"I cannot change my shape,
my face. I have been born to
them. They are just there.
But with my hands and my
mind, with brick and clay,
I may fashion myself."
James Hubbell
PEARL OF THE PACIFIC, Shelter Island, San Diego Built by architectural students from San Diego and its sister cities of Yantai China, Vladivostock Russia, Tijuana, Mexico and the help of many friends. Artistic Director - James Hubbell
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Author, Otto B. Rigand writes of Hubbell in the book, "James Hubbell's Palace Doors"
"It is Hubbell's talent, or blind and fearless faith to draw from a rich palette and pull it off in refined manner. That is the hallmark of his genius. As with much of his art and architecture, he designs in such a way as to challenge his ability to realize the design. Adding dimension to his genius is his desire to involve -- even invite -- the unpredictable spontaneity of process, and the direct influence of his assistants."
The Turtle Island Institute is extremely fortunate to have James Hubbell on its Advisory Board of Directors. Truly one of the great artists of our time, Hubbell's work always leaves me breathless. It seems to me that the purest connections between the real world and the spirit world are the revelations of the soul that an artist expresses through different mediums. When viewing Hubbell's work there is never doubt that I am looking into a soul that is pure and is not only "connected" but is a part of the whole. His works seems to flow from nature, subtly capturing the beauty and essence of it, while at the same time embodying the rawness of it.
It is for this reason that I have chosen to pay tribute to James Hubbell in this issue of Kokopelli Spirit and bring attention to his work to the ecotourism industry, for whenever I think of what ecotourism is about, I think of Hubbell's work and how much I would like to see it translated into travel lodgings and places of peace for the ecotraveler. The essence of Hubbell's soul as revealed in his art is what I feel ecotravel should be about - discovering nature in ways that reveal its beauty to its fullest, yet does not exploit it.
The letter accompanying the photos and book of poetry he sent me for this article reads in part: "What the Turtle Island Institute is attempting is a fine thing. One of the necessary changes is to begin to think of ourselves as part of that sustainable world, maybe stop using the word tourist, but think of ourselves as pilgrims and farmers. I once heard the definition of a tourist as someone that takes, and a pilgrim as someone that leaves something."
There can be no question that Jim Hubbell is a pilgrim in every sense of this definition and he will long be remembered for what he is leaving as he passes through this life. His works of art stand as powerful statements and leave no doubt as to what his relationship with life and the earth is about. May we all be pilgrims.
"It often seems when working that certain problems are answered not by the brain, but by what might be called the body-mind. The hands the back of the neck tell you many things. It may be that the whole body functions as a mind and that the universe is the nervous system." Jim Hubbell
James Hubbell was born October 23, 1931. He has lived in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Mexico, and North Carolina. He attended Cranberry Art Academy in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan from 1954 - 1956. He married Anne Stewart in 1958 and began building their home, a compound composed of seven buildings including his art studio, in Santa Ysabel, California in 1962 -- it was completed in 1987 but work still continues.
Jim has received many awards for his works and has had many one-person shows to his credit. He is recognized internationally, not only as an artist, but as a humanitarian.
His work includes: stained glass - the most extensive work being 18 palace doors created for a young Shiekh of the United Arab Emirates in 1981. The story of these doors is recorded in a book by Otto B. Rigand: "James Hubbell's Palace Doors of Abu Dhabi"
Architecture and art is combined in many homes and commercial structures internationally. Hubbell has composed outstanding works of sculpture using glass, metal, wood, and other materials to transform his concepts into forms which reflect his emotional being with contemporary relevance.
The "Lady with Amythest" necklace, so delicate in its design relects yet another facet of this man so closely linked to nature. Dizzy, already with the depth of it all, you might think the talent ends there, but it does not. It goes on to express itself through water color designs and in poetry and prose. Like the cascade of a waterfall with sparkling rainbow colored translucent drops following one another to form an endless river, the artistry of James Hubbell ebbs and flows as certain as birth, life and death - beckoning humanity to drink from its depth - to heal its soul at these altars dedicated to the earthiness from which we all spring and to which we must return.
Slide Show
On the next page are examples of some of James Hubbell's work which encompasses art in different forms from homes to paintings, sculpture, jewelry, stained glass, and poetry.
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For further information on Jim Hubbell and his work see: http://www.sandiegoart.com/JHubbell
James T. Hubbell is a partner in Hubbell & Hubbell Studios.
Next issue: Drew L. Hubbell, Architect - Partner, Hubbell & Hubbell Studios
Copyright 1997, Marguerite Hampton. All rights reserved.