kccweaves

my journey, as a weaver, from "AH" to "KA", on the eternal path we call "Life"

Saturday, June 27, 2020

To the mountain we go

Dear Friends,
How our lives have all changed since my last post of March 3!  My wish for all of you is that you and your family are well, and that the pandemic and all it’s ramifications have steered you in a direction that is at least manageable and at best to your liking.
A quick recap: We were in Canada visiting friends at the time the lockdown started.   We returned home on March 18.
Mission Trails Park closed on March 16.  All the artwork was shut inside the visitor’s center until the end of May, when I was able to pick up what was left of my botanical weavings. Several I delivered to their respective new owners, a few I brought home.
It was a successful show: half of the weavings sold, enabling me to send a tidy sum to the California Chaparral Institute, after the Park had taken it’s commission.
Two of the remaining weavings are currently on display at the Borrego Art Institute in Borrego Springs: “Beyond Summer” and “Where Rabbits Run”.
I received good news right after we returned: I was one of two artists chosen for the Volcan Mountain Foundation Marjorie and Joseph Rubenson Endowment for Art and Science at Volcan Mountain in 2020.
Such an honor, for which I am deeply grateful.  And excited!
The purpose of the endowment is “to promote public appreciation of Volcan Mountain and its beauty and environmental diversity through art or scientific activities...”. The endowment provides for an artist “to visit the Volcan Mountain Range in Julian, California to create original works of art ...that would enhance the public appreciation of the mountain, its unique beauty and environmental attributes.”
Now you know why I chose “To the mountain we go” for my blog title!
I’ve been to the mountain twice already, and have completed the first of seven botanical weavings for the foundation.
My first impression was of bright bright sunlight amongst the tall oaks and conifers, and the sound of the wind in the trees.  Then I spotted a plant that clearly called out to me to be woven: horsetail fern.  There are masses of this equisetaceae growing alongside the creek near the VMF Nature Center.
Once I finished the weaving, as I was pondering what title to give it, a poem arose in my mind.
It sums up my total feeling of being on the mountain, the comfort and solace that being among such massive trees and on such firm yet fragile ground instilled in me.
The following photos are a first peek into that precious place.
The poem, as the weaving, is entitled “Hush”.

Hush
Be still
Hear the wind in the trees

Hush
Rest a while
The rush of the cities
Never ceases

Hush
Rest here
All is well