He's almost finished, just in time to celebrate the Solstice. He was an inspiration from Hilary Knight's The Twelve Days of Christmas, a charming children's book, which my sister in law introduced me to. I made it for her birthday, which just happens to be the Winter Solstice. Happy Birthday Lisa! Next on the last, Jack and Mark need to build Benjamins cabin.
The Tree Elves were busy last week as the tree went up and was decorated. We divided the tree into the Four Seasons, with burlap ribbons separating the seasons. The tree turned out beautifully with each season showing it's colors. As we were leaving, we overheard two visitors comment on our tree. One told the other that the MN Herb Society made all the tree decor. The other commented "They live in the woods". Too funny. I guess the Tree Elves is a proper nomenclature for these Herbies.
As we were watching a movie tonight, I noticed for the first time that there were two reflecting moons in the transom window above the fireplace. In the 11 years we've been here, I have never noticed it. It seemed appropriate to post this just a couple days after Thanksgiving.
I'm still working on the Birch Fairy, but she's coming along. I need to add a little more definition on her leaf collar/cape.
Several years ago, I picked up a pamphlet on dying Easter eggs with natural dyes; beets, blueberries, turmeric, etc. I tried a variety of ways, but came up worth one that I lOve and its the only one I continue to this day. For several weeks of Lent, leading up to Easter, I save my onion skins in a bag. Then on Good Friday, I use them to dye the eggs into a beautiful marbled eggs. All you need is a little cheese cloth and a few rubber bands.
Take a raw egg and wrap the onion skins around it (this is trickier than it sounds). I usually have to piece several onion skins around the egg, but I get the entire egg covered. Then wrap the cheesecloth around it and place several rubber bands around the egg. Frequently, I adjust the skins & sometimes the cloth when I'm doing this. Place the eggs into a pot with cold water & bring to a boil. Once it boils, remove the pot from the heat source and let it stand 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove the wrapping and the onion skins from the egg. Once dry, rub a small amount of olive oil on the eggs to create a sheen. You'll be amazed at how simple and beautiful these marblized eggs are. I read that this was a technique that was from years ago, but when I asked my parents if their mothers used onion skins, they said no. Regardless, it's a beautiful way to dye Easter eggs.
I decided to place a birch tree on this piece. I am reading a children's book by Native American author, Louise Erdrich. The Birchbark House is a story of a young Native American girl on Madeline Island growing up in the late 1800's. Additionally, I just finished teaching the field trips for Maple Syrup at the MN Landscape Arboretum. During the field trips, we teach the kids about the old Native American ways of collecting the sap. They used birchbark to create baskets, mukuks for storing the maple sugar, spiles, etc. Since birchbark doesn't rot, it was an extremely useful "gift". So the combination of these events, along with our beautiful trip to the North Shore in January, made me decide to use the birch tree. This is a rough layout of the birch. Additional branches will be added. I'm not sure if I'll add leaves or not - stay tuned. Finally, I am debating on changing the name of this piece to "The Gift". We shall see what this piece decides.
I thought this was a wonderful piece to start this blog. It is in the beginning phase, but it is personal. Two years ago, I was involved with Art in Bloom at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. The piece we interpreted that year was a Plains Indian blanket with 4 red hands on it, silk ribbons, beads... I thought it was beautiful, so I thought about somehow doing a similar piece. I purchased a piece of black wool, shrunk it down, and then waited. I waited for 2 years while trying to decide what to do. In February it came to me. I wanted the hands of Mark, myself, and Jack. I want him to know of the hands that loved him, even when we are no longer here. So on 2.15.2015, the day after Valentine's Day, we laid our hands down & traced them into the black wool. Mark's represent the water, mine the earth I love to garden, and Jack's task hands the combination of water and earth. Check out the Friendship Blanket that is the inspiration (photo is courtesy of the Minneapolis Institute of Art).
