resurrection fern

the season of ice cold

It is -6 degrees celsius at the moment with a low expected tonight of about -10. You know what that means? Perfect weather to make ice decorations for the holidays. This arctic chill also coincides with the advent calendar activity of the day over at the awesome website, cut out and keep  ( click on the 19th and you will see what I mean) and also the January issue of Woman's Day Magazine where you will notice something familiar on page 16. 

 

 

 

The kitties and I are staying cozy and warm in the kitchen finishing up a few Christmas gifts and listening to Joni Mitchell. These few lines from one of my favorite songs of hers, the circle game really hit me today.

Then the child moved ten times round the seasons

Skated over ten clear frozen streams

Words like, when you're older, must appease him

And promises of someday make his dreams

I have a wonderful last minute gift recommendation for you. Funny when I did the link for Joni's website it just so happens to also be on her homepage. I think almost anyone would enjoy the 1970 concert, Amchitka, in Vancouver British Columbia that launched Greenpeace and included Phil Ochs, James Taylor and the ever so lovely Joni Mitchell. You can purchase and download the music here.  While we are on the topic of ephemeral ice art, I think you would enjoy the art of Gloria Lamson.

 

Enjoy your weekend. 

small gifts for each and everyone of you

 

Fern came out of hiding from the potted gardenia and whispered to me that he thought I should prepare my small gifts for my treasured blog friends. He must know what a procrastinator I can be. I want to wish you all much love, peace, joy and abundance of natural beauty this season and beyond. Consider this my early gift to you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~ Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see. ~  C S Lewis

 
 
 

thank you in the language of pinecones

Pine tree symbolism includes creativity, life and  longevity . These area all things I wish for you all and my little way of thanking each and every one of you for your continued support here on this place where I share, on flickr and of course in my etsy shop. Thank you once again for a very successful shop update.  After the custom merfish are made and the packages all packed and sent I am going to focus on preparing a parcel to be sent off to Paris, work on my "big secret event" and of course deck the halls, bake some cookies and make some Christmas gifts.  

I have started to collect natural materials and have started to deck the porch a little.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh and that was my bench monday shot on the porch with me wearing my daughter's crazy slippers that I have nicknamed the wild things. I plan on making my own version of these when I get a chance , replacing the fur with large colorful pompoms. 

art installation in a secret location and jack's ephemeral morning art

Last installment I was pondering whether or not I would leave the display up for the winter. Well winter came by surprise last week and thus the decision was made for me. These are pictures taken the morning of the first snow and you might need to enlarge the photographs to catch a glimpse of the crocheted lace now covered in layers of dry leaves and a soft blanket of snow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can you see the little window of lace in that last photograph.

The snow has now melted and we have been having bright blue skies and temperatures in the teens everyday but cool evenings. That means every morning Jack Frost has been leaving his very own ephemeral art display.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In my creative work this week I have been alternating from working with cold hard stones and soft fuzzy warm wool felt to warm my fingers. I had almost forgotten how much I love to embroider on felt. I am making little things for the shop, to send to Paris for this fantastic event Mathyld has organized and then there is my very big "still secret" project. I might be able to reveal that as soon as the announcements have been prepared. 

my world explodes in color

The heard frost of the last few nights resulted in a windfall of colorful leaves on the ground this weekend. Of course I saw this as a gift of materials for some ephemeral art. The only twist was the wind. It really didn't settle down at all until late Sunday afternoon so I tried my best to work on the more sheltered side of the porch. I refused to give up and move indoors because it just goes against the philosophy of environmental art. Of course Edgar also loves wet colorful leaves. He adores the way they smell. 

Layering autumn leaves on my favorite weathered garden bench is becoming a little bit of a tradition. Here is the latest version.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few have you have asked about those shoes of mine. They are kaffe fassett needlepoint shoes that used to be available as a kit.  The skull on the colorful bench couldn't help but remind me of one of my mom's favorite artists, Georgia O'Keeffe. Hope I have helped give you a colorful start to your week. 

migration

"Then migrating warblers, lemon-colored, whirled down along the frail branches till I could hardly tell which were leaves and which were birds. I sat down on roughened ivory grass to follow the warblers with my field glasses. Scores of tiny birds, gay and quaint, making evanescent compositions among the laced twigs."
-- Florence Page Jaques, (1890 - 1972) author 

One of the things I love most about the autumn besides the kaleidoscope of leaves is the chorus of migrating birds overhead and less often in the large maple trees that line my property.  This latest bit of environmental art is a homage to those tireless little wings that make those long trips to warmer climates for the winter. I sometimes whisper to them little secret messages to tell my friends who live in the south. I wonder if any of you have heard them.

This ephemeral art was created with the berries of baneberry, blue beaded lily and false solomon's seal collected on my last walk in the forest.  Interesting that the berries of the baneberry can cause cardiac arrest in human if ingested but are harmless to birds who have the important job of seed dispersal.

 

 

 

 

 

I love how the remainder of the baneberry fruiting body looks after the berries are removed. It reminded me of the white pines as painted by A Y Jackson, a member of the group of seven.

