Noelle McCleaf

Evie Lou and Laura Jane (2012-2016) 

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. 

The Center for New Beginnings is a large plot of land owned by Laura Jane in Myakka City, Florida. This sacred space contains a labyrinth, an organic garden surrounded by fruit trees and Spanish moss, and long pathways that lead to hidden altars and shrines. The property is a source of spirituality for my subjects, as it exudes a sense of wonder for all who walk its woods. 

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 

 Evie Lou and Laura Jane is a suite of thirty-five archival pigmented prints made from medium format negatives, exhibited at 20x24 and 32x40.  

Interviews with Evie Lou and Laura Jane (2012-2016)

Our society teaches us to compete with our sisters. We are taught to compete for men, status, and beauty. I have never understood or embraced that idea. Through my life experience I have come to honor and cherish sisters of the heart. (Laura Jane)  

I was initially drawn to Laura by the Earth-mother beauty she embodies and her tremendously powerful charisma. The amazing energy she projects is so strong that most people are either very quickly drawn in or overwhelmed. I was drawn in as if by a powerful magnet; I had a sense of meeting a sister of the soul. I think we quickly, at the first meeting, recognized one another as kindred seekers and travelers with a great mutual respect and love for the Earth and all things of the Earth. (Evie Lou) 

When I first met Evie, I saw a divine reflection of myself. I admired her devotion to Mother Earth and a shared passion of service to others. On the other side, I also connected to the rebel-like attitude she expressed. Her energy was comforting: it was as though I had finally found a sister of the heart, one that I could be raw and real with. (Laura Jane)

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)

My relationship to Mother Earth is raw, personal, and necessary. She remains my grandest teacher. Knowing that we only live by two laws in this life experience leads and guides my choices. The first law is the law of the universe (spirit). The second is the law of nature (body). We cannot have one without the other. Mother Earth is the one and only teacher that can be experienced through all of our senses. (Laura Jane)

Early in my life, I became aware of the influence of the cycle of the moon and the stages of life. That knowledge has brought great comfort and understanding to me.   I embrace the ongoing cycles of maiden, mother, matriarch, and crone. Each cycle or stage brings the awareness of our connection to the divine energy. (Laura Jane)

Every woman plays all of these roles during her lifetime. Even a woman without children of her own can relate to children and become mother-like as a matriarch. (Evie Lou)

Somewhere between mother and crone I made a huge change. It was a growth of profoundly greater personal confidence, and a falling off of the importance of the opinions of others. It was a much fuller realization-of-self, a coming together of mind, body, and spirit, and a grateful recognition of all that had come before and would come after. (Evie Lou)

I see the divineness of you in me. (Seeing the divine light in another is all we seek). (Laura Jane)

As strong women, we share the lineage of all women who have gone before us: the guardians, the seed-keepers, the counselors, the peacemakers, and the gatherers who knew where the medicine plants grew and how to prepare them into healing teas and poultices. We should more often be reminded of the grandness of our lineage. It is important that we gather as sisters, to keep the circle strong, celebrate, share knowledge, wisdom, and counsel. (Evie Lou)

We are oneness (all one tribe). (Evie Lou and Laura Jane)