When Beavers Live Close By

 

It amuses me that the beaver sticks have gathered in their own little corner of the show.

"Chasing the Moon"

Memories of daily walks down to the marshlands

Watching as the landscape changed when beavers moved in.

When they moved in and built oh so many dams

what was a meandering stream became a lake

covering all the grass you see here.

They would greet me and the Rusty Pups

with noses just above water

and sharp black eyes watching....

....then with a noisy slap of the tail on the water's surface

they would casually get on with their business.

I imagined that slap to be a greeting 

but of course it must have been a claim to territory where we were not welcome

My work is a bringing together of snippets of memory

Trees stripped of bark and marked by strong beaver teeth

Cold dark waters of winter

Marshland grasses that flourished so well in that watery environment

But turned golden yellow in the long wintery months.

On winter mornings after a good snowfall

the beaver tracks were easy to find 

 revealing nighttime activity and favourite pathways

 leading from water's edge towards the woods and back again

The black velvet water so uninviting on a cold winter's day

yet a refuge, a place of safety where beavers can thrive.

And of course a moon on a windy, winter's night

whilst I am warm and safe in my bed

the beaver were busy as beavers tend to be

fixing leaky dams

and storing edible trees underwater.

Such fascinating creatures who can change a landscape with two strong front teeth!

 I hope you too find joy in observing nature at work.

So many thanks to Susan Purney Mark and Miranda Bouchard for their photos of the show.

When friends come together "In the Middle of the World"

 

Judy Martin's exciting larger than life pieces

Reflections on a lifetime living in beautiful rural Northern Ontario

My heavily stitched smaller pieces

Reflections on years of living close to nature in beautiful Nova Scotia

The walls of the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum

An aged record of time past

In a way all three connected to the passage of time

Every year as the seasons move towards Winter

the undergrowth in our woods dies down to soft greys

All that remains are the deep ever greens and waves of red berries

Life giving berries for the creatures and birds of these parts.

Our winters are harsh here.

In the depth of winter swarms of robins with their white eye markings

descend on the wild holly bushes and eat to their hearts content.

The berries are all gone before winter's end.

 

The older trees whose bark is weaker and less resistant to insect invasions

soon become scarred by pecking woodpeckers searching for supper.

Did you know their tongues wrap around the back of their brains

protecting them from concussion as they hammer away at those holes?

This is the sort of information that comes out of my Handy Hubby.

The practical thinker in the family

Thank goodness one of us is!

I would wrap both arms around Judy's bundles and hold them close.

In the background is "Winter's Edge" my response to Autumn fading into winter.

The season when warm hugs are needed.

We both used warm autumnal colours

I can imagine Judy's repetitive motion while wrapping her wool strips around and around each bundle. 

I remember well my repetitive tearing of strips and couching them down over and over each other.

They are connected as we are in friendship.

My thoughts were to fade the colours into the sky

ending with a barely visible weakening sun

that is really only visible when you stand close to the actual piece.

Right from the days of childhood embroidery

Repetition and rhythm have been my favourite creative principle

Repetition of simple stitches

Rhythm in the physical movements that create the stitches

And I try to create flow and rhythm in my pieces.

Always exploring and still learning.

And this is the mess of all beginnings!

And finally one more friend who is such an important part of this project

A young curator who's dedication to this project is unbounded

A wise, thoughtful person working very hard in the background on our behalf.

Miranda Bouchard

I am full of gratitude for these two amazing women

We are sharing quite a journey.

And thank you to Judy who sent me her photos of the show for me to use since I could not travel.

More to come!

Bits and Pieces

 

April is coming to an end and yet still it snows

But loving the dots created by dripping trees as the day warms up

There is proof, however, that nature's critters 

know summer will soon be here.

One critter, Handy Hubby, 

had the foresight to build a shelf in case the robin's returned.

He thought they would prefer to use his shelf

A shelf is surely more comfortable than a hose

which we really need to use in the summer!

Hope you can see his very smart shelf!

For several days just a pile of straw sat on the hose

but several days later

a perfectly formed bowl appeared!

Looks like our Robins will bring us a new family.