 

For me one thing almost always leads to another and no sooner had I photographed this I was crushing and mixing with water some of these more colorful berries along with some sumac and bright orange berries of lily of the valley from my garden. I have a ton of vintage white velvet ribbon that I had been wanting to color with natural dyes for so very long. I pleated it up and tied it into neat little bundles and let then sit in the dye baths overnight and a day while I was at work. This evening I removed the colorful parcels and unfolded them. The colors were beautiful and some were totally unexpected when looking at the starting materials.  I now have them drying by the wood stove and can't wait to see how they will look in the morning. I have special plans for these ribbons and can't wait to gather some more materials to be surprised by.

 

From left to right : sumac, false solomon's seal, lily of the valley and the most exciting result of all blue beaded lily. I am totally smitten with that purple.  You see purple and I have a very strong relationship that goes way back. I will leave that story for another day perhaps.

It is amazing where a walk in the forest will lead one.

pumpkin crowns

Want to make a crown or seasonal wreath in minutes without the use of glue, sewing or wire? In fact all you need are some embroidery hoops and some colorful fresh leaves. If you are fresh out of colorful leaves you can create your own out of paper or stiff fabric.  I made my first one out of the colorful leaves of the 

staghorn sumac.

 This bush is one of the first to turn red in Ontario and it does so in gradients. I removed the leaves from a few stems and sorted them by color.

 Open up the embroidery hoop and lay the inner layer down on a flat surface.

 Now place the leaves around the hoop overlapping the ring by about one inch.

 When you completed the circle and with the outer layer of the hoop opened to its widest setting place it carefully down over the inner layer and the leaves. Tighten the hoop and admire your colorful display.

I bet you won't want to stop at making just one. 

My little wild thing liked the paper leaf crown the most. He said it really complemented his grey coat. 

Edgar is always close by when I am working on the porch. 

I think he agrees the colors, textures and aromas of autumn are very special. 

I might just have to add professional pumpkin photographer and stylist to my resume.

By the way happy apple picking bench monday to you all!!

CRIMSON

“It is courage, courage, courage, that raises the blood of life to crimson splendor. Live bravely and present a brave front to adversity.”

                                                   Horace ( ancient roman poet)

Today is the last day of the autumn week of color and is devoted to the color red of which my favorite shade is crimson. I love that word. It is has such antiquity associated with it. The first sources of crimson dyes trace back to the Egyptians who extracted it from the dried bodies of female kermes insects. This was later replaces with cochineal dye ( also a tiny insect) that the spaniards brought back to Europe after discovering its use by the Aztecs.

If you have ever experienced autumn in Canada you would know that there is a great deal of red. The maple trees are only just beginning to turn. The best is yet to come. The next picture is the last bit of my playing around with nature last weekend. I couldn't help but think of this little group of mushrooms as little children of the forest. I think this would make a darling little resurrection fern  postcard. 

I hope you all have a wonderful and of course colorful weekend. 

leaf weights and a new ghost on the block

Do you think the fact that October and Orange both start with O is a coincidence? I think not!! Well most of you saw my porch table ephemeral art display from yesterday. Well my definition of ephemeral is to try to make it last as long as possible. I really enjoy watching the leaves change color, dry and curl.  The weather was calling for storms, strong winds and lots of rain. The installation wasn't going to survive the night and I hadn't even mentioned the curious kittens who frequent the table top daily. I needed paperweights or what I really needed were leaf weights. I could have used more stones but I had used every last large stone to make the darn thing and I didn't want to fuss with little ones. I looked around and then a flash of orange genius hit me. 

I made a very special tree ghost on the weekend as part of a little ghost for a ghost exchange. I used a piece of wood that had been felled by a very canadian animal, a beaver living in the wilds of Ontario. I used a very fine antique white hankie, added some fine details with a needle and thread and then crocheted some small pieces and patched them together. One eye was a natural one in the wood and the other was made using a small crocheted piece. He will soon be packed up for a transatlantic flight but for now he is enjoying hanging with his ghostie peeps on the porch searching for the great pumpkin. Well, at least that is what they have told me they are doing. 

Oh look , I think they found it!!

Here is my brown collection for the poppytalks week of autumn color. 

colorful circles in the stream of life

Stream of Life 

The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day

runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures. 

It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth

in numberless blades of grass

and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers. 

It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth

and of death, in ebb and in flow. 

I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life.

And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment. 

                                                                     RABINDRANATH TAGORE

The ephemeral art I showed your yesterday was really just a warm up for what I want to share with you today. This is something I have been envisioning in my mind for a while now and patiently waited until autumn had worked its magic on the leaves and the weather spirits were cooperative enough to allow the leaves to not be blown away while we ( my daughter and I) worked.  My only regret is that I didn't have a larger canvas to work on but then I would have had even more difficulty photographing it unless suspended from the ceiling. Just so you understand the scale of this, the finished product occupies my entire porch table. Good thing we are not really in need of it at the moment for meals as it is just a little too fresh outdoors in the evenings.  I hope your rods and cones pasted on the back of your retina enjoy this display. I know I thoroughly enjoyed working on last weekend.  It fits so well with the week of autumn color.                                                                                                                                          

So hard to pick a favorite circle. I think every time I look at it I change my mind but really I love each and everyone and they remind me so much of all of you out there who make my life so colorful and bright.  

Lastly here is my little contribution to the week of autumn color orange day.

Please come back tomorrow for some more orange to celebrate the first day of October.