Music

Tea Lounge

/ N.Pearson / Leave a comment

Little Lost Forest presents the Tea Lounge at Eclectic Farms, providing a donation-based tea and cuddle puddle space.

Eclectic Farms is a Northern California event located in the mountains of Titlow Hill, a multi-generation oasis for underground music events. The lively EDM scene hosts multiple stages and genres, artists, and play areas for performers, carnies, and lovers of nightlife. Located an hour from Cal Poly Humboldt, people aged 18-99 from all over the world and different walks of life gather to dance under the musical umbrella. Supporting local talent, Eclectic Farms is a community-made event that showcases local DJs, musicians, painters, interactive art pieces, paracord trampolines, farm living, and is placed in the heart of the Redwoods. Lasers, concert visuals, premium sound, pole dancing, aerial performers, fire dancers, and go-go dancers all enhance the main stage, while two garage stages played live music and more trap-style EDM. This year, the Mush Love Crew hosted a second stage lit with black lights, neon decor, and bodypaint with a pop-rock dance vibe. If you dare enter the tea lounge, Little Lost Forest hosts a relaxing space in a bell tent covered in local art, cushy pillows, and delectable tea.

The past three events have been out of this world. You might be familiar with some of the talent coming through Eclectic Farms. DJ and live artist Joe Mallory opened the first party in June with psychedelic ambient music. June’s headliner was Rammun, a couple from Willits who played spiritual funk rap. While Narion worked the mixing board, Luna rapped conscious, mind-expanding lyrics. Maggie fire-hooped with Humboldt Circus, and her performance was both mesmerizing and inspiring. Something about the relationship between the dancer and the fire creates a trance-like ambiance on the dance floor. LoCo Flow Fusion is a central Humboldt-based fire troupe. Bartending and performing is the incredible Boofy the Clown. Mushroom cocoa and niche tea blends offered by Ana’s Herbals. Deep, intercate tarot readings channeled by TOAD and art and firespinning by local artist @psychicmisfit.

When asking Mush Love Crew to make a statement for the blog, they gladly told us a little about themselves:

“Our June show was our first all-night outdoor party as Mush Love Crew, so that was super special. Our deco coordinator is Stacia Weener at @Staciaflowersolutions on ig, she absolutely deserves to be mentioned because our stage only looks that good because of her. We also did that one as a collaborative effort with Siskiyou Psytrance. At that party we had an international dark psy duo called Promnesia play. We also had Feral Selector from SoHumSyndicate, Agent 37 from Siskiyou Psytrance.

Our July party we collaborated with our sister crew Fractal Factory out of Oakland. Our headliner was Tugadoom, a brilliant live experimental dark psy act from South Africa originally. Also from the crew was Luzidtrip who played an outstanding forest set.

Mush Love Crew’s resident DJs are Melting Vision, Pymander, and Joe-E. I founded this crew on New Year’s Eve of 2023 with the goal of building a home for psytrance in Humboldt County. Hope this is helpful, and I’m happy to provide any more info! We’ve got another party in the works for early November!

Stacia is renowned as a found and foraged artist, creating her works using materials she finds around her. She emphasizes reusing, repurposing, and utilizing nature as much as possible. Her unique vision aligns perfectly with our Psytrance crew. Additionally, she’s very welcoming to other artists who wish to collaborate or get involved.”

I highly appreciate their ability to bring high-energy dancing and a neon atmosphere to the event. The DJs bring high-quality psytrance back to the dance floor.

Our Tea Lounge is a new addition to the Eclectic Farms parties. Our goal is to create a place to relax, revive, and connect with the community. The Tea Lounge dome tent came from a grant for the Festival of Dreams in Eureka, where many of our crew members participated in the “Wigi Dome” project. The Tea Lounge displays art by local artists, offers donation-based tea and sweet treats, and has a plethora of pillows, blankets, and small tables. I enjoy offering tarot readings in the tea lounge, along with live painting outside of the lounge. Some of the aesthetics might be familiar to those who know Little Lost Forest, with themes of the forest, the human body, and otherworldly creatures. As a team, we collaborate on art projects and strive to create immersive art so others can join in the experience of creation. In July we featured Cal Poly Artist Jolie. 

This Saturday 8/10/24 we will be back on Titlow Hill. Tealulah will be joining us with @tealullahstravelingtealounge. We look forward to serving unique tea blends that stimulate or relax the mind. I expect to be showcasing ceramic sculptures by Jackalope Studios. Jackie is a Cal Poly graduate, ceramics studio artist and painter. We display paintings by Natascha and Jeremy Pearson. Natascha has been painting at EDM events since 2012 with San Diego crews Triptych, Soul Works and the Cool Cat Cafe. Jeremy is a local cannabis grower with twenty years of experience, currently working @primeexotics_dispensary off broadway in Eureka. @Orioncooksit is our team chef, who specializes in health conscious and energizing organic options. Our newest team member @disenchantedcreations is our rave mom who is embarking on a van life adventure and world schooling. Together we make the Tea Lounge a place for you to enjoy. 

See you on the mountain. 

@eclecticfarms for event information. 

The Wigi Dome

/ N.Pearson / Leave a comment

An Interactive Art Installation

What inspired the Wigi Dome?

The end of the school semester came in June, which meant a break from substitute teaching for me, and the beginning of summer. My daughter’s previous teacher and good friend forwarded me the “Call to Artist” by the Festival of Dreams in the Lost Coast Outpost. They were giving out $40,000 of art grants up to $2,500/ ea. The gears of my imagination pushed forward. 

