Artist Shares Mount Shasta Encounter at Bigfoot Art Exhibit

There's something fascinating happening in Richmond, Virginia, and it's blending two worlds that don't always get the spotlight they deserve: the paranormal community and visual art. A recent episode from the Strange Familiars channel dives deep into this intersection, and it's the kind of conversation that sticks with you. The episode opens with a chilling account from a photographer who was working on Mount Shasta in California back in January 2019. If you've ever spent time on that mountain, you know it has a reputation. The weather can shift in an instant—feet of snow in a blizzard one moment, and then you drive down into town and it's 50 degrees. This photographer was out working with a vintage 4x5 camera, the kind where you actually have to get under a dark cloth to compose your shot. While focused on the ground glass, unable to see their surroundings, they suddenly got what can only be described as a telepathic message: "Leave now." Not a whisper either. A full-on mental shout. Mount Shasta has long been considered one of the most energetically active mountains in the world, with Native American legends, UFO sightings, and Bigfoot encounters all woven into its history. So that kind of experience there? Not exactly shocking, but still deeply unsettling. But the main course of this episode is something really special: an art exhibit called "Visions of Bigfoot" hosted at the Lights in the Sky Gallery in Richmond, Virginia. The gallery is the brainchild of Justin James Reed, a former tenured professor at Virginia Commonwealth University who retired about four years ago to pursue something completely different. Justin is part of several private online communities for what the paranormal world calls "experiencers"—people who've had direct encounters with phenomena that don't fit neatly into mainstream explanations. And he noticed something remarkable happening in those communities: people were creating art. Powerful, expressive visual art that communicated their experiences in ways that words and podcasts sometimes couldn't capture. That's when the idea for Lights in the Sky Gallery was born. Justin wanted to create a space where the first thing you encounter when walking through the door is the understanding that this is a place for people who've had these experiences. A safe, inclusive environment where the art on the walls comes from real encounters with the unknown. And Bigfoot, naturally, features prominently in the work being shown. Joining the conversation is Timothy Grieve Carlson, making his third appearance on Strange Familiars. Carlson wrote the essay accompanying the Visions of Bigfoot exhibit, and he explores how Sasquatch has woven itself through contemporary culture—not just in the woods, but in our art, our music, our movies, our stories. Bigfoot isn't just a cryptid anymore. It's a cultural force, and the experiences people have with these beings are fueling creative expression in ways we're only beginning to understand. What makes this discussion particularly compelling is the exploration of "outsider art"—work created by people who haven't necessarily had formal artistic training. There's a rawness to it, a narrative thread that runs through the imagery and symbolism that trained artists sometimes struggle to achieve. When someone has had a profound encounter with a Sasquatch and feels compelled to put that experience onto canvas, the result tends to be incredibly communicative. You can feel what they felt. You can see what they saw. The conversation also touches on something that resonates deeply within the Bigfoot research community: how many people who never considered themselves artists suddenly find themselves creating after an encounter. The need to express the experience becomes so overwhelming that it breaks through any fear or self-doubt. Paint appears. Pencils move. Music gets composed. It's as if the encounter itself demands to be externalized. For anyone interested in where the worlds of Sasquatch research, paranormal experiences, and artistic expression collide, this episode is absolutely worth your time. Strange Familiars has built something special with this interview, and the Visions of Bigfoot exhibit sounds like the kind of thing that needs to be experienced in person if you're anywhere near Richmond.