Aging is a natural process. It is also very much a women's issue. Resisting the cultural phobias about growing older begins right at home -- within our own bodies. How each of us sees our own aging process can in turn influence how the culture sees it.

Today, those of us who choose to name ourselves Crone do so to raise consciousness around issues of aging. Paradoxically, at the beginning of the 21st century, the ancient Wise Woman Crone archetype is emerging within women all over the world. We are beginning to realize that this third and crowning stage of female life (the one our culture throws away) is more authentic, creative, outrageous, powerful, funny, healing and profound than we ever imagined.

Having explored female experience in my art since 1960, it was inevitable that when menopause shook my body, mind and spirit, I would visually attempt to express it. As my art, reading and research expanded, I began to see the complex interweave of ageism and sexism that affects our healthcare, self-esteem, work and relationships. This led me to speak out, exhibit, lecture and give workshops at universities, fine arts, health and community centers.

The online art galleries have been arranged thematically to convey passage, as one process led to another evoking and provoking change in my art--my life. The early acrylic Menopause Paintings are fiery and expressionistic as they explore body changes and feelings in the full drama of menopause. Birthing the Crone imagines bodily decay and recycle, using a wild mix of organic forms and highly pronounced textures. In Finding Mentors, I return to portraiture --the touchstone of my art-- and enter into community with real old women. Self Portraits and Hand Drawings are studies on paper of timeworn faces, fingers, leaves and root forms. Small panels of mixed media imagery reflect earth and cosmos in Life Lore and find meditative ground in Sole to Soul.

At the historical root of art-making is the quest to understand body and soul. I offer my art in this spirit. I encourage you to follow your creative instincts and to use them to fully live all the seasons of your life. -- Helen Redman

"This ongoing, artistic exploration of menopause and aging revolves around the archetype of the Crone-ancient wise woman, sorceress, and elder. Artist Helen Redman, in giving electronic form to her "Wise Woman Crone" hopes to help society reclaim the symbol, once representative of the actualized woman and the fruition of wisdom and life experience. All who linger at [www.birthingthecrone.com] enter a metaphorical terrain resonating with transformation. Here, visual and written works course with ethereal energies as age erodes the protective shell of hidden fears, revealing the honesty that comes with mortality. Through crowning and croning, we unwrap the beauty of the ever-turning wheel and all aspects of the Goddess: the comfort of birth, life, death, and rebirth. Look and be renewed."
-- Wired Magazine