Photolucida: Noelle McCleaf: Evie Lou and Laura Jane

Photolucida: Noelle McCleaf: Evie Lou and Laura Jane by Aline SmithsonAugust 15, 2015

©Noelle McCleaf, Celebrating Samhain

Noelle McCleaf has created a new project, Evie Lou and Laura Jane, that explores history, mythology and friendship. The series follows her well-celebrated earlier project, Bee in Her Bonnet, that also considers relationships and a sense of home. Noelle is a photographer exploring themes of memory, relationship, and identity on Florida’s Gulf Coast. Born and raised in Virginia, Noelle received her BFA from the Ringling College of Art and Design and her MFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, both with a concentration in Photography. She currently lives and works as a professor of photography at the Ringling College of Art and Design and at the State College of Florida. Her work has been shown in national and international exhibitions and published in Blink Magazine, Fraction Magazine, Aint-Bad Magazine, Accent Magazine, and on Feature Shoot. She is currently preparing for the Sarasota Contemporary Arts Collective (SARTQ) Inaugural Exhibition, Here and Now, which opens tonight, August 15th, at the State of The Arts Gallery in Sarasota, Florida.

©Noelle McCleaf, Beaded Tree

Evie Lou and Laura Jane (2012-Present)

Evie Lou and Laura Jane chronicles the stories and experiences between my mother (Evie Lou) and her best friend (Laura Jane).

Evie Lou is a healer and a survivalist whose past life visions awoke her to her true calling: a caretaker for the Earth and those who protect it. Laura Jane is a medical intuitive and hospice nurse from the Blackfoot Tribe. She is a master storyteller, a way- shower, and a wisdom-keeper. The fundamental connection they share is their love for the Earth and all things of the Earth.

Evie Lou and Laura Jane signify an under-represented part of the American population: aging women full of wisdom, vibrance, and charisma. In documenting their mutual journey, I wish to share their stories, for they are the voices of the grandmothers, the medicine women, and the storytellers who deserve our attention.

The Earth is our primal mother. We should be guardians of all life on Earth, and nurture it as we do our own children. –Evie Lou