The event’s theme was the Wigi, the Wiyot name for the Humboldt Bay. I was inspired to combine my job as a substitute teacher and my passion as an artist to come up with the Wigi Dome, An Educational type of Magic. 

What is the Wigi Dome? 

The Wigi Dome is a 19×18′ tent that can fit about 13 people, funded by the City of Eureka for the Festival of Dreams. For the event, Fun Facts were lined outside the tent made by second and third-grade students from Laurel Tree Elementary in Arcata. On the top of the canopy, local artists spray painted with water-based acrylic on cloth panels to represent different times of the day and places of the Manila Dunes. Artist such Gizmo (@neudepths), Jackie (@jackalope_studios_arts) and Joe Fox, Ruth (@ruthcreaates_4), and Amber (@mushroom.firy.logs), Autumn, Sera and Georgia.

What is the Festival of Dreams?

The newly created event is Festival of Dreams – a collaboration between the North Coast Repertory Theatre (NCRT), Ink People Center for the Arts and the City of Eureka. The festival will happen in two parts: an outdoor event Aug. 18 through 20 that will take place at Halvorsen Park and around Old Town, and an indoor festival on Oct. 5 through 8, that will be held throughout multiple different Eureka venues. And to make this new festival even more exciting, the City has made more than $40,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant money available to fund local artists who want to participate. 

–Stephanie McGeary, https://lostcoastoutpost.com/

The festival Started on August 25th as a parade danced through Old Town. Local businesses allowed performing artists to set a stage in their occupancy, including Eagle House and Eptimony Gallery. 

Saturday’s event took place in Halvorsen Park as the free interactive art festival commenced. There was a beer garden, vendors, and lots of interactive art. Perhaps you found yourself lounging in the Do Nothing’s Societies Oasis (@thedonothingsociety), hanging out with flow artist Zephyr, making your own tarot cards, and eating complimentary fruit. Enter the Kaleidoscope airplane or sit at a table at the Clam Juice, a psychedelic experience (@glittergizzard). Beautiful fabric acro dancers from Synapsis performed in the center of the park. You may have wandered into a forest of pom poms or the dream-like fabric maze. You step into the photo booth and allow its mechanics to hand draw your photo (@aart.by.mir). Live music and a late-night DJ rocked the stage. In the amphitheater, an artist hung a lanyard of butter wrappers painted with unique images. Ceramic artist Josh Roller (@darthgritty) displayed abstract creatures and wall hangers along the stone edges, along with a smoking dragon, a bone and metal sculpture, and much more art surrounding the amphitheater. 

How was the Wigi Dome experience at the Festival of Dreams? 

The Wigi Dome offered tea and art by Erica Brooks (@fineartbyerica), Joe Mallory (@joemalloryart), Ruth Murphy (@ruthiecreates_4), Drake Munson (@draykinarts), Natascha, and Jeremy Pearson (@littlelostforestart). 10% of all paintings sold inside the dome go to Friends of the Dunes to restore Manilla. Kris Coffman (@kriscoffmaninsight) spoke on Love and Communication with an intimate group that shared stories, laughter, tears, and animal noises. Rah Kiv (@rahkiv) played Flamenco R&B to set the mood as the vendors finished setting up and the festival began. Ruth, vocalist, and Uncle Steve, violinist (@unclesteve1352) performed sea shanty and folk music throughout the day. I made a Wigi mix that was Lofi Hop and had the sounds of the animals of the bay mixed in for in-between sets. Stories on Humboldt County were shared within the Wigi Dome between our community and collaborators, along with discussions, lessons, and music. I ended Saturday night with Alien Paintings, where we free-painted on canvas, folded the cloth in half, and opened it with a groovy alien design. On both days, Jackie (@jackalope_studio_arts) spent a few hours painting fish ceramics with “kids of all ages.” Autumn was an active emotional support partner throughout the festival. 

At the Welcome table, we gave out an educational pamphlet by K-12 Educator Crystal Linde about the Wigi, The Wiyot name for Humboldt Bay. We also asked our guests to write an Orison (a 13th-century word for a prayer) for the Wigi. Here is what our community had to say:

We appreciate all the effort that went into the Festival of Dreams. The coordinators, staff, and volunteers. Along with all the other artists that participated. It was truly a beautiful experience to hold space in an interactive art installation to teach our community, hold space for discussion, and supportive relaxation. Thank you to all the Wigi Dome collaborators, artists, musicians, historians, businesses, volunteers, and community guests. 

The Wigi Dome doesn’t end at the Festival of Dreams. On September 9th the Wigi Dome will have a booth at Recovery Happens. Autumn and Natascha collaborated on a small interactive art piece where we will ask the community to write on a leaf, What in their life is worth living for and clip it onto the tree. I dream of displaying this place at Morris Grave. We will also be exhibiting the Wigi prayers at the booth. In the future, I can see further collaborations with educators, community, and artists and bring this project to schools to educate our youth in an interactive manner. 

Check out the Wigi Dome Website at https://littlelostforestar.wixsite.com/little-lost-forest.

Please donate toward our Go Fund Me! https://gofund.me/bc4db4cf

Come check us out tomorrow 9/9/2023 at Recovery Happens!

The Wigi Dome: What inspired it, What it is, What it has accomplished, and Where it's going next.