Winter has set in at the Brower family's farm in Tiverton, located on a high point of land with Nonquit Pond on one side and the Sakonnet River not far from the other. With the fields put to bed for …
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Winter has set in at the Brower family's farm in Tiverton, located on a high point of land with Nonquit Pond on one side and the Sakonnet River not far from the other. With the fields put to bed for the winter (in season they are leased by two local farmers who grow corn, squash, and potatoes) they've become a hangout for a large flock of geese, who compete with wild turkeys for territorial dominance, while squirrels fatten up on the few remaining squash left behind.
We walk around behind the horse stable (which has been repurposed as her studio), and the geese — hundreds, it seems — choose that moment to take flight, a cacophony of honking and beating wings. Then the moment passes, and all is still again.
It's easy to see how this location has become Ms. Brower's muse.
"My parents bought this place in 1962, it was 36 acres," she said. "This is where I grew up. And until I went to school in Providence, I assumed everyone lived on a farm."
Ms. Brower attended Rochester Institute of Technology, her father's alma mater, earning a degree in photo illustration. "I was supposed to go for printing; I didn't want to go for printing," she said. "I wanted to be a National Geographic photographer."
About 8 years ago, Ms. Brower moved back home, to help take care of her mother. "I saw the farm from a whole different perspective" after the time away. "I'm grateful to be here."
Since then, she has been working as a photographer while finding she was, more and more, blurring the line between photography and art, disciplines she always regarded as somewhat separate. "I always saw myself as a photographer, never an artist," she said. So much so that, when she signed on this past year to take part in the annual South Coast Artists Open Studios Tour, she was convinced nobody would come.
Instead, she had over 100 visitors each day.
"My father was the artistic one, I feel like I got my abilities from him. I feel he's out here with me and I'm channeling his creativity."
In addition to her photography, Ms. Brower creates mandalas — geometric designs that represent the universe in Buddhism and Hinduism — from objects found on her farm as well as on forays to nearby Fogland Beach and the surrounding area. Objects can be anything, from grasses to shells to the bones of fish, dropped to the ground by the osprey that live in a huge nest on the farm.
"It's pretty wide open," she says of her interpretation of mandalas. "I don't know that I'm doing it 'right', whatever that is."
Brower forages, then creates her designs. Sometimes they take the form of a circle or a square, other times she makes a plume or a heart. It's an impermanent art form — once her design is created and photographed, she puts the items back where she found them.
"Sometimes I know what I want to do, sometimes I'm waiting for inspiration," she said. "If you can stop your head from judging your heart, and be in that space for 15-20 minutes, creating and not judging, look what you get."
Lately, Ms. Brower has been focusing on bringing this creative process to others, sharing the inspiration of this incredible natural setting in group experiences that include yoga, a fire pit, and ceremonial cacao. "I call it a ceremony," she said. "It's not like a cult or anything. There's a fire, and we have snacks."
"I provide a structure, everyone goes out and forages and we create a group mandala. You can see the process of it being created. By the end of the night it's just gorgeous.
"Then we go back to the field and throw it away. Letting go is hard."
Brower encourages participants to go beyond the conventionally pretty and appreciate objects on a deeper level. "You have to look at the underbelly," she said. "If everything was perfect it would be boring. It's everything we go through that makes up who we are. Look at a beautiful leaf, flip it over and look at the underbelly, the structure. You can't have that beauty without that grit."
Ms. Brower plans to expand event offerings on the farm; for now she has a class scheduled for Jan. 27 at the Four Corners Art Center. You can also find her at the Aquidneck Growers Winter Market. You can reach her at 401/474-1064; FireflyMandalas@gmail.com, or visit her easy shop at www.etsy.com/shop/fireflymandalas.