Years later, on the day the Cloudwalkers decided to rent the studio, Miss Murphy remem- bered her experience.
Now their collective dream is coming into fruition: “We forged a strong bond based on shared visions, playfulness and a higher calling in life to seek the unfolding of joy from our souls. We want others to understand that same playfulness and the higher spiritual aspect of that and how it can heal.”
Miss Murphy will pass on this energy by teaching process art in intuitive painting work- shops. She is travelling to Hawaii in March for training in an artist intensive workshop on the island of Molokai: “It’s a long awaited journey that is finally happening.” Having witnessed the organic mystical manifestations in life, she is curious to see how it will all play out. The community at the Jerome High School is going through a growth spurt. The Cloudwalk- ers feel there is a “resurgence happening in Jerome for local artists. We have Datura Studio which has been primarily a yoga / meditation/ gong bath studio opening up their space for retreat weekends with meals provided by The Flatiron.” Miss Murphy recently joined posi- tive forces and hosted a “Meet the Artist for Lunch,” doing a demonstration of how she cre- ates bird nest paintings, utilizing a rag and her thumbnail in an hour’s time.
Miss Crosby envisions that the Jerome High School Artist’s collective community will, in some way, “intertwine all of our visions to make something that takes all of our breaths away.” Throughout times, there have always been collective semipublic places where avante-guard groups of thinkers, doers, believers, would change the course of history by changing the course of thought flow, of consciousness. With all of the colors of the rainbow floating, overtaken, and cloaked in soft white, the Cloudwalkers make one dare to dream.
Miss Crosby hopes her art will help people “be lighthearted, and not take anything so seriously, maybe learning how to get happy about anything.” Her philosophy? “We think big, dream bigger and hold happiness on the great mountaintop of perspective. We are happiness gangstas and our imaginations are limitless.” Her soul sister Miss Murphy added without skipping a beat that only those in perfect unison know the flow of “always taking the high road is cloud walking. We are always working on being better, more unconditional, more open, more loving.” Keep your head in the clouds, walkers, blue skies are ahead.
PHOTOS, FROM LEFT: Miss Murphy and Miss Crosby at work — and at play — in their new studio. PHOTOS BY JOSH RICHTER