This week

Nest #12?

 Some time was spent on nest construction, I'm trying to experiment with materials and learn some construction methods.

Gypsy Moths!

 I spent some time hunting gypsy moth eggs. I know it is a futile battle but I'm hoping to spare "my" trees from destruction next year

Killing Gypsy Moths

I started to play with resisted lines on stones.

I'm not sure what happened to this pic on upload but I kind of like the result.

Charcoal experiment

Explore

Old orchard 

So having just begun a new year  I have chosen a word for myself
Explore
it is a doing word as opposed to a being word and I think I need that right now
to be doing stuff
not judging
just trying
just seeing where that will take me
I like the word, it encompasses possibilties and yet it can be applied to even the most ordanary experience to transform it
this should be good

50

Trying to take it all in.
Absorb.

Fall texture

"Just stop thinking, worrying, looking over your shoulder wondering, doubting, fearing, hurting, hoping for some easy way out, struggling, grasping,…Stop it and just DO!…

Don’t worry about cool, make your own uncool. Make your own, your own world. If you fear, make it work for you – draw & paint your fear and anxiety…

You must practice being stupid, dumb, unthinking, empty. Then you will be able to DO!…

Try to do some BAD work – the worst you can think of and see what happens but mainly relax and let everything go to hell – you are not responsible for the world – you are only responsible for your work – so DO IT. And don’t think that your work has to conform to any preconceived form, idea or flavor. It can be anything you want it to be…

I know that you (or anyone) can only work so much and the rest of the time you are left with your thoughts. But when you work or before your work you have to empty you [sic] mind and concentrate on what you are doing. After you do something it is done and that’s that. After a while you can see some are better than others but also you can see what direction you are going. I’m sure you know all that. You also must know that you don’t have to justify your work – not even to yourself."

                                                                                                                         Eva Hesse

12 more make 54

43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54

Nest Experiment

Birch Bark

Still looking,
Still experimenting

6 x 6

One of the inspirations for this project was the terracotta warriors
I was imagining how so many artisans probably spent years reinterpreting the same elements again and again. Each a little different than the last and yet the same.
After 26 years designing tiedyes for my job I feel a certain kinship although they probably had a far greater incentive to keep going than I , there is no emporor with the power of life and death in my world... just a mortgage and a bunch of other bills!

Trying Words

the counted so far (30) 

So what are these little guys about?
that has many answers,
an exploration of Tribe, group similarities contrasting with individuality
the practice of working within boundaries,
a repetitive interpretation of the same elements: gold stone, red thread, green thread, gold bead, black bead, olive bead, horsehair, knotted cord, and pine twigs
a way of reestablishing my daily practice,
paitience
finding a voice again.
more?

Marching on

18, 19, 20, 21

They are still arriving,
Joining the others,
 Going
unsure of the final destination
but they keep moving along

Autumn Fading

Grass texture

Oaks and sky

cabbage

last of the mums

pointy

Watching the garden recede into the past on a bright beautiful fall afternoon.

We're going to need a bigger boat.

the nest stone is full up.
 Time to find a bigger home for the tribe.

They continue...

14, 15, 16, 17

The fall season is passing now.
 more travelers are joining the gathering, perhaps a migration? or they may just be drawn together that magnetic force of similarity

More

10, 11, 12, 13

The tribe is growing day by day

a few more

numbers7, 8, 9

Still more are arriving.
I've been busy with guests, visiting, entertaining, so on.
another is due in this weekend then there will be a lull.
Its all good

Preperation

A visit from Mom has me cleaning, thinking about all that I have and all that I need and whether they are the same.
Some will be released, some kept.
Repeat as needed, narrowing in.

journy on

number 6

They begin to gather...

They have formed a small group and settled into a comfy spot

number 5

Someone new has arrived

Treking off to join the gathering.

Rock and Paper

Another nest experiment.
Expanding the vocabulary of forms and materials.
Dyed and stitched rice paper, white quartz stone, I like the soft torn edges as well as the unity between the stone and its home
they seem to belong together

number 4

Still going with the tiny stones.
every morning I begin again
a few minutes of exploration
daily medicine

sputnik shadow

 number 3

Still brushing up on my skills, working so small is an exercise in patience...
the little burst of a shadow amuses me.

Thoughts about nests

nest experiment

Still thinking about nests,
looking at the nest/egg relationship
finding a ways to balance the two

Some context

Dad's music

 Mom"s Spool

increments of improvement #2

number 2

increments of improvement #1

number 1

Words will come in time...

Bit Dim

rainy here

 
                                                                      hot and humid

                                                     
                                                         slowly disentangling my brain

this may take awile

random images from the Past

silk scarf 

satellite

weaving a moon

Shibori-Larch

Currently sorting through years of unarchived photos
these are from Feb 2011
lots of memories attached

May 5

Warp 2, detail

Nesting Dancing

Still too many words
working out where to start the story
pictures are easier

Garden Story for May

 in pictures, so far...

Species tulips and phlox, delicate

Species tulips and phlox, drama!

Longer view, a garden conundrum

Crab apple serendipity

One in a million

Textures

this is one of the prettiest times of the year here especially if you look close up

Species tulips in decline

I'm still having a hard time communicating in words these days so I will try going back to pictures and see if I can't be more consistent.