resurrection fern

terrain

Dear blog

sorry to have ignored you for so long

didn't really plan this but i have been super busy with family, work and making since the new year

i mean if you had to choose between playing in the snow or baking cookies with lilith and lachlan in your precious spare time or typing on a computer 

what would you do

yes

of course

I did want to show you the work for my group art show Terrain  at the Craft Ontario Shop (formerly the guild shop) in Yorkville, Toronto running from March 23 to April 12.

my work was inspired by the north, the landscape of sea, snow and ice for the majority of the year and then the uncovered tundra with its mosses, grasses , sedges and lichen with its ever so brief appearance of arctic wildflowers

the stage for these photographs was created with ice globes made by freezing water in balloons

this was facilitated by the deep freeze experienced all of the month of february

when I photographed these it was snowing softly 

it was worth my frozen finger tips

xx

arctic blues

athabasca

blue ice road to tuktuyaktuk

felsenmeer

scarp

tundra

redrock

**

permafrost

spring on the tundra

 

 

 

driftwood

Driftwood has always held a great attraction for me. It is beautiful no matter how large or small it is. It is gorgeous at the microscopic level. It is thought provoking, making me always wonder where the point of origin was, how long it's journey has been, and by which route it arrived in it's present location.

Enjoy your day!!

xo

m

terra cotta

      i set out just after sunrise

                                                                  dressed in linen 

carrying  two linen bags

one with my new eyes

the other my heavy load

and as i placed pebbles and stones

with intricate patterns and designs

heaviness translated into complexity

ancient threads unraveled and raveled yet again

i felt warm and light

and then as i stood up

my linen clothes

were begrimed

terra cotta

 

 

 

terra cotta = baked earth

           

if allowed, nature will move in

What I have been noticing this week is that you don't have to put up a for rent sign or become a pied piper to get nature to move into your space. All you have to do is nothing, just open the door, or lay out the lace and it will come.

Some of you who have been following this blog for the past year of so will already know about my art installation in a secret location, now well into its second year of doing just that. It is very slowly being reclaimed by nature. Here are just a few of the most recent pictures I have taken. The changes are slow but I am really enjoying watching the moss very slowly move along the lace stone. The piece that fell off the tree and onto the birch bark is almost invisible now.

Then I noticed what was happening in my own backyard where the doilies had been hung for my son's wedding.

oops that last one is actually my lace top and a little seashell on a string I have been wearing around my neck for the last few days. ( sonia had tied her pincushion parcel with it)

You can see snails are hanging out on the lace as well as number of cocoons for moths and spider nests. I am pretty excited to see what becomes of them.

I heard a flock of chimney swifts this evening in our neighbourhood. A very good thing since their numbers have been steadily declining with loss of nesting spots.

Today we had an earthquake and severe storm warnings but tonight all is well in the land of resurrection fern.

I may not have an empty shelf or a clear surface in my home yet but what I do have is beautiful and makes me happy.

xo

m              

it was a wondrous sight

"It was a wondrous sight. the wood was green as mosses of the icy Glen; the trees stood high and haughty, feeling their living sap; the industrious earth beneath was as a weaver's loom, with a gorgeous carpet on it, whereof the ground-vine tendrils formed the warp and woof, and the living flowers the figures. All the trees, with all their laden branches; all the shrubs, and ferns, and grasses; the message-carrying air; all these unceasingly were active. Through the lacings of the leaves, the great sun seemed a flying shuttle weaving the unwearied verdure. Oh, busy weaver! unseen weaver! - pause! - one word! - whither flows the fabric? what palace may it deck? wherefore all these ceaseless toilings? Speak, weaver! - stay thy hand! - but one single word with thee! Nay - the shuttle flies - the figures float from forth the loom; the freshet- rushing carpet for ever slides away."

Herman Melville. Moby-Dick  1851

A dear blog friend shared this with me this week as it reminded her of my ephemeral art. I read this book a great many years ago and was so happy to be reminded of the wonder within it's prose.

It seemed like the perfect intro to my latest group of photographs of teeny tiny ephemeral art.

I left this in place near the forest path for other's to encounter and perhaps the forest sprites to enjoy.          

ephemeral art on a very small scale

 

This was really a little aromatherapy after a day in the office. I gathered some small blossoms from the garden. They had to be small, and potentially able to be threaded. I chose lilac, vibumum, lily of the valley and forget me nots. In the end the forget me nots were very difficult to work with. 

i think the snail has created her very own dreamscape.          

 

the magnolia tribute continues

Whilst sitting under the magnolia aglow in the dabbled light of the setting sun I discovered that magnolia petals are edible. A quick google search confirmed this and that they are used to make a floral wine. To my palate they taste like endive with a delicate violet like floral note. They are also quite similar to tulip petals which are lovely in salad if you grow them organically. 

The second discovery of the weekend was something my sister Zina first noticed. The fossil like imprints on the petals on our walkway and interlock brick driveway. Later that day this discovery lead to a fun game for my little inquisitive nephew. Yes the adorable lad with the magnifying glass in the previous post. He and I tried to match up the de-bossed brown colored imprints on the petals to the patterns on everyone's shoes. We could not come to discover the wearer of the most interesting patterns and think perhaps it was some of our guests at the party. If any of them are reading this post we would love if they could check their soles and see if they match. One looks like an amazing sea shell and the other has a tiny star of david. 

With this as inspiration we set out to make a few petal press pieces of our own.

First with nuts and holey stones. And then with crochet covered stones and my very own polymer stamps made with arounna and john's help when I took a letterpress workshop. Warning there are a large number of photographs. The light was really magical on Monday evening.

The next discovery was what happens when you hold one of this imprinted petals up to the setting sun.

Pure unadulterated magic.

Taking this opportunity one little step further , inspired by my favorite land artist, Richard Schilling and the piercing of the succulent petal by one of the grasses growing in our pond, here is what ensued.   

I think the garden fairies will have some wonderful new materials for their dresses this year.

           

  

 

sunday smile

                The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.  ~e.e. cummings

Just popping in to hopefully make you smile and let you know that I have been talking to my magnolia tree for the last month, asking it to please be in full bloom on May 1 st and it has been listening. Just like these stones with their soft furry magnolia bracts.   

nature love notes

i love the natural world 

it always makes me feel

like 

i 

can

fly

xo

m       

 

last visit to the art installation in a secret location this year

 

  
 

It was a beautiful cold morning with the perfect fresh snow as you can see on my car window. If you have no idea what I am referring to you can search under the category , art installation in a secret location, and get the low down. My art installation is completely covered in snow now.

 

No sign of the lace pieces and the covered stone but there were signs of some visitors very nearby.

 

I did manage to find some sporophytes looking quite perky.

And I gathered a few things to make use on some ephemeral ice pieces.

 

 

The gifts are finished and wrapped, the cakes and cookies baked and we are ordering sushi for dinner. Tomorrow we will be hitting the road to spend Christmas with my mom.