THE RECURRENCE

I have often wondered if birds ever return to the same nest the following years to repeat their instinctual ritual of raising the newest generation. I have a feeling they do not from the various old and weathered nests I have found. I do, though, like to think that some may and with some research on my part I might discover that it does occur in some species. Or perhaps the dance of collection and the artful arrangement of the gathered materials is part of the internal process that begins the manifestation of new life. This piece, THE RECURRENCE, was my vision of a visitation that takes place every spring and/or more than once a year. A regular, a come and go resident with familiarity.

LUNA

Luna, she comes up so much in my work. It is of no wonder as she is so captivating. I was awed and transfixed by the moon the other night when she was shadowed by our earth. My husband and I went out in the cool evening and set up our tri-pod. He took some pictures and then, due to the cold air and being underdressed, he went inside. I, however, stayed out and captured most of the event on my smaller digital camera, which is better for common day and macro photography, but to my surprise and delight, it did a pretty good job on expressing what I was experiencing, nonetheless. I was grateful that is was a clear and crisp evening, so we could witness this magical event. Though it is not rare, it is always enchanting to see the shadow of our earth against our beautiful moon.


This photo was taken while the eclipse was beginning to wane so the orange glow was fading. We live in the woods so we were having peekaboo views which this photo illustrates. I hope you were able to see this alluring phenomenon.

MOON IN THE WINDOW

I hope you all had an opportunity to see the moon last night. She created the most beautiful shadows, inside and outside, and silvery stars that glistened on the Madrone leaves. The Olympics were aglow also. Perfect for a walk, to be in the energy of the night and still see everything in the dimmed light, (as stated in my dictionary - a book that I love - " the natural agent that stimulates sight and makes things visible "). What a gift at the end of a spring like day.


MOON IN THE WINDOW is another older piece created using metal street cleaner bristles, rusted pieces of metal, beads, wire, handcrafted paper, original illustration of the moon. (click on photos for larger images)

TWIN PEAKS

What can I say about TWIN PEAKS. It just evolved like most of my pieces do. If I remember correctly it began with making the pebble finials. I wanted to use them together somehow so I built the double peaked structure and the rest just unfolded. I am fortunate to live where I have a view of the Olympic Mountains in their grand stature, so TWIN PEAKS, you could say, reflects my good fortune.

TWIN PEAKS stands tall using handcrafted paper, metal street cleaner bristles, pebbles, hammered aluminum sheeting and wire, mica, and other mixed media. (click on photo for larger image)

MOVING DAY

When it comes time to pick up and move, we gather up all that we give value to. In MOVING DAY the important and valuable items readied for moving are those that are precious and have potential for life.

MOVING DAY gets going on wings of hammered aluminum sheeting with handcrafted paper, feather, beads, polymer eggs, square nails, and other mixed materials. (click photo for larger image)

THE ROCK COLLECTOR

My assemblage work started by creating them under glass within frames. This piece is one of a few that grew from my creating them freestanding in a 3D, sculptural fashion. I've always loved and collected rocks and I thought it would be fun to make a piece that depicted the dwelling of a rock collector. Are the rocks on display or are they about to take over the house as it swells and they all spill out?

When I went to photograph this piece I loved the way the light was coming through the back of it so I decided to do one shot of it this way . . . this is the result.

The 3D work has since evolved into using larger dimensions in every direction which, of course, increased the size of the pieces.

THE ROCK COLLECTOR consists of handcrafted paper, small pebbles, mica, metal street cleaner bristles, hammered aluminum sheeting, beads and whatnot. (click on photo for larger image)

LOON'S MICA MOON

Those haunting calls of the wild echo through the silence like the moon's reflective light pierces through the darkness. The moon with the black night resting around it shines brightly on the loon as she glides gently through the water coming to rest in a safe shelter where the moon has cast protective shadows.

LOON'S MICA MOON has a background of woven grass wallpaper, with loon's shelter consisting of handcrafted paper, metal street cleaner bristles, beads, washers, wire, tacks, sitting within wavy corrugated board, with the light from a moon made of black washer, disc bead, topped with mica, all behind glass within an embellished maple frame. (click on photo for larger image)

THE PERCH HOUSE

While I was out for this morning's walk I was accompanied by an exhilarating symphony of songs offered by happy, melodious birds. Their joy for the day gave me a reminder nudge to refill my bird-feeders for the beginning onset of incoming travelers. It brought to mind this piece, THE PERCH HOUSE, a refuge for the winged things to seek shelter and nourishment.

THE PERCH HOUSE is stilted on metal street cleaner bristles, handcrafted paper, tacks, brass metal sheeting, with an original sketch on vellum of a visiting cedar waxwing. (click on photo for larger image)

WILDERNESS CAGED

This piece was my commentary on the state of our environment and the habitat that is being destroyed and taken from our wildlife. I feel it is our responsibility to preserve these creatures and the habitat they live in with integrity and good guardianship before it is too late.

WILDERNESS CAGED is captured with an augmented, reworked print from an original I painted of a grizzly bear fishing for salmon, handcrafted paper, corrugated cardboard, rusted flattened bottle cap, in a 3/4" inset surrounded by street cleaner bristles, and tacks, enclosed over matt board with glass within a frame. (click on photo for larger image)

MESSAGES FROM THE SKY

One of the first things I do every morning is take a walk in our woods with our dog, Kinta. It gets me connected to who I am and helps me get engaged with the day. Nature is a miraculous omnipresence that is a great source for my daily musing. One of the wonders of walking in nature is finding a fallen feather. They are such amazing works of engineering, functionality, and beauty. I like to think of them as little messages that fall to earth...a gift to ponder. I have an abundant collection of found feathers all of which awakened a creative impulse to construct MESSAGES FROM THE SKY.

MESSAGES FROM THE SKY imparts a view into a collection made up of multiple feathers, string, tacks, augmented photo of clouds, wire constructed nest holding a polymer clay egg, within a 3/4" deep inset surrounded by metal street cleaner bristles behind glass and matted frame. (click on photo for larger image)