My maiden name was Mary Jean Backman. When I was married (1974-1988) it changed to Mary J. Backman-Beharry. I legally changed my name in 1990 to Maihaa K Rayne in both the USA and Canada. As a Sarah Lawrence College Liberal Arts Undergraduate I studied Multi-media Fine Art (Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, Photography, and Sculpture in Clay); Art History (Prehistoric, Greek, Roman, Early Christian, Medieval, Renaissance, French Impressionism to Modern); Psychology (Meyer Rabban - from earliest to contemporary, Freud, Jung, and Maslow) and The Psychology of Creativity (Charlotte Doyle - my Don); as well as Anthropology; Creative Writing; Drama - Greeks and Romans, Shakespeare and Moliere to the Present (up to 1972); and Plants, Man and Life (Science).
"Going to the Light"
(c) 1971
Pastel Chalk Drawing on Pastel Lavender Paper
This light pastel drawing on lavender charcoal paper depicts a spontaneous “Going to the Light” experience when I turned 21 years old, in the Spring of 1971. I was looking out a leaded glass window from my dorm suite on an upper floor facing Mead Way at the beautiful white cross-shaped blossoms of a Dogwood tree, with light shimmering from the sun radiating around each bloom and branch... When suddenly, my spirit left my body, while I was standing up, and I felt myself being drawn upward as if in the center of a spiraling tornado, towards the brightest light imaginable! This didn’t hurt at all, and I was in perfect health and felt so energized and full of life, so I was perplexed by what was happening to me (no drugs or mind-altering substances were involved). I felt that Light was God/Source, all-knowing... yet, I protested... “What are you doing?" I cried out... Though I do not know if this was aloud or in my thoughts... “I am not ready, yet! I am in perfect health! I have not had my children, yet, or accomplished my Life Purpose!” And then, I felt myself falling quickly back into this earth-plane dimension, and came to back in that same room, standing up... As if that whole experience had happened in a moment... yet I felt very heavy. I immediately reached for this lavender sheet of paper and began to draw with light shades of pastels this picture – without looking at anything other than this piece of paper... And this image flowed out like automatic writing. The top section shows the dissolving of my earthly body into energy and light, the center section the temporal, earthly form of young womanhood, and the bottom section being pulled down to earth as if from tangling vines or licking flames.
"Aspiration"
(c) 1977
Solid Bronze with Serpentine Stone Base
Aspiring Woman has made it to the top of a mountain, and desires to go higher.