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In 1987, I began selling my mandalas (on hubcaps), and they have sold through-out the United States, and some in Canada and Europe.

My five music albums are just recently reaching the market. What kind of music? --- Poems? They are love songs to the soul, and thus to the essential you.

I am presently living in the Chihuahuan Desert -- Big Bend country in Texas. For 22 years I lived on the banks of the Rio Grande River, where I had my studio and a vegetable garden.

I grew up in Marin County, outside of San Francisco, California. I attended art classes at San Francisco State, after which I began painting in earnest. Since then there have been no end of classes in the School of Life to provide me with inspiration.

Nature also has been one of the greatest inspirations for my work -- that, and the study of Spiritual ideas. The application of Spiritual ideas to the business of day-to-day living, has provided the drama.

The traditional and ancient arts have also had a major influence on my art. The poems and songs result from much experience, hard work, true philosophy, and lots of good discussions with people from all walks of life.

Put all these ingredients together, with much warm friendship, here in the unspoiled beauty of the Chihuahuan Desert -- and I have a well of much art to share.

My name is Collie Ryan. I write songs, poetry, have done many paintings, and presently, I am painting mandalas. I have been doing this work for over thirty years, non-commercially.

Native Californian of the San Francisco Bay area, Collie Ryan came to the Big Bend in Texas in 1980 and has lived there since. She currently resides in Lajitas, Texas. She studied art at San Francisco State College and has lived as an artist for many years.

In addition to painting, she writes poetry, writes and records songs, and dabbles in landscaping. Her work has sold all over the United States, Canada, England and Europe. She began to paint mandals on hubcaps in 1987. The mandala is one of the oldest symbols known to man and nature. She paints them on prepared hubcaps with acrylics. They are twice coated with polyurethane plastic.

All cultures have made use of this sacred symbol. Out of respect she does not use sacred or religious symbols of any peoples. She uses simple geometrics and scenes of the desert; everyday life and the mandala itself provide the magic reflections of our daily lives.

Collie Ryan is a student of Theosophy who privately pressed three records in 1973. This project was funded by her friends at New Age Farms carrot and fresh juice company in Lompoc, California, and the records were distributed at shows at the Sun and Earth Health Food Store and Restaurant in Santa Barbara. The songs on these albums are mostly about the theosophist concepts of karma and reincarnation in its many aspects.

Collie completely dropped off the grid shortly after these records were made and lives in Terlingua Texas working as an artist, painting mandalas on hubcaps.

The Rainbow Records is a 3CD box set of the Collie's three albums by Yoga Records and Riverman Music. It features new cover art, three photo cards, and excellent liner notes by Collie's friend Tommie Zook. You can order it here, here, or here (Japan), or buy the full set in download form from Other Music.

"The Hour Is Now," a compilation of some of the best tracks from Collie's three albums, is now available by mail order or at finer record stores everywhere. Sebastian Speaks/Yoga Records did 1,000 copies directly from the master tapes with no digital step. Collie painted this magnificent new cover and Stoughton Press did the heavy duty "laserdisc" style covers. Please look for it in a store near you or order it from Sebastian Speaks.

As for original records, "The Giving Tree" and" Takin' Your Turn Round the Corner of Day" are still available for $75 each. "Indian Harvest" is now sold out. Although these are flat, well-stored stock copies, the pressing was not great so please expect a little surface noise. Write to Douglas at Yoga Records for more information.

We would like to release more of Collie's amazing music and welcome inquiries from record labels. For more information please see Yoga Records.

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Devoted Theosophist, Artist, Naturalist, Singer, Song Writer and Guitarist

Eagle Webula

This page was last updated: December 24, 2011

Collie Ryan released three private press LPs in the early 1970s before dropping off the grid to spend her days painting hubcaps in the desert. Released with the help of some friends who ran a juice company and sold only at shows and shops in and around Southern California, "Takin' Your Turn 'Round the Corner of Day," "Indian Harvest" and "The Giving Tree" were slight in stature, and yet showcased the beautiful depth of Ryan's honey-soaked voice and intuitive, singular finger-picking style.

Though those three LPs fell into one of time's many cracks, her inclusion on the Numero Group's great 2006 compilation "Ladies from the Canyon" brought her sound to a whole new audience. Now, following up on the LP comes "The Rainbow Records," a three disc set that presents her albums in their entirety for the first time since original release. A gifted vocalist and passionate lyricist, Ryan's music sits easily with the acid folk set, yet the simplicity and conviction of her work makes for music that sounds surprisingly timeless today.

All released in 1973, Ryan's three albums were selected from hundreds of songs that she tended to write as a result of intense philosophical discussions. And while it covers three distinct releases, "The Rainbow Records" flows beautifully, effortlessly conveying the clarity of Ryan's artistic vision while providing a window into her spiritual dialogues.

There's a gorgeous shimmer to tracks like "The Giving Tree's, I'd Ask You to Wait" and "Lark Flies," both showcasing the ways in which her soaring voice weaves over and under the nylon strings of her guitar. More urgent songs tend to dot "Indian Harvest," as we travel deeper into Ryan's world, with both the title track and songs like "Brother Sun -Sister Moon" displaying a marked emotional complexity.

Highlighting some of her strongest material, "Takin' Your Turn 'Round the Corner of the Day" closes out the set, shining a light on the soaring "High Gulls Flying" and "Chalice of Light," in which her voice almost seems to descend from the clouds. Better still is "Such a Soft and Sudden Calling," a track that introduces the gentle crash of waves to the mix, providing a natural accompaniment to the ethereal reverb of Ryan's voice. Solid end to end, fans of outsider folkies like Linda Perhacs and Sibylle Baier would do well to make some room for Collie Ryan's "The Rainbow Records" on their playlists.

-Michael Crumsho (November 5, 2009)