I love my old Matriarch tree

She has been shrinking for seventeen years now.

Riddled with woodpecker holes

Not a scrap of bark left to protect her

Yet still she stands.

I really must stitch a piece about her.

My beautiful Rusty Pups and I love our break of dawn walks.

They always have to share treasures with me

 Treasures discovered in the woods....

....even rocks.

Sometimes they just wanna say hello

or show off the holes they have dug.

Our very messy front lawn is even messier nowadays!

I hope your walk inspires you today.

When Trees Topple

After many months of avoiding it

 the pups and I walked what I used to call the 'Advanced Trail'. 

 After this latest walk I am renaming it the "Ankle Breaker".

We clambered over rock after rock

over moss covered roots

 and through muddy streams.

Every time we turned a corner we discovered a newly uprooted tree

So many trees toppled by wind and rain.

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, 

but in having new eyes." 

 Marcel Proust

Every morning the Rusty Pups and I walk familiar trails

through meadows and woods

along an ancient railway line only identifiable because of their straightness!

through marshlands

Over streams

and over oh, so many rocks!

Every morning there is something new that shouts out to be noticed.

Through changing seasons and weather systems

there is always something new to discover.

Today it seems what we are called to notice is roots!

Mighty trees still manage to grow on ground that looks like this!

Amazing!

Root systems towered above us.

Lovely Messiness!

I hope you found something new on your walk today

or as Marcel Proust might say

 on your daily voyage of discovery!

Growing Up Behind the Garage!

She was a great mother

though Handy Hubby reckons

that is the father.

All of a sudden it seemed

all four heads were covered in feathers....

.....One teetered on the edge.....

....and flew into the undergrowth by the stream.

Within four days the nest was empty.

And now we can't tell who is who among all the robins

bobbing about the garden.

In a flash

all grown up.

Makes me wonder how these two munchkins

are getting on.

We had the privilege of having them cross our path

way back in 2016.

Slowly Stitching

Slowly stitching in my island of calm

Weeping for injustices around the world

Praying that solutions will be found

Hoping that governments will prove themselves worthy

It is surely a time when drastic systemic change is needed

It is a time to invest in change

It is a time to invest in people

And talking of change

Our garden Robin decided to place her nest atop our garden hose

and we are very grateful to her for that

because they usually nest high above in spruce trees

but this year for a change we can get to watch her.

Eggs of new beginnings

Eggs full of potential for the future

It is hard not to have a heavy heart but

 Perhaps she placed her eggs in sight to remind me

it is possible to make a brighter world

and we are living through the time of change.

I hope you find some jewels in your day

Outside and Inside, Sunshine and Shade

Happy to be sitting in the warmth of the sun
Stitching a beaver story
Watching the woods
Surrounded by birdsong
Interrupted occasionally by a wet Rusty Pup nose seeking attention

when it gets too hot we move back inside

Above the horizon the skies are forming.
For the last few years my work has always included an horizon
A dividing line
Not necessarily horizontal, sometimes vertical.
Perhaps
Because I am most comfortable feeling grounded
as I search for what is behind the horizon?
Or perhaps I am just drawn to that design element.
I don't know.

 I started stitching crosses on the silk velvet ground
Sticks can form crosses
Though the beavers seem to weave them together somehow
with mud and grass.
But then...

 ....turned to check the back and as usual
 loved the expressive free stitches on the wrong side 
compared to the disciplined front.
So....
started stitching the crosses on the back 
in order to get those unruly stitches on the front!
Love it!

As I stitched I thought of how my stitching sister,
Judy Martin, talks about her works
that can often be seen from both sides.  
In her blog post from June 13 2011
entitled 'and still maintain a normal life'
she writes
I've made many pieces over my long career that show through metaphor how we each have two sides. A side we present to the world and a much more interesting 'inside'.
This piece (and still maintain a normal life), however, 
is an attempt to just show our inner world. That too is a duality

I am comfortable stitching this piece
Happy flitting above and below the horizon
as my beaver landscape story develops.

And the ferns are reaching up towards the early morning light
as their story begins.

Be safe and gentle with